Note that this replaces the 16th edition. That edition will now move slowly into the depths of the blog.
Great Gray Owl near Beaver Creek Summit (Lowman area), Idaho © Ken Cole
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Ken Cole
Ken Cole is a 5th generation Idahoan, an avid fly fisherman, wildlife enthusiast, and photographer. He is the interim Idaho Director for Western Watersheds Project. We do not accept unsolicited “guest” authors or advertising.
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The Bozeman paper has poll regarding removal of wolves from the ESA. You can vote: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/poll_60d42232-cf43-11df-a90d-001cc4c002e0.html
Kinda looks like the “mythical majority” that supposedly wants the wolves on the list is missing out. 61% to 31% for removing them.
Layton,
I thought everyone knew that newspaper polls have no scientific validity. It could be right, but no one knows about newspaper polls.
The results are a function of the wording, newspaper, which groups choose to organize responses, if any, and the kind of people who read newspapers (older), plus actual opinion.
Unitah County Sues Feds over Conspiracy and pro Wilderness Agenda…
More nonsense in the never ending Sage Brush Rebellion revival..
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50412807-76/wilderness-county-lands-uintah.html.csp
Damn, I hope they can find one of those undotted “i’s” or uncrossed “t’s” like the greenies do!!
Layton, have you ever noticed that greenies don’t seem to resort to name calling?
Pro,
I beg to differ, I have been called quite a few names over the years because of my position, most from the conservation side of the coin..
Pro,
Your kidding right.
Ryan, what names do “greenies” use all the time? I seem to hear words like greenie, tree-hugger, and hippie used all the time for anyone who even remotely cares about wildlife or the environment. What do these people call those who have opposite opinions?
“mouth-breathing rednecks”?
Pro wolf,
How about redneck, hillbilly,cabela’s queens, westerners, idaho residents, montana residents for a few? I’m sure I could do a bit a research and come up with MANY others.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100812/NEWS/8120318
Savage rapids dam going out a little ahead of schedule.
The comments are interesting. The way I see it, if you want to catch skanky midwestern bass and crappie then go to the midwest to catch them, don’t bring them to our good trout and salmon streams.
See ken we agree on somethings.. Bass make great crabbait.
Lots of really stupid comments! Man, what does it take to educate people? oh wait, they just watch Fox “News.”
Hmmm…maybe the Republicans will sweep back into power, after all. There was a very important Supreme Court Ruling earlier this year that removes caps on campaign contributions and allows contributors to remain anonymous. I’ve heard that records will be set this year on TV attack ads mostly directed at Dems all funded by third party contributors and there are millions of dollars pouring in. Even though the Dems have raised more money, a few large corporations or billionaires are going to launch an unprecedented media campaign in October. Depending on how much they spend and on how the economy does in October, Republicans may take back both the House and the Senate with a media blitz.
I was optimistic for awhile there but I believe we will have further serious economic hardship ahead and will be at war with the Middle East should the right wing sweep back into power.
http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Campaign_Spending_Donors_Go_Secret_101005
pointswest,
It’s already underway. If the now legal inflow of anonymous corporate cash swings the election, but 2012 both parties will be totally owned by corporations and democracy dead.
No organization can compete with money a corporation can take out of its general funds. It will greatly harm the economy too because it is much cheaper to buy politicians than build good quality products.
It is not just corporations. Democratic groups are asking that the ultra-conservative Chamber of Commerce be investigated for soliciting campaign contributions for foriegn sources…
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/dems-claim-chamber-commerce-soliciting-political-donations-foreigners/
…better start thinking about how we can privatize wildlife and wilderness! We can turn the River of No Return wilderness over to Hilton Hotels and they could build a fly-in and fly-out five start hotel on Chamberlain Creek.
It’s interesting to read the comments on the paper. I particularly love the people who say anyone who loves wildlife wants wolves gone. They should rephrase it to say that anyone who loves wildlife that tastes good and is fun to shoot wants wolves gone. I had to laugh about the comment about going to Yellowstone and not seeing a single moose in a week. I actually saw two big bulls in Grand Teton less than three hours apart. I must have seen the last two survivors that fled Yellowstone’s Great Moose Slaughter.
Moose can reliably be seen in Yellowstone in the early morning and evening on the south side of the road from Pebble Creek to the Cooke City entrance. In my brief visits to the park over the last decade I have rarely failed to see them there or around Petrified Tree/Lost Lake. I guess it’s hard for people to see any when there head is up their ass!
You stated the 100% truth pro wolf. Do they expect that everytime they go to yellowstone, they’re going to see an elk or moose? Things don’t work out that way. There’s no guarantee you’re going to see the animals you want everytime a person visits there. That is what some don’t seem to get. You obviously do.
I have gone a few times without seeing elk in the park and it has happened before and after the reintroduction. I also usually see buffalo in the park but not always. Moose are something I see every once in a while. This also happened before and after reintroduction.
Anti-wolf activist accused of poaching
SaveElk.com founder charged with felony in killing of trophy elk
http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005133545
Doesn’t that site profess to loving wildlife and being about saving elk from wolves? I at least thought they wanted to kill stuff in season.
I know a little about this fellow Tony Mayer. It is good when people like him who claim they care about wildlife are exposed through actions like these, illegally killing animals.
It used to be called “saveourelk.com”. Guess he is getting his while he can.
Maybe save our elk means elk just for him and his friends and family. Something like that makes him lose lots of credibility and causes more harm to the pastime of hunting than wolves ever could. When people kill out of season that makes most people regardless of opinion on hunting mad.
I recall reading Tony’s account of this elk on bowsite.com. he was very much impressed with himself. Apparently, however some other posters on that site also happen to be connected with law enforcement and quickly saw that 2+2 was not adding up to 4. It also looks like the investigation was extremely thorough, taking nearly a year.
Shows that Tony is, in all but the final rap of the gavel, what I suspected he was all along.
Phony as a three dollar bill
Thanks Jeff E. Glad you follow.
Koch Brothers Paying to Polute
By Paul Krugman, The New York Times, Oct. 3rd, 2010
[…] As Politico recently pointed out, every major contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn’t currently holding office and isn’t named Mitt Romney is now a paid contributor to Fox News. Now, media moguls have often promoted the careers and campaigns of politicians they believe will serve their interests. But directly cutting checks to political favorites takes it to a whole new level of blatancy.
Arguably, this shouldn’t be surprising. Modern American conservatism is, in large part, a movement shaped by billionaires and their bank accounts, and assured paychecks for the ideologically loyal are an important part of the system. Scientists willing to deny the existence of man-made climate change, economists willing to declare that tax cuts for the rich are essential to growth, strategic thinkers willing to provide rationales for wars of choice, lawyers willing to provide defenses of torture, all can count on support from a network of organizations that may seem independent on the surface but are largely financed by a handful of ultrawealthy families.
[…]
So the Ministry of Propaganda has, in effect, seized control of the Politburo. What are the implications?
Perhaps the most important thing to realize is that when billionaires put their might behind “grass roots” right-wing action, it’s not just about ideology: it’s also about business. What the Koch brothers have bought with their huge political outlays is, above all, freedom to pollute. What Mr. Murdoch is acquiring with his expanded political role is the kind of influence that lets his media empire make its own rules.
Thus in Britain, a reporter at one of Mr. Murdoch’s papers, News of the World, was caught hacking into the voice mail of prominent citizens, including members of the royal family. But Scotland Yard showed little interest in getting to the bottom of the story. Now the editor who ran the paper when the hacking was taking place is chief of communications for the Conservative government — and that government is talking about slashing the budget of the BBC, which competes with the News Corporation.
So think of those paychecks to Sarah Palin and others as smart investments. After all, if you’re a media mogul, it’s always good to have friends in high places. And the most reliable friends are the ones who know they owe it all to you.
end
For the full article…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/opinion/04krugman.html?_r=1&ref=paulkrugman
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h6028/show
Wolves: Hunters, not animals, out of control
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_3f6da5d0-d152-11df-bcbc-001cc4c03286.html
Don’t expect Congress to delist wolves
http://trib.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_0bb59cae-002c-5166-8e6d-0aa5eec75a73.html?mode=comments
Frustrated by court rulings that have retained federal protection for wolves in the Northern Rockies, lawmakers from Wyoming, Idaho and Montana have introduced bills to remove the animals from the endangered species list and turn management over to the states.
The measures amount to little more than political grandstanding. They have essentially no chance of passing.
Instead of spending their time promoting legislation that’s going nowhere, the congressional delegations should focus on helping develop a multistate wolf management plan that could pass muster in federal court. First task on the list: convincing Wyoming officials to adopt a wolf plan similar to the neighboring states’.
http://mainehuntingtoday.com/bbb/2010/09/30/sens-baucus-and-tester-accused-of-derailing-wolf-bill/
Interesting that there are no replies to that post.
Idaho Should Get Out of the Business of Managing Wolves
Wolves live in packs, or family units, upon which they depend, much like all other social animals, such as chimpanzees, elephants and dolphins. Depending on our families is something we humans do too. To propose killing 50 to 80 percent of any group of family-based animals, while it may not heavily impact the number of wolves in the state overall, is unethical and has no place in 21st-century wildlife management.
Wolves are not the driving force behind elk herd decline in the Lolo. A changing landscape is. IDFG knows this. Their own records show this. But because IDFG generates its revenue from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and hunting tags, it manages Idaho’s wildlife as a game farm and not in the interest of ecological integrity. IDFG manages Idaho’s wildlife for the sole benefit of hunters, not for the benefit of all animals or in the interest of well-balanced nature. There is no financial incentive for them to do otherwise. The economics of selling elk is behind this proposal.
Ralph, can you make a new post with this article?
jon,
Do you want me to just embed the URL (make a hyperlink), or make a full post?
Full post would be nice. It’s up to you really.
Here is a short article from the Butte Standard about the meeting in Dillon yesterday. The Butte paper is one of the worst papers that I have ever read, it is called the Sub Standard by local residents.
http://www.mtstandard.com/news/local/article_27794228-d101-11df-917b-001cc4c03286.html
Here is a short article in the Missoulian about the meeting in Hamilton. When I was in school at the Uof M the Missoulian was as bad as the Butte Standard and was called the Mogolian.
http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_2a696242-d106-11df-9c8f-001cc4c03286.html
Thanks for the link elk. Some comments that caught my eye.
And Mike Mosolf, a Dillon resident, questioned why 500 wolves in Montana are such a problem when Minnesota has learned to live with 3,000 of the large carnivores.
“Minnesota has a wolf plan; why is that working?” he said. “Are the wolves preying on all the whitetails in the state?”
I couldn’t vote for the Democrat that is running against U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg (he’s another rancher; and worse one involved with R-CALF), but writer Paul Richards has certainly produced a detailed attack on Rehberg. Rehberg appears as a rich, phony rancher, prime land subdividing tea partier. Ugh, wipe off the slime!
Multi-Millionaire Land Developer Us Rep Denny Rehberg Leads Fantasy Life As A Cowboy!. By Paul Richards. Alternet
I went to high school with Dennis he was a freshman and I was a senior. I do not know him but he would know me, everyone knows me unforunately. A fifth generation rancher, maybe fourth, his father in the 1960’s had a small dinner near Montana State University Billings. Steak sandwichs were $1.10.
Dennis has never ranched. Oh, maybe he looked at a few cows in high school and helped brand one day of the year. There ranch is behind the Billings airport and it did not support his father nor him and his family. His wife runs the subdivision and the HOA and is a “she devil”. I think maybe he is a 5th generation Montanan with his grandfather being the last full time rancher.
It’s always amazing to what lengths some politicians will go to portray themselves as something they are not. I wondered how Blumenthal expected to get away with claiming service in Vietnam when he was never actually there. I guess there are some cons that actually do go uncovered.
Thanks again Elk275.
The other night I watched Rancho Deluxe for about the third time.
It sounds like congressmen Rehberg is a bit like rancher John Brown, though phonier and dangerous.
Hey everyone, i do not see anything posted here yet, but on the Yellowstone Net Forum they are indicating that a grizzly sow with two cubs of the year is about to be euthanized, no reason indicating why.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCTOBER 7, 2010
Contact: Mel Frost, 406-994-6931
GRIZZLY BEAR SOW AND CUBS CAPTURED NEAR GARDINER
AND RELOCATED TO INTERIOR OF YELLOWSTONE PARK
BOZEMAN—Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologists recently captured and moved a female grizzly bear with two cubs.
The 8-10 year old sow and two cubs of the year were captured after raiding two separate chicken coops near Gardiner, Montana, on Oct. 5. During one of the raids the sow spooked a horse, which ran through a fence causing some injury. The sow showed no aggression toward people.
The three bears were transported to the FWP office in Bozeman so biologists could assess their health and overall condition. The sow was in fair physical condition. The two cubs were small and thin for their age and the time of year. Biologists are uncertain if they will survive the winter given their condition.”
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/10/06/wa.council.bear.attack.victim.cnn?hpt=T2
Note (for the sake of clarity) that Timz has posted a black bear attack video story. It is not a reply to Anna’s question.
And Ralph, it is really a old report, that incident happened a couple of weeks ago!
“And Ralph, it is really a old report, that incident happened a couple of weeks ago!”
It was a lead story on CNN’s website only yesterday. Don’t you have anything better to do then critique every post on here. You really should get a life SB
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?33
Save bears here is a link to CNN where you can comment on their content. You can whine to them about posting something that happened a week ago. Maybe you’ll get an apology from Ted Turner himself.
Timz,
As I have said in the past, I will comment how I see fit, as long as it fits within Ralph’s guidelines, as he did not remove it, then I would guess it was ok.
As far as getting a life, I would say you are on here just about as much as anyone including myself.
Of course, my life is living in the woods and working on wildlife issues, which unfortunately in this day and age, involves the internet and knowing what the public is talking about when it concerns wildlife and the environment.
But again Timz, I would suggest stop reading my messages and your blood pressure, because you are not going to see me go away, no matter how much you might wish for it to happen..
I would expect CNN to be behind, they have bigger fish to fry, but you live in this area and this incident was reported in Montana, Idaho and WA when it happened, in fact I believe somebody did report it on here.
I heard about it but that was the first video I’ve seen. And as long as you mention it my BP was 114 over 72 the other day. Tell me for such a pompous know-it all a-hole that you are it seems odd that you are to chicken-shit to use your real name.
Here we go again with:
Your a chicken shit, “because you don’t use your real name”
“Get a life”
“Know it all asshole”
Anymore childish names to call me Timz?
Now Timz, is there anyone else on here, that is a “chicken Shit Asshole” because they don’t use their real name, just curious if this only applies to me, or is everyone else that don’t use their name classified the same?
And as I have stated before, I am considered pompous by many, as far as a know it all, not even close, there is lots of stuff in this world that I don’t know anything about…ask me a question out of the field of Wildlife or the Military Strategy, and you run a chance of me not knowing about it.
sb, it may be a old report according to you, but some on here may not have seen it. I know I haven’t. Not everyone on here sees the same stuff that you do.
Ok ask any question sb. Who do you think was a greater military strategist out of these guys and explain the reason why.
Hannibal
Napoleon Bonpaparte
Genghis Khan
Alexander the great
Jon,
I have no problem with that, those of us that live in this area have seen it, I simply added that this was not a new event, but it seems some are a little sensitive, now remember Ralph is the one that pointed out, it was not part of the same discussion about the Grizzly incident in Gardiner…but that is fine, I would expect you to chime in, now I wonder why does Timz not tell you to get a life?
sb, me and timz have no problem, that is why. I like timz and I think he’s cool. You do seem to have a know it all pompus attitude sb, but I don’t want to get into it with you because it’s a waste of time going back and forth and arguing. I asked you a question about military strategists because it intrigues me somewhat.
In my opinion, and that is all it is, Khan leads the pack, be we studied all of them as they were all great military minds, and have be very important to the modern military around the world. It would be interesting, to see how they would modify their strategies given the modern state of Urban Warfare…it would be fascinating to see how they would adapt..
Fair enough, it may not be a new event, but that doesn’t mean that everyone on here has seen or heard about it. I know I haven’t and I try to keep tabs and up to date on what is going on when it comes to bears and wolves and other forms of wildlife all over the country, but I will miss some stories and articles from time to time.
Jon,
I have never said I didn’t have a pompous attitude, so calling me that, has no bearing on the way I word my posts or what my opinions are, I have been called far worse than anyone on this blog can, you and timz and others, have not thought up anything new, I haven’t heard before, and I am sure I will hear it again..
Some say Hannibal was the greatest military strategist ever sb, but I will agree with you on this. I will go with khan. I believe he also had the biggest army. Much bigger than Alexander’s.
That is one of the keys Jon, in the ancient times, strategy often times depended on numbers, in many military campaigns the one with the most bodies, won, of course now a days, it comes down to technology and well as training and the ability to really think on your feet, in a close quarters combat situation, now a days, we have to worry about peripheral damage, they didn’t worry about who got killed, there objective was to take the goal, no matter the cost..
sb, I was watching this show that had on spike tv where they pit ancient warriors against other ancient warriors. They showed some of the weapons that Alexander and his army had and some of the weapons for that time were quite impressive in my opinion. Khan and his army would have had the better weapons and more soldiers. It is very interesting to see what kind of weapons they were using during that time.
” just curious if this only applies to me, or is everyone else that don’t use their name classified the same?”
No it only applies to you because given the fact you know everything and are right all the time (just ask yourself if you don’t believe me) you should at least have the courtesy to use your real name. It’s hard for us common folk to hang on to every word spoken by someone who calls himself “SaveBears”. Sorta like calling yourself “TwoDogs”.
This attack happened over by Lake Wenatchee, which is just south of the Glacier Peak Wilderness off of Highway 2 and not far from Leavenworth.
It’s an old attack, but the man has recovered enough to tell his story. I’m not sure, but I think wrestling a wild black bear would be plenty tough and he is lucky to have lived.
I got a kick out of the part of the story where he claimed to “get one decent shot in on the bear, a hard knee”, as if he were fighting another man. Maybe it made him feel a little better to think he got one in.
B.C. mayor wants answers why 60 bears shot
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/mayor+wants+answers+bears+shot/3615576/story.html#ixzz11cLCFiAe
Absolutely disgusting. Good for this mayor. We need more mayors like this one.
All those folks need are some Karelian Bear Dogs!
Ralph – Have you followed the Yellowstone bear story that Anna mentions? Sounds pretty bad to me, but of course I’m not sure of the facts.
Here is a link to the YNP Forum thread about the grizzly subject requested above (thus I cannot find any other references or press releases) :
Beloved Grizzly sow and cubs about to be euthanized
http://forums.yellowstone.net/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8106
Any better info available?
I cannot stand these fish and game agencies sometimes. They kill bears and other wildlife for the stupidest reasons. Why should a bear be killed for showing some aggression toward humans? How is that considered abnormal behavior? What, bears have to be nice and calm everytime a human is in front of them? These bears are being killed for acting upon their natural instincts and natural behavior and it makes me fucking sick! Last week a bear chased a truck and it was killed. What kind of stupid nonsense is that?
And these bears were the most viewed bears in ynp this past summer. Atleast send them to a sanctuary or something. Why do they have to be killed? We kill enough bears as it is and it’s shameful how we humans treat other creatures of the world.
Good that Chris Servheen was speaking up. He knows if this happens it will be a pr nightmare and he’s right!
Allegedly, Chris Servheen discouraged them from such drastic action, citing the specter of a “PR nightmare”.
++jon writes: Why should a bear be killed for showing some aggression toward humans? How is that considered abnormal behavior? ++
It seems to me that many on this blog believe it is very abnormal and that all or nearly all grizzly attacks are the fault of humans.
I think the F&W people know what they are doing. There is, of course, more to the story the author is not telling us. The author was probably trying to get a reation from the reader just like he got from you. This bear (with her three cubs) had probably become very habituated to people…like one of the roadside bears people fed in the 50’s and 60’s. There is a whole history to this jon. The Park does not want another media sensation of another grizzly attack in or near Yellowstone. It would be bad for the Park and it would be bad for grizzlies.
It is too bad they couldn’t relocate them to the River of No Return Wilderness.
There are problems with translocation of bears, however. There was a story back in the 70’s about a translocated black bear in Northern Idaho. They moved it from Coeur d’Alene to the River of No Return Wilderness 300 miles south. Within a couple of months, it was back. It had crossed the Salmon River and canyon, the Clearwater River and canyon and three major moutain ranges and 300 miles to return home and did so in just a couple of months.
So it is not like they can move a bear 50 miles away and solve the problem. They need to be moved far away and it is probably costly to do so. Further, it does not solve the problem of the bear being habituated to humans. Even if they moved it to a very remote area such as Chamberlain Basin, the bear and her cubs may end up around humans again.
Authors can write stories to stir up outrage for the rest of time and people in tune with nature can befriend the grizzly but as soon as gifted humans befriend a grizzly and it becomes habituated to humans, it is a problem and will likely be killed and it will be just as dead as if a hunter had shot it though the heart. Grow up. Face facts.
Bears creeping into Gardiner for food this time of year is an every night occurence, though it’s usually black bears. These particular grizzly bears did not show aggression nor act habituated. They were not euthanized, they are being relocated in the park.
I should also add these grizzlies were not the same ones that were viewed regularly in the park this summer.
I can’t find any stories about a yellowstone bear, but here is a recent story about how a thin 148 pound old bear attacked a man in Washington state and the man lost one of his eyes.
Kudos to this man for saving his dogs from the bear as well as himself.
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/111676–washington-state-man-attacked-by-bear-speaks-out
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/idaho_should_get_out_of_the_business_of_managing_wolves/C41/L41/#comments
http://www.dillonitedaily.com/friday
Could this actually be for real? Rangers chasing a wolf off from a kill in Yellowstone? Or is there something more to the story in an area of Montana (Beaverhead County) prone to hysterics (especially from this little town rag of a paper) when it comes to wolves?
It is cruel and vicious they way wolves kill innocent animals. There was blood in the river! Wolves should be given dry dog food and only be allowed to consume Park animals that Park Rangers first identify as suffering and then that are tranquilized and then euthenized by lethal injection and then administered funeral rights by a non-denominational Christian Minister.
What kind of people are you!? Mike…what do you think?
very weird!!
A single wolf taking down a Bull elk????
I have a hard time believing a single wolf could take down a bull elk. This must be like those coyotes that are always killing adult cattle. This is pure propaganda.
A more complete and unbiased account of the incident is found on the ynet forums. There were 3 wolves present, the elk was injured by another elk, and rangers did remove the carcass:
http://forums.yellowstone.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8160
Hunters locate body where Wyoming rancher went missing
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_ed928f68-cecb-535b-af5d-5f1c27903e42.html
Is this a suspected grizzly attack? Some guy went missing in Yellowstone Park last week too.
I did not know that one sub-species of grizzly bear was already extinct. It went extinct even after it was protected. I think it could easily happen again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_grizzly_bear
I think the people are going extinct in Mexico, too. Humans are a protected species, but the cartels they are some of the worst poachers.
You know that nearly all of the warfare is right along the US border. These young macho men in border towns such as Juarez can go from being uneducated, unskilled, and unemployed bums wandering the streets to being well paid soldiers for a drug lord. That is the real problem. That is, it is a border with wealth and drug addiction on one side and tens of thousands of impoverished young men on the other eager to make a go of it in life.
It seems to me that the US-Mexico border is a little like the Roman-Empire/German-barbarian border in the 4th & 5th centuries. The Roman Empire eventually fell to invasion and mostly migration by the German-barbarians and their warlords into the Empire. After the Romans decided not to civilize Germany in the 1st century, in time, there were more German-barbarians living along the border of the Empire than in the rest of Germany and every time some crisis befell the Empire, they would come charging in until they finally took most of it over collapsing the civilization that, in turn, resulted in the deaths of some 85% of the population. Of the dozen or so cities of over 200,000 people, all but a couple were in ruins by end of the 6th century.
A hope is that the Tea Party will come into power and set up a small but harsh Mexican style goverment run by the wealthy elite that creates a society that is religious, unskilled, uneducated, and impoverished and this disparity of wealth accross the border will be diminished. 🙂
Chimpanzees ‘hunt using spears’ …
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6387611.stm
Californian Condor: New benchmark for endangered condor
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/10/07/california.condor.recovery/index.html
Excuse my language, but look what that this piece of crap Don Peay wants to do.
http://www.mtexpress.com/story_printer.php?ID=2005133546
An undated letter on the Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife’s website from founder Don Peay suggests adopting shelter dogs and buying sheep, staking them out in wolf areas and waiting for the wolves to kill them. Wolves involved in such incidents could then be legally killed by federal agencies.
“When the wolves killed these dogs, [we’d] get the wolves killed,” the letter reads.
Idaho hunters may not be eager to follow Peay’s advice. Ken Enslinger, spokesman for the Magic Valley Chapter of Idaho Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, dismissed the suggestion entirely.
“That’s totally ridiculous,” he said.
Peay’s letter states repeatedly that the suggestion is not just “idle talk,” but pro-wolf groups seem to find the letter as “ridiculous” as Enslinger does.
All I can say is WTF?
It looks like Peay somehow got into a meeting with Harry Reid, and Montana Democrats Jon Tester, Max Baucus.
He wanted House member Chet Edwards wolf delisting bill tacked onto the continuing (budget resolution), but the two Montana Senators said no, or perhaps it was not feasible. Tester and Baucus have a bill I don’t like, but Edwards, a Texas Blue Dog Democrats apparently bound for defeat this year, would delist every kind of wolf everywhere.
Peay was enraged when he didn’t get his way, but a prudent politician would shy away from a person who advocated using live dogs as wolf bait.
It would probably do well for folks to contact Harry Reid. He will still be majority leader in the lame duck session after the election, and my guess next year too. The Democrats are probably going to hold the U.S. Senate. Of course, folks from Nevada will have more clout with him. Though he has been unpopular in Nevada the last 2 years, he is running against one of the nuttiest candidates this year, Sharron Angle.
You can read about Peay here (By Bill Schneider. New West): Leading Sportsman Blasts Montana Senators for Derailing Wolf Delisting. . .Wildlife conservation group says the wolf would already be exempted from the Endangered Species Act if it had not been for Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester.
By Bill Schneider, 10-07-10
Peay is a big goldfish in utah…In Washington, just another used car salesman
Montana says settlement possible in wolf lawsuit
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_0f63d992-d240-11df-8428-001cc4c03286.html
Jon what do you do for a living? I grew up in Billings and I have a want to check the Gazette several times a day. You live in Maine, why in god’s earth would you check the Montana, Wyoming and Idaho papers several times a day.
Besides you missed a very good article in the today’s Gazette about searching for grizzly bears in non grizzly bears areas. Look again.
I have a want as well. Just because I don’t live in Montana or Idaho does not mean I don’t care what goes on there when it comes to wildlife related issues. I have a want as well, probably more so than you do. As for what I do for a living, why do you care? I don’t ask you what you do or anyone else. What I do is none of your business. I check out the missoulian and the billings gazette as well, but I don’t read every single article there posted and I might miss some from time to time.
It wouldn’t surprise me if someone already posted the link, but for some reason I couldn’t access the section of the blog from the end of September. The Wildlife Services kill report reminded me of reading this coyote article a few days ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/science/28coyotes.html?pagewanted=all
Kalispell newspaper report on the meeting informational wolf meeting: http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_4daf03b8-d1c1-11df-b6cc-001cc4c002e0.html
Hi – I received this from friends at GYC – Hope it helps the “Bear Story” going down up north the past couple of days. It’s a word document and I have no idea if I sent it correctly.
Region 3, 1400 S. 19th Avenue, Bozeman, MT 59718
Phone: 406-994-4042; Fax: 406-994-4090; Web: fwp.mt.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCTOBER 7, 2010
Contact: Mel Frost, 406-994-6931
GRIZZLY BEAR SOW AND CUBS CAPTURED NEAR GARDINER
AND RELOCATED TO INTERIOR OF YELLOWSTONE PARK
BOZEMAN—Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologists recently captured and moved a female grizzly bear with two cubs.
The 8-10 year old sow and two cubs of the year were captured after raiding two separate chicken coops near Gardiner, Montana, on Oct. 5. During one of the raids the sow spooked a horse, which ran through a fence causing some injury. The sow showed no aggression toward people.
The three bears were transported to the FWP office in Bozeman so biologists could assess their health and overall condition. The sow was in fair physical condition. The two cubs were small and thin for their age and the time of year. Biologists are uncertain if they will survive the winter given their condition.
FWP Bear Management Specialists Kevin Frey said the sow had no previous management or research history and was not a known bear to officials.
“We have no way of knowing exactly where in the ecosystem this bear came from because she was unmarked,” said Chris Servheen, Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Rumors that the bear was from the Dunraven Pass area of Yellowstone have no factual basis.”
Based on grizzly management guidelines, the condition of the bear, and the nature of the conflict, a joint decision was made by officials from FWP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to relocate the three bears. Yellowstone National Park agreed to allow relocation of the group into the Yellowstone’s interior.
“We hope the sow will stay out of conflict until she dens with the cubs for the winter,” said Frey. “If she returns to a developed area, we will reassess the situation.”
Under recovery program guidelines the bear had not been in enough conflict to warrant removal from the population.
“It is always a difficult decision for managers to balance what’s best for the individual bear, the welfare of the grizzly population as a whole, and public safety,” said Frey.
Frey added that their physical condition is related to the overall successful recovery of a healthy grizzly bear population and increased competition for available resources (i.e., habitat and food). Females with cubs and older-aged bears often lose out to stronger and more dominant bears.
Residents in developed areas can do their part to help avoid conflicts with bears by learning how to minimize residential and backyard food attractants such as garbage, apples, bird feeders, grills, and pet food. To learn more go to FWP’s Be Bear Aware webpage at http://fwp.mt.gov/wildthings/livingWithWildlife/beBearAware/.
I frequently browse this site and am very interested in the wolf issue, despite living far, far away in California. Anyway I have been researching for any sort of information on whether there are any plans in development to reintroduce wolves and grizzlies here in California. Thus far I have been unsuccessful, so I was wondering if any of you guys may know anything. The extinction of the California Grizzly is really such a terrible event, only made worse that it is our state animal. Hopefully that fact would create enough public support for the Grizzly to be introduced in certain areas, likely the N. Mountains and the Southern Sierras. Any information and/or opinions would be great
The Governator bought a bronze grizzly statue in Aspen, Colorado and had it placed outside his office!
I can’t seem to find much on any talk of reintroductions of grizzlies to California but Defenders of Wildlife shows a potential recovery area for wolves on the California/Oregon border.
Yeah I have seen that also. I think the prospect of wolves being reintroduced in California is a little less likely than grizzlies, although I would like to see both make a return. With wolves at least we can possibly expect a natural introduction as wolves spread south through Oregon (hopefully uninhibited).
Grizzlies are reportedly moving west down the Centennial Range towards the Beaverhead Range. From the Bearheads, they will move into central Idaho and the vast River of No Return Wilderness. From there they will continue west to the Seven Devils Range. I assume they could cross Hell’s Canyon and swim the Snake River. From the Wallowas, they could move northwest into the Blue Mountains. Once in the Blues, they could move southwest all the way into south-central Oregon and would probably be able to crossover into the Cascades in the vicinity of Antelope, Oregon. From there they could move into California.
This would all take about a century, however, and grizzlies are already moving down the Cascades from Canada.
Is that preferable, in your opinion, to human reintroduction? Selfishly speaking I would prefer to see it occur in my lifetime, but a more natural introduction may be better.
I would also like to see that in my lifetime. Wolves may do it in my lifetime but probably not grizzlies. I doubt grizzlies could make it to Colorado without human intervention. The Red Desert is too much of a barrier.
Big game outlook for Idaho
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/07/1370089/big-game-outlook-for-idaho.html#disqus_thread
Brian or Ralph, make this a new post, thanks
Federal officials deny Montana’s wolf hunt request
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/7237017.html
Grizzly bear managers to meet in Bozeman
Standard Journal
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — With the Yellowstone ecosystem grizzly bear population estimated at more than 600 bears for the first time since the grizzlies were listed as threatened, a grizzly bear group will talk about recovery and management at a meeting later this month.
[…]
The meeting will be held at the Homewood Suites by Hilton at 1023 Baxter Lane from 1 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 27 and continuing at 8 a.m. through noon on Oct. 28.
There will be time for the public to ask questions after some of the presentations.
Local, state, federal and tribal agencies are represented on the Yellowstone Ecosystem Subcommittee, and Steve Schmidt of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game is chairman of the committee.
The YES committee continues to be pleased that the Yellowstone area grizzly population is doing well, he says in a news release. With a growing bear population comes added challenges. Our committee is focused on minimizing conflicts between grizzly bears and humans and grizzly bears and livestock.
[…]
The male mortality limit for the year has already been exceeded, according to a news release. With more females with cubs, the chances for conflicts are greater once major elk seasons open within the ecosystem. There usually is an increase in defense of life killings in years where there is a poor whitebark pine cone crop such as this year.
Given the similarities to 2008, it is also possible that the female mortality limit could also be exceeded, the news release says.
The meeting also will include a report on the Island Park bear education outreach program and updates on legal maneuverings regarding the grizzly bear.
Thanks Pointswest,
I had meant to post this.
I just heard on the local news USFWS denied Montanas request for a “conservatiion wolf hunt”
timz,
That is what jon’s comment above is about.
Federal officials deny Montana’s wolf hunt request
Sorry,should have looked. Got a little rush from the good news.
Hopefully Idahos request will meet the same fate.
Six accused of illegally picking 5,000 pounds of bear food — saw palmetto berries
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-palmetto-berries-arrests-black-bea20101007,0,3555960.story
Grizzly is safely removed from West Yellowstone neighbourhood
http://www.westyellowstonenews.com/news/article_68172f62-d2c2-11df-9a9f-001cc4c002e0.html
Lions (in Kenya) may be extinct in 20 years:
http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/lions-could-be-extinct-in-20-years-1.683161
This is sad news Peter. It would seem animals all over the globe can’t catch a break when it comes to farming and ranching.
Another grizzly issue
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_5b4112fe-d307-11df-a802-001cc4c002e0.html
That is four attacts so far this year in the GYE by my count.
1) Kitty Creek
2) Soda Butte Campground
3) Gravely Range
4) This one.
Am I missing any?
There were two attacts in the Gravely Range.
Yup…those are some hungry and cranky bears out there this year.
This article says there were two attacks in the Gravelly Range within one week….
http://www.examiner.com/bear-spray-in-national/two-grizzly-bear-attacks-on-hunters-one-week-the-worst-is-yet-to-come
…so there have been five so far this year in the GYE. This might be a record. I think the most that has ocurred in one year prior to this is four.
And this is not even counting Sahra Palin, the Mama Grizzly!
It’s the attack of the last one that would heave you in sorry shape. 😉
“it would take day’s for one of these flocks to pass over”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101006120134.htm
Ever since I was a kid I was fascinated by the passenger pigeon. It is incredible to think of their numbers. Some estimates say that at the time they made up 25% of the entire US bird population. Their nesting colonies were huge. They had an impact on the environment due to their large numbers. Trees and limbs would go down due to the weight of so many nests in a tree. The droppings in these nesting colonies fertilized and changed the pH of the soils. They also killed the vegetation. They could change old dense hardwood forests into early successional habitat with alot of snags that benefitted different types of wildlife than the mature forests did. Now all we have left are towns, lakes, creeks, and mountains named after this bird. We lost more than a species, we lost a key component of the eastern forest ecosystem.
Its interesting that the book 1491 presents a very different picture of the history of the passenger pigeon, arguing that the numbers seen in the 1800s represented a freak population irruption of a species that was normally found in low density througout most of history. I don’t have the book here to directly cite evidence but seem to recall it was based mainly on lack of remains of the bird throughout most of the record in excavated middens, etc. left by early people within its range.
Wildlife services spotting??
-Red unmarked pickup
-ATV in back
-Riflecase on ATV
-US Govt Plates
Ten miles further down the road an IDFG truck with telemetry equipment parked on the side of road… This was this morning on Deep Creek Rd west of Salmon, ID. IDFG was up Panther Creek a few miles from Deep Creek.
It’s easy to spot an unmarked WS agent in his rig.
The skunks are running like hell the other way….
That is some rugged, remote, and roadless country to be hunting wolves off from an ATV. Why would not the WS have their own telemetry equipment? When they decide to kill wolves, don’t they either trap them or shoot them from helicopters.
These aren’t policy issues, but here are a couple of interesting local news stories in today’s paper. One is the publication of a 140 page book on Romeo, the black wolf that was here for 6-7 years. OK, 140 pages on one wolf is a bit much, but the wolves that have replaced him are showing people perhaps a much more typical urban wolf experience (pet snatching and food habituation) that stands in sharp contrast to his interest in dogs as companions, while completely ignoring people and apparently fending for himself in the Mendenhall Glacier area on everything from voles to salmon and beaver to deer. He may have been an outlier in the wolf world but stood as an example that they are individuals and not all the same.
The second story is about a family boating down Stephens Passage south of here on Sunday that encountered four desperate button bucks (yearlings) swimming but out of energy and close to drowning. Rather than limit out and head for home, the guy took them all on board live, revived and released them at Taku Harbor. Most people here love their wildlife. Some great photos.
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/100810/out_717574483.shtml
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/100810/out_717573934.shtml
An article in the Dillonite Daily today:
Federal Officials Deny Wolf Hunt
Federal officials have denied Montana’s request to hunt endangered gray wolves in response to the predators’ increasing attacks on livestock and big-game herds.
The state hoped to use a loophole in the federal Endangered Species Act and hold a “conservation hunt” for up to 186 wolves this fall.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Deputy Director Daniel Ashe denied the request Thursday, saying that his agency supports sport hunting of wolves, but would not expect approval of Montana’s proposal to survive a legal challenge.
A federal judge in August restored wolves in Montana and Idaho to the endangered species list following a lawsuit from environmentalists.
In light of the fact, that some individuals hunters and stockmen sometimes open their own season.
This means that Guy Terrill and Graeme McDougal will have another season in the air.
This article…
http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=6545
…says there was another bear “incident” near Dead Indian Pass near Cody Wyoming (near the bottom of the article).
Is this a 6th grizzly attack or was this a black bear? I cannot find any news on it.
pointswest,
Maybe they updated the story, but now it says it was a grizzly bear. “Grizzly bites hunter on biceps.”
The article is about the man who had a bite on his biceps but they mention an earlier attach near Dead Indian Pass that resulted only in minor abrassions. They mention this near the bottom of the article. They do not state if the bear in this 2nd incident is black or grizzly.
Grizzly is safely removed from West Yellowstone neighborhood
http://www.westyellowstonenews.com/news/article_68172f62-d2c2-11df-9a9f-001cc4c002e0.html
As much as I complain about living with grizzly problems, this article makes me miss West Yellowstone. I’m not sure how I would feel about sending my kids to school there, however.
That old boar in the photo looks like he could use a hug…jon?
I think they killed this 15-year-old bear…according to this story…
http://www.examiner.com/bear-spray-in-national/officials-kill-another-yellowstone-grizzly-bear
…a bear was killed in West Yellowstone. It says it was too old and would probably not survive.
Age-wise, 15 is not really very old for a brown-grizzly bear, although I guess it is if they’ve lived a rough life — just early aging in humans. There is apparently a sow that frequents a bear-viewing area on Admiralty that is known to be in her early 30s. I knew a very distinctive sow, both in appearance (beautiful strawberry blond upper body and snow-white ears) and behavior, for about 20 years. I haven’t run into her in about 5-years, but occasionally see her traits (color and boldness) in other bears in the area.
We may lose the Mekong River to dams. This is one of the last great free flowing rivers in the world. Laos may dam the Mekong. Why? …for hydropower (period). Laos, with prodding from Western interests, wants to dam the Mekong knowing that it will threaten many species of fish and change a way of life for millions of people all for $80 million worth of hydropower a year. Its sick! Meg Whitman has spent $140 million of her own money on her run for California Governor, she is not done spending yet, and she’s going to lose.
Here’s the other thing: although hydropower on the Mekong might produce $80 million in revenue, the dam construction and financing need to be paid for and damming the river will cause economic loss to thousands of peasants along the Mekong in Laos who may depend on the river, though tourism, and/or fish. The total economic loss may be greater than $80 million. Amid the thousands of losers, there are two main beneficiaries, the Laos government and the Western corporations who will finance and build the dam. It’s sick.
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2010/s3030225.htm
What a shame — there must be an Asian Floyd Dominy (a name my mother cursed when I was a child for reasons I didn’t fully understand). That’s one thing I don’t miss about the 60’s and early 70’s, the heartbreaking big dam and water projects in this country. I wish I could find her Bureau of Reclamation brochure promoting the Rampart Dam, including new recreational opportunities (photo of somebody water-skiing). It would have flooded seven villages, wiped out Yukon Flats waterfowl nesting (drastically reducing flights in the Pacific flyway), and wiped out probably 65-70% of the Yukon Chinook run (including world’s longest migrating stocks – 2,300 miles) and fall chums in the entire upper system — while the immense resulting lake would have changed the climate of interior Alaska. And, as with many of the big water projects, the major pushers were Democrats, primarily senator Ernest Gruening who wanted to make Anchorage an aluminum capital!!! It was said Anchorage couldn’t survive without the power past 1975. The specter of Rampart Dame (along with Project Chariot that would have constructed a harbor at Point Hope for people with nothing but portable walrus-skin boats, using 5 atmospheric nuclear detonations) was what finally prompted a few people in the state to organize an environmental group. In desperation, they pointed to Devils Canyon on the Susitna, much closer and an apparent salmon barrier, and it was studied for years and finally rejected. Anchorage still seems to be doing just fine after adding more local high lake hydro taps, etc.
It’s one thing we forget when we expect Democrats to put the environment at a high priority. They have a history of selling their souls to unions and grand water projects promoting short-term employment over the environment and existing farm land, just as Republican party’s soul is largely owned by private wealth/corporate interests. It’s at least one silver lining in the nation’s fiscal problems that projects like these are no longer seriously considered . . . .
Dam projects, at least those that block the course of a river, are probably about over in the US. They really do not make sense and many built should never have been built. Everyone in the civil engineering profession knows this, including everyone the Bureau of Reclamation. Most future dams and reservoirs built in the US will be off-stream sotrage where they find some basin away from the river to store water.
Even the large Three Gorges Dam in China was controversial. It was estimated that it would be 80% silted in in a century or something like that. Silting is a real problem. Engineers can trap and then route silt through tunnels, but I doubt they will do this in Laos. I’ll be it is only a short term gain for some western corporation.
They may, eventually, need to build a bypass tunnel at Lake Mead since it is silting in. Silt is also important below dams. After dams are built, the rivers will start eroding down into a channel since there is no longer any silt load from upstream being deposited. When the river erodes into a channel, it drops the water table in the riparian zone and all the trees in the river bottom die. A dam can completely change the ecology of a river for hundreds of miles downstream.
I can see, in some cases, storing water for agriculture but that is not reason for damming the Mekong. It is only for hydropower and this power could just as easily come from a nuclear power plant. Crazy.
Pointswest –
I agree, that choice would turn me into a fanatic proponent for nuclear power, like those Fusion Energy Foundation guys who hung out in the Seattle airport in the 1970s and would step right out in front of you with their signs “Sir, are you for nuclear power? We need it!”.
Actually, I’m not categorically against hydropower, even new projects. This city is isolated from the continental power grid and gets all its electricity from very low impact high elevation lake taps. The very first lake tap in the world was done here in about 1912 and still makes a substantial contribution, and a substantial new tap was brought online a year ago. But it only works well where you’ve got enough precipitation and topography. Our household isn’t even on that grid — we have our own micro-hydro system on a small, steep creek next to the house that provides all the normal conforts of home. We were glad for it a couple of years ago when avalanches took out five transmission towers all at once and put the town on emergency diesel backup for months at 5 times the $rate. Now, if I could just figure out how to use the surplus to produce hydrogen and use it in our outboard!
I predict that what we will see is solar panels at the home on the roof or as a patio or car port cover. They are getting more efficient and there are new battery technologies on the horizon that will really give solar a boost. People will be able to easily and economically collect and store their own power. With a battery, they can pay dump power prices instead of peak power prices even if they do occasionally need to pull power from the grid.
I think in five or ten years, anyone outside of a town or city can be off the grid. Rural Power is subsidized (like anything else for farmers and ranchers) by the feds or it would otherwise not be economical. I wonder how many anti-communist farmers and ranchers know the power lines that run 15 miles out to the ol’ farmhouse are heavily subsidized by the Fed.
🙂
You’re right, local sunlight is the most widely available energy source – just not as available here – and should be used and converted locally. System size and costs can be greatly reduced by designing in onservation which is getting more and more feasible with new lighting, etc. Our full-size Sunfrost refrigerator uses about 15-20% the power of a conventional refrigerator produced 10 years ago, although I think regular ones have improved substantially since then. Even when our system clogs and overdrafts (or if the grid went down in an urban setting) there is no urgency as we have days of battery storage.
The electric cars are coming onto the market this year. They all use Lithium-ion batteries that slowly decay. They will only hold 75% of their charge after about 5 years when people will need to trade them in. This means that there will be thousands of used Li-ion batteries on the market in a few years for pennies on the dollar. The second half of the battery life will last much longer than the first half…like maybe 10 to 20 years. One could buy up four or five of these used Li-ion batteries to store power for their house. They’re not that big. You could stick four or five of these batteries in a crawlspace under the house or in the attic or in a shed. A house in the country could easily be off the grid with some solar panels and a windmill with a few used Li-ion batteries.
I have been thinking of starting a company that designs and install some such system using solar, wind, and used Li-ion batteries. If some improved battery does come along (and I think it will) you could switch over to that. But the used Li-ion batteries that will soon be on the market will work fine for many years and will not cost that much.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013124846_apusidahosbatteredseaport1stldwritethru.html?prmid=related_stories_section
Is the Port of Lewiston really worth it? I bet they want that refinery equipment coming through their port pretty badly at this point.
Daniel Berg,
There has been a long running debate in Idaho and Eastern Washington whether a seaport at Lewiston, Idaho was worth it.
Its creation caused a huge amount of damage to fisheries and employment, although it created short term construction employment.
I’d say it was a classic 1950s-thinking pork barrel project. I think most folks in Lewiston are happy for a seaport and keep hoping for some activity at the port. Those who were damaged moved away or died.
Support for the Lewiston seaport falls off as you move away in distance. Idaho’s politicians, especially the backward thinkers, support the port.
Apparently even the director of the Utah DWR can’t follow the law. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=12759817 . But its OK because he turned himself in,right? I want to know why anyone hunts Sage Grouse in the first place because they are said to have such a strong flavor from eating almost nothing but sagebrush that they are inedible? I guess they just like to kill stuff.
Bryanto
++I want to know why anyone hunts Sage Grouse in the first place because they are said to have such a strong flavor from eating almost nothing but sagebrush that they are inedible? I guess they just like to kill stuff.++
Have you ever eaten a sage grouse? I bet that you have not. I went sage grouse hunting yesterday. I did not see or get any; I walked about 3 miles in the sage sea overlooking the Cennenital Valley just me and my little Spanish built 28 gauge side by side. Had a great walk. I have eaten sage grouse many times and they are not my favorite but they are ok eating. Blue grouse is my favorite.
I like sage grouse and have eaten it many times, of course you have to cook it properly, but if roasted correctly it makes quite a nice meal..
I’ve never had sage grouse, but like the hint of sage that comes through in pronghorn. We do most of our blue grouse hunting in the spring after they’ve been up in trees all winter eating just about nothing but spruce needles and I think they’re great, one is a good meal for two (with some leftovers for lunch). We’ve even cooked up a couple for Thanksgiving instead of turkey. I do, however, carry a couple of reduced 30-06 loads while deer hunting now and pick up the occasional blue that’s down eating berries, and they’re even better than spring birds.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html
If you ever wondered about how the livestock industry and mining industry evolved into what they are today in regards to the sense of superiority over everyone else just loook to history,
Amen. The Native Americans celebrate an “Anti-columbus Day” They recognize truth our society chooses to either hide, belittle as myth, obfuscate, or wrongly celebrate. It’s time we pulled our collective head out of our hind-ends and faced the world and our (and our ancestors’) crimes against humanity that we have been lying ~ to ourselves and others ~about to prove our self appointed superiority. And Americans are so shocked when these lies are exposed…
Have you read any history books? Conqueoring, genocide, and taking of land have been going on since the start of time. No reason to start apologizing for it now, espicially when no one alive today had anything to do with it.
Once again Ryan you completely miss the point.
No surprise there.
However just to make what I am sure is a wasted attempt I will try.
October 11 is Columbus day, so it seemed a good day to make an observation about a particular mindset that persists throughout the history of this country, (and yes other country’s, but try to focus), that being that a value is assigned an enterprise and because that enterprise is backed by superior military might, or money, or political influence,or all of the above, such enterprise becomes “acceptable” and is “sanitized” so as to deflect any chance of negative reaction that may some how jeopardize the continuation of such enterprise(s). And anything that stands in the way be damned.
The threads of that mindset are certainly traceable throughout the history of the vast majority of cultures on this planet, however would that make such mindset right? Within history or now? and that mindset is more than evident in the two enterprises I referenced; the livestock industry and the mining industry. Today the weapon of choice just happens to be money in the form of buying politicians, and IMO is more than on display by the regions politicians concerning the subject at hand; wolves.
anyway I could continue but am sure that it would be lost on the immediate audience, so humbly decline.
As an aside I peruse history as a passion, just not the sanitized version.
you may possibly want to give it a try.
(Columbus was a miserable son-of-a bitch; even by the standards of that time)
Without taking a side on this, why was Columbus Day established anyway?
So the Bankers and Postal employees could have another day off.
Ralph there was a link yesterday on this blog which was very interesting about Columbus; he was a son of a bitch. The Knights of Columbus wanted the holiday and in the 1930’s the holiday became law. I do like the day off but I have never been impressed with Columbus. In grade school we all had to sing the “Ocean Blue” song and remember the three ships. I remember the three ship question on a test.
Elk275
I remember something like that too in grade school.
In 1934 the Knights of Columbus were looking for a Catholic hero to be honored in this country and as a Powerful lobby group successfully lobbied congress and the president to establish the federal holiday now known as Columbus day. (paraphrased from the article)
http://www.ktvb.com/news/Hunting-sales-soar-amid-recession-104675704.html
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/10/09/20101009wolfrelease1009.html
I wonder why that link came out like that…
This whole issue is baffling! The USFWS has allowed the AZFG to take the focus off the wolves once again. I thought this was suppose to be about the wolves! It always turns into a ranching or hunting issue! What a disaster
USFWS delays release of wolves along Arizona-N.M. border until next year
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the planned release of eight Mexican gray wolves in the wilderness along the Arizona-New Mexico border planned within the next few weeks would not take place until sometime next year.
Arizona Republic (AP); Oct. 9
Taken from a regular column of the September 2010 issue of Africa Geographic Magazine:
The influence of trophy hunting (mostly by Americans – my comment!) on the population of the African lion. The column itself is not online but the full reference article “Sport Hunting, Predator Control and Conservation of Large Carnivores” is available at … http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0005941
There is some comparison of numbers and facts with the North American cougar population in it and a lot of reference material is linked to this article – interesting to read and discuss.
I’ve read this article before.. Its basically a theory article with no facts. For example Oregon, which basically has no closed season for cougars with only a quota season, has nearly double the population of cats it had 15 years ago. No where in strong range (not fringe areas) are cougar populations in trouble. There are some interesting non hunting related factors that affect his theories trends in African lions.
“No where in strong range (not fringe areas) are cougar populations in trouble.”
Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case (see abstract below). Note: “Sportsmen” for Fish & Wildlife have continually pushed for increased cougar harvest in Utah DESPITE documented population declines. I have spoken with employees and former and employees of the UDWR that admitted that this group, and Don Peay in particular, have kept up intense political pressure to reduce cougar populations to (ostensibly) increase hunting opportunities. Please note: this is the same group that has vehemently opposed wolves in the state, supports predator “derbies” to reduce populations, and worked to sabotage Utah’s wolf management plan.
The picture you paint is overly rosy, Ryan.
Stoner et al (2006) Cougar Exploitation Levels in Utah: Implications for Demographic Structure, Population Recovery, and Metapopulation Dynamics. Journal of Wildlife Management 70(6):1588-1600.
Abstract:
Currently, 11 western states and 2 Canadian provinces use sport hunting as the primary mechanism for managing cougar (Puma concolor) populations. Yet the impacts of sustained harvest on cougar population dynamics and demographic structure are not well understood. We evaluated the effects of hunting on cougar populations by comparing the dynamics and demographic composition of 2 populations exposed to different levels of harvest. We monitored the cougar populations on Monroe Mountain in south-central Utah, USA, and in the Oquirrh Mountains of north-central Utah from 1996 to 2004. Over this interval the Monroe population was subjected to annual removals ranging from 17.6–51.5% (mean ± SE = 35.4 ± 4.3%) of the population, resulting in a >60% decline in cougar population density. Concurrently, the Oquirrh study area was closed to hunting and the population remained stationary. Mean age in the hunted population was lower than in the protected population (F = 9.0; df = 1, 60.3; P = 0.004), and in a pooled sample of all study animals, females were older than males (F = 13.8; df = 1, 60.3; P < 0.001). Females from the hunted population were significantly younger than those from the protected population (3.7 vs. 5.9 yr), whereas male ages did not differ between sites (3.1 vs. 3.4 yr), suggesting that male spatial requirements may put a lower limit on the area necessary to protect a subpopulation. Survival tracked trends in density on both sites. Levels of human-caused mortality were significantly different between sites (χ2 = 7.5; P = 0.006). Fecundity rates were highly variable in the protected population but appeared to track density trends with a 1-year lag on the hunted site. Results indicate that harvest exceeding 40% of the population, sustained for ≥4 years, can have significant impacts on cougar population dynamics and demographic composition. Patterns of recruitment resembled a source–sink population structure due in part to spatially variable management strategies. Based on these observations, the temporal scale of population recovery will most likely be a function of local harvest levels, the productivity of potential source populations, and the degree of landscape connectivity among demes. Under these conditions the metapopulation perspective holds promise for broad-scale management of this species.
“Results indicate that harvest exceeding 40% of the population, sustained for ≥4 years, can have significant impacts on cougar population dynamics and demographic composition.”
JB,
Not to be a smart ass, but no shit removing up to 51% of the cougar population in a unit causes the population to go down. There is a large population of them in Oregon, Washington, ID, MT, and other states. No where in their established core range is there any worry about ESA listing etc. SFW may want to keep the population at lower levels than you want. (thats also not a suprise) but they are not in danger of being listed in any state currently.
Who said anything about endangered species protections? You said: “No where in strong range… are cougar populations in trouble.” The term “trouble” leaves some room for interpretation to be sure, but I would say substantial population declines under agency-directed managed with continued political pressure to further reduce populations constitutes “trouble” no matter what your definition.
JB,
Whats your definition of trouble?
I personally don’t see their populations being in trouble anywhere. The population getting cut back in certain areas, while not liked, is still controlled and doesn’t put the population as a whole, or even statewide at risk. I would surmise that the overall cougar population west of the missippi is 10 fold what it was 50 to 75 years ago.
If I used the example above about over hunting and replaced the human factor with wolves and mentioned elk in place of cougars, and focused on herds that were going down in population in areas. The hair on you back would stand on end and you’d be ready to tell me how wrong I am. That being said herds may be going down in population in areas due in some part to, but I wouldn’t say that the elk population overall is in “trouble”. Same as I wouldn’t say the cat population is in trouble.
Ryan:
The difference is that in millions of years of evolution wolves never managed to kill off elk in North America. This is especially notable given the substantial array of large carnivores that were on the ground in what we now consider the West some 8,000 to 20,000 years ago. In contrast, the list of species that humans managed to kill off (or nearly so) in North America is staggering. Moreover, we managed this feat in extremely short order. Thus, while I don’t see short-term population reductions associated with large carnivores problematic, I see concerted efforts to locally kill off large carnivores by politically powerful interest groups to be more than a little bit troubling.
JB,
So what your saying is that you have a moral issue with predator control, but I would also venture that when push came to shove, you’d agree that modern wildlife managers wouldn’t put cougars in threat of extinction, they haven’t in 50 years. Then again cougars are like the coyotes of the big cats.
That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m saying the only legitimate threat to large carnivore populations in the US is human beings–we have proven that we can effectively and efficiently wipe predators from the landscape, and that is exactly what interest groups such as the SFW would have us do again. SFW’s (Don Peay really) political clout in Utah should not be underestimated.
Frankly, the same could be said for wolves in Idaho. The politicians of that state (including its wildlife commission) do not want wolves and are doing everything they can to make sure wolf populations are removed (or at the very least, minimized).
And to be clear. You are dead wrong in your claim that this article is “basically a theory with no facts”. The article used real data on population trends as well as some simulation modeling to help better understand the effect of hunting pressure on certain large carnivores.
“Over the past 25 yrs, the steepest declines in cougar and lion harvests occurred in jurisdictions with the highest harvest intensities (Fig. 3a). Similarly, hunting blocks with the highest lion offtakes per 1000 km2 in Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve showed the steepest declines between 1996 and 2008 (r2 = 0.26, n = 45 blocks, P = 0.0004). The Selous is the largest uninhabited hunting area in Africa (55,000 km2) and has long been the premier destination for lion trophies. Across jurisdictions, declining harvests were unrelated to habitat loss for either lions or cougars (Fig. 3b) or to snow conditions for cougars. We modified our population simulation models to estimate impacts of sport hunting in a changing environment and found that habitat loss only imposes an additive effect on the impact of trophy hunting (Supporting Information Fig. S4). Note that habitat loss in many African nations has been so extensive (Fig. 3b) that lion offtakes have failed to recover for 10–20 yrs following the peak harvest years except in Namibia.”
NOTE: This article isn’t “anti-hunting”, but rather is suggesting that hunting will not always work as a conservation strategy for large carnivores–particularly those that are prone to kill off the offspring of their competitors (e.g. African lions, and cougars).
Wolves Off-Limits To Hunters This Season
http://www.kxly.com/news/25360903/detail.html
“I don’t think that they should have brought the wolves back in the first place,” sportsman Bryce McTavisch said. “As a lover of animals and the outdoors, I think everything has its place. The wolves, we got rid of them, they were hunted out and everything. There may have been a reason for that like natural selection.”
Everything has its place, but not wolves according to this animal loving hunter.
I wonder when Mr Mctavisch’s book will be coming out. I think everything has it’s place, followed by except wolves! What a loon!
The strangest thing about all of this is that there are people who actually believe that human-powered exterminations are comparable to natural selection.
Do not sacrifice wildness for extremism on wolves
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_9024b238-d2fc-11df-82b4-001cc4c002e0.html
Wolves are not running for political office. They are wild animals seeking to regain their rightful place in the Northern Rockies ecosystem. As such, scientific facts should dictate wolf management policies, not political agendas. As a matter of fact, the terms “liberal” and “conservative” have no place in the wolf argument, though these terms are thrown around more often than productive discourse on the matter.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8056289/New-carnivore-discovered-in-Madagascar-and-she-doesnt-look-very-happy-about-it.html
So many interesting animals and plants on Madagascar resulting from continental and genetic drift. Good to hear of a new species rather than another loss.
Wolves: Rehberg endorsing breaking law
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_dd7aab8c-d608-11df-a10e-001cc4c03286.html
A GREAT article.
Death Cults Among Us
The War on Wolves
http://www.counterpunch.org/genovali10122010.html
The aforementioned points reflect a disturbing but common trait among provincial, state and federal “environmental” agencies in jurisdictions throughout North America – specifically, an obsessive predilection that drives wildlife managers to reflexively default to the oxymoronic tactic of conservation-by-killing. Given the evidence (i.e., the body count), coming to the conclusion that government agencies which “manage” wildlife essentially operate as death cults is not difficult. Countless policies are designed to harm or kill wildlife, particularly large carnivores. The euphemisms used to describe and camouflage such killing – e.g., “cull”, “harvest,” “control” – speak volumes about the underpinning philosophy (i.e., the so-called North American Wildlife Management Model) of these agencies.
“i.e., the so-called North American Wildlife Management Model”
Jon,
If this is so fuckin horrible, then why do we have some of the highest total animal populations for any developed country?
“If this is so fuckin horrible, then why do we have some of the highest total animal populations for any developed country?”
Thanks Ryan. Glad to see you realize that predators aren’t cutting into big game populations.
RH
“Thanks Ryan. Glad to see you realize that predators aren’t cutting into big game populations.”
RH,
Really, I said that where? The truth is that they are a factor and can create downturns in game populations in some cases and do require control measures.
Words like “require” and “need”, in this context, are value statements.
You know what bothers me? Labels.
It’s human nature to label things. But it damages critical thinking.
Labeling elk as game animals devalues their importance to the ecosystems. Game animal? Just there to be hunted right?
Heck, even this community does it to itself. Hunters vs. non-hunters. Liberals vs. conservatives. so on and so forth. And it’s easy to dismiss people who aren’t part of your group.
Lets not label. Not the animals, and not people. If you look at the animal as an Elk, you are more likely to see its value.
“Death Cults Among Us. The War on Wolves.” Written by Chris Genovali and Camilla Fox at: counterpunch.org/genova/110122010.html (excellent article on the consequences of the war on wolves)
Article on Mexican Wolves.
http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/live_news_detail.asp?id=5633
Idaho Fish & Game Director Among Elk Hunters Questioned for Trespassing
Cal Groen says he was butchering elk during his personal time on private property previously OK’d for access by his hunting party.
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/idaho_fish_game_director_among_elk_hunters_questioned_for_trespassing/C41/L41/
Ask First!
Let me tell you what Cal Groen did at the Kellogg IDFG meeting. Before the meeting started, he clearly read my and my friends shirts, which labeled us as pro wolf advocates; immediately got up from the table, walked right past us to the group BEHIND us and extended his hand to them, with the statement “welcome… you guys elk hunters? wolf hunters?…” and proceeeding to make friendly chit-chat with them. He made it undeniably clear his dislike of us. So I, for one, have no sympathy for him. He’s breaking the very rules he is in charge up upholding, yet if you read the comments after the article in the paper, alot of them were along the lines of “oh well-it happens”
and “no big deal” ?!?!?!
Railway spearheads effort to save grizzlies in Banff National Park
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/prairies/railway-spearheads-effort-to-save-grizzlies-in-banff-national-park/article1755954/
The Guy Idaho Ranchers Love to Hate
Jon Marvel sees two ways to get cows and sheep to stop grazing on public lands: Politics and litigation. He chooses the latter.
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_guy_idaho_ranchers_love_to_hate/C619/L619/
Top 10 land barons. More than a few with considerable holdings in the West.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/14/the-biggest-landowners-in_n_762628.html#s155736
http://coyotes-wolves-cougars.blogspot.com/2010/10/south-dakota-takes-sane-approach-to.html
South Dakota takes a sane approach to lion hunting banning the use of dogs in the hunt——however, when you hear that there are 225 cougars in the State and they want that number culled to 175………………you really wonder about us as a species……ok to have a million plus humans in South Dakota, but not ok to have 225 lions???????????We are out of control arrogant in our regard for other predators right to keep a toehold on this Planet
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7614259/Dancing-polar-bears-one-of-40-best-nature-photographs-of-all-time.html
Protection for Bull Trout Expanded in the West
Good for wildlife, bad for ranchers and loggers.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9IQCNF03.htm
Texas Department of Agriculture Launches Program to Eradicate Wild Hogs
http://www.prweb.com/releases/HogVideo/TXFB/prweb4649434.htm
nearly 2 million wild hogs in Texas.
Good, they are a BIG problem in Texas..
sb, have you hunted hogs before?
Several times, down in the southern part of the US, in fact, I am hoping to head down to TN in a couple of weeks to hunt them again, Why?
Pelt incentive programme: , means: Coyote mass killing in Nova Scotia.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/camilla-fox/kill-for-cash-coyotes-tar_b_763593.html
Nice photo attached!
But if they didn’t continue with the mass killing how would the degenerate in the photos finish siding his structure with animal carcasses! Priorities!
Think it´s their way of insulating a building. They are just environment friendly :-))
One time I wanted to know how much money fur trappers made back in the 1830. I had one source that mentioned how many beaver pelts several trappers sold and how much they sold them for, and while I do not recall the specifics, I mulitplied the income per pelt by the number of pelts each trapper sold, and converted to current dollar value. Fur trappers in the GYE typically made between $200,000 and $400,000 per season in the 1830’s. It explained why so many were willing to suffer the hardships and risk their lives.
How many actually had anything when the fur traded ended. It is similar to today’s housing and mortgage crisis. Five years ago everyone thought that there house made them rich, where are those people today? Builders, real estate agents, subdivider’s, and mortgage brokers are broke and in chapter 11 then chapter 7. Foreclosures, bankruptcy and homes that the mortgagor owes more on than they are worth is legacy of yesterday’s foolishness. Fur trappers foolishness was whiskey at the Green River Rendezvous; I wonder how many trappers left the rendezvous with much more that a headache, enough powder and shot and supplies for the next season and maybe a new STD.
It reminds me of the Alaska Pipeline. Workers who were making a $1.60 frying tacos or working in a gas station now were making $12 an hour. They never had that much money before and when they left most of it was left in “foolishness”, I was there
At least a third of the trappers never made it out of the Rockies alive. We really can only guess since we only have written accounts of a few. Russell Osborne got religion after being shot up with arrows by the Blackfoot on Yellowstone Lake. He finally moved back east and was severely injured by a black powder blast while constructing a mill. It sounds like he saved some money. William Sublette retied after being wounded by the Blackfoot in the Battle of Pierre’s Hole (present day Driggs) but it sounds like he retired a wealthy man. The city of Sublette, Kansas is named after him. Joe Meek later was prominent in settling the Northwest and became the first Governor of Oregon.
I suspect that there were hundreds of young adventurous men that trapped the Rockies for a few years and went home fairly wealthy men. Many probably squandered their money as they probably entered the trapping business at 19 and retired at 23. Not many 23-year-olds are wise investors or good money mangers, but they found their adventure trapping and almost certainly enjoyed their money…while it lasted.
I think many enjoyed their free-wheeling days in the Wild West with thier Indian wives so much that they could not re-adjust to a paltry civilized life.
BBC Wildlife Magazine reports in the current print issue, that Band-e-Amir National Park has been established in Afghanistan, in the “safe” province of Bamiyan (remember, this is the site of the ancient Buddha statues, blown up by the Taliban). It is said the park area still contains leopards, brown bears, wolves, as well as a species of wild sheep.
Garbage-eating grizzly bear captured in Gardiner, euthanized
http://www.krtv.com/news/garbage-eating-grizzly-bear-captured-in-gardiner-euthanized/
I still think we need to enlarge Yellowstone Park and/or create some wildlife preserves where different rules apply inside and outside. Inside, towns like Gardner or West Yellowstone could be fenced off and residents on private land outside of towns would need to take every precaution to prevent bears from finding food. They could be given some finacial support to bear-proof their property but also be fined if they fail to obey ordinances to keep human food from bears. Some of the private land my be bought out or be be forced out with grandfather rights over the next couple of centuries.
Island Park, Idaho that ajoins Yellowstone, should be included in an expanded Yellowstone. It would be better for the local economy as a wildlife sancuary than allowing it to be the tree-farm/cattle-ranch that it is now.
That’s not such a bad idea, better than some I’ve heard.
You know, that elderly bear that was trapped, so the news article claims, in West Yellowstone was actually euthanized too, I knew it when I saw the front end loader heading to the location of all the commotion. Seems that anything that wanders out of the park is killed nowadays. Hunters wait at the borders to kill whatever they’re hunting, elk, deer, moose, wolves. Bears get in trouble just by being seen anymore. Stupid humans have some false sense of total security and entitlement and expect that no harm will or should come to them regardless of how stupid they are or behave. For them, guns are the usual answer, “just kill it”. That solution doesn’t require them to use any more energy in the thought process, which seems to be the goal in many cases. If it’s easy/convenient for the moment, think no further, just do it; if it takes some time and effort to come up with the best solution, most will revert to the easy way out, which often involves the use of guns or killing whatever they are confronted with. It’s a superior species we are defending here… The thought of humans being the offense in these cases is out of the question… we’re all victims of something so we have to defend ourselves. It’s a sad time for most of the life-forms on this planet, thanks to human victimhood….
Garbage eating..Gardiner should enforce the bear proof containers. Why animals have to pay the price for the humans ignorance..what is it going to take to start thinking that animals were the area before us and cows..
I know. These bears are dying because of human irresponsibility and nothing is happening to these people who are responsible for these bears dying. There should be huge fines and perhaps even jail time. As I said before, you know this world has truly gone to hell when the life of a cow or sheep is worth more than that of native wildlife. Native wildlife should always be put above livestock and cattle as being much more important and valuable. Not to say that cows, sheep, etc are worthless, but they are not wildlife and they are certainly not native.
And bears were here before us, but that doesn’t seem to matter to some. Humans are a selfish and ignorant breed.
That is actually not true jon. Humans migrated into American about 17 thousand years ago while grizzly and black bears did not migrate until 13500 years ago. Sorry.
Pointswest:
Where are you getting your information on bears?
“Fossil evidence indicates that black bears have been present in North America for at least 3 Myr…”
Wooding & Ward. 1997. Phylogeography and pleistocene evolution in the North American black bear. Molecular Biol. Evol. 14(11):1096-1105.
Pointswest, do you intend on answering jb?
Bad news for the first wolf reintroduced in the US:
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/10/feds-investigate-killings-endangered-nc-red-wolves#rfq
Public comment period for the ESA coverage plan on Washington’s wildlife areas.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/lands/landline/
Idaho officials deny Rehberg claim state will ignore wolf protections
http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_f5fe2fae-d8d7-11df-8f2e-001cc4c002e0.html
But the comments didn’t sit well with Ben Lamb of the Montana Wildlife Federation, one of the state’s largest hunting and conservation groups.
“It kind of makes us look like mouth-breathing rednecks here,” Lamb said. “And it gives credence to everything the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and Defenders of Wildlife say about the hunting community. It really polarizes the issue.”
Yeti (the Russian Bigfoot) is on the move after this years forest fires:
http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/10/11/25362914.html
Before the 88 Yellowstone fires the Park fielded “good” Big Foot sightings about every other year. After the fires it was ten years before the next.
I watched one from above, with it starting from about 50 yards away running through meadows and zig zagging from one sub alpine thicket to another picking up cover….back in the 70’s on upper Specimen Ck. Horses alerted me to it. It had been stalking a deer. So there!!
Bob, there are some very good articles about you.
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/in_animal_kingdom_are_bison_equal_in_value_to_humans/C38/L38/
Bob, you have a very interesting background. How many poachers have you caught while working as a ranger if you were to guess?
Jon,
Try the May-June issue of Frontier Airlines in flight magazine. Or Canada’s Nov. Western Producer magazine….or the Associated Press’s East and Mid West region April story on our “way” of raising bison…. or this weeks publication of Animal Welfare Fall issue’s feature story by your’s truly…or read the award winning book, Hawks Rest, by Gary Ferguson, a story I gave him most of the “stuff” on Thorofare’s outfitters. Or the one you won’t read is the front cover Photo and lead story in Men’s Journal…a story axed 3 weeks before it was to go to the press due to pressure from the Bush administration (something unheard of to change a magazine that close to publication).
Jon,
LA Times did some research before their story and said I’d caught more poachers than all the other Yell. rangers combined for the 30 years I was there plus for the forty years before that.
I didn’t notch the handles but can say I patrolled mostly outfitters and can say all those supposed tough, salt of the earth outfitters and guides I caught ALL cried and or bawled except one when they finally realized the gig was up. The outfitter who didn’t, I caught both for killing an elk in the Park and also a Mt. Lion. He was a clinical pathological lier. His case was fairly easy after having tracked him to camp. Went in the lodge tent to warm up and lo and behold on the opposite wall, written in bold felt tip, was the epitat, ” ….. gets pussy” and dated the day he had poached it three days previous.
http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/hbo/2010/oct/13/bloggy-why-fat-hunters-hate-wolves/
And thus we continue to go round and round, the comments on this blog for the most part are purely pathetic, no wonder there will never be a solution..
What a sick, stupid and dumb article, it is not even worth mentioning. Jon there is a good article about a wolf killed south of Missoula while killing sheep in Miller Creek. Get it posted, all the comments are for the landowner even in Missoula.
I am leaving antelope hunting in a few minutes. I have an 86 year old father, my mentor, who is going with me on his last hunt. He walks with a cane and 200 yards is about the limit and then I have to drive the truck and pick him up. He has a permit to shoot from the truck which he does not want to do. But how many 86 year old men are still out there in hills hunting. Go dad go.
Good luck Elk, glad you are going to spend some quality time with your father..
sb, shooting from your truck is not illegal in Montana?
Jon
What do you know about Montana law. Yes, it is with a handicap hunting permit which my father has. I have to have 3 orange stickers, about 2 inches by 2 inches, with a wheelchair affixed to my truck windows.
Elk, do you have any good recipes for antelope?
I have orange stickers on my vehicle and it is legal for me to shoot from it if I am so inclined, but as a bowhunter that uses a longbow, not very easy.
Most states have provisions for disable hunters to shoot from a vehicle…heck most states even have provisions for another to shoot your animal for you, if your blind…but if your not disabled, yes it is illegal to shoot from a vehicle…
Gotcha sb. thanks for answering.
sb, I believe you said you are handicapped from a past injury due to the war. Do you have any trouble what so ever when bow hunting because of your injury?
Jon
Gotta get one before the frying pan, it the same as cooking any meat.
SB. Then you are not allow to hunt without another license hunter accompaning you in the field. That must be hard for a bow hunter.
SB
I know if my father would wound an antelope then I have the right to track it down and dispatch it. In bow hunting if you wound an elk does your companion have the right to finish it off with a rifle or must it be archery only. Interesting
Elk, are you and your dad’s chances good getting an antelope? Are they harder to hunt than say elk in your personal opinion?
Jon
I just talked with my father and I have to drive to Billings in a minute, a 140 mile drive. I have some work to do but I have spent to much time on this forum and the Internet.
Antelope are easy to get. The hard part is access to land. There may be thousands of acres of public land but one has to cross private land to access public and that requires permission. In the late 60’s when I got my driver’s license and the boys when hunting. Permission was easy to get and most of the time we just went hunting, no one cared, today it is a different situation landowners care.
I hope that I can find a ranch that charges a small fee and has not been hunted then things are easier. It is to be seen.
You and your dad have a great time elk.
Elk,
I have enough mobility , that I have never had to have anyone finish an animal off for me, I can walk, but not for a long time, I have never had an animal go farther than about 100 yards from where I shot it, I don’t take risky shots and I am very good with my bow, my upper body is fine, no problems with my bow at all, and I still compete in competitive archery tournaments. I am not chair bound, I simply have an impediment. I have had my hip replaced, so it slows me down quite a bit, but I am still mobile..
Who’s Afraid of the Big Wild Wolf?
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2010/s3037641.htm
“I think if the devil had an animal it would be the wolf – no question about it. In my thinking Bin Laden is a classic example of a foreign terrorist. The wolf is the wildlife terrorist.” RON GILLETTE, HUNTER & ANTI-WOLF CAMPAIGNER
Bison’s last stand against Yellowstone wolf
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/10/bison-wolf-standoff-yellowstone.html
Salle and I went looking for the kill, but couldn’t find it.
Here’s a link to a friend’s photo web site. He got a picture of the wolves and bear at Otter Creek.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14328406@N06/5078307933/
Salle
That bear looks about as large as the bison did.
Has anyone on here ever seen a wolf pack taking down and killing a bison?
Yes Jon,
I have personally seen it and it has been documented, although not common they do take down bison..
Yellowstone bison, elk easy to spot; wolves are more elusive
http://www.azcentral.com/travel/articles/2010/10/11/20101011yellowstone-bison-elk-wolves.html
Yellowstone’s future to be discussed at 10th biennial scientific conference
http://www.examiner.com/yellowstone-eco-travel-in-national/yellowstone-s-future-to-be-discussed-at-10th-biennial-scientific-conference
Oops, I meant this comment to go here instead of below:
Too bad it wasn’t more widely advertised earlier, I would have liked to attend that one, could have made it too. It would be interesting to see what was discussed and who was there and hear what they had o say…
Bison face the storm and the cameras
http://www.montanakaimin.com/arts-culture/bison-face-the-storm-and-the-cameras-1.1667855
Too bad it wasn’t more widely advertised earlier, I would have liked to attend that one, could have made it too.
West Yellowstone Police Report Summary Oct. 6 thru 12
Oct. 6
— A woman reported that someone slashed all four tires on her car.
— A vehicle was speeding backwards, failing to stop at the four-way stop sign at Gibbon and Geyser, inside a school zone. The vehicle also had plates that were assigned to another vehicle.
— A maroon sedan was disabled after hitting a deer.
— A person was reported driving into oncoming traffic.
Oct. 7
— An Amber Alert was received from Washington for two males, 10 and 8, possibly with a 33-year-old male with blonde hair, blue eyes and driving a 1996 dark green Chevy Monte Carlo.
— An attempt to locate alert was broadcast for a possible murder suspect who might be headed toward Montana. Subject is considered armed and dangerous and possibly suicidal.
— A Sage fly rod was lost.
— West Yellowstone police assisted in an eviction of employees.
— A wreck between a car and an elk was reported 3.5 miles west on Highway 20. The elk is dead and off the road. No passenger injuries were reported, but the vehicle will need a tow.
— Two black bears were seen around the Povah Center, heading down Geyser and into the back lot of Westmart.
Oct. 8
— Vandalism was reported, involving some moving one of the fiberglass buffalo sculptures into the middle of Yellowstone Ave.
— A dog was reported running at large around downtown.
— A dead cow elk was reported to be laying on the side of the road.
— The Hebgen Basin Fire Department was advised of a planned burn of a pile of debris.
— A female black and white Boston terrier mix with a red bandanna was found. She’s very nice and snugly.
— A person reported their neighbor was harassing them by banging on the walls.
— Police received reports of license plates being stolen off vehicles.
— A semi-truck was reported driving recklessly in Yellowstone Park.
— The Montana Highway Patrol was advised of a reckless driver in an older two-tone red Ford truck with no plates. The truck was swerving and could not stay within the lines from Four Corners all the way to Big Sky.
— A shepherd dog with a blue collar was killed when it ran in front of a semi-truck in town.
— Two bears were reported to be in the alley by Bullwinkles’ housing.
Oct. 9
— A grizzly bear sow and cub were reported to be at a campground in town.
— Someone called in to report a box of fish guts and bones in front of a building. They were concerned about the bears that have been in the area and the “low intelligence” of whoever left it out.
— A person reported threats received from a neighbor’s boyfriend. No weapons were involved. The reporting party does not know the names of the neighbor or the boyfriend, they are new to the building.
— A 911 hang-up call was received by dispatchers. A woman said she was trying to dial an outside line.
— Two suspicious trucks were in front of a person who reported they both took off really fast and went down the Madison Arm Road. The reporting party said “At this hour, they can’t be up to any good.”
Oct. 10
— A woman asked for assistance of a police officer.
— A person who recently moved into an apartment last week with children wants to know what to do about the person downstairs that keeps banging on the floor.
— Another 911 hang-up call was received.
— Criminal mischief was reported, indicating someone is messing with an ex-employee’s vehicle.
— A black and white Australian sheepdog was found.
Oct. 11
— After police stopped a male driver for an equipment violation and careless driving, he became uncooperative and began yelling.
— A wallet was reported lost by a woman about two weeks ago, probably in town. It is a thin, white bi-fold wallet with poppies decorating the front.
— A cat was reported lost on Oct. 9. The black male cat is 6-years-old, weighs 12 pounds, has green eyes and a few white hairs. It was last seen on Yellowstone Avenue, across from the Rendezvous Ski Trail.
— A burn permit was activated on the end of Yellowstone Ave.
— A general fire alarm went off at the Wyndam Resort on Gray Wolf Avenue. Burnt toast was the culprit.
— Some called to complain about noisy neighbors upstairs.
— Someone reported a food storage violation. On the east side of the Crows Nest there is an open garbage can with garbage all over the ground.
— Dispatchers received a 911 hang-up call.
Oct. 12
— A bicycle was reported to be parked outside of the Firehole Fillup for 10 days. It is teal/light blue in color and has a registration sticker.
— A woman called to report that she struck an elk with her vehicle on the previous night in Yellowstone on Highway 191. A park ranger took a report but she was notifying the police department.
— A man walked into the police department to report the door to the medical clinic was unlocked but nobody was in the clinic.
My personal fave is:
Oct. 8
— Vandalism was reported, involving someone moving one of the fiberglass buffalo sculptures into the middle of Yellowstone Ave.
It would take some determination to move them suckers, they are quite large(Lifesized) and have to be pretty heavy!
Actually they are made of fiberglass, the pedestals they are mounted on probably weigh more than the actual bison structure.
Russian tiger summit offers ‘last chance’ to save species in the wild
Last 13 countries with wild tigers to meet in St Petersburg, as deforestation and poaching push animal to extinction: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/17/tiger-summit-russia
Thank you. Peter Kiermeir.
I’m sure we all hope for a successful tiger summit.
Hiker killed by Mountain Goat in Olympic National Park.
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20101017/NEWS/310179991/man-killed-by-goat-in-olympic-national-park-was-experienced-hiker
Sb
Doesn’t that make them more dangerous than wolves in the lower 48? Kill them all, they must be punished; show them who is in control; goats will be attacking kids at school bus stops next.
Sorry, my cynical side leaps forth on occasion.
Barb,
Don’t shoot the messinger, I simply posted the article, which I found quite interesting as it is such a rare event, and I have never once said a wolf was going to kill children at bus stops, Christ!
sb, not to change the subject, but do you watch Casey Anderson’s show expedition wild at all? His show from last week was about the recent fatal bear attacks in Montana and yellowstone. He had Jim Cole on his show. The guy who photographs bears. Did he pass recently do you know?
I caught the last half an hour of the show, yes Jim passed away a few weeks ago, the footage of Jim was taken not long before his death…
Save bears
It was the type of reponse I would expect from those who want wolves removed and always comment on how the wolf is going to take a child at a bus stop; I know you have never said that. In no way was I shooting the messinger. It was an interesting article; thanks.
Barb,
Exactly what came to my mind too!
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity starts Monday in Japan to set targets for 2020
* Many rainforests and coral reefs already at a tipping point, says the U.N.
* New Strategic Plan to be agreed along with new protocols to sustain ecosystems
* Not one government met 2010 targets which were set back in 2002
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/17/biodiversity.un.summit.briefing/index.html?hpt=T2
Unfortunately, the governments and multinational corporations ~ one and the same-? ~ have managed to use BS and outright mass propagandist lies to defeat any action that remotely resembles significant change for so long now that it’s probably too late. A projected 2020 target date is yet another delay that will ensure that nothing is done to stop the destruction of the ecosystems that may be salvageable at present.
Has anyone heard any evidence regarding: http://savewesternwildlife.org/wordpress/yellowstone-park-has-been-closed-for-being-a-bad-neighbor/comment-page-1/
Seems it would be in the news by now.
Sounds like a onion article to me, but knowing what I know and what I have seen, I would not put it past ID, WY and MT to try..
It’s a bunch of emasculated whiners, go to the home page, they have a clip from an IDF&G Kellogg event. A prime example of ignorance on display, the whole website that is.
Well, you have to consider the source.
Which is why I’m banging my head on the computer screen … we’re surrounded by paranoid-schizophrenic idiots. ( You know who you are)
Then again , Yellowstone Park is closing for the season fairly soon .
Perhaps the rabble over in the Anti-Wolf camp see that seasonal closing as ‘customized’ proof of the Great Conspiracy , having ruled out all other explanations as testament to Occam’s Razor in action. We all know that those great thinkers and social dynamicists of our time, the Anti-Wolfers , are particularly adept at using Occam’s Razor to blame wolves for everything, after ruling out all other reasonable explanations for [ Fill In The Blank ].
Barb,
notice the date Aug 22. This is just Todd Fross trying to emulate Toby Bridges,and a poor attempt at it. Fross occupies a whack-a-doddle class nearly all his own. probably his only cell mate would be bruce hemming. there’s a pair to draw to.
fross posted here for a couple of days under freecoyote. Supposedly an outfitter in Wyo that thinks elk have” horns”.
This is just an example of his delusional rants; problem is I think he really believes them.
http://savewesternwildlife.org/wordpress/undocumented-wolf-pack-in-potlatch-idaho-obliteration-of-elk-on-film/my-beautiful-picture/
Claims to a possible collar on the lighter colored wolf as proof that IDFG isn’t reporting territories of all known wolf packs in idaho ( in this case Latah County)
Barb,
Do you think that all known packs are really getting reported?? I don’t — and I had a personal experience that proved it to me.
I’m not sure just who does do the reporting these days, is it strictly Fish and Game or is the tribe still involved?
Finland’s wolf population has collapsed in the last few years
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Finland%E2%80%99s+wolf+population+has+collapsed+in+the+last+few+years/1135260922925
Peter –
http://forums.skadi.net/showthread.php?t=107358
Is part of the problem with wolves in Finland due to the fact that reindeer are not really considered wildlife but livestock?
Maybe! The reindeer people have much influence in Finland. I know a few of those Saami people personally and they always assure me of a pragmatic attitude towards wolves. That population collapse comes as a surprise to me and obivously also to the scientists there. Let´s see what comes out at the end. Finland is of course part of the travelling route for wolves from Russia to the troubled Swedish/Norwegian population.
Valley Forge National Park needs some serious Deer thinning , and some folks want Coyotes, not hunters to do the deed ,says this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer :
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20101018_Let_coyotes__not_hunters__control_Valley_Forge_deer__animal-rights_advocates_say.html
I’m linking that article here on Wildlife News as a counterpoint to all our friends in the Anti-Wolf rabble who constantly blather that if wolves are so desireable and efficient at wildife management that they need to be reintroduced ” back East” in places like Central Park NY and Washington D.C. etc.
Well, anti-wolfers, here’s your big chance. Valley Forge National Park needs wolves to thin the deer herd, from an estimated 1275 down to 175. I’m not sure coyotes are fully up to the task at hand. Perhaps Wildlife Services in Wyoming-Montana-and Idaho could begin live trapping of certain naughty western wolves instead of shooting them , then relocate them to Valley Forge NP . Win-win, and Wildlife Services can show their compassionate side instead of their ruthless killer face. Great PR opportunity !
Tough issue. In the long term, coyotes could help control the populations. In the short term, there are probably alot of unemployed (or disadvantaged) people within a 100 mile radius, that could use a deer in the freezer for winter.
The red wolf would also do well in areas like that. Afraid our big guys out here are more suited for elk and cattle.
Cody:
I don’t think that will happen, as the wolves you all have out West are a different subspecies (anyone know if eastern Pennsylvania falls within the red wolf’s historic range?). Regardless, our eastern coyotes are considerably bigger than those you have out West and may indeed be up to the task!
I wrote that facetiously , of course.
But the next time I read in the Casper Tsar Trib or some other blotter of anti-wolf comments that wolves need to be reintroduced back east or Kalifornica or Central Park , ad absurdum , I’m gonna send Valley Forge right back at them anyway.
p.s. I am about to be appointed to the City of Cody “Urban Deer Commission ” to work our own citywide deer situation.
Any suggestions for nonlethal town deer repellent that works ?
I know there has been some success with using different types of pepper for deer repellent, most of the garden centers carry various types.
When I was looking at that sort of thing some folks were using Cayenne pepper; but that was some time ago. I understand that some of the egg-based products work pretty well, but, like all repellents, they’re gone after a good hard rain. Frankly, physical barriers (i.e. fencing) work best. Urban hunts can work too, but can be tricky to manage (though easier than culls).
Not a lot of very good options I’m afraid.
One of my neighbors uses a motion activated sprinkler system in her garden, but I don’t think that would be a practical solution in an urban environment..
Fencing works just fine. It will cost you some money however. I wish people in Cody would worry about something more serious.
Posted on here already, but it’s good to see it on other websites.
Who is Not Willing to Compromise?
Governmental Disdain for Wolves
By KEN COLE, RALPH MAUGHAN and BRIAN ERTZ
http://www.counterpunch.org/cole10182010.html
Now it should be clear that the one not willing to compromise has always been Butch Otter.
And then their was that article by Bill Schneider in New West that said conservationists could have cut a good deal?!
Otter actually followed through with his word.
Is this the start of an unmanaged killing spree on the wolf?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013195295_apidwolfmanagementidaho1stldwritethru.html
I had a feeling this might happen. Not a surprise. It is clear that Idaho does not want wolves and don’t kid yourself, Idaho wouldn’t have done squat even if wolves were delisted. Do you think they would have wasted their time investigating illegal wolf kills even if wolves were delisted and a hunt was allowed? I don’t think so. They would put virtually no effort into the investigation I bet. Those who kill wolves, all I can say i I hope karma gets them sometime down the line!
Where’s Bob “action” Jackson when you need him!
Save Bears. Mr. I’m always right know-it-all has been exposed as a bull-shiter and a fraud.
How so Mr. Timz, because I thought one thing would happen and another did? I have never once claimed I was right or wrong, in this particular instance I was wrong, but guess what a lot of other people in wildlife management was wrong as well, which is why we find ourselves in the position we are now, ith a state governor telling the fed’s to go to hell.
Now if you have evidence of me being a fraud, I would sure like to see it as I am sure anybody else here would, please post it…
Blah. Blah you and your “sources”. Your a fraud, no wonder you won’t use your real name.
Blah, blah, blah Timz,
Ralph, the owner of the blog knows why I don’t use me real name, in fact we discussed it on the phone a few days ago, so it really does not matter what you think..But I am flattered you spend so much time worrying about what I have to say Timz..
And now we all know it’s crap.
How so Timz?
I have no intention of using my real name and I have explain the reason in the past..
Maybe more illegal killing but less by WS. After all these very folks Otter has thumbed his nose at are the ones that he has to get permission from to kill wolves. And I suspect USFWS would do a better job investigating illegal kills than IDF&G
If they have the resources, which based on what I am hearing, they don’t have at this time..
Who are you hearing this from sb? So, if they don’t have the resources, what do you think is going to happen? Is Montana taking the same stance as Otter?
Jon,
From my friends and former associates in the USFWS, I don’t think Montana is far from taking the same stances, I honestly think, shit is getting ready to “hit the fan”
And before anyone says it, I didn’t not say it is right and I didn’t say I condone it, I am simply being a realist..
sb, I think shit has already hit the fan. Otter taking this stance should not shock most. I don’t think the usfws is just going to stand there and do nothing while wolves are illegally being killed. Who really can say.
On June 27 SB wrote — “I know there are a lot of people that think that Molloy will re-list, but from what I am hearing on both sides, I seriously have my doubts”
Today– “if they have the resources, which based on what I am hearing, they don’t have at this time..”
I hope these are better sources than what you had last time.
Oh Timz,
Really what I was hearing back in June, I didn’t think they would relisted, so what. I also realize there is no predicting what can happen in a court room, in this situation, we are not talking about a court room, we are talking about what is going to happen in the real world..
sb, the court room is the real world.
Jon,
The court room is where they settle disputes, what happens in the court room, does not mean it transfers to the field..A judge in a black robe can make all of the rulings they want, it does not mean those in the field are going to follow that…Otter has basically said, we don’t care what the judge ruled, we are not going to enforce action against illegal wolf killing.
I think you don’t hear ^&*, it’s just a bunch of wishful thinking on your part.
Timz,
Who cares what you think?
Of course Timz,
I already know you don’t care what I think or post.
sb, you said
we are not going to enforce action against illegal wolf killing.
What do you mean we sb?
Jon,
Otter has said “We” are not going to enforce action in illegal killing of wolves, as I am not a resident of Idaho, I am not part of “we” or any other group…Otter said “We” not me..
Remember all those months of Idaho’s MSG’s insistence of ongoing “proper” game management of wolves. Even if he was poor at concealing snow jobbing, the embarassment and slap in the face to this crap espoused by him and his superiors to supposedly “bring the TRUE info of legitimate wolf management” …. to the ignorant peasants (us) is seen as it is …a G&F dept. totally sucking at the teat of the politicians.
Actually what Idaho’s governor says today destroys any credibility that states G&F operations and policy making contributed to date. If I was MSG and his administrative cohorts I would be looking to another state for employment…soon. Tell me where they will have any strength in dealing with any wildlife issues when they have to capitulate to politican supported radical red neck prejudice. Can’t you see it so happening…G&F having to try to suppress a very embodened irrational group of bubbas. ….folks who will ram their unscientific conclusions for every issue …..from wildlife count numbers to warped ideas of how to manage wildlife and fish populations.
Why didn’t the state biologists and administrators see the results if they lay with those types? Why did they go to the camp of the “commoners”? Go to bed with them and the offspring will have knobs coming out of their heads. Why did they? It was so easy, that is why. Careerism replaced professionalism. Shades of how it happened in Nazi Germany. And who is Idaho G&F left with? … worse than now. And what about the law enforcement game wardens. With a governor dripping oil on any kneeling bubba ready to spring up to flaunt all those rules they always wanted to do anyway, what does this do to law dog morale.
Hang your heads my cohorts in law. You have the same two choices that worked for rangers in Yellowstone…become apathetic or become bitter. Then as a final statement to your career go to the state supply depot after hours…use that master key copy you never turned in…and come out of that door with a big box of toilet paper. You can carry about a three by three foot box of it to your pickup or suburban if your arms are long enough. Take it home and with every wipe in the coming years you will remember what it was like…to have everytrhing you thought you stood for go back to Dark Ages.
You will then be duplicating what my first district ranger did when he retired….a big scandinavian type of guy with wavvy blond hair…and a deep voice to go with it to boot.
I’d say its time for the feds to come into Idaho no different than needed to be done with racial permeated culture of the Deep South in the ’60’s. What does Otter have on George Wallace?
++He-Man Butch writes: “History will show that this program was a tragic example of oppressive, ham-handed ‘conservation’ at its worst,” Otter wrote. “Idahoans have suffered this intolerable situation for too long, but starting today at least the state no longer will be complicit.”++
You know that he has a point here. If the extremists such as you, jon, had your way, we would have wolves in the suburbs of Western cities protected by a goon-squad of gun-toting conservation officers all at tax payer expense.
The real solution is to set some areas aside for large predators.
Why don’t you answer jb’s question mr. he only points west, but doesn’t actually go there.
To answer your question pw, no, I don’t want wolves in suburbs, but I would like to see them move into other states. Wolves don’t belong in cities or suburbs because it is only going to cause problems for the wolves.
To add on what sb already posted.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101018/ap_on_re_us/us_killer_goat
Gashes on Bones Suggest T. Rex Was a Cannibal
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20101015/sc_livescience/gashesonbonessuggesttrexwasacannibal;_ylt=AlH4c4qLkMgUE3lIQHvZHrBH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTRsbmN2Z2oxBGFzc2V0Ay9zL2xpdmVzY2llbmNlLzIwMTAxMDE1L3NjX2xpdmVzY2llbmNlL2dhc2hlc29uYm9uZXNzdWdnZXN0dHJleHdhc2FjYW5uaWJhbARjY29kZQNtcF9lY184XzEwBGNwb3MDMTAEcG9zAzEwBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDZ2FzaGVzb25ib25l
Many today beleive T-Rex was not a predator but a scavanger. So T-Rex may have only scavanged other T-Rex’s.
I think he was both. What do you think pw?
I think where T-Rex’s forelimbs had evolved to be so small and useless, it must be a scavenger. T-Rex conserved energy being bipedal so it could roam far and wide searching for carrion with its sensitive nose. Forelimbs would only be a burden to a scavenger so evolving small forelimbs would have been an advantage.
If T-Rex had been a predator, the forelimbs could have evolved to help take down prey. It could have used the forelimbs to pin prey to the ground or to claw the tendons in the hind legs of prey it was pursuing. I cannot imagine a T-Rex pursuing prey and attempting to take it down with its head where the prey might kick it in its sensitive nose or gouge out one of its eyes with a slashing tail. Also, any time a T-Rex had gotten into a tumble with a prey, it would have broken one of those tiny arms.
How many bipedal predators do we have today that try to take down prey with an unprotected head. Predators need to keep their eyes and nose well protected.
T-rex was pretty fast for an animal his size and there is no doubt he would have been able to run down prey and kill it. His prey most likely would have been a bit faster than him. Given his size, he was very capable of scavenging as well.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jc-pztDUpcyeV2QTeN44A6JX2djg
T-Rex running at 20mph? Imagine what would happen to those tiny little forearms the first time it stumbled and fell to the ground while running at 20mph. Those skinny little arms would snap like toothpicks. As the article states, many dispute that T-Rex could run at all.
PointsWest Says:
October 18, 2010 at 4:05 PM
++He-Man Butch writes: “History will show that this program was a tragic example of oppressive, ham-handed ‘conservation’ at its worst,” Otter wrote. “Idahoans have suffered this intolerable situation for too long, but starting today at least the state no longer will be complicit.”++
Always amazes me when politicians take liberties when grandstanding on an issue. “Idahoans have suffered” as that should somehow automatically include the feelings of everyone in the state, regardless of how others might feel about wolves and their place on the landscape.
Idahoans have certainly suffered while he has been governor, but the suffering is the economy and Otter’s lack of ideas how to do anything but maybe cave in to international oil companies.
Ralph, it seems to me Butch is doing this to try and win over the wolf haters in Idaho. From what I have seen written about Butch, he is not well liked by wolf haters.
I thought this video of Russian wolves running down the highway was strange. A lot of hyperbole in the reporting for sure.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39723578#39723578
I was afraid I would see more of that video.
Could they have reported the story any more hyper-dramatic.
No, the reporting was ridiculous, but typical of most media outlets. Maximize shock-value to draw in the most viewers and generate more profit.
What happened to the shy and secluded wolf theory? Wolves were supposed to be so reclusive and afraid of people and civilization. They are more afraid of us than we are of them…I was told on this very blog.
The one wolf almost collided with the cop.
Has anybody watched a little bit closer? Those “wolves” look like a pack of domestic dogs! Their movements is also not very “wolf pack like”. Stray dogs are quite common in Moscow and you better get out of their way!
OK…I watched video again…very closely. I watched in full screen mode…a few times.
They’re wolves.
There is another equally dumb video going viral at the moment with that digitally mastered “Wolf” pack attacking again! This time a supermarket parking lot!
Good Morning America
PW, take a look at the video again. Atleast two of them (especially the last one closest to the camera) look like collie/shepard cross – white tipped tail and black back.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Moscow-Crackdown-On-100000-Stray-Dogs-After-Savage-Attacks/Article/200807115023485
This is a common problem with feral dogs and wolf/dog hybrids ~ some feral dogs may have meted with dogs and produced some of these. Many cross-bred wolf/dog hybrids are far more dangerous and aggressive, though they look like wolves they are not necessarily so. Feral dogs, in particular, are quite aggressive and behave in this manner, I think it’s not wild wolves but feral dogs and wolves get the bad rap due to huimans’ inability to tell the difference by sight alone.
Thanks to MSNBC for misreporting, not checking facts, to get viewers’ hackles up and feed the frenzy of ignorance that is rampant in our society ~ because it pays. Talk about ethics problems in the media…
So which is it then?
1) They are shepard/collies?
2) They wolf – dog hybrids?
3) They are digital wolves?
It is very unlikey they are all three. One of these three denials must be wrong!
The thing that sucks about this video is that there is no way to really tell whether they are hybrids or not. A couple of them look suspect.
I just don’t know where this video was taken either. Feral hybrids usually run in larger packs than most wolves and are also a greater threat to humans. The animals in the video could fit either bill.
What I do know though is that the reporters didn’t have any way of knowing that those were pure wolves and shouldn’t have represented them that way in the story.
UN Conference Confronts Dramatic Loss Of Biodiversity
http://www.rferl.org/content/UN_Conference_Confronts_Dramatic_Loss_Of_Biodiversity/2193667.html
http://www.urlesque.com/2010/10/15/russian-cop-leaps-into-drivers-car-to-escape-pack-of-wolves/
Two different clips of the same event. Notice in the second clip (taken from inside the car) he gets a driver’s license? Don’t see that in the first clip thats all over the internet and probably all over the anti-wolf, hunting blogs by now.
You are right. The second (the inside car video) does not match up with the security (overview video). Something is fishy.
First of all, the inside-car video is a little strange. The cop does not even acknowelge the camera and who shoots video of a cop during a pull-over? The driver does not really acknowelge the camera either. It is also good video and good audio…too good for an amuatuer with a personal video camera.
The cop is holding the registration and radio to his belly with hs left hand in the inside-car video. His arm is down to his side in the overview video. Also, a car goes by in overview video (the small dark car moving away from the camera) and it should be visible in the inside-car video but is not.
I doubt this is digital editing. If both video are fake, they were staged. It is possible that only the second inside-car video was faked and the overview-video is real. But the whole thing is suspect now.
Russians are famous for this kind of trickery. Whoever made these videos spent some money doing so.
I’m confused as to what benefit there is in Russia to pull something like that off? Wolves are not protected in the country so there’s nothing stopping someone from killing them, right?
I do not see where this video is particularly damaging to wolves. For all we know, the video was shot on a road 200 miles from nowhere and they run right past the humans anyway hardly noticing them. What is the point, wolves are bold and are unafraid run on a highway?
I don’t see how wolves running on the highway is a serious threat anyway. You’d think those types of wolves would have a tendency to eliminate themselves from the gene pool rather quickly.
Not a recreational activity I would recommend for any animal!
I had my wife, who is Russian, listen to the inside-car video.
The cop asked for the documents (ie registration) but then after looking up the road orders the driver to open the door. The driver repsponds with, “you’re breaking my door handle.” When the wolves go streaming by, they both remark something to the effect that “yikes, they are wolves.”!
You would think the ace cameraman who was so interested in capturing real life on video could have exerted the effort to rotate his body to shoot video of the wolves running on down the highway. This second video was obviously staged.
PW, if you locate the comments on the site and wade down thru them alot of people not only figured out they were fake but also noticed both videos were post within a short period of time by the same person.
I thought it odd that they ran down the highway towards a person and a vehicle, rather than across it. Almost like they had been turned loose in the shadows and were being called by someone off camera.
Maybe it was a spoof on the hysterics going on out here in the west?
They could have been made for some innocuous reason like a television comedy or commercial but then were published on YouTube by someone as a prank. Where the driver is yelling at the cop that he is breaking his door handle seems to be an attempt at humor…Russian humor (not to be confused with real humor). 🙂
Mountain goat gores and kills hiker in ONP.
http://peninsuladailynews.com/article/20101019/NEWS/310199988/hiker-died-while-warning-others-of-aggressive-mountain-goat
Ya, I posted that one a couple of days ago, really rare situation, although all wild animals can be dangerous, I have to say, I don’t know that I ever remember a Mountain Goat Killing anyone before..
Again why are we opening ourselves up to more big corporation mentality when solar and wind could be set up on an individual scale?
http://baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=218
RMEF Urges Hunter Restraint Toward Wolves
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Tags: MontanaRMEFRocky Mountain Elk FoundationWolf HuntingWolves
RMEF Urges Hunter Restraint Toward Wolves
http://www.ammoland.com/2010/10/19/rmef-urges-hunter-restraint-toward-wolves/
The BS keeps rolling along: hunters are authorized to kill elk in the NP areas east of the Snake. I guess they’re too many elk after all, no matter the “fact” wolves are killing them all. http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=6587
Taz,
There has been an elk hunt going on in GTNP since the park was created, this is nothing new, it was part of the negotiated agreement when the park was being set up..
They should just bring wolves in, problem solved.
Jon,
There are already wolves there, Grand Teton is run completely different than Yellowstone..
Jon,
Buy an Almanac, GTNP is right next to yellowstone.
Taz,
They also allow hunting in parts Mckinley and a few other national parks.
Oops, That should be Gazetteer not an Almanac.
Jon, you have to be the most ignorant individual who posts on Ralph’s blog concerning the matters in the west. Have you ever been out here before? And my offer still stands to have you come and hang out with me for a day while hunting, you will be crying like a little baby before noon of the first day!
There are already wolves present in Grand Teton National Park, and there has been for quite a long time.
There also has been a hunt going on in the park since 1950 when the park expanded to include the portion east of the Snake River. The hunt is not much different today than it was then. Trophy bulls have always been the draw for people to apply for this hunt.
The only difference now days is the Jackson Hole Valley is infested with a bunch of anti hunting crusaders who don’t like the hunt and they want it stopped. There are articles about someone in the valley getting their panties in a wad every year when the hunt starts.
Oh and Taz for the record who on here has claimed that wolves were killing all of the elk in the Jackson Hole area of Wyoming?
I don’t know of anyone on here, but wolf haters on other sites are the ones that are saying wolves have wiped out all of the elk in Jackson Hole. Most of the people who post on here are pro wolf advocates with a few hunters. One wolf hating hunter named Todd Fross who is I believe one of the ceos of a non-profit anti wolf organization called savewesternwildlife, has said time and time again that wolves have wiped out the Jackson Hole elk herd. And to answer your question, no, I wouldn’t spend one minute with the likes of you.
Well gee wyoming native, have you ever thought that some maybe don’t like seeing animals being killed in national parks?
Jon,
I don’t give a rat’s ass what people like or don’t like seeing in Grand Teton National Park. I think they should be respectful and honor the history regarding the conception of the park. Besides, unless they manage to change the law that created GTNP they don’t have a leg to stand on with this issue.
Now read and learn Jon,
Grand Teton National Park Act was passed and signed into law on September 14 1950. In this act is a provision that allows for the controlled reduction of the elk herds if they are above the carrying capacity of the park. These hunts are limited to only the east side of the Snake River, where the park borders the Gros Ventre, and are to be conducted by deputized hunters through the Secretary of the Interior that have purchased sufficient licenses from the State of Wyoming.
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/anps/anps_4c.htm
No where in this law does it state that the elk killed have to be cows. In fact it is up to the Wyoming Game and Fish to come up with the management plan regarding the herd. And as long as elk population are above objectives, and the bull to cow ratios our in order, this hunt will stay an “Any Elk” hunt.
Oh and I have no clue who this Todd Fross is, or the so called non-profit he is associated with, so you will need to provide me with some links showing me where he has claimed that wolves have killed all the elk in the Jackson Elk Herd.
Taz,
I think the problem is more one of lack of winter range adjacent to the parks, a problem which many NP’s have. The adjacent lower elevation areas have either been built up with tourist services, residential development or grazed off by those pesky welfare ranchers.
WM – yeah, the elk are getting squeezed as usual. Too many of them, but my point is that there is all this screaming about wolves “decimating” elk herds. Here we have hunts going on to control over-population in an area where wolves range, so apparently wolves are not wiping out entire elk populations. Plus these elk are being fed at the elk refuge. I don’t like elk being managed as cattle in a NP, and no matter the original rules of the park, I don’t think hunting should go on in NPs as extensive as the YNP/TNP area where natural pop control is possible.
Idaho elections: Otter huffs and puffs, again, about wolves
Read more: http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2010/10/20/krichert/idaho_elections_otter_huffs_and_puffs_again_about_wolves#ixzz12vlOjQCf
Bighorn sheep reappearing in Rock Creek after deadly pneumonia outbreak
http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_c2851b4a-dbfe-11df-9fc1-001cc4c002e0.html
Counterpunch.org – “Killing Carnivores for Cash” by Camilla Fox/Chris Genovali. Camilla and Chris write an excellent article about the plan to devastate the coyote population in Saskatchewan and the scientific reason why it is such a bad idea.
Over time for Idaho State Police escort of megaloads on highway 12 approved one year before any public meetings were held.
More evidence of the elected officials of Idaho trying to cover this project up for as long as possible leaving little time and opportunities for the public to object.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/xom_isp-escorts-for-loads-ok-d-in-09-1242485.html
Should Montana Follow Idaho’s Lead and Refuse to Manage Wolves Under ESA?
http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/should_montana_follow_idahos_lead_and_refuse_to_manage_wolves_under_esa/20189/
Secret GOP Donor Network Plans Meeting to Fight Policies That “Threaten to Destroy America”
by CBS News
It is now known that, “included among previous guests to such events are Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas” who help makeup the conservative Supreme Court who ealier this year allowed secret and unlimited campaign contributions from corporations and billionairs.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20020184-503544.html
Tea Party movement: Billionaire Koch brothers who helped it grow. Industrialists who own private company with annual revenues of $70 billion have channelled millions to estabish the Tea Party. The Tea Party is not a grassroots movement. It is a corporate plot to buy government and deregulate polution laws and head off global warming laws.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/13/tea-party-billionaire-koch-brothers
“The Tea Party is not a grassroots movement. It is a corporate plot to buy government and deregulate pollution laws and head off global warming laws.”
That statement deserves repeating!
The Global warming deniers are facinating to listen too. Either they are quoting the Bible and saying that God told them to utilize natural resources, while others claim Global Warming Science is unproven with references to the debunked “Climate Gate” Faux news covered reporting. Meanwhile the idiot sons are laughing all the way to the bank and will certainly have the private jet ready to go when Manhattan falls into the Atlantic Ocean.
Having Supreme Court Justices (ie Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas) involved in a political movement such as that of the Koch brothers unprecedented in American history. It is not illegal but it has always been considered to be unethical and unamerican for Supreme Court Justices to be politically active.
Two Puppies Doing Well After Being Poisoned, Abandoned
http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/25457793/detail.html
Not wildlife related, but still a story everyone should see. What kind of sicko poisons puppies? I hope they find the dirtbag(s) and make them pay!
That is just down the street from me. I buy gas there every once in a while.
Seems to be a lot of non wildlife related topics being posted as of late, perhaps you should start up a non-wildlife blog Ralph, then we could really have a party!
LOL
The politics of global warming and polution is wildlife related.
I was not addressing you PW, I was talking to Jon.
http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/25457331/detail.html
I heard this on the local news last night and thought they had the figure wrong. Seems a paltry sum for what they hope to accomplish.
Bear attacks surge in Japan, climate change blamed
http://green.yahoo.com/news/afp/20101020/wl_asia_afp/japanenvironmentanimalbear.html
Japan still has black bears and brown bears
Officials move grizzly from Cody area
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_6cd8d028-dc4a-11df-ae72-001cc4c03286.html
It is so refreshing to see that anti-wolf agitator “Marion” is as active as ever in the discussion section and takes the opportunity to remark that those bears need to go outside YNP for food because of all those wolves…….
It’s a cruel world. The official reports says, “grizzly bear that was damaging apple trees.” It was probably starving to death and was eating apples to survive. It may have broken a few branches but is now charged with damaging private property.
While it lucked out and was only relocated, I’d guess that it will continue to starve and may not survive the winter. Even if it does, what if next year is another screwy weather year as this one was and food is again scarce.
The Rhino poaching crisis:
http://www.africageographic.com/newsroom/index.php/2010/10/18/the-second-big-bust/
It is crystal clear that game farm operators from South Africa will do anything for the US dollar. They need to be stopped. I hope one of them rolls over and blows the lid off the whole operation.
http://www.rhinoconservation.org/2010/06/02/syndicate-bust-links-trophy-hunting-to-rhino-poaching-in-south-africa/
A recent rhino poaching syndicate bust has revealed yet another link between trophy hunting and rhino poaching in South Africa – a further indication that rhino industry insiders are behind the increasing carnage.
Busted: Sandhurst Safaris
Although trophy hunting supporters are loathe to admit it, the lucrative rewards for rhino horn and easy access to guns have made the industry a natural breeding ground for rhino poaching and horn smuggling activities.