NC Wildlife Cuts Hours At Outer Banks Center For Wildlife Education

Starting today the Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education will be closed on Sundays to reduce expenses. The Centers Hours will now be Monday through Saturday 9 to 5.

The Outer Banks Center for Wildlife Education features exhibits and programs that interpret coastal North Carolina’s wildlife and habitats, natural history and cultural heritage, with daily showings of an award-winning documentary, and a calendar of events and educational courses. Admission to the center is free, as are the educational programs offered. Located in Currituck Heritage Park on Highway 12, the center is next to Currituck Beach Lighthouse and the Whalehead Club. For more information, call (252) 453-0221.

I guess with the problems with the State budget this is not surprising. Although one has to wonder how much money comes from the general fund as opposed to license fees.

I Should Be at A Hockey Game

Tonight should have been game 6 for the Canes Pens series but as Gabe over at The Outdoor Smorgasbord posted last week the Canes got swept. Ouch Gabe Kick A Guy When He is down Ha Ha. I really had hoped to see it go a bit longer than it did so I could be sitting in an arena watching a game rather than sitting in my Lazy Boy watching a game on TV. As a season ticket holder for the Canes back in December there was little hope that come May they would still be playing when I began planning my trip out west. The Canes turned it on beating both NJ & Boston to get the match up with the penguins. We had ample inquires on keeping our seats warm at game 3 & 4 while we were out west. I really thought the hockey gods were with us when game 6 was scheduled for a mere 16 hours or so after we returned from our western trip. But that was not to be, the Canes had a heck of a season and now the Penguins face Detroit for the Cup. I hope they beat Detroit but looking at what is happening right now late in game 2 ( 3-1 Detroit) I think Gabe better keep that broom handy.

NC Wildlife Issues Tips To Deal With Foxes

More and more foxes are being seen in suburbia each year and attacks on people while rare are not unheard of. NCWRC wants to caution people about interacting with foxes or any wild animal and to actually discourage them from your property.

“Scaring the foxes away once may not always work,” said Joe Folta, a biologist with the commission. “The best time to scare them away is the first time they are seen. Many animals are cute and fun to watch, but when any animal enters your yard, try to think if you want this animal to keep coming back or return with relatives.”
If the fox makes a den for pups, do not disturb them. Do not approach, touch or feed the fox or its pups.

Some guidelines NCWRC recommends people to follow when keeping wild animals from their yards.

• Don’t feed wild animals – they can lose their fear of people.
• Make sure you are not indirectly feeding wildlife by cleaning up pet food, securing trash in an animal-proof container, keeping barbecue grills clean and removing bird feeders.
• Establish protective barriers to keep wildlife from entering basements, crawl spaces, attics and underneath decks, where they might build nests or dens.
• Secure pets or keep them indoors. Dogs can disturb dens, prompting aggressive behavior from the foxes.
• Clear overhanging tree limbs or other means of access that wildlife use to enter a structure.
• Clear fallen fruit from around trees.
• Encourage neighbors to follow these same methods.

While I don’t have small children living in my house I see no reason to discourage wild animals from traveling through my yard and occasionally stopping for a meal. I’m rather pleased to see visitors like the fox I recently photographed in my yard. Of course it is somewhat selfish on my part but it does cut down on the neighbors’ cats hanging out in my yard. If you have any question about a animal that is acting sick or strangely you should contact your local animal control people for advice on what to do.

Young Hound Stolen In Western North Carolina

Thomas Valley NC: Someone has stolen a hunting dog “Ace” by removing his tracking collar and throwing it off a bridge into the river earlier this month. The collar was recovered from the river and it was obviously unbuckled from the dog. The removing of a tracking collar by anyone other than the owner in many states is illegal. Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of “Ace” or who may have taken him should call
QUINCY CLAYTON-828-269-8768
CHRISTY CLAYTON-828-269-4678
A reward is being offered for Ace’s safe return

Other hunters in the area have also reported hunting dogs going missing or recovering their remains after someone has shot them. We certainly are hopeful that the Clayton’s will have a more positive outcome. Individuals killing hunting dogs cannot be tolerated by a civil society I hope anyone with information on any of these acts would contact the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commissions Enforcement Division or their local law enforcement agency.

Utah Poachers Get Jail Time As Well As Lose of Hunting Privileges

Gary Harp and Gary Smith both plead guilty to numerous game violations after Utah Wildlife officials acting on a tip from the public caught the men with numerous poached animals at their home.

Two Panguitch men who pleaded guilty Thursday to a handful of wildlife violations were sentenced to jail for illegally killing 13 animals. The two poachers also lost their hunting privileges for decades to come.
Gary Harp, 35, pleaded guilty in 6th District Court to two third-degree felonies and three class A misdemeanors and was sentenced by Judge Wallace Lee to 36 months probation and six months in jail.
Gavin Smith, 19, pleaded guilty to one third-degree felony and four class A misdemeanors and was sentenced to probation and 60 days in jail.
The men were also fined $2,500 each and must jointly pay $18,000 in restitution. Their weapons — two .22-caliber rifles and a 30-30 rifle — were confiscated.
Garfield County Attorney Barry Huntington added that Harp could lose his hunting privileges for up to 48 years, and Smith could be banned from hunting for up to 34 years.

Salt Lake Tribune
This was a big story while I was out in Utah getting a lot of play on the news across the state. It would seem that Utah takes its wildlife resources seriously and they work quickly and swiftly to protect them. It also shows the importance of the general public phoning in tips to the poaching hot line in their state.

Go West Young Man

Bryce Canyon National Park

My wife and I just returned from a 10 day trip out west to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Certainly a milestone for anyone to live with me for 15 years I guess once I learned to not butcher critters in the kitchen it got easy (Ha Ha).
We flew to Vegas and supplied up and headed for Utah. We put 2000 plus miles on the rental car and visited 6 national parks, 1 state park, and 3 national monuments plus I got sick. That was certainly the downer of the trip I got a nasty cold that about wiped me out. I’m sure the fact that we were at a much higher elevation contributed to my fatigue as well. One day we drove to two stores (25 miles apart) looking for NyQuil but couldn’t find any but the next day I found some in a small camping store on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Between my feeling under the weather as well as the remoteness of the places we were I certainly did not get to update my blog as much as I wanted to. No need to fret I’ve got a number of posts that should have been made last week that I’ll make the next couple of days so it will be a feast of information for a while out here. Not to mention the number of photos I took of critters and landscapes along the way. Utah is a beautiful state and I can’t wait to share some of the photos and the stories with you.

Memorial Day Thoughts

Memorial Day has always been an important day for me. I’ve been travling this weekend so I couldn’t do some of my usual traditions. We are so blessed to be living in the USA and I’m very thankful for those who have served this country over the years. I re read my post from last year and I certainly still feel that way today. God Bless America

The Dark Side of Being Green

A golden eagle was killed when it collided with a wind turbine in Washington State. Seems like the PC thing to do right now is to convert to wind and solar to get off fossil fuels. While I have no problem with getting off fossil fuels I think the only realistic option right now is nuclear but most greeners are opposed to that. Many countries have safely used nuclear power for years with little impact.

A golden eagle died last month when it collided with a wind turbine blade at a 47-turbine wind farm in Klickitat County.

While this was the first known eagle death at this project historically projects like this kill raptors every year.

Though the golden eagle death is the first reported in Washington, raptor deaths have been common at wind projects elsewhere. Between 570 and 835 raptors are killed annually in wind turbines at California’s Altamont Pass Wind Power Resource Area, the world’s largest.

Columbian.com

While I’m not foolish enough to believe that any project whether green or not would be incident free it seems to be a double standard for many greeners. President Obama this week pushed ridiculous fuel economy standards on the struggling car industry this week and a standard that will put most of us driving small less safe vehicles.

I guess the bottom line is while I consider myself a conservationist but I’m not sold on the whole green thing.

Mike Has Got It Right

Mike Zlotnicki over at the News & Observer has got it right. The 10-letter rule that sidetracked most of the new hunting proposals has got to go.

They’re not going to happen this fall, because of an obscure rule that allows a state regulation passed by a rule-making body to be delayed if the Rules Review Commission receives 10 letters of protest on a given rule.
This, after nine public hearings across the state, more than 40,000 comments in person, mailed and sent via the Internet. The proposals were then sent to the state Rules Review Commission (as are all state agency regulation changes) for review and were passed by the commission. However, because of the 10-letter rule, they now will be forwarded to the legislature for consideration in the fall. There, a proposal can die with the passing of a bill.

I whole heartily agree with ya Mike. It be one thing if these folks didn’t have the opportunity to speak up but they did and some I’m sure at multiple hearings. I’m mostly disappointed in the NC Bow Hunters Association while I support their right to stand up for their members this fight is very slimy. As an organization they do not allow any difference of opinion on the topic of crossbows. Members are forced out if they in any way support or condone the use of a crossbow. I know a number of members who do not support the total anti crossbow view but have to remain silent. I suspect that among the rank and file there is not as heavy support as the front the organization presents. Heck it wasn’t all that long ago that the purists within bow hunting organizations opposed the now widely accepted compound bow. I believe that many of those purists still hold that view but now turn it on to the crossbow.
Bottom line we all lose next season because of this stunt.

The 10-letter rule is counterproductive. The proposals had been hashed out and discussed by the public and by the commissioners.

Update on Tred Barta

Yesterday we reported that Tred Barta had suffered a rare spinal cord stroke and was now paralyzed. Vail Daily his local newspaper has a more extensive story about Tred’s illness.

Barta, host of “The Best and Worst of Tred Barta” show on the Versus cable TV channel, suffered a spinal stroke a couple of weeks ago. It started while he was horseback riding near his place on Salt Creek near Eagle. He credits quick care by local doctors for getting him to Denver quickly.

Since then, he’s been in a hospital room at Denver Health Medical Center,…

Initial reports made it sound like he was traveling to Alaska to film his show when it happened but he was actually still at home. I’m sure that if this event happened in Alaska it would have been even more challenging. The extent of his paralysis is from his abdomen down.

“He’s fine from the belly button up,” Barta’s wife, Anni, said.

From the belly button down is a different story. Barta has feeling in his lower body, but can’t walk. He’s been accepted as a patient at Craig Hospital in Denver, one of the country’s leading facilities for helping people with spinal cord or brain injuries.

Tred plans to have his TV Show, “The Best and Worst of Tred Barta”, document his rehab from this illness, which could be interesting. As an individual who has helped a lot of people over the years and now is depending on others to help him this has to be different. In Tred’s own way here is a quote that will sure become a classic I’m sure.

“When you help an old lady across the street you don’t think anything about it,” he said. “When you’re the old lady, you do.”

Good luck Tred with the rehab we’ll keep you in our thoughts and prayers as you fight this.

Tred Barta Paralyzed While En Route To Alaska To Shoot His Show

Sportsman, television personality, and Salt Water Angler Tred Barta has been reportedly paralyzed from the chest down a result of a rare spinal cord stroke according to Sport Fishing Magazine. Tred Barta host the popular “Best & Worst of Tred Barta” on the Versus Network.

Spinal Cord strokes are a rare medical condition.

Spinal cord infarction is a stroke either within the spinal cord or the arteries that supply it.

Like with the more common cerebral stroke the prognosis is better with timely treatment.

Recovery depends upon how quickly treatment is received and how severely the body is compromised. Paralysis may persist for many weeks or be permanent. Most individuals have a good chance of recovery.

National Institute of Health
Tred told Sport Fishing Magazine

“Don’t take a single second of your life for granted.”

You can follow the link to the magazine where they have a way for you to send along your best wishes to Tred as he fights this.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Tred and his family as he fights this battle.

Skinny Moose To Broadcast Maine Moose Lottery

When I lived in Maine I never had the opportunity to actually attend one of the drawings but I use to listen to the local radio station that broadcast the draw. Once I moved to North Carolina I had to depend on family members to call me and tell me when I got drawn or wait for the names to get posted. Last year Skinny Moose carried the draw and it was like old times getting to listen to it.

Mark your calendars! June 18th, 2009 will be the annual drawing for the Maine Moose Lottery. This year 3,015 permits will be drawn and as is usually the case thousands of applicants keep their fingers crossed in hopes of being one of the lucky ones.

This year’s event will be held at the University of Maine at Fort Kent and as last year, Skinny Moose Media, in conjunction with U.S. Hunting Today and Maine Hunting Today, will live-stream the video and audio of the event…..

Black Bear Blog

I plan to tune in and hope to draw my third Maine Moose Tag.

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