Saturday, February 23, 2013

Indiana needs Wolves and Pumas back on the ground as the states burgeoning deer herd allowed human hunters to kill over 136,000 of the creatures in 2012, a state record!!!!....Indiana's Dept. of Ntl Resources has not counted the number of deer in the state for years but has some crazy theory(read below) that even though the number of deer killed each year keeps growing, that their deer population is declining...............How come we never hear that inane logic when it comes to the number of coyotes, wolves, Pumas and Bears in our woodlands............If anything, the more carnivores that are killed in a given hunting season, the more state game commissions state that their populations are growing,,,,,,,,thus the need for even more carnivore killing..............Indiana, you are not "walking the straight line" with us in your reporting of Hoosier deer #'s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Indiana reports record deer harvest in 2012 sfgate.com INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana hunters, aided by an extended seas...

The Striped Skunk(Algonquin Indian name for the skunk) is a binge eater in the Fall.............Rather than store provisions for the winter months, this white tailed "squirter" puts on enough fat in the Fall to make it through to Spring thaw..............Like flying squirrels, Striped Skunks will often winter den communally to take advantage of each others body heat...........During the mating season, males seek as many partners as possible while females only mate once..........Insects, small mammals as well as bees and their honey are staples during Spring and summer

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The Winter Life of the Skunk by Megh Rounds;northernwoodlands magazine In summer, you always know when a striped skunk has been aro...

George Wuerthner providing a synopsis of the problem we Americans face allowing State Game Commissions to continue to "ride herd" on the management of Carnivores................George states that "Like the Republican Party, these state agencies are slow to change their mission and values to reflect the new face of America which is more ethnically diverse, younger and urban than those who remain as hunters"........... "Similar to the Republican Party these state agencies are betting their political (and financial future) on a dwindling number of conservative, aging, white males that makes up the lion's share of all hunters"(now 5% of the population versus the 25% in the 1950's)................."The contrast between widespread public values and the behavior of state wildlife agencies is nowhere more evident than in how they choose to manage predators".......... "Despite a growing and strong public support wolves and other predators—state agencies have all adopted policies that seek to reduce wolf numbers, not only reducing the wildlife viewing opportunities for non-hunters, but significantly reducing the ecological effects of top predators on ecosystems"............ "On top of that, these agencies permit the use what many consider to be barbaric and inhumane measures such as snaring, trapping, and hunting with dogs"..............."I suspect that most state wildlife agencies are unable to reform themselves".............." They face tremendous political pressure to continue predator killing programs from their core constituency, which on the whole, sees predators as a threat to their values"........... "At some point, we will reach a tipping point where public outrage over antiquated policies will likely lead to legislation to end hunting, trapping, and other forms of wildlife exploitation"............. "For instance, California voters removed agency discretion by outlawing recreational cougar hunting (except for specific surgical removal of individual animals that might pose a safety threat or attacking livestock)"

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WOLVES, STATE AGENCIES AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY by   GEORGE WUERTHNER    By George Wuerthner;thewildlifenews State Fish ...
Friday, February 22, 2013

President Obama and his Administration is going 50/50 with Big Oil and Wildlife as the 23 million acre National Petroleum Reserve is opened for Oil and Gas exploration in Alaska...............Of course, Alaska officials are criticizing the fact that half of the acreage will be protected for the Western Arctic Caribou herd and all of the endemic creatures that occupy the land with them................

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A 50/50 plan put in place by the Obama Administration as it opens up half of the National Petroleum Reserve for drilling and half for wil...

Calgary in western Canada is beginning a study of their Coyote population to determine how people and their pets can best coexist with Coyotes........The.U. of Calgary Veterinary Medicine Dept. also wants to determine the extent of parasites in Calgary's domestic dogs, coyotes and rodents with the hopes of providing best information to area residents about how both they and canids can remain as healthy as possible....................And in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, a plan to foster coexistence(rather than elimination) with Coyotes is being undertaken by Alberta Fish & Wildlife

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10 coyotes in Calgary to be fitted with GPS collars beaconnews.ca U of C's Alessandro Massolo, assistant professor of wildlife he...

At this point, New England Moose seem to be beating the odds against the impacts of global warming--------winter ticks weakening the herd,,,,,,,,,,,,,deer brain disease killing off the herd,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Moose in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York State and even the occasional Connecticut wanderer.............Will this luck run out?...........The State of Vermont being cautious in its 2013 planned Moose hunting season only looking for hunters to kill 6 to 7% of the estimated 3000 animals calling the Green Mountain State home

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Vt. moose permits down this year wcax.com    Courtesy: Stan Pekala MONTPELIER, Vt. - The state is issuing less moo...
Thursday, February 21, 2013

Contributor to this blog and our friend Jay Mallonee sharing a soon to be released article that he has written which qualifies and reinforces what George Wuerthner has written recently(posted this week on this blog) about the insanity and lack of sound science that surrounds Wolf Managemnt in the Northern Rockies............We thank Jay for this article and encourage all of you to go to the blog and click on the link to read in full

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-----Original Message----- From: Jay Mallonee [mailto: info@wolfandwildlifestudies.com ] Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 3:06 PM To...

Another good friend of ours, Cristina Eisenberg sharing her most recent peer reviewed article entitied: WOLF, ELK AND ASPEN FOOD WEB RELATIONSHIPS: CONTEXT AND COMPLEXITY............In Cristina's own words--"aspen (Populus tremuloides) forests are influenced by a synergy of bottom-up (resources-driven) and top-down (predator-driven) processes"............."Scientists have hypothesized that returning wolves to the landscape enables aspen to recruit into the forest overstory, via the density-mediated and behaviorally-mediated effects of wolves on their ungulate prey, primarily elk (Cervus elaphus)".......... "We present a synthesis of scientific findings on this topic, identify trends in the ecological impacts of wolves in aspen communities in a variety of ecosystems, and suggest areas for further investigation"...............Cristina's full article can be referenced on the abstract posted on the blog

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Wolf, elk, and aspen food web relationships: Context and complexity Cristina Eisenberg ,  ,  S. Trent Seager 1 ,  ,  David E. Hibbs 1...

Some of our friends in Montana(Norm Bishop, George Wuerthner, Jay Newell, Kelly Proffitt and Julie Cunningham) corressponding about the fact that Elk populations are at or above Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks management goals in the vast majority of the State, even where Wolves, Bears and Pumas reside on the land.............True that the eastern part of the state has the most Elk(private reserves encourages this), but basically the whole state has a healthy Elk herd..................So why is this a Wolf haters haven???????????

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From : George Wuerthner [mailto: gwuerthner@gmail.com ] Sent : Wednesday, February 20, 2013 06:27 PM To : Meril, Rick Subject: Fwd: The...