Jeff Copeland who publishes "The Wloverine Blog" published a paper on the key determinants essential for Wolverines to be pesent in various locales.......read and soak it in!

"Has Jeff Copeland's snow paper <http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/34712> been published yet?" It came out in March of 2010. This is a summary of what that paper found. I've been working on this for weeks and, like some Sysiphian task, I've found that the closer I've come to something workable, the busier life becomes, and the further from completion the piece gets. So I'm posting it as is, because I have to leave for Canada tomorrow and then Mongolia the week after that. Forgive any imperfections or lack of cohesion.)



The Magic Line


Find a map of the northern hemisphere, and locate the 54th parallel. Trace its arc across the globe - in Siberia, 54N cuts across the southern tip of Kamchatka and the northern tip of Lake Baikal, then passes just south of Moscow. It brushes past the southern edge of Sweden, decapitates the Danish peninsula, and slices England in half. Across the Atlantic, it comes ashore on Newfoundland, sweeps across northern Quebec, and passes through the top of James Bay. In Ontario, it demarcates the southern edge of Polar Bear Provincial Park, and then cuts across a sweep of sparsely inhabited, lake-studded Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, reaching the Pacific at Hecate Strait just south of Alaska. North of 54, the world stretches, colder and ever more severe, in a mix of boreal forest and tundra, towards the Arctic Circle at the 80th parallel. The region is underlain by permafrost, discontinuous but widespread closer to 54N, deeper and more continuous to the north. The landscape, though ridged with several mountain ranges in both hemispheres, is primarily flat, and remains covered in snow until late spring. North of 54, the Pleistocene lingers.

54 North is the wolverine's Magic Line. In the flat, snowbound tundra to the north of this parallel, everything is, essentially, wolverine habitat, and the species is spread in a continuous distribution across much of the landscape. South of 54, boreal habitat grows sparser, migrating uphill as you go further south, until, by the time you reach the US Rockies, it is pinched into the upper reaches of the highest mountains. Wolverine distribution migrates uphill with the habitat, until a creature designed for cruising the vast and primarily flat North becomes, of necessity, a mountaineer. Restricted to these islands of boreal habitat in a sea of sagebrush desert, the wolverine faces a unique set of challenges that center around access to suitable places to live.


Parameter 1: Persistent Spring Snow


Wolverine biologist Jeff Copeland and his colleagues in the wolverine biology world were attempting to determine the parameters of these challenges when they began to look at variables that might influence wolverine habitat selection. What, exactly, did a wolverine need in order to consider a place livable? Working with telemetry locations and confirmed wolverine den sites from research projects in North America and Scandinavia, they began sorting through a list of possibilities - elevation, aspect, vegetation, prey, weather conditions, proximity to human development. Habitat selection models for wildlife can become complicated as factors interact with each other, but in the case of the wolverine, a single overriding variable seemed to be the best predictor of wolverine distribution: persistent spring snow.

At an intuitive level, this made sense. Wolverines den in the snow, so of course they would tend to adhere to regions with adequate snow to protect their babies until the kits were capable of limited independence, in early to mid-May. And the logical and intuitive conclusion would be that wolverines, being dependent on snow through May, are vulnerable to reduced spring snowpack predicted in climate models for the next century. All of this would seem to suggest that the wolverine requires protection and careful management to ensure that it remains on the landscape as declining snow levels and rising temperatures limit reproductive habitat. But in science, intuition and logic are never enough. Someone has to prove that the hypothesis is sound, and proof, in science, involves running the gantlet of the peer-review process, and publishing your results.

Jeff Copeland and his colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Research Station took on the task, and proposed an obligate relationship between wolverines and snow. Obligate relationships, in ecology, are relationships of dependence that are restrictive for the organism in question and that in many cases serve to define the environment on which it relies. So an obligate wolverine-snow relationship implies that you will never find a wolverine living in a place without persistent spring snow and, conversely, that if you see a mother wolverine traveling with two kits sometime in late spring, you know you're in an area where snow persists until at least mid-May.

To test the model, Copeland and fellow researchers used remote-sensing data to construct a map of late spring snow spanning 7 years, from 2000-2006. To qualify as having persistent spring snowpack, a location (represented as a pixel on the map) had to remain snow covered between April 24 and May 15 - the period in which wolverine kits emerge from the den to begin the freewheeling life of a juvenile gulo - without a single day of bare ground.

Norway and Sweden maintain national wolverine den monitoring programs, which allowed Copeland to access precise den locations during the years for which the snow model was constructed. In North America, den location data are more scattered, so the authors of the paper drew on information spanning 1981- 2007 to obtain an adequate sample. In total, they compiled locations of 562 dens (327 of which were in Norway, 160 of which were in Sweden, 10 of which were in Finland, and 65 of which were in North America, which illustrates how little we know about wolverine reproduction in the US and Canada.) To look at year-round habitat use, Copeland compiled winter and summer telemetry locations of instrumented wolverines from 10 studies in North America and Norway. When the den locations were placed on the snow map, 98% of the dens were located on pixels that were classified as having persistent spring snow cover for at least one of the years, and 69% of the time, female wolverines were selecting for sites with snow cover for six or seven out of seven years. In the 2% of cases in which the den locations fell outside the snow map, the sites were investigated and determined to be snow dens; in these cases, the dens were located in expanses of snow too small to register by way of remote-sensing. Here was conclusive, statistically significant evidence that the relationship between wolverines and snow is, indeed, obligate.

The telemetry points reinforced the hypothesis. During summer, 95% of the telemetry locations adhered to the snow map, and in winter, 86% of the telemetry locations stayed within the bounds of persistent spring snowpack. The discrepancy makes sense if wolverines prefer snow; during winter, a greater portion of the landscape is snow covered and wolverines are therefore better able to travel outside the bounds of spring or summer snowpack. (Even then, however, Copeland determined that the wolverines traveling outside the snow map were primarily males - females maintained a higher fidelity to the snow map in all seasons.) Taken together, this meant that no matter how much snow was actually on the ground in a given season, wolverines predominantly operate in places where there is snow in late May.

Predominantly - but not exclusively. In one study, in the Omineca Mountains of British Columbia, wolverines actually appeared to be avoiding the snow locations during most of the year, but occupying those locations during summer when temperatures were highest. This suggested that there was another factor influencing wolverine habitat selection. To expand the test of whether wolverine distribution is limited by climate, Copeland and his co-authors decided to look at the next logical variable: temperature.


Parameter 2: Upper Thermal Limits


Wolverines are designed for the cold and snow, and early investigations into wolverine metabolism focused on the impressive insulating qualities of wolverine fur. Scientists suggested that a wolverine in a winter coat could tolerate temperatures down to -40º C. But no one had ever tested the upper limits of a wolverine's thermal tolerance.

For Copeland and his colleagues, there was an easy way to construct a test, without ever handling a wolverine or its pelt. They modeled 50 years of temperature data in the locations where wolverines were hanging out in the telemetry studies, and established that the average maximum August temperature in these areas was 22° C. They then made a global map of 22°C maximum August temperature and laid it over the snow layer map. The temperature layer painted a cool swath across the boreal north and then, further south, splintered into peninsulas and islands that corresponded to mountains or cool maritime regions. In these insular and peninsular southern regions, the August temperature layer and the snow layer corresponded, but further to the north, where the entire landscape had maximum August temperatures of 22°C, there were regions with no snow in mid-May. The point of divergence between the snow layer and the August temperature layer was just south of the Omineca study area, at approximately 54N latitude.

The wolverine studies that Copeland included in the analysis crossed 24 degrees of latitude, with average temperature variations of about 10°C between the southernmost and northernmost locations. To the north, where average August temperatures are consistently below 22°C, wolverines operated across the landscape in a more general way. To the south, where average August temperature varies with latitude, they were selecting for locations with lower temperatures - generally, at higher elevations. Year-round, wolverines adhere to swaths or stretches or, further south, scraps and slivers, of boreal habitat.


'Whales in the Desert'


The paper that Copeland and his colleagues wrote wields the weighty title The bioclimatic envelope of the wolverine (Gulo gulo): do climatic constraints limit its geographic distribution?, and was published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology in March, 2010. The paper answers the question posed in its title with a decided 'yes.' In a statistically verified way, wolverines have been shown to select for cold and snow, and to avoid areas that possess neither of these characteristics.

The paper and the science behind it are simple and elegant, and Copeland, in a phone conversation this morning, mentioned that the paper was 'fun to write,' because it dealt with three simple factors: areas of known wolverine presence, areas with persistent spring snowpack, and areas with a limited maximum August temperature. The first factor defined the geographic limits of the study, and this, in turn, increases the confidence that the results are valid. Referring to what he and his co-author Kevin McKelvey call a 'whales in the desert effect,' Copeland pointed out that in creating a habitat selection model for whales, you will find that whales are avoiding selecting deserts if you include deserts in your analysis. The problem with many habitat selection models is the fact that they are so broad and encompass so much territory that, by default, the 'deserts' are included, and you end up showing avoidance of areas or factors that might not actually be relevant to the needs of the species, but that might appear statistically significant in an analysis.

People have speculated about whether wolverines might have been widespread in the past, and were driven up into their current mountain habitat by expanding human activity. Copeland says that if he and his co-authors had included all of North America in their analysis, the results would have shown a statistically significant avoidance of human development and lowland areas. Because they confined their analysis to the known current habitat of the wolverine, and were able to show that within that habitat wolverines are making fine-scale selections for specific factors - snow, and low August temperatures - they were able to elucidate something truly significant for the gulo-curious and for managers: wolverines need cold and snow, and they can't live in places that don't have it. Post-Pleistocene, wolverines in the Lower 48 have probably always been confined to the mountains.

As Copeland explained the analogy over the phone, the idea of whales in the desert fused neatly with the vision that I hold in my head of the fragmented peninsulas and outlying islands of boreal habitat in the Rockies. I've always thought of it in terms of a land mammal having to swim across non-habitat between those islands - exhausting, but possible. But something about the idea of a whale trying to cross dry land seems apt, too. North of 54, the wolverine is swimming in the ocean for which it evolved. South of 54, the wolverine is a whale in puddle in a desert, contemplating survival in a landscape in which it survives by the grace of a cold and snowy climate, but to which it otherwise does not belong.

Does hunting Carnivores in a localized region effectively achieve population reductions of targeted animals--in this study...Cougars?

Hugh Robinson and his team at the LARGE CARNIVORE LABORATORY at Washington State University conducted a 2001-2005 study in Northern Washington State to determine if focused and intensive(hunting with hounds as well as 2 cat bag limit per hunter) would achieve stated objectives of reducing Cougar populations. Study area was bounded in the North by the Canadian border and to the East and West by the Columbia and Kettle Rivers.

Increased Human/Cougar confrontations and hunter pressure to increase deer, elk and moose populations has had Washington State Fish & Wildlife personnel experimenting with intensive hunting methods(use of hounds to tree Lions) as well as expanded bag limits and season length.

Robinson and his team actually concluded that localized hunting pressure(regions that are <1000 square km) can actually generate the reverse of the desired goal(reducing Cougars) if in fact there are adjacent source regions where other Cougars can emigrate from(and thus immigrate into the "sink/kill zone")

Just as in hunted Coyote populations,  the killing of resident Cougars leads to younger animals immigrating into the human hunted region to fill the temporary "sink/empty land". These young recruits(mostly males but also a % of females) take up the "slack" and start re-populating the kill zone(Cougars can breed year round-like humans and female Cougars can go into heat from age 2 onward).

Depending on the supply of prey available to Cougars(and for that matter any Carnivore), the kill zone(sink region) can fill back up with Cougars quickly..............creating a more densly populated condition than what existed prior to initiation of the hunting directive.

This expanded population will be younger in age than before(e.g 4 year average age versus more established populations being able to live up to 12 years--up to 7 years of age recorded in the study attached) and thus likely to get into more trouble with humans due to their adolescent (risk taking) behaviors.

What then tends to happen is that us humans call for even more hunting("the sledgehammer approach") to mitigate what is perceived as an out-of-control and runaway Cougar population.

The authors postulate that  prey density(how many deer, elk and moose are available in a region) is the best indicator of how dense a Cougar population will exist in a given region and that a "bottom up"(reduce the ungulate density) approach rather than a "top down"(reduce the carnivore density) approach would be the optimum strategy in reducing human/cougar(and in my opinion),  human/wolf...............human/coyote and human/bear conflicts across this land of ours.....helping to restore the balance..............helping to get previously denuded tree and shrub species to regenerate..........wetlands to see beaver populations again..............restoring a fuller and more expansive populations of the widest array of living things............Fish and Wildlife stop bending to the will of a few "SHOOTERS"...........the true HUNTERS in any locale want a challenge when in the woods.................not big deer parks that have out-of-control deer and elk population densities.

click here to read Robinson's full article

Fw: Wolves coexsisting with men

Continuing corresspondence with Wall Street Journal reporte, Joe Barrett regarding his may 29 wolves and men in Wisconsin article

----- Original Message -----
From: Meril, Rick
To: 'Joseph.Barrett@wsj.com' <Joseph.Barrett@wsj.com>
Sent: Sat May 29 13:01:11 2010
Subject: Re: Wolves coesisting with men

A true hunter(I know some) loves the challenge of stalking a woodland balanced with both predator and prey.......not simply picking off deer in an unnatural overpopulated deer "park". :)

----- Original Message -----
From: Barrett, Joseph <Joseph.Barrett@wsj.com>
To: Meril, Rick
Sent: Sat May 29 12:45:59 2010
Subject: Re: Wolves coesisting with men

Thanks.... As you can imagine, I'm also hearing from the hunters!

----- Original Message -----
From: Meril, Rick <Rick.Meril@warnerbros.com>
To: Barrett, Joseph
Sent: Sat May 29 15:09:23 2010
Subject: Re: Wolves coesisting with men

Joe

Appreciate your reply

We have played god for 500 years in north america from a human-centric point of view.

Time to give our fellow earth-traveling creatures some "restoration" opportunities

We will be a better species for it

You and family enjoy a fun holiday.

Be great for you to do a follow-up that incorporates some of the wildlife restoration themes we touched on in our corresspondence today.

Thank you again for having an open and inquisitive mind

Rick

----- Original Message -----
From: Barrett, Joseph <Joseph.Barrett@wsj.com>
To: Meril, Rick
Sent: Sat May 29 11:58:23 2010
Subject: Re: Wolves coesisting with men

Thanks, Rick. Lots of good points. Wish I had space to get into all this. I telegraphed a bit of it. As I worked on the story, I had my 12-year-old vegetarian son's words echoing in my ears: "that's what you get when you play god in the woods."

----- Original Message -----
From: Meril, Rick <Rick.Meril@warnerbros.com>
To: Barrett, Joseph
Sent: Sat May 29 14:39:11 2010
Subject: Wolves coesisting with men

Joe

Read your article today on Wolves in Wisconsin and beyond........

I read The Journal daily and am in business. Realizie that The Journal leans conservative and yet it is important on these type of "specialty" topics-- the return of Wolves-- to truly get all the facts and not just emphasize the subjective commentary of one or two farm families........ or conversely, generically say that environmentalists(whatever that means in an era where so many of us are rightly feeling humans are part of the circle of life--not standing outside of it) favor wolves because they fit into the circle.

Here are some facts to digest for a follow-up article:

A total of 6000 wolves in the USA and 300 plus million humans

Who are there too many of?

It is universally recognized that deer populations are at out of control llevels and wolves can (with other predators) trim their numbers to better reflect land carrying capacities.....

.Wolves provide a keystone trophic cascade insofar as wolves trim deer herds...allowing trees to regenerate(deer overpopulation denudes the forest floor of seedlings, thus preventing a new generation of trees and shrubs to grow)........

With the understory level of trees and shrubs denuded, birds, insects and small mammals who require underbrush for food and cover die off........overpopulation of deer also fouls our rivers and streams because deer eat all the browse by the riverbeds. The force of the rain erodes all the topsoil into the river killing the fish.......making the forest soil sterile........

As Our great naturalist Also Leopold came to learn...........mountains live in fear of the wolf, Cougar and Bear going extinct.........they know that too many deer means there is very little green and a dearth of diversity of green plants to hold the soil in place.......to foster the wide spectrum of life that truly makes the mountain thrive......
.
Remember that Dogs are immediate competitors of wolves and they(like coyotes) will seek to kill them....the wolvew attack dogs..... not the men in the woods

If u graze cattle or sheep, u need guard dogs or llamas as deterrents........u must pen the livestock at night...........

In short practice good husbandry.......do not seduce wild animals to eat domestics because we humans make them easier to grab than wild prey

Same as us......if u could go into a store and take the food without paying, u would.........our system saids u go to jail if u do that( our legal system is our lamas and guard dogs)......therefore, we pay for food rather than risk going to jail......wolves will hunt deer rather than risk being killed by our deterrants more often than not

Make wolves and bears.....cougars and coyotes pay for their meals....... killing deer, elk, beaver and thinking twice about the risks they run if they go after domestics

A few scant wolves exist in the USA.........we should make room across the usa in our rural and wilder sections to restore what we as Americans brag about......our frontier and independent spirit......all conservatives should cheer our "wild america"......not seek to destroy it......that would truly reflect that "familiy values" are real, not some trumped up, pseudo religious/political maifesto to charge up the masses.

A good holiday weekend Joe.

When not selling tv shows, I am blogging at coyotes-wolves-cougars@blogspot.com

Check it out please.

Rick

Rick Meril
Executive VP Gen Sales Mgr
Warner Bros Television
4000 Warner Blvd
Burbank, Calif 91522
818 954 5747

Fw: Wolves coexsisting with men

Wall street Journal Reporter Joe Barrett responding to my note to him on his Saturday Journal article on Wolves and men in Wisconsin

----- Original Message -----
From: Seslowsky, Eddie
To: Meril, Rick
Sent: Sat May 29 12:12:16 2010
Subject: RE: Wolves coesisting with men

Sweet. I am smiling.


Eddie Seslowsky

VP Sales
Warner Brothers
312-440-9696 (w)
646-391-7278 (c)
......................................................................
The information contained in this communication may be confidential or legally privileged and is intended only for the recipient named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication or its contents is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately advise the sender and delete the original and any copies from your computer system
________________________________________
From: Meril, Rick
Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2010 2:09 PM
To: Seslowsky, Eddie
Subject: Fw: Wolves coesisting with men

----- Original Message -----
From: Meril, Rick
To: 'Joseph.Barrett@wsj.com' <Joseph.Barrett@wsj.com>
Sent: Sat May 29 12:09:23 2010
Subject: Re: Wolves coesisting with men

Joe

Appreciate your reply

We have played god for 500 years in north america from a human-centric point of view.

Time to give our fellow earth-traveling creatures some "restoration" opportunities

We will be a better species for it

You and family enjoy a fun holiday.

Be great for you to do a follow-up that incorporates some of the wildlife restoration themes we touched on in our corresspondence today.

Thank you again for having an open and inquisitive mind

Rick

----- Original Message -----
From: Barrett, Joseph <Joseph.Barrett@wsj.com>
To: Meril, Rick
Sent: Sat May 29 11:58:23 2010
Subject: Re: Wolves coesisting with men

Thanks, Rick. Lots of good points. Wish I had space to get into all this. I telegraphed a bit of it. As I worked on the story, I had my 12-year-old vegetarian son's words echoing in my ears: "that's what you get when you play god in the woods."

----- Original Message -----
From: Meril, Rick <Rick.Meril@warnerbros.com>
To: Barrett, Joseph
Sent: Sat May 29 14:39:11 2010
Subject: Wolves coesisting with men

Joe

Read your article today on Wolves in Wisconsin and beyond........

I read The Journal daily and am in business. Realizie that The Journal leans conservative and yet it is important on these type of "specialty" topics-- the return of Wolves-- to truly get all the facts and not just emphasize the subjective commentary of one or two farm families........ or conversely, generically say that environmentalists(whatever that means in an era where so many of us are rightly feeling humans are part of the circle of life--not standing outside of it) favor wolves because they fit into the circle.

Here are some facts to digest for a follow-up article:

A total of 6000 wolves in the USA and 300 plus million humans

Who are there too many of?

It is universally recognized that deer populations are at out of control llevels and wolves can (with other predators) trim their numbers to better reflect land carrying capacities.....

.Wolves provide a keystone trophic cascade insofar as wolves trim deer herds...allowing trees to regenerate(deer overpopulation denudes the forest floor of seedlings, thus preventing a new generation of trees and shrubs to grow)........

With the understory level of trees and shrubs denuded, birds, insects and small mammals who require underbrush for food and cover die off........overpopulation of deer also fouls our rivers and streams because deer eat all the browse by the riverbeds. The force of the rain erodes all the topsoil into the river killing the fish.......making the forest soil sterile........

As Our great naturalist Also Leopold came to learn...........mountains live in fear of the wolf, Cougar and Bear going extinct.........they know that too many deer means there is very little green and a dearth of diversity of green plants to hold the soil in place.......to foster the wide spectrum of life that truly makes the mountain thrive......
.
Remember that Dogs are immediate competitors of wolves and they(like coyotes) will seek to kill them....the wolvew attack dogs..... not the men in the woods

If u graze cattle or sheep, u need guard dogs or llamas as deterrents........u must pen the livestock at night...........

In short practice good husbandry.......do not seduce wild animals to eat domestics because we humans make them easier to grab than wild prey

Same as us......if u could go into a store and take the food without paying, u would.........our system saids u go to jail if u do that( our legal system is our lamas and guard dogs)......therefore, we pay for food rather than risk going to jail......wolves will hunt deer rather than risk being killed by our deterrants more often than not

Make wolves and bears.....cougars and coyotes pay for their meals....... killing deer, elk, beaver and thinking twice about the risks they run if they go after domestics

A few scant wolves exist in the USA.........we should make room across the usa in our rural and wilder sections to restore what we as Americans brag about......our frontier and independent spirit......all conservatives should cheer our "wild america"......not seek to destroy it......that would truly reflect that "familiy values" are real, not some trumped up, pseudo religious/political maifesto to charge up the masses.

A good holiday weekend Joe.

When not selling tv shows, I am blogging at coyotes-wolves-cougars@blogspot.com

Check it out please.

Rick

Rick Meril
Executive VP Gen Sales Mgr
Warner Bros Television
4000 Warner Blvd
Burbank, Calif 91522
818 954 5747

Fw: Wolves coexsisting with men

The Wall Street Journal, Saturday May 29 edition first section(page 4or 5 I believein first section)reports on wolves in Wisconsin being feared and hated by people.

My email below sent to the reporter who wrote this narrow perspective piece:

----- Original Message -----
From: Meril, Rick
To: 'joseph.barrett@wsj.com' <joseph.barrett@wsj.com>
Sent: Sat May 29 11:39:11 2010
Subject: Wolves coesisting with men

Joe

Read your article today on Wolves in Wisconsin and beyond........

I read The Journal daily and am in business. Realizie that The Journal leans conservative and yet it is important on these type of "specialty" topics-- the return of Wolves-- to truly get all the facts and not just emphasize the subjective commentary of one or two farm families........ or conversely, generically say that environmentalists(whatever that means in an era where so many of us are rightly feeling humans are part of the circle of life--not standing outside of it) favor wolves because they fit into the circle.

Here are some facts to digest for a follow-up article:

A total of 6000 wolves in the USA and 300 plus million humans

Who are there too many of?

It is universally recognized that deer populations are at out of control llevels and wolves can (with other predators) trim their numbers to better reflect land carrying capacities.....

.Wolves provide a keystone trophic cascade insofar as wolves trim deer herds...allowing trees to regenerate(deer overpopulation denudes the forest floor of seedlings, thus preventing a new generation of trees and shrubs to grow)........

With the understory level of trees and shrubs denuded, birds, insects and small mammals who require underbrush for food and cover die off........overpopulation of deer also fouls our rivers and streams because deer eat all the browse by the riverbeds. The force of the rain erodes all the topsoil into the river killing the fish.......making the forest soil sterile........

As Our great naturalist Also Leopold came to learn...........mountains live in fear of the wolf, Cougar and Bear going extinct.........they know that too many deer means there is very little green and a dearth of diversity of green plants to hold the soil in place.......to foster the wide spectrum of life that truly makes the mountain thrive......
.
Remember that Dogs are immediate competitors of wolves and they(like coyotes) will seek to kill them....the wolvew attack dogs..... not the men in the woods

If u graze cattle or sheep, u need guard dogs or llamas as deterrents........u must pen the livestock at night...........

In short practice good husbandry.......do not seduce wild animals to eat domestics because we humans make them easier to grab than wild prey

Same as us......if u could go into a store and take the food without paying, u would.........our system saids u go to jail if u do that( our legal system is our lamas and guard dogs)......therefore, we pay for food rather than risk going to jail......wolves will hunt deer rather than risk being killed by our deterrants more often than not

Make wolves and bears.....cougars and coyotes pay for their meals....... killing deer, elk, beaver and thinking twice about the risks they run if they go after domestics

A few scant wolves exist in the USA.........we should make room across the usa in our rural and wilder sections to restore what we as Americans brag about......our frontier and independent spirit......all conservatives should cheer our "wild america"......not seek to destroy it......that would truly reflect that "familiy values" are real, not some trumped up, pseudo religious/political maifesto to charge up the masses.

A good holiday weekend Joe.

When not selling tv shows, I am blogging at coyotes-wolves-cougars@blogspot.com

Check it out please.

Rick

Rick Meril
Executive VP Gen Sales Mgr
Warner Bros Television
4000 Warner Blvd
Burbank, Calif 91522
818 954 5747

A WAKEUP CALL FOR THE OCELOT--ONE OF THE RAREST CATS IN NORTH AMERICA

The Last of the Ocelots in the United States WHETHER IT BE THE SMALL BLACK  BEAR POPULATION IN NEW JERSEY OR THE MINUTE AND "HANGING-ON - BY-A-THREAD" OCELOT POPULATION OF SOUTH TEXAS, EDUCATION, FUNDING FOR ADDITIONAL OPEN SPACE AND BASIC  HUMANITY IS REQUIRED FOR THE GREAT DIVERSITY OF LARGE AND MESO- CARNIVORES  TO PERSIST THROUGH THIS 21ST  CENTURY AND ON INTO THE FUTURE..................... CHECK OUT THE OCELOT INFORMATION BELOW.................... In a small corner of the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, the last of the wild ocelots in the United Statescling to life. Once found in several areas of the southern North America, Central America, and much of  South America, today the ocelot has almost disappeared from its range in the southern United States, and subspecies of the ocelot are threatened by the conversion of large areas of its natural habitat into farm land, and by the  growth of cities. It is estimated that as few as 80-100 wild ocelots survive in the United States today -- most, if not all of them within the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge, in the eastern part of Cameron County, near the town of Bayview, Texas. These sleek, furtive, finely-tuned cats, silent and seldom seen by humans, are nocturnal, spending their  days resting in brush so thick  that the only way a person can  move through it is by crawling on their hands and knees.  And if you've ever been to the Lower  Rio Grande Valley of , you know that you don't want to do that. It has been said of this area that  if it doesn't sting you, stick you, or bite you, it ain't from  around here. People may find the habitat inhospitable but  wildlife love it.   The problem is that the remaining habitat  sits atop land that  is valuable for agriculture.    Once a land of sabal palms and thornbrush, much of the Rio Grande Valley today is stripped of vegetation Female ocelots prepare dens for their kittens  in thick, thorny, low brush, such as spiny hackberry, lotebrush, and blackbrush.   Mothers leave at night to hunt, but spend each  day with their kittens (usually 1-2 per year) at the den. The kittens begin hunting with their mother when they are about 3 months old, but remain partially dependent upon her until they are about a year old. Females begin breeding when they are about 3 years old, and typically have only one kitten per litter. Although thought to survive only 5-6 years in the wild, they've been known to live into  their twenties in captivity. Offspring tend to remain with their mothers for a little more than a year, then disperse to new territories. In general, as with other cats, territories are clearly marked by urine. Solitary, the male defends his territory from other  males. The time when a young male goes off on his own is the riskiest period of a male ocelot's life. He must either find an unoccupied territory or be strong enough to take control from another male in a vicious, often fatal, battle. With the encroachment of civilization, there are  other dangers too.  In search of  habitable land, the ocelot is prone to being struck  by cars while crossing roads.  The lack of suitable habitat is the most significant barrier to a young male finding a territory of its own.  There is nowhere to go. Outside of the Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge, all but 5% of  the region's landscape has been altered, and unlike the bobcat, the ocelot has shown itself unable to adapt. The refuge is the perfect habitat for  the ocelot, but most of the land around it is settled, or in use as agricultural property. The Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge is surrounded by salt water on one side, and  by farms and rangeland on the others. Few remaining corridors connect the refuge with other suitable habitats, and those that do cross roads and highways.  The motor vehicle has become the ocelot's primary enemy. It is estimated  that 2% of its ocelot population is lost on the roads that pass through the refuge.   It gets worse. The State of Texas is scheduled  to improve two of the roads that lead through  the refuge, to create a two-lane highway that would shorten the trip from the Harlingen airport to South Padre Island by about 10 miles, an event  that would result in more traffic traveling at higher speeds, a recipe for disaster for the ocelot population in the United States. In 1999, Congress approved a plan for  the acquisition of enough land to more than  double the size of the refuge by  buying and acquiring easements on more than a hundred acres of farmland over the next 20 years, restoring it to its natural state. However, at this writing, the United States Senate has not yet released these funds. They are  needed.  The optimum territory for single ocelot is 500 acres.  Some Laguna Atascosa males have only 80,  while the youngest have none. North of the refuge, Frank Yturria, one of  the Lower  Rio Grande Valley's largest landowners, has chosen to sign a perpetual conservation easement for  600 acres of his property. Although he will continue to own the property, he has agreed to leave it in its natural state  of dense, thorny brush. It is believed that  from 5-10 ocelots have found their way to this new refuge.  Unfortunately, others are killed in traffic before they reach it. Although biologists are working with the Texas Department of Transportation in the  hope of developing road crossings for ocelots, little real  progress has been made. The highway department tried building culverts beneath the roads,  but the ocelots  refused to use them. Larger, perhaps  more viable structures, may prove to be expensive.

Bearproof garbage cans, mandating morning garbage can placement instead of night before........... and putting aside more contiguous open space-key to New Jersey Black Bear population thriving alongside the Nation's most densely populated State

KEEPING YOU UPDATED ON THE CONTINUING BEAR HUNT CONTROVERSY CURRENTLY BEING DEBATED INNEW JERSEY WHERE IN ACTUALITY THE NUISANCE BEARS THAT LIVE CLOSE TO PEOPLE WOULD NOT REALLY BE THE TARGET OF HUNTERS ..........REALISTICALLY, RURAL WOODLAND BEARS WOULD END UP CULLED IF A CHRISTMAS 2010 HUNT IS INSTITUTED.............NOT REALLY A GOOD SOLUTION TO ACCOMPLISH HUMANS AND BEARS CO-EXISTING...........WHICH STARTS AND ENDS WITH THREE PARAMETERS BEING INSTITUTED ASAP:

------ GARBAGE CANS NOT TO BE PUT OUT THE NIGHT BEFORE PICKUP AND INSTEAD PLACED CURBSIDE THE DAY OF PICKUP

 

-------ALL RESIDENTS BEING PROVIDED BEARPROOF GARBAGE CANS SUCCESSFULLY UTILIZED IN YELLOWSTONE, GLACIER AND OTHER HABITATS THAT GRIZZLIES STILL CALL HOME-----IF A GRIZ CANNOT OPEN THESE CANS, OUR SMALLER BLACK BRUINS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GET A FREE HUMAN DISPOSED MEAL

 

------NEW JERSEY AND LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES ACROSS THE USA TO CREATE LARGER OPEN SPACE Z0NES AND CONNECTIVE CORRIDORS SO AS TO ALLOW FOR BLACK BEARS TO ROAM THE TERRITORIES THAT DO NOT GET THEM KILLED VERSUS PARADING THROUGH SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS FOR TRASH LEFT UNCOVERED...................................

 

New Jersey environment group finds potential bear hunt unbearable

State hasn't OK'd a hunt but Sierra Club campaigning against idea

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

The Sierra Club of New Jersey is so convinced the state government will allow a bear hunt in December that it is launching a campaign to oppose it.

"It's never been about managing bears, it's only about hunting bears," Jeff Tittel, Sierra Club director, said of the developing Department of Environmental Protection bear management plan.

"New Jersey has basically eliminated funds for bear management, including cutting the bear warden program as well as reducing funds for conservation officers, cutting education programs and bear aversion therapy, and other non-lethal methods of management,'' Tittel charged. "(DEP) Commissioner Martin never met with groups that are working on non-lethal management plans. Because of the cuts, there are not enough conservation officers to deal with the complaints and bear-human interactions. By cutting funds, the state has eliminated the possibility of any type of effective bear management program and is now looking towards a hunt, which will not solve the problem of nuisance bears.''

Larry Ragonese, a DEP spokesman, said no decision has been made about whether to allow a bear hunt.

"The comment period for the black bear management program runs through June 18,'' he said. "Afterwards, the DEP will respond to comments. The (state) Fish and Game Council will consider the issue, and then DEP Commissioner Martin will get the issue. Expect a likely final decision in August on a bear hunt.''

Ragonese said the proposed black bear management plan also includes education, proper trash disposal methods in bear country, a look at bear habitat and other features.

"If a hunt is approved, it would likely take place in early December,'' Ragonese. "But approval has not occurred yet.''

The state approved bear hunts in 2003 and 2005. Hunts were considered in 1988 and 2004. The issue has always been a source of controversy.

"This is a recreational hunt,'' Tittel said of a potential hunt. "Most of the hunting will occur in public lands in the middle of the forests, not in the areas where nuisance bears, are living. A real management hunt would be a zonal hunt where hunters start at the perimeter of each of zone and move from where the development is
toward the center of the zone, trying to eliminate bears living closest to human populations.''

Tittel said he believes the current policy of getting rid of problem bears is working. Bears that prove to be aggressive are euthanized, eliminating those that are the biggest threat to the public or property.

"Human-bear interactions and bear-related complaints can often be attributed to a singular nuisance bear within a region,'' Tittel said. "These bears are living behind sheds and under decks and will not be targeted by the bear hunt. The bears that will ultimately pay the price of a hunt will be those living in the forests that do not venture into neighborhoods and communities. Eliminating these docile bears is not part an effective bear management plan.''

Tittel said the most important component in an effective bear management plan is education. He said more than 500,000 New Jerseyans live in bear country, but many of them do not have the expertise or experience to understand bears and know how to avoid confrontations with them.

"At the most basic level, people need to be taught that bears are wild animals and should be treated with respect and from a distance,'' Tittel said. "people must be educated that feeding bears as they would pets is dangerous and will lead to aggressive behavior in the future.''

Tittel said whether or not there is a hunt, the state and residents must deal with garbage and food sources on private property.

"The state needs to mandate no garbage out at night, bear-proof containers and locking dumpsters,'' Tittel said. "If we don't do something about garbage, no matter what there will always be bear problems in New Jersey. This plan is garbage since it fails to deal with the most important issue -- garbage."

Here is what Tittel said New Jersey should do to manage its bear population:

Protect habitat: Every year the state loses 8,000-10,000 acres of land in bear country. The more we build houses in the middle of the woods where bears live, the more conflict we will see between bears and humans.

Non-lethal methods of dealing with conflicts between bears and humans:

• One of the most important programs that has been cut is bear aversion therapy, which trains bears to be afraid of humans and, thus, to avoid them.
• Bear-proofing important public areas: The state should work with towns and municipalities to put up fencing and take other steps to keep bears out of key areas, such as playgrounds.
• Working with farmers: The state needs to cooperate with the agricultural sector to provide small grants to farmers that allow them to bear-proof their properties and protect them from potential damage.
• Conservation officers: The state should have conservation officers and bear wardens to address bear complaints and educate the public about bears.
• Garbage: The state must mandate no garbage out at night, as well bear-proof containers and locking dumpsters.
• Education: People living in bear country need to be educated about bear-proofing and how to deal with a bear on their property.

"The black bear is a symbol that we still have wild places in New Jersey and the whole state has not been paved over with subdivisions and strip malls," Tittel said. "As New Jersey continues to suburbanize and more people move into bear country, we should be managing bears and protecting habitat instead of getting rid of the bears. We shouldn't have a hunt just because it may be hard to sell condos in Vernon to people in Brooklyn because there are bears in the area."

Oregon gives 5 ranchers permits to shoot wolves

Geez...............a few wolves come to Oregon and already we are trying to eliminate them............when will we evolve?
Oregon gives 5 ranchers permits to CLICK ON "OREGON LINK ABOVE TO READ FULL STORY shoot wolves | wolves, permits, oregon - Top Stories - Source: ktvl.com

Black bear sightings reported near Oshkosh this week

Black bear sightings reported near Oshkosh this week
go to:
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201005260418/OSH0101/100525150


just like in New Jersey where black bears are at their most numerous count since 1800, Wisconsin bears are seeking expanded territory as they fill up their pre-existing Northern Wisconsin range..........Is there enough political will and space in and around our human dominated urban cores to allow for expansion of our WILDLIFE?

Drought, Predation and the Decline of the Migratory Clark's Fork Elk herd

Arthur Middleton of the Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Wyoming, will give a talk titled, "Drought, Predation, and the Decline of Migratory Clark's Fork Elk" TONIGHT, Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 6:30, Teton County Library.

About the Presentation: Migration probably evolved in ungulates, including elk, as a winning strategy to benefit from variation in vegetation green-up and large carnivore predation across large landscapes. Concern over declines in ungulate migration typically focuses on habitat loss, with less attention given to potential changes in the classic benefits of migration. In this public presentation, Arthur Middleton – a Ph.D. student at the University of Wyoming and a researcher on the Absaroka Elk Ecology Project – will discuss a partially-migratory elk herd in northwest Wyoming whose migratory portion has been declining in spite of relatively intact seasonal habitats and migration routes. He will first compare long-term population trends of migratory versus nonmigratory Clarks Fork elk, then he will describe emerging findings from three years of intensive research on the annual body fat and reproductive cycling of these elk. Because these comparisons call into question the expected benefits of migration for these elk, he will next discuss long-term patterns in summer vegetation conditions, climate, and carnivore densities that might help answer why. Finally, he will describe some upcoming analyses that are planned for the Absaroka Elk Project, a collaboration of university, state, and federal biologists designed to address pressing wildlife ecology and management questions in the region.

Fw: Biologist urges leaving coyotes alone~ Portland Press Herald

As Geri expounds upon so clearly in the following interview, killing reident coyote families causes a "boomerang effect"......transient coyotes then occupy and split the original family habitat into two smaller units......each can then raise a family of up to 16 pups(natures way of compensating for the animals previously destroyed)....thus increasing propensity for cats, dogs and farm animals to go missing.......let's learn how to live with our existing "Wily" neighbors and let them clean the area of rodents as they were intended to do!

---

From: Project Coyote <info@projectcoyote.org>
To: Project Coyote <info@projectcoyote.org>
Sent: Tue May 25 22:08:55 2010
Subject: Biologist urges leaving coyotes alone~ Portland Press Herald

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Biologist-urges-leaving-coyotes-alone.htmlPortland Press Herald
May 24, 2010Biologist urges leaving coyotes alone
Killing coyotes to protect Maine farm animals can actually have the opposite result, Geri Vistein warns.AUGUSTA — Coyotes, unlike many other wild carnivores, can coexist in fairly close proximity with humans, according to a Maine conservation biologist working with a national advocacy group.

A coyote roams next to a development in Hallowell recently. A Maine conservation biologist working with a national advocacy group says efforts to protect domestic animals from coyotes often have the opposite effect.
Andy Molloy/Morning Sentinel

But well-meaning efforts to help coyotes or protect domestic animals from them often have the opposite effect, Geri Vistein said.
"Coyotes are very capable of coexisting with us," Vistein said. "But we need to keep coyotes wild, by never providing them food, water or shelter."
On the other hand, killing coyotes to protect farm animals can actually have the opposite result, she said.
Vistein, representing the national Coyote Project, spoke recently at Lithgow Public Library in Augusta.
Stable, healthy families of coyotes are likely to be wary of humans, she said, while wandering, unhealthy or starving coyotes are more likely to snag an unprotected chicken or other farm animal. Killing coyotes that have established territories opens those territories to wandering, dysfunctional coyotes, she said.
When coyotes are killed off, local populations respond by increasing birth rates, from three or four per year per female, to seven to 16 pups per year, Vistein said.
Good fencing, keeping a guard animal such as a llama or dog and keeping animals sheltered at night can help protect them from predators, Vistein said.
A healthy, stable coyote population can actually be beneficial by keeping down the population of rodents – their dominant food source, she said.
Coyotes have lived in North America for a half-million years, and exist nowhere else, she said.
There are about  19,000 coyotes in Maine during the fall, and the number drops to about 12,000 during an average winter, said biologist Wally Jakubas, mammal group leader for the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Over  the past 10 years, the number of coyotes tagged by hunters or trappers yearly has been declining, Jakubas said, but it is unclear whether populations are getting smaller, he said.
Coyotes can be hunted year-round during daylight hours in Maine. There is no limit on the number of animals a single hunter can kill.
Vistein said she could support regulated hunting, with bag limits and a set season.
Jakubas said there are no records of coyotes attacking people in Maine but people have been attacked in other states.
Usually, Jakubas said, attacks have involved food.
"Ninety-nine percent of encounters with coyotes will be nonconfrontational, and everything will be fine. They are fairly wary of us," Jakubas said. "On the rare occasion, they may be aggressive. If you encounter a coyote, watch its behavior. Its normal behavior will be to identify you and, often, it runs off.  If it becomes aggressive, treat it as you would an aggressive dog. Shout at it, don't run away, and stand your ground."
________________________Project CoyoteP.O. Box 5007
Larkspur, CA  94977http://www.blogger.com/info@projectcoyote.org415.945.3232 (o)
Fostering educated coexistence between humans and coyotesA project of Earth Island Institute
Visit us online:  www.ProjectCoyote.orgmake a tax deductible donation:
https://www.earthislandprojects.org/projectcoyote/donate.html

West or East................the knee-jerk reaction to destroy wildlfe is rampant

The following page from the "Powell Tribune" web site has been sent to you by rick meril ( rick.meril@warnerbros.com ).
You can access it at the following URL:
http://powelltribune.com/index.php/content/view/3339/58/

BoulderDailyCamera: CSU researcher plans Boulder bobcat study

This article link was mailed to you by: rick.meril@warnerbros.com *

Not too many bobcat studies going on compared to the literature being penned on their larger cousins(Cougars) and their very similar looking bretheren(Lynx). Colorado State University Doctoral student, Jesse Lewis unfolding a Summer 2010 , study of the habits, diseases, habitat uses and interactions with Man in and around Boulder .We will try to stay in touch with how this research progresses and report on it accordingly.

CSU researcher plans Boulder bobcat study - By Laura Snider, Camera Staff Writer

Local land managers know that bobcats -- secretive speckled felines that are bigger than house cats and smaller than lynx -- live on the vast open space lands that surround Boulder to the west. View Full Story

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Massachusetts Eastern Coyote(Coywolf) biologist recent book release: SUBURBAN HOWLS

Suburban Howls encompasses is well designed and organized, EV MCBRIDE

i BOUGHT SEVERAL COPIES OF JON'S BOOK WHEN IT CAME OUT AND SHARED THOSE COPIES WITH FRIENDS WHO WERE ALREADY KNOWLEDGABLE ABOUT THE EAST'S "NEW TOP DOG" AS WELL AS THOSE WHO WERE WAY OUTSIDE THE ENVELOPE AS IT RELATES TO THE NATURAL WORLD AROUND THEM.

BOTH OF THESE TYPE PERSONS ENTHUSIASTICALLY TOLD ME THAT THEY FOUND JON'S BOOK CLEAR, UNDERSTANDABLE AND PACKED FULL OF INFORMATION REGARDINGTHE LIFE AND BEHAVIOUR OF NATURES FASTEST EVOLVING CANID HYBRID(PART WESTERN COYOTE/PART EASTERN WOLF).

AVAILABLE BOTH ON AMAZON AND ON JON'S http://www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/ website...............IT HAS MY VOTE AND HOPE YOU WILL INVEST IN IT AS WELL!

Suburban Howls: Tracking the Eastern Coyote in Urban Massachusetts

By Jonathan Way. 2007. Dog Ear Publishing, 4010 W. 86th Street, Ste. H, Indianapolis, Indiana 46268, USA. US $23.99 plus

shipping and handling via www.easterncoyoteresearch. com.

Here is a fabulous journey into the life of the eastern

Coyote in the northeastern United States. If you've

ever wanted to know these canine inhabitants of

wildlands and rural and suburban zones better, this

book is for you.

Author JonathanWay started studying Coyotes when

he was in high school.

his life and studies beginning then, and continuing

through his university years to the present. He is a

scientist who loves his subject, loves the very beings

of his subject.

Way's presentation of his studies, largely through

radio collar tracking and observations, is densely

packed with different kinds of information. He takes

the reader into the field to watch Coyotes leading

their lives, then through the trials of trapping, measuring,

collaring and tracking. We experience the very

frustrating process of trying to get study permits from

government agencies, and confront the challenges of

loving and studying an animal that others would happily

shoot in numbers.We share the author's grief and

consternation when a whole group of his wild study

animals are poisoned to death by rodenticide. We're

invited to wonder how his grandmother felt when he

temporarily moved five Coyote pups into his basement

apartment in her home.

A large section of the book is devoted toWay's experience

creating and studying a group of captive Coyote

siblings in a zoo. Here we learn more about observed

Coyote behaviour through the author's intense bonding

with his subjects.We are given cause for reflection both

about the ethics of this project, and on the poignancy

of his eventual, permanent separation from the group.

The book is brimming with observations not only

about Coyote ecology and behaviour, but also about

wildlife management and politics, humans' perception

of wildlife, and human behaviour. It includes blackand-

white and colour photos showing both the coyotes

and the author, often together.

Way treats his study Coyotes as individuals, taking

great care to show their distinct personalities. He has

a fierce and obvious commitment to helping people

appreciate, rather than fear and revile, Coyotes. I completely

respect his determination to include his own

emotions as he presents his work, as an intentional

means to deliver a message. If I have one, tiny reservation

about the book, it is that the author is perhaps too

present, making it too emotionally rich for me. I found

it difficult to read for that reason.

But that is a trivial complaint, related to a reader's

taste rather than the quality of the book. The work is

remarkable, thorough and heartfelt. It is a lively read.

On the occasional attempts I made to skim through

some parts, the author's story telling instead drew me

in to read voraciously in spite of myself. I also admire

Way's candour. He tells a straightforward story, not

making apologies or excuses where other authors

might. My favourite example is when he describes

watching a Coyote contemplate making a meal of

somebody's pet cat. The cat is at large in Coyote-land,

taking its chances on the rough edge of town, but still

— it's obvious Way doesn't intend to intervene. That

is simply stated, with no rationalization offered. (The

cat gets away, no doubt to make its own meal of

some smaller wildlife.)

Suburban Howls

complete with a table of contents, tables, maps and

several appendices. The author includes a bibliography

of his journal publications, and a thorough glossary

and index. The book will be of interest to students of

wildlife biology, wildlife management, and of humanwildlife

interactions and ethics. It is definitely readable

for a general audience with an appreciation for

adventure and a curiosity for wildlife. If you know

someone (cat owner or otherwise) who could benefit

from feeling more at home with their neighbouring

Coyotes, you might sneak this book onto their coffee

table. FollowWay's work into the future via his Internet

site: https://mail.google.com/mail/html/compose/static_files/goog_906441281

B

574 Tweedsmuir Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 5P2 Canada

Nevada lions, coyotes in sights

You have been sent an online news article from rick meril as a courtesy of www.rgj.com

Article Title:
Nevada lions, coyotes in sights

To view the contents on from the www.rgj.com, go to:
http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201005240600/NEWS/5240326

Message:
Nevada Fish and Wildlife are certainly not "THINKING LIKE A MOUNTAIN".....LESS LIONS AND COYOTES DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN MORE DEER........AND WHAT OF THE HEALTH OF THE LANDSCAPE? MR LEOPOLD, HOW DO WE BRING FOLKS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY ON THIS TOPIC??????

Two Florida panthers hit and killed by vehicles in last two days

Two Florida panthers hit and killed by vehicles in last two days

The 100 to 200 Florida Cougars need wildlife culvert crossings to help them expand their total territory and attempt to find suitable additional habitat. If this is not possible in Florida, then it is time to relocate some of our remaining Eastern Lions and jump start populations in other Southern, Mid South and New England wildlands up and down the Appalachian Spine.....................Even 200 Cougars is not a sustainable 100 year population if we keep them bottled up in finite Florida domains..............

click here to read article
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/may/22/two-florida-panthers-hit-and-killed-vehicles-last-/

Washington State homeowner shoots Bear dead in driveway

Whether it be NJ, Kansas or now in Washington State, we humans must modifiy our garbage disposal habits so as to not tempt Bears and other wildlife into making our neighborhoods picnic grounds--which gets them killed because of our bad habits. When we leave out garbage, birdfeeders, etc..................we invite the habituation of wild creatures who see our backyards as "easy pickins'................A fed bear is a dead bear......................................

http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2010/may/22/homeowner-kills-bear-in-driveway/

Outdoors - Coyote hunting fills the off-season for hunters

www.starnewsonline.com/article/20100522/COLUMNIST/100529871/1005

The hunter in the article above(click on article) resides in the Wilmington, Delaware area of the USA............along with Maryland, the last unfilled Eastern Coyote niche discovered by our adaptable "Wily" about 6 years ago. A shame that what appears to be a veteran human hunter opines that the reason he hunts coyotes is because they kill deer fawns. While true enough that Coyotes will opportunisticaly kill fawns, this culling tends to be compensatory rather than additive, meaning that the coyotes do not dampen the white tail population significantly and that the young deer they kill would likely not make it pass fawn stage anyway. There should be a closed season Jan-June during mating and pup rearing and a bag limit June through December that is biologically sound and thought out utilizing best science and not  a"kill baby kill" knee-jerk response to Delaware's "top dog".

From naplesnews.com: Two Florida panthers hit and killed by vehicles in last two days

rick meril sent you this:

Two Florida panthers hit and killed by vehicles in last two days

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/may/22/two-florida-panthers-hit-and-killed-vehicles-last-/

rick meril attached this additional message:
--------
While encouraging that Florida's 100-200 Cougars are "busting at the seams in the habitat that they occupy..............truly disappointing that the highway in question does not have the necessary culverts and wildlife crossings necessary to get F.concolor through to a connective zone that would lead to additional sizeable opene space territory where they could spread out, be fruitful and multiply............perhaps an alternative solution is to capture and relocate a % of the population to other Southeastern locations along the Appalachian Spine...........all the way up to West Virginia..........allowing for multiple and in some cases connective populations to fulfill their biological top down trophic place in the food chain.
--------

naplesnews.com

Recent Jan 2010 Algonquin Park, Ontario study on whether Wolves with Coyote-like phenotypes prey on or just scavenge Moose

This blog has over the recent months examined various evidences and hypotheses regarding whether Eastern Coyotes(Coywolves)--C.lycaon(x)latrans--are capable of filling the Eastern Wolf''s (C.lupus(x)lycaon or C.lycaon) biological role of preying on Moose , Elk, Caribou, Beaver as well as Deer. Most of the available literature suggests that while Eastern Coyotes will opportunistically take out Moose calves and scavenge Moose kills, they are not a primary predator of adult Moose at this time.

Trent University grad student Karen Loveless updates and reinforces this viewpoint in her thorough and in-depth analysis of Algonquin Park Wolves............. those whose genetics are more closely associated with Coyotes tend to score most of their food base from deer....................those whose genetics are more closely associated with lycaon and Lupus(Eastern and Gray Wolves) are more likely to extract a higher share of their calorie intake from Moose(while also enjoying many deer meals).

  I have extracted what impacted me most as to this line-of-thought below.  Thank you Karen for this teriffic updating on a main focus of this blog.....the re-wilding of North America with our full suite of native predator and prey species(and whether hybridized species, in this case wolves and coyotes interconnecting in Eastern North America ,can fulfill historical ecological ecosystem functions.

Genetic Admixture and Predation -(Karen Loveless analysis)

C. lupus influenced packs to specialize on moose, and for C. latrans influenced packs to specialize on deer, which became more distinct with higher levels of admixture. Strongly C. latrans influenced packs (defined here as >0.5 average admixture) were unlikely to prey on moose. There was one moose kill that may have been made by a strongly C. latrans pack, however it occurred at an intersection of territories with 2 C. lupus influenced packs that regularly killed moose, and we could not be sure which pack had made the kill. Conversely, deer were a minor prey item for strongly C. lupus influenced packs, comprising only 10-15% of diet. C. lycaon tendency to be more generalist than either the strongly C. lupus or C. latrans influenced packs could simply represent their intermediate morphological position between coyote and gray wolf-like animals. This could ultimately be an advantage in a system with high variability in the vulnerability and accessibility of prey, and may explain the persistence of eastern wolves in spite of genetic introgression from other canid types.

Prey distribution was the most important factor driving prey use; however admixture was significant in the overall prey use model, and the mid-winter model. There was an overall, significant trend for
 C. lycaon population utilized both deer and moose, some C. lycaon packs subsisted primarily on moose, and others relied heavily on deer, indicating that this genotype is not limited to one or the other prey species. C. latrans influence to utilize moose, we could not confirm any moose kills made by strongly C. latrans packs. If C. latrans influence limits a packs ability to exploit moose, then this would likely limit the establishment of strongly of C. latrans packs to the areas where deer are accessible. It is not clear whether C. lupus packs have any competitive advantage over C. packs, or vice versa. Large-scale patterns of hybridization in Ontario indicate higher gene flow between the C. lupus dominated population to the north than the C. latrans population to the south, so the differences between C. lycaon animals and the C. lycaon x C. lupus animals may be less distinct than the differences brought on by hybridization with coyotes. Further study is warranted to determine the trend of hybridization in Algonquin, and how this could influence the ongoing development of this predator-prey system.

 It was determined that 70% of moose consumed by wolves were scavenged winter-killed moose, with low rates of actual predation on moose. Although moose were found to be an important resource, Forbes and Theberge (1996) concluded that wolves in Algonquin were deer specialists, on the basis of predation on deer versus scavenging on moose, and the high incidence of off-territory movements to forage in the deer yards in spite of moose availability on territories. Theberge and Theberge (2004) later suggested that moose predation may be increasing, or perhaps was more prevalent than previously thought. There has clearly been an increase in moose predation since the 1960s, and possibly increased predation on moose since the early 1990s, the degree of which is difficult to determine in the face of major differences in protocol and technology. Results of this study indicate that specialization on moose has developed among some packs, with less selective predation occurring among the moose specialist packs, and in milder winters.

If variation in prey use is influenced by hybridization in Algonquin, the plausible mechanisms could be 1) behavioral predisposition affecting hunting or social patterns, or 2) morphological differences which influence the cost:benefit of prey use. Both coyotes and gray wolves are social, though wolves tend to have more cohesive pack structure than coyotes, which often hunt singly or in small groups when foraging for small prey or deer (Bekoff et al. 1981, Geffen et al. 1996, Patterson and Messier 2001). Coyote-type canids would benefit from pack cohesiveness when large prey are available, however they may hunt individually and sustain themselves on small prey if necessary, whereas wolves are too large to effectively sustain themselves on small prey and are thus  obligated to hunt in packs.

Whether body size, genetic predisposition, or individual experience drive variation in prey use among hybrid classes, the important question is whether and to what extent hybridization is affecting the predator-prey system.

click below to read Karen's full thesis:Foraging strategies of Eastern Wolves in relation to migratory prey and hybridization
 http://www.scribd.com/full/31700778?access_key=key-13prqnq807t4eerejayf