Monday, March 28, 2016

The Concho Valley region of Texas sits in the west-central part of state, significantly far removed from east Texas where Louisiana Black Bears have been recolonizing over the past few years.........The Bears have been absent from the Concho area for a good 100 years but seemingly are prospecting the region once again........... "One was killed along Centralia Draw in Reagan County in the early 1980s, and another in Menard County in 2009"............ "Also in 2009, one was seen in Glasscock County"............ "Several additional sightings and photographic evidence have come from Irion, Kerr and Kinney counties, apparently including a photograph from Irion County of a bear standing upright to feed at a deer feeder"................ "It is likely that black bears in and near the Concho Valley in recent years are from populations resident in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico"............ "The bears there are of the race Ursus americanus amblycepa, the same as found in the Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park"........................The historical records kept by Explorers vividly document the impact Black Bears had upon their sighting..............."In 1684, Juan Dominguez de Mendoza led an expedition into West-Central Texas from Paso del Norte (El Paso) to the Colorado River"................................. "On March 16 at a site that Mendoza called San Clemente (probably near Menard on the San Saba River), his journal reports that he saw bears"................... "The Marques de Rubi inspected the Presidio de las Amarillas on the San Saba River near Menard in the summer of 1767"........................ "He continued his inspection tour on toward San Antonio de Bexar, and when just about 30 miles from Menard, he had the excitement of roping a bear".................................. "I would think bear roping to be a pretty dicey sport, but those Spaniards didn't lack for pluck"................................. "In December 1864, Kickapoo Indians of the famed Dove Creek battle, field-dressed bears on the Colorado River"........................ "And so it goes — historic anecdotes of bears in and near the Concho Valley in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries"

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/local/naturally-texas-black-bears-are-a-past-predator-for-...
Saturday, March 26, 2016

Our friend Carter Neimeyer has just published his 2nd book entitled "wolf land".............Many of you devoured Carter's initial literary effort, "Wolfer" back in 2012,....... His then eye-opening biographical sketch, comments and insights on his time working for the U.S. Agriculture's "Wildlife Services" killing Wolves and other carnivores for Ranchers and Farmers was simultaneously disturbing and riveting to read............Even more insightful and profound was how he was then selected to help protect and reintroduce the species back into Yellowstone in 1995............"wolf land" continues Carter's story----- "A collection of nonfiction "campfire" stories sharing memorable field experiences about his interactions with wolves and people"................."wolf land" is available from Amazon.com, fine bookstores and from the author himself,,,,,,,,,,,,Carter is happy for you to buy a signed copy directly from him----Contact Carter at carterandjennyniemeyer@gmail.com..................I just ordered my copy!................ I could not put Carter's "Wolfer" down 3 years ago so I know a treat is in store for me(and you) when "wolf land" arrives at our front doors---Enjoy!

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From: "; carterandjennyniemeyer@gmail.com Subject: Wolf Land is available - finally! Hello friends, neighbors,...
Friday, March 25, 2016

The Panthera Puma Study in the Grand Teton Mountains has discovered that the "Big Cat" will permit Foxes to scavenge the carcass of an Elk kill while the Puma is finsihing up its own meal............Also illuminating and interesting to note is that the "screech" that one might hear in Puma country is not a male looking to attack but instead the sound of a female in heat.........In my book, sure beats TINDER as an effective "dating service"

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/taking-peek-intimate-lives-mountain-lions&ct=ga...
Thursday, March 24, 2016

The need to provide connecting corridors for wildife is more important than ever with our human population on the rise and now up to 330 million,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,with 400 million projected by 2050!,,,,,,,,,,,,This increased "human load" will witness a large increase in cars and time spent on highways............Additional highway underpasses and overpasses will be so needed to move the gene pool of wild creatures from region to region so as to not "bottleneck" them up in a given locale with its resulting inbreeding leading to birth deformites and death...............It is now demonstrated via the existing "culverts" across roads spanning all regions of the USA that Grizzly Bears, Wolves, Elk, Moose and Deer favor high, wide and open overpasses while Pumas, Black Bears, Martens and Coyotes favor long, low and narrow underpasses............Limiting human use of both type culverts is also key in encouraging wildlife usage........ We also must exhibit patience once these culverts are created as it can take months and even years for wildlife to adapt and trust these connective arteries to be "safe-haven" crossings for them

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From: Meril, Rick Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2016 4:59 PM To: Meril, Rick; Larry Brown; Kim Lamorie; fixequip@yahoo.com; Mary ...
Tuesday, March 22, 2016

U. of Guelph, Trent U., Canadian Forest Service and the Ministry of Natural Resources completed their 2010-14 study of Woodland Caribou revealing that man created habitat loss and degradation of the land due to mining and forestry practices is what is causing the drastic shrinking of the Ontario Caribou herds................Furthermore, Canadian Parks came out in 2015 with a strong report saying that if Caribou decline is to be halted in Ontario, there must be an immediate moratorium on further industrialization of any kind...........Additionally, as the weather warms, Aspen and Birch forests which take advantage of accelerating temperatures are moving northward, causing Moose who browse in these type forests to also move north..............Both these plants and animals are encroaching on Caribou territory.................And when the Moose move north near Caribou, so do the Wolves that prey on Moose..............Then, prey switching occurs with Wolves stalking the once hidden(and easier to kill) Caribou, who prefer the colder weather associated spruce, pine and other conifer forest types...............This conifer forest historically kept Caribou better hidden and farther out of reach from Wolves...................A very difficult cycle to undue indeed...............Of course, at every noticeable downturn in Caribou numbers, the knee-jerk response from Government Officials is to go shoot Wolves so as to be able to turn to the unknowing Public and claim that the "boogey-man" wolves are the culprits and are being killed off to help the Caribou recover-----SO TERRIBLY FLAWED THESE TYPE ACTIONS ARE................Bottom line, Ontario is not willing to put a science based recovery paradigm in place to really help the Caribou-.-----Read full article by clicking on link

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http://wolf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dybas_caribou.pdf ONTARIO'S VANISHING CARIBOU:  ARE WOLVES REALLY THE CULPRIT? ...
Monday, March 21, 2016

Yesterdays Post that discussed and revealed John Lawson's AD 1700 first hand account and writings about the BEASTS OF CAROLINA generated a lively, informative and robust exchange of ideas between Ecologist and Environmental Activist, George Wuerthner.............As many of you know, George is second to none in his knowledge of natural systems, rewilding, the benefits of trophic carnivores, amongst a host of other wildlife and wildlands issues...........George challenged my repeating what the majority of ecological historians postulate about the pre-Clumbian indigenous population levels of what today is the USA and about how most of these "experts" are adamant that european diseases like smallpox eradicted up to 90% of those people...................George makes the case via a series of emails(below) that indigenous populations likely were relatively small(perhaps 1-4 million in the now 50 states and not the 50 to 100 million that many historians put forth..............All of this discussion centering around what kind of human density would allow for perhaps 30-50 million Bison, and several hundred thousand Wolves, Pumas, Black and Grizzly Bears at the time of European contact, circa AD 1500 in pre-Columbian America.......................You can scroll to the bottom of this chain for a chronological read of our exchange or go top down if you so prefer.................My thanks to George Wuerthner for his consistent contributions to both the ecological health of the USA and this Blog

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Ecologist photographer, author, and activist, George Wuerthner has published more than thirty books on America’s wild places. His books incl...