While one thinks of Coyotes as opportunistic eaters of fruit, it is a whole other thing to "digest" the fact that Wolves do the same............Deer, Caribou, Bison, Moose and Beaver are the prey items that most of think of when you investigate the Wolf diet..............."Wolves almost certainly cannot digest berries as efficiently as they can digest ungulate prey (Litvaitis and Mautz 1976)."............ "However, even if digestibility of berries is low, great abundance of berries on the landscape might make berries an important food source because berries can be acquired with little energy expenditure in the summer months when availability of mammalian prey is low (Tremblay et al. 2001)"................. "In Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, berries constituted 30–50% (volume) of wolf diets in July and August 2015 (T. D. Gable, personal observation)".

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313515430_Estimating_biomass_of_berries_consumed_by_gray_wolves

Estimating biomass of berries consumed by gray wolves 

Article in Wildlife Society Bulletin · February 2017

 THOMAS D. GABLE,1 Northern Michigan University, Department of Biology, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855, USA STEVE K. WINDELS, Voyageurs National Park, 360 Highway 11 E, International Falls, MN 56649, USA JOHN G. BRUGGINK, Northern Michigan University, Department of Biology, 1401 Presque Isle Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855, USA 

ABSTRACT 

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) consume berries and other wild fruits seasonally when available or abundant. However, a method to convert percent frequency of occurrence or percent volume of berries in wolf scats to percent biomass has not yet been developed.

We used estimates of the average number of blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) seeds in 10 individual wolf scats collected in and adjacent to Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA, along with published values of the number of seeds per blueberry and blueberry masses to estimate that a wolf scat containing only berries equated to an average of 0.468 kg of berries consumed.

In Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, berries constituted 30–50% (volume) of wolf diets in July and August 2015 (T. D. Gable, personal observation).

We recommend using this berry conversion factor (0.468 kg/scat) to convert the percent frequency of occurrence or percent volume of berries and other wild fruits to percent biomass when estimating wolf diets from scats.

Wolves are opportunists, however, and will take advantage of other food sources such as human garbage, flightless molting birds, and spawning salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) when available (Szepanski et al. 1999, Peterson and Ciucci 2003, Wiebe et al. 2009). 

Wolves also consume fruits such as wild blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) and raspberries (Rubus spp.) when these fruits are abundant. In areas where berry consumption occurs, berries typically constitute a minor (

However, in some areas, berries can be a significant summer food item for wolves. Berries (primarily blueberries) constituted 10–30% (frequency) of the diet of wolves from 1 June to 15 September in southern Quebec, Canada (Tremblay et al. 2001). 

Similarly, vegetation (primarily berries) occurred in 52% of scats collected at home sites in July and 20% of scats collected on trails in August and September in north-central Minnesota, USA (Fuller 1989). 

In Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, berries constituted 30–50% (volume) of wolf diets in July and August 2015 (T. D. Gable, personal observation).

So-called "progressive" Vermont has a year round, no limit hunting season on Eastern Coyotes...........As Blog readers know so well, you would have to annually kill at least 70% of the 3-5000 Vermont Coyote population to begin to dent their numbers..................This, because the remaining Coyotes quickly colonize vacant territories, often dividing in half what was one former territory into two,,,,,,,,,, Therefore, two females bearing an annual liter of 4 to 12 pups instead of just one breeding Coyote, takes place in the territory...........Bottom line is that the Coyotes can effectively double the population of a region even after intense persecution by us........."In addition, history(and science) has shown that hunting, bounties, snaring and trapping has little effect on the population"......."So, the question that begs to be asked is this: Why persist in a war against coyotes when killing them appears to have no impact on their numbers?............."Wildlife biologists admit that coyotes do take deer, but they also subsist on a wide variety of other foods(rodents, rabbits, fruit, nuts--whatever is there for the taking)"............ "Vermont biologists also believe that the current view, held by many hunters, that coyotes kill so many deer that they threaten the existence of our deer herd is not supported by biological evidence"............."In fact, the 2017 Vermont Deer hunting season saw a legal buck harvest of 9,477, 8 percent more than the previous three-year average of 8,760, and the third highest buck harvest since 2002 “.................."Harvest numbers increased during the archery, youth and muzzleloader seasons, and the total harvest of 15,949 is also the third highest since 2002".........Eastern Coyotes are definitely not denting Vermont's Deer herd!!!!!!!!

https://www.timesargus.com/articles/kill-those-coyotes-at-your-own-possible-peril/

Kill those coyotes, at your own possible peril

The Times Argus | January 20, 2018

Dennis Jensen

 I first saw the coyote as it emerged from the big swamp below my tree stand. It was the Vermont firearms deer season. He had good size and wore a brilliant, off-red-gray coat. He was on the move and was coming my way, moving at a rapid pace. When the big predator passed my stand, at a distance of just 10 yards, his head went behind a big oak and I raised the rifle and found him in the scope. To this day, I am amazed that I got away with that much movement, and that close, to an Eastern coyote, an animal with keen vision, hearing and a phenomenal sense of smell. And, no, I did not pull the trigger. I had no intention of pulling the trigger; I just wanted to get an up-close look at a rarely seen animal, one which I happen to hold in great esteem.

Coyote PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN HALL, VT FISH & WILDLIFE DEPT

Eastern Coyotes (25 to 55lbs)are larger than Western Coyotes (20-35lbs),,,,

Eastern Coyotes have anywhere up to 25% Eastern Wolf genes, up to

8% domestic dog genes and anywhere up to 90% coyote genes)

Unfortunately, that view is not shared by many of my fellow deer hunters. In fact, I would venture to say that probably most deer hunters would have put a bullet through that coyote’s chest.

I have been fortunate enough, dare I say lucky enough, to have had a number of close encounters with coyotes over the past 30 years. I have called them in with a variety of turkey calls during both the spring and fall turkey hunts, and have seen them during deer season. One early May morning, in fact, while seated behind a homemade ground blind, I had a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

With a hard wind blowing across an enormous field, I placed an older, molded hen decoy out in front and was struck by how that decoy bobbed back and forth, lifelike, with the wind. About an hour in place, I saw a coyote cross the field in front of me, perhaps 200 yards away. He walked off, out of my line of sight. Then, he re-emerged crossing the field right in front of me. At one point, at about 40 yards away, that coyote stopped and seemed focused on something in the opposite direction. He looked that way for a minute or so. What the heck?

Then, in a flash, he was upon that decoy with a quickness that dazzled me. But when he struck the decoy and it flew off the stake that held it in place, the coyote knew that something wasn’t right and ran off, with great speed. Telling that story a few times to other hunters, I was asked, by each one, did you shoot it? No, I said, I did not. They then wanted to know why I did not.

This killing of coyotes and the passion behind that killing came in loud and clear at two deer hearings I attended in February 2005. No other animal comes under more derision than the coyote, largely because many, if not most, deer hunters believe that coyotes kill far too many whitetail deer.

Put a bounty on them, give a free license to any hunter who kills 10 coyotes, were two proposals to deal with the coyote “problem,” put forth by two hunters at the hearing.

“As far as coyotes go, we ought to kill them all,” a man from Brandon yelled out.

Whether they like it or not, the Eastern coyote is here to stay. They can be legally hunted 365 days a year, and history has shown that hunting, bounties, snaring and trapping has little effect on the population.

I wrote a column about what came out of those hearings titled, sarcastically, “Kill all them coyotes.” I wrote that the emergence of coyote hunting tournaments at the time gave hunters the image of bloodthirsty killers who are bent on going after a predator out of pure hate. Under current law, coyotes can be hunted year-round and there is no limit on how many of these predators can be taken.

Boy, did the poop hit the fan as the hate mail rolled in, calling me nasty names, some of which cannot be repeated in a family newspaper.

But I went even further. I said that an open season on coyotes was wrong, sad and ineffective. Wildlife biologists admit that coyotes do take deer, but they also subsist on a wide variety of other foods. Biologists also believe that the current view, held by many hunters, that coyotes kill so many deer that they threaten the existence of our deer herd is not supported by biological evidence.

So, the question that begs to be asked is this: Why persist in a war against coyotes when killing them appears to have no impact on their numbers?

Yet, the Big Bad Wolf, now the Big Bad Coyote “problem” continues. We will talk about that later in this report. The issue really came to a head in February 2005, when the three-day “1st Annual Howlin’ Hills Coyote Hunt,” with headquarters in Orwell, was held.

And this had to be the saddest nugget to come out of the tournament: It was announced that a cash reward — I believe it was $100 — would be paid to the hunter who brought in the “smallest” coyote. It doesn’t get much sadder, more pathetic, than that.

A group of people showed up at the tournament headquarters protesting the hunt, and it received daily coverage in newspapers around the state, including photos of dead coyotes laid across the blood-splattered snow.

The outcry over that 2005 coyote tournament was pretty loud, and even the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department took a position. Then-Commissioner Wayne Laroche told the Vermont Press Bureau that he believed the tournament was a bad idea.

“You can hunt coyotes all year round,” Larouche said. “But this might not be good for hunting and we want to discuss with them (the people sponsoring the tournament) our concerns about the public perception of what’s going on.”

I contacted the current commissioner of Fish & Wildlife, Louis Porter, to get his view on coyote hunting tournaments in Vermont. His response was very similar to what Larouche had to say. Porter said that Fish & Wildlife does not endorse any coyote hunting tournaments.

“Our position is, we don’t support, endorse, encourage or participate in them,” he said. “They’re legal under state law. We don’t regulate them or oversee them. And I’ve heard, clearly, from some hunters who don’t like the image of hunting they generate, either.” Porter also said that, from what he has heard, coyote tournaments of late “haven’t seemed to generate a lot of interest or are resulting in large numbers of coyotes being taken.”

Deer hunters should think long and hard about what both Larouche and Porter had to say about coyote tournaments. My view is that most nonhunting Vermonters accept hunting as a legitimate pursuit and a Vermont tradition. But those of us who cherish hunting had better be willing to take a stand when some hair-brained idea like a “killing coyote” tournament is coming down the pike, because we need to keep those Vermonters who don’t hunt on our side.

Then we learned a few weeks ago that yet another coyote hunting tournament has been scheduled, in Weston, during the month of February. Here we go again.

Hunters, meanwhile, should not come up with the lame excuse that those in opposition to coyote hunting tournaments are all anti-hunters. I have heard from many folks who have no problem with hunting but who have a big problem with holding a cash-for-killing or big-prizes-for-killing coyotes in a tournament setting.

In a well-thought-out, intelligent letter-to-the editor on Jan. 11, Arden Scranton of South Londonderry came out in opposition to the tournament in Weston. “Why the coyote continues to be the target for misplaced rage is a mystery to me,” Scranton said.

He also had this to say and it was nothing short of eloquent: “I have heard the stories of hunters who describe their time in the woods as one of awe and respect for the experience. And if they are successful in the hunt, there comes with it a feeling of gratitude toward that animal in giving its life for the purpose of feeding a family.”

I am a deer hunter, a proud deer hunter, and one who will offer no excuses for what I do. My children and grandchildren relish the venison that is placed upon their dinner tables, meat that is natural, about as free-ranging as it gets, venison that comes from the woods not far from my home. And after 50 years in the deer woods, hunting deer in six states, I want to see the sport around for my sons and grandchildren.

The open season on coyotes is legal, so any disagreements I have with hunters — and that includes a brother and nephews who do so — is purely a personal one. But holding coyote tournaments with a cash payout or big prizes for the carcasses brought in? I have a big problem with that. It is, well, barbaric.

Now, back to that new coyote hunting tournament, scheduled for the entire month of February. It has been canceled. The Weston Rod & Gun Club, the sponsor of the tournament, planned on running the tournament Feb. 1-28. But the club recently decided to cancel the event because it said “entries were minimal.”

The club stated that the coyote tournament was scheduled in order to raise money “to be more involved and give back to the community.” In its place, the club will raffle off a rifle and other prizes.

That is good news. I believe we should celebrate the fact that we have a big, intelligent, elusive predator in our midst. And giving away cash prizes — or any prizes, for that matter — for bringing in the biggest male, the biggest female, the smallest, ad nauseam, can only help the aim of those who would love to see all hunting ended in the Green Mountain State someday become a reality.
-------------------------------------

http://www.outdoornews.com/2018/01/03/vermont-sees-strong-deer-harvest-numbers-2017-hunts/

Vermont sees strong deer harvest numbers in 2017 hunts

January 3, 2018 

 Vermont Fish and Wildlife Reports

"More moose live in New England now compared with a century ago"............. "Only 50 moose were estimated to be living in New Hampshire in 1950"............ "But they rebounded across the region as pastures returned to forest, hunting declined, and a bounty of food became available when woodlands were churned up to fight spruce budworm disease in the 1970s and 1980s"............. "Now, moose also can be found in Massachusetts and parts of Connecticut and New York, as well as throughout the three northern New England states(Maine, Vermont, new Hampshire)"..............."While one might not think possible, Maine has more of the animals than the other lower 47 states combined!!!"................With all that said, two very contradictory articles about the current health of the Maine Moose population(published just 13 days apart here in January) have me scratching my head and wondering what is real and what is "fake news"..........Is the Moose population stabilizing after years of a debilitating Winter Tick siege or is the population still spiraling south?.........While not an exact count, Maine Moose numbers were estimated at around 76,000 in 2011-----,now somewhere projected in the 50-70,000 range..........."Maine moose biologist Lee Kantar said the average number of ticks found on calves during the collaring this month had decreased 68 percent in the study area around Moosehead Lake during the same period last year, and 67 percent in the study area in far northern Aroostook County"................Pete Perkins at the Natural Resources Dept. at the U. of New Hampshire seems to contradict these findings in stating that "about 70 percent of moose calves across Maine and New Hampshire are dying , and their(Winter Ticks) deadly work is being aided by warming temperatures and shorter winters that allow the parasites to survive longer"

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.pressherald.com/2018/01/26/maine-biologists-find-significant-decline-in-winter-ticks-on-moose/&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoTNTA5NjMzNjg3ODI2MDE5NzA4NDIaM2JiNTcwMGRiYTRlZTUyZDpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AFQjCNFs2KUl4n8CI_1VFQqd3vZ8oWK_dw

Posted January 26

Updated January 27

Decline in winter ticks on moose bodes well for hunters

The survey results indicate a healthy herd and lead to optimism that the number of moose hunting permits in 2018 will be similar to what was issued in 2017.

A young bull moose with half of its antlers shed runs through a clearing in the woods north of Moosehead Lake in this January 2016 file photograph. The moose was spotted on a moose collaring expedition with biologist Lee Kanter of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Staff Photo by Gabe Souza

AUGUSTA — Maine wildlife biologists are encouraged by recent data showing a significant decrease in winter ticks on moose, leading to optimism that the number of hunting permits in 2018 will be similar to last year’s total.

Winter Ticks have a Moose near death

State Wildlife Division Director Judy Camuso said winter-tick checks on moose captured by biologists three weeks ago found fewer ticks than during any checks over the past four years. She told the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Advisory Council on Friday that those results – combined with the hunter success rate last fall – are likely to keep the number of moose permits in 2018 close to the 2,080 issued in 2017.

State biologists cut moose permits by 48 percent from 2013 to 2016 because of concerns about the moose survival rate from winter-tick infestation.

The parasite has decimated moose numbers in the Northeast. Maine’s moose population was estimated at 76,000 in 2011 but is now believed to be between 50,000 to 70,000, the IFW said.

A 68 PERCENT DROP

IFW biologists will recommend the permit total in March and the advisory council will vote on it later in the spring. Camuso said state biologists won’t know the full extent of moose mortality caused by winter ticks until May, when they have complete results from the moose-collar study.

Maine moose biologist Lee Kantar said the average number of ticks found on calves during the collaring this month had decreased 68 percent in the study area around Moosehead Lake during the same period last year, and 67 percent in the study area in far northern Aroostook County.

“This makes us cautiously optimistic,” Kantar said. “I would hope that the winter tick count has some relation to what we’ll see in the spring. The data suggests pretty strongly there is some threshold, that at some number of ticks you will have more mortality, and at some (lesser) number of ticks, you’ll have less mortality. We have less ticks, we should have less mortality.”

 Moose ear loaded with Winter Ticks

Camuso added that the high success rate during the fall hunt was an excellent sign that moose numbers are strong, because a scarcity of moose would result in a low success rate.

Hunters shot 1,504 moose shot last year for a success rate of 72 percent. Historically, the average moose hunt success rate is 73 percent, the IFW said.

“I found that surprisingly high (given the warm hunting weather),” Camuso said. “I was pleased with that.”

Biologists collared more moose than in any other field period in the study’s five-year history – 83 in eight days this month, Camuso said. They did so during a blizzard – and set a record by collaring 22 moose in one day.

“It certainly doesn’t speak to a lack of moose,” Camuso said.

COLLAR STUDY INSIGHT

Camuso said the moose-collar study has shown that winter ticks have been a leading cause of death of calves and adult moose, although the five-year study may need to be continued in order to provide greater insight, something state biologists will discuss this spring. The same study also has been conducted for five years in New Hampshire and one year in Vermont.

The moose-collar study, which began around Moosehead Lake, allows biologists to find collared moose that die, collect data on the carcasses within 24 hours and determine the animal’s causes of death from a necropsy.

Stephen Philbrick, co-owner of Bald Mountain Camps Resort in Rangeley and a registered Maine guide, said he hopes as biologists determine hunting permits and moose densities they also consider wildlife watchers’ interest in moose.

“Do not discount the value of a live moose to see in the wild. Hundreds and thousands of people come to Maine to see that big boy,” Philbrick said.

Shawn Sage, president of the Buxton-Hollis Rod and Gun Club, also is worried. He wanted to know if there was anyway to combat the winter ticks, as pet owners do with domestic animals.

“It’s just concerning because it affects Maine’s moose population and the moose population puts a lot of money into the state,” Sage said.

Advisory Council Member Matthew Thurston of New Gloucester hopes the department continues the moose collar study.

“The Maine moose is part of the Maine image,” Thurston said. “You can get the opportunity to hunt them here, where in other places it costs $15,000 to $25,000 to do so. We want this opportunity to last forever.”
-------------------------------------------------------
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/13/winter-ticks-exact-heavy-toll-new-england-moose/PmpQ3QAHm9C1imAxkzMhDM/story.html

Ticks devastate Maine, N.H. (and Vermont) moose populations

Brian Macquarrie GLOBE STAFF  JANUARY 13, 2017

An insidious pest is killing about 70 percent of moose calves across Maine and New Hampshire, and their deadly work is being aided by warming temperatures and shorter winters that allow the parasites to survive longer, scientists believe.

They are winter ticks, which attach themselves to a single moose by the tens of thousands. Adult females can expand to the size of a grape and engorge themselves with up to four milliliters of blood.

“The moose are being literally drained of blood. This is about as disgusting as it gets out there,” said Pete Pekins, chairman of the Natural Resources Department at the University of New Hampshire.

Pekins and UNH are at the center of the largest study of New England moose ever conducted, a three-state effort stretching across the woods of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont in which researchers are attaching tracking devices to the moose as part of an effort to learn how ticks are affecting them.

If the reduction continues, researchers said, the range of New England moose is likely to shrink northward. And for many moose that survive, the ravages of winter ticks could render them less healthy and less likely to reproduce.

“It’s like a sinister, evil horror movie,” said Lee Kantar, the Maine state moose biologist

Maine and New Hampshire teams recently captured a total of 123 moose cows and calves, attaching GPS and other electronic gear. In Vermont, which joined the program this year and began capturing moose Tuesday, the plan is to collar 60 animals.

The effort is a mixture of high tech and high drama as a helicopter swoops within 20 feet of a moose and fires an entangling net. The crew lands and then hobbles and blindfolds the animal, which researchers said has a calming effect, before collaring the moose and collecting the samples. The drug-free process takes 10 to 15 minutes.

Winter Tick infestation becoming more dense and more widespread
since 1992

About 76,000 moose roamed Maine in 2012, said Kandar, who did not have a current estimate. New Hampshire has about 4,000, down from a peak of about 7,500 in the early 2000s.

And Vermont is down to 2,200, from a high of 5,000 animals in 2006, although much of that reduction was the deliberate result of hunting to bring the population into better balance with the habitat.

Now, the primary concern is winter ticks, which lie in wait on vegetation in the autumn — interlocked by the hundreds and thousands — until they attach themselves to a passing animal such as a moose.

Deer and other animals groom the ticks from their bodies. But for moose, which have not developed that ability, the insects become blood-sucking hitchhikers whose victims usually die in late winter and early spring.

“They’ll be on the moose in such large amounts, that the moose will literally scratch against trees and take the skin off,” said Wayne Derby, a master guide from Bethlehem, N.H. “Sometimes you’ll see 2 to 2½ square feet on the shoulders where the moose have rubbed off the fur.”

Derby has a term for the tick-infested animals: ghost moose.

If winter starts even two weeks late, that extra time in the forest means that more ticks — which do not fare as well in the snow — will find more moose to ride.

“Climate change is having an effect,” said Kent Gustafson, wildlife program supervisor for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. “We’ve seen winters basically get shorter over the last two decades or so.”

None of the researchers said New England is on a path to losing its entire moose population — Maine has more of the animals than the other lower 47 states combined — but the trend became worrisome enough to prompt the unprecedented study.

New Hampshire and Maine are in the fourth year of a project to collar hundreds of animals with tracking devices and collect ticks, hair, blood, and fecal samples from them.

Necropsies are often conducted later when they die, and the results are shared among the states to broaden the region’s understanding of why the population of one of the North Country’s iconic animals is declining.

Even with the drop, far more moose live in New England now compared with a century ago. Only 50 moose were estimated to be living in New Hampshire in 1950. But they rebounded across the region as pastures returned to forest, hunting declined, and a bounty of food became available when woodlands were churned up to fight spruce budworm disease in the 1970s and 1980s.

Now, moose also can be found in Massachusetts and parts of Connecticut, as well as throughout the three northern New England states. As the numbers of moose shrink again, scientists and state officials are not sitting on the sideline.

The study includes research in the Jackman and Greenville region of western Maine, where large numbers of calves are dying, and also in far northern Maine, where moose have not suffered as badly.

In New Hampshire, the study has focused north and east of the highest peaks of the White Mountains. And in Vermont, researchers are working in the northeast forests.

Pekins said the thinning numbers eventually might stem further decline. Fewer moose would mean fewer targets for winter ticks, which could lead to a reduction in their own population.

For now, however, the future for New England moose is shifting.

“As humans, we want everything to be in tidy, neat packages,” said Derby, the New Hampshire guide. “But nature’s not like that.”

Across the USA, invasive and exotic animals, plants, insects and diseases wage a daily war on our native fauna and flora............The "Invaders"" typically have the upper hand as they find themselves free to wreck havoc without the neutralizing impacts of the predators that keep them in check in their native lands..............No where is the "battle-royale" between "exotics and natives" as intense as in sub-tropical Florida where there are 500 invasisve animals and plants on the loose, "strangling" and compromising the biodiversity of our ecosystems..................One of the most dramatic battles between exotic and native that one will ever see played out on a Naples, Florida Golf Course recently where a giant invasive Burmeese Python snake attempted to strangle the life out of an American Alligator...........These battles are not a one sided contest...........There are times where the Python(especially in a pond scenario) can drown the powerful Alligator............In the instance below, with solid footing for the Gator, a killing move proved fatal for the Python..............While enveloping the Alligator and seemingly in a position to crush the reptile, the Alligator rallied and bit of the head of the invasive snake with its powerful jaws...............""By preying on native wildlife and competing with other native predators, pythons are seriously impacting the natural order of south Florida's ecological communities," explains the National Park Service, which has been working to manage the invasive snakes since 2002".................. ""Burmese pythons will likely never be eradicated from the area"................ "Unsurprisingly, the python proliferation has led to a notable decline in the native mammals that make up the snakes' preferred prey"............ "But in recent years, scientists have also expressed concern that other reptiles – and even other snakes – are at risk, too"

https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/predator-vs-prey/only-in-florida-gator-and-python-battle-plays-out-on-a-golf-course

Only in Florida: Gator-and-python battle plays out on a golf course

Only in Florida: Gator-and-python battle plays out on a golf coursedavid Mo

BY David Moscato  JANUARY 25 2018Golf is sometimes accused of being a boring sport, but that's certainly not the case when two of Florida's top reptilian predators decide to pick a fight right there on the green! Earlier this month, golfers at the Fiddler's Creek Golf Club in Naples snapped photos of one such encounter.THE EXOTIC BURMEESE PYTHON SEEMS TO HAVE OUR AMERICAN ALLIGATOR IN A FULL BODY CRUSH.....IGNORING NEARBY GOLFERS

"'Wild' day on the 10th hole today!" wrote Richard Nadler on Facebook. "That's an alligator and a Burmese python entwined. The alligator seems to have the upper hand."

In his snapshots, and another photo posted by Carolyn Maxim, the snake is wrapped partially around the gator's body, while the gator has caught part of the python in its jaws. Not a great position for either one of them...

A BATTLE ROYALE,,,,,,,,,,,,EITHER THE ALLIGATOR OR THE PYTHON MIGHT VANQUISH THE OTHER

Moments like this golf course face-off are an eye-catching sign of a deeper conflict going on in the state of Florida, of two reptilian predators vying for dominance in a very disturbed environment. Right now, it's not totally clear which one – if either – will come out on top.

Florida hosts a long list of invasive species, but Burmese pythons are among the most worrisome. At an average of 2-3m (6-9 ft) and a maximum recorded size in the state of over 5m (17ft), according to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission (FWC), these Asian snakes are apex predators and perhaps the only species in the state besides humans that can threaten a fully grown gator.

GATOR WINS,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,FULL JAW CLAMP ON VANQUISHED PYTHON

It's not known how often these pythons go after alligators – they much more commonly eat small mammals and birds – but it's definitely not unheard of. You might even recall the famous case of the snake that literally burst after swallowing a big specimen.

The North American triad of Bear species--Grizzly, Black and Polar bears triangulate in Wapusk National Park in Manitoba, Canada................"While Polar Bears have long called this region home, local First Nations traditional knowledge suggests the occurrence of grizzlies in the Wapusk region was a reality in the more distant past"............ "The rising number of observations this century of the silver-tipped bears, though, seems to suggest a genuine increase in the area, likely an expansion into northern Manitoba by so-called barren-ground grizzlies from populations in Nunavut to the north"................."American black bears, meanwhile, reach the northern limits of their range where the boreal forest (taiga) of Canada and Alaska yields to Arctic tundra"........... "Black bears are predominantly forest-dwellers, a habitat preference that may at least partly be a strategy to avoid grizzlies, which will kill black bears (even eat them) but, with their long, straight foreclaws, are poor tree-climbers"..............."On their hardscrabble diet, barren-ground grizzlies usually max out around 227 to 272 kilograms (500 to 600 lbs.), Polar Bears may be twice that weight"............... "Yet observations from whale-carcass scavenging bonanzas on the Alaskan North Slope suggest grizzlies, despite their size disadvantage, can dominate polar bears due to a generaly more aggresive disposition".............."Along with an increasingly milder climate,southwestern Wapusk encompasses the ecotone between taiga and tundra(combining habitat for all three bear species)".............."The park's southeast includes partly timbered coastal fens, both offering refuge for black bears"................Just how polar bears and grizzlies are getting along in Wapusk National Park – and how both interact with the black bear – isn't clear, but findings here suggest this might well be the best place in North America to scrutinise the interrelations among these three husky cousins"

https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/animal-behaviour/heres-the-spot-where-all-three-north-american-bears-rub-shaggy-shoulders

Here's the spot where all three North American bears rub shaggy shoulders

Here's the spot where all three North American bears rub shaggy shoulders

BY Ethan Shaw JANUARY 26 2017

Ongoing research on polar bears in northeastern Manitoba's Wapusk National Park, along the western shores of Hudson Bay, has lately showed the area boasts a rare distinction: one of the few places where all three North American bear species share the very same turf.WAPUSK NATIONAL PARKMANITOBA, CANADA

Since 2011, Douglas Clark, an associate professor in the University of Saskatchewan's School of Environment and Sustainability, and his students have been using trail cameras to assess those polar bears of the well-known Western Hudson Bay population that seasonally inhabit Wapusk, where Clark once worked as a warden.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT-TOP ROW POLAR AND BLACK BEAR...............BOTTOM RIGHT IS THE GRIZ

Douglas Clark@yukondoug

one @usask remote camera observes all 3 Cdn bear species in one spot w/i 7 months, Wapusk National Park @ParksCanada

7:32 AM - Jun 18, 2015

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In addition to valuable information about the great ice bears – like their activity patterns and their physical condition over time – the images collected have also revealed the presence of both black and grizzly bears in the same areas.Until a few decades ago, grizzly bears were considered extirpated from Manitoba, the southern prairies of which they formerly swaggered around. Beginning in the 1990s, however, sporadic observations began trickling in from the province's subarctic north; as a park warden at Wapusk, Clark himself logged the second confirmed sighting of a grizzly in northern Manitoba in 1998.

Clark told the CBC this month that local traditional knowledge suggests the occasional presence of grizzlies in the Wapusk region in the more distant past. The rising number of observations this century of the silver-tipped bears, though, seems to suggest a genuine increase in the area, likely an expansion into northern Manitoba by so-called barren-ground grizzlies from populations in Nunavut to the north.

These high-latitude grizzlies of northern Canada and Alaska are among the smallest and scrappiest brown bears in North America, roaming vast lean tundra territories and hunting ungulates – caribou and muskoxen – to a greater extent than many other grizzly populations. Barren-ground grizzlies have strayed deep into polar-bear territory in the past several decades: they've been documented as far north as Melville Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, where some grizzlies appear to be stalking the sea ice rather like their big white cousins.

 Grizzly bears were once thought to be extinct in Manitoba but have been observed in Wapusk since the 1990s. Image: University of Saskatchewan

American black bears, meanwhile, reach the northern limits of their range where the boreal forest (taiga) of Canada and Alaska yields to Arctic tundra. Black bears are predominantly forest-dwellers, a habitat preference that may at least partly be a strategy to avoid grizzlies, which will kill black bears (even eat them) but, with their long, straight foreclaws, are poor tree-climbers.

Southwestern Wapusk encompasses the ecotone between taiga and tundra, and the park's southeast includes partly timbered coastal fens, both offering refuge for black bears. The park notes, however, that black bears have been seen "at camps far out on the tundra" as well – a local expression, perhaps, of a broader trend, as black bears have recently showed up well north along the tundra coast of Hudson Bay near the Nunavut community of Arviat as well as barren northernmost Quebec.

A few years back, Clark tweeted a series of snapshots showing all three bear species lumbering past the very same Wapusk trail camera within the space of seven months: a polar bear in November 2013, then a black and grizzly in May of the following year.

According to CBC News, Clark suspects barren-ground grizzlies may possibly be denning in the Wapusk area, given the same bear has triggered the same camera in successive years. A 2009 report on the increasing grizzly presence in Wapusk suggested the park's interior peatlands, which are home to one of the largest maternity denning zones for polar bears in the world, could offer similar "winter haven" for grizzlies.

That report suggested that if grizzlies did indeed overwinter in the Wapusk peatlands, they might potentially pose a threat in spring to freshly emerged polar-bear cubs. (In 1991, a barren-ground grizzly likely killed a two-year-old polar bear in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.)

WAPUSK NATIONAL PARK

On their hardscrabble diet, barren-ground grizzlies usually max out around 227 to 272 kilograms (500 to 600 lbs.); polar bears (and the brown bears of coastal southern Alaska) may be twice that weight. Yet observations from whale-carcass scavenging bonanzas on the Alaskan North Slope suggest grizzlies, despite their size disadvantage, can dominate polar bears due to a generally meaner disposition.

And then of course there are the much-publicised grizzly/polar-bear hybrids that have been periodically showing up along the leading edge of the barren-ground grizzly’s northward expansion.

Just how polar bears and grizzlies are getting along in Wapusk National Park – and how both interact with the black bear – isn't clear, but Clark and his team's findings suggest this might well be the best place in North America to scrutinise the interrelations among these three husky cousins.