Thursday, January 28, 2016

While there have been 9 confirmed Pumas sightings in Arkansas over the past 5 years, all appear to be "prospectors out of the Dakotas...............No confirmation of a breeding female with cubs, as has been the case thus far everywhere in America where Pumas have shown up in the midwest and east...........The.Dakotas's and Nebraska continue to be the furthest east breeding colonies of Pumas save the 100-200 "lions" still calling southern Florida home

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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

While neighboring Illinois has decided that it is ok to begin to hunt and trap its recovering Bobcat population, next door Indiana has thus far resisted doing so...........While uncertain of the population size in the Hoosier state, wildlife Officials there have noted that since 2010, the annual number of Bobcats killed by motorists has risen 6-fold from 10 in 2010 to 60 in 2015...........Also, "Bobs" have been confirmed to be located in 63 of Indiana’s 92 counties, with the southwestern portion of the state seeing the highest densities of the "cats" because of the mixed woodlots, hills and reclaimed mining sites that the Bobcats find to their liking..............According to Scott Johnson, a nongame mammal biologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), “an analysis of over 100 bobcat stomachs has shown their diet is primarily composed of mammals including rabbit, mice, voles, and squirrel.......... Remains of several bird species were also found to be eaten but only in a small percentage of the bobcats autopsied............. Johnson also noted that bobcats, like many predators, are opportunistic and will scavenge deer carcasses during fall-winter months...........As demonstrated in adjacent Illinois, Ohio and in recolonizing populations in New Jersey, NY and New England, Indiana biologists in south central Indiana revealed that bobcats studied there often dispersed distances upwards of 50-100 miles from their natal birthplaces............. This ability to cover long distances allows them to recolonize available habitat and re-establish breeding colonies quickly if not overly hunted, trapped and killed by motorists

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.kokomotribune.com/sports/martino-bobcats-presence-continues-to-increase-in-indi...
Tuesday, January 26, 2016

With the very healthy Whitetail Deer population existing throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and all of the states defining the spine of the Appalachian Mountain region, there has been any number of studies indicating that there is suitable core habitat for Puma and Wolf restoration............Lowest human population and road density coupled with continuous and unfragmented forest habitat with a suitable prey base are the three key variables that need to exist to support our top carnivore matrix in the east..................As the following articles posted in today's blog indicate, both West Virginia and Virginia seem to qualify strongly for Puma and Wolf restoration

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj245LXpMnKAhVjuYMK...

So both Virginia and West Virginia deer kills are up over a year ago with Virginia's count expected to ultimately grow from the current 168,000 to some 218,000 hunter killed Whitetails in 2015.............Once again, Black Bears and Coyotes taking Spring born fawns are nowhere near the equilibrium agents needed for vibrant forest regeneration to occur................... Only a re-introduction of Pumas and Wolves would accomplish this

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.13newsnow.com/story/news/local/virginia/2016/01/25/virginia-deer-kills-likely-...

So do you think that Pumas and Wolves are needed back in West Virginia...........Black Bears and Coyotes exist in the state but obviously are not denting deer numbers with 2015 human deer kills at 130,000, 10% above the previous 5 year average

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/tri_state/west_virginia/deer-kills-up-percent-in-w-va-...
Monday, January 25, 2016

The Santa Cruz, California Puma Project reveals and reinforces what we know about Puma courtship and mating behaviour-----Courtship among Pumas tend to occur at scrape sites, raised ground stuffs and soil that males dig up and create and then scent mark via urination...........Females are attracted to these sites and a male/female "hookup can occur there accordingly,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,If Males do not show up when females are at the scrape sites, females may begin alerting males to their availability through caterwauling, a high pitched "meow" that can be heard by males up to 5 miles away.............Once a "hookup occurs, the male and female hang out together for up to 5 days and then part ways with the male out again seeking to mate with other females................90 days after impregnation, cubs are born................click on link below to view some fascinating videos relating to this courtship process

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/21/courtship-in-pumas-videos-reveal-cryptic-b...
Sunday, January 24, 2016

Halfway between Toronto and Hamilton(Ontario, Canada), the town of Oakville is evaluating an intelligent step, that if instituted would lead to optimum Human/Eastern Coyote coexistence..............So as to prevent Coyote habituation to human neighborhoods, a resident is calling on town fathers to have all who reside in Oakville to switch from open metal garbage cans to so-called "enclosed garbage cans"...........Limit Coyotes access to human generated food garbage(same as what Yellowstone Park Officials have done with Grizzly Bears) and you knock out a key "acclimation inducer" to the animals wading into neighborhoods to find an "easy meal"...........Combine this with keeping cats inside and dogs on leashes and you have a "1+1=3" set of actions that go a long way to keeping songdogs fulfilling their ecosystem service function, preying on rodents and small mammals----and not looking to us humans for "handouts"

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/6241739-town-of-oakville-looking-at-enclosing-par...

"The contentious phenomenon of identity politics isn't limited to Democrats and Republicans"................ "A national survey shows that "cat people" and "bird people" have heated differences of opinion, complicating the challenge of managing more than 50 million free-roaming feral cats while protecting threatened wildlife"............."Bird conservation professionals, whose focus is on protecting species from extinction in the wild, see feral cats as threats to the survival of wild birds"............."Cat colony caretakers, on the other hand, dedicate themselves to caring for neighborhood animals they see as abandoned and neglected by others".................We have to find some way to get these two divergent groups to collaborate on a true solution to Cat wildlife predation............It's a real conundrum and a tough path to collaboration between the two groups as "only 9 percent of cat colony caretakers believed cats harmed bird populations and only 6 percent believed feral cats carried diseases".................. "Colony caretakers supported treating feral cats as protected wildlife and using trap, neuter and release programs to manage feral cat populations"............... "Many bird conservation professionals, meanwhile, saw feral cats as pests and supported removing and euthanizing them".............. "Within both groups, women and older respondents were less likely to support euthanasia"

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120906181643.htm#.Vp1j7o4BPEk.mailto Why claws come out over feral cat management: Finding...