Inner City Encounter With Nature

Ever have one of those surprising encounters with nature that just makes you stop with awe? I had one the other evening that caught me by surprise and although it only lasted a moment it made a lasting impression on me.
I’m on the road this week for training in Norfolk Virginia a very beautiful city. I was walking through the financial district headed towards the waterfront. Getting close to sunset so the area was pretty quiet compared to other parts of the city. Not really expecting to see much wildlife except for maybe a pigeon or two. To witness a peregrine falcon snatching a pigeon was a pretty cool sight. Many cities with skyscrapers have become home peregrines as well as other birds of prey. Of course I didn’t have my camera in my hand but I’m not sure I could have caught the shot because it was so quick.
A search of the net and I found a little bit of information on the project to restore peregrine falcons. Looks like Virginia has had some success with this program.

CCB biologists have worked in partnership with the state of Virginia, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and various other partners since the late 1970s to restore and manage peregrine falcons in Virginia. We monitored 21 breeding pairs during the 2008 breeding season.
This year the entire breeding population nested on artificial structures including wooden peregrine towers (12), bridges (5), a fishing shack (1), a ship (1), a power plant stack (1), and a high-rise building (1). The single territory on a natural cliff face in Shenandoah National Park was not active this year. Twenty pairs made breeding attempts and produced 76 eggs and 47 young that survived to banding age. There was a high depredation rate this year with four broods lost on the towers to raccoons and Great-horned Owls.

While I expect to catch unique encounters with nature when I’m in the turkey blind or the deer stand this serves as a great reminder that nature is all around us we just need to take the time to see it.
With no photos of the peregrine falcon I’ve included some night photos I’ve taken along the river front here in Norfolk. A beautiful city especially in the early evening and at night fall.

Tred Barta Continues To Battle Back From Spinal Stroke

Last month Tred Barta suffered a rare spinal stroke while preparing to head to Alaska to film his TV show. He is currently in a rehab facility making some progress.

Tred Barta is just learning to use a wheelchair. But he’s still pretty good with a long bow, and looking forward to his first horseback ride since a spinal stroke last month cost him the use of his legs.

After a stay at Denver Health Medical Center, Barta’s now working — and working hard — at Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in Denver. The product of that work could keep him on TV. More important, he expects the work he’s doing now to let him hunt, fish and explore the backcountry again.

Keep Tred in your prayers if you want a more tangible way to help an account has been set up to help with medical expenses.

Tred Barta’s time at Denver Health Medical Center and Craig Rehabilitation Hospital are going to run up some pretty scary bills. Here are a couple of ways to help:

Donations are being accepted by the Vail Valley Charitable Fund. Send them to:

P.O. Box 1275,

Avon, 81620

Or call 970-845-6339. Mention the donation is for Tred Barta. Donations are tax deductible, and credit card payments can be made via the internet at: www.vvcf.org.

Wells Fargo Bank in Eagle has established the Tred and Anni Barta medical fund. Call 970-328-6361 to learn more.

Vail Daily

Black Bear Struck and Killed On I 85 In Orange County

A bear was struck and killed on I 85 in Orange County which is a bit unusual but not unheard of. What has become almost an annual event with a black bear moving through the triangle in the spring and summer appears to have happened again. Juvenile bears especially boar bears are often forced out of their home range and wander looking for a new area to set up residency.
With bear populations in North Carolina concentrated in the eastern part of the state and in the western part of the state as they expand we see more showing up in the central of the state. Most just move through the area and thus the reason NCWRC just urge people to leave them alone.
This particular bear was spotted a number of times in the Durham area this past weekend and unfortunately it was struck and killed. WRAL has some video of the bear from this weekend as it traveled around Durham and it is pretty obvious this is a young bear.

Public Meeting About Changes At Jordan Game Land

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has announced a public meeting on 21 July 2009 to hear comments about converting 200 acres to an archery only zone.

a proposal to establish archery-only hunting on approximately 200 acres of Jordan Game Land in the vicinity of Nancy Branch, Morris Branch and Panther Creek in Chatham County.
The meeting will begin at 11 a.m. in the Commission meeting room on the fifth floor of the Wildlife Resources Commission Headquarters at 1751 Varsity Drive in Raleigh.

As development encroaches on game lands I’m sure will see this happen more and more.

Summer Hunter Education Newsletter A Pretty Good Read

I came across an interesting publication from the NCWRC, Hunter Education Newsletter, that is available for free on line. A great article on the young lady from Lenoir who won the national “One Shot Turkey Hunt Essay Contest” this past year at the NWTF Convention. They also have a number of photos and the results of this year’s Hunter Education skills competition that is worth checking out. The target audience is hunter educators but I think many others will find the newsletter pretty interesting as well.

Rabies On The Rise?

Rabies is one disease you don’t want to mess with because if it is not treated within a narrow window it is almost always fatal. North Carolina is one of the top states when it comes to reported cases within animals so the odds of an encounter with a rabid animal is not out of the realm of possibilities. Most of the reported cases are in foxes, raccoons and skunks but other mammals can be rabid including deer.
Recently the local news has reported a number of rabies exposures in the Triangle area. With all the development there has been a lot of encroachment on the wildlife. Raccoons & Foxes have adapted pretty well to life in suburbia and that has probably contributed to increase in their populations and now the increase in rabies.

Now, raccoons are the most common carriers of the virus, accounting for at least half of the state’s reported cases.
Dr. Marilyn Haskell, a public health veterinarian with the state Division of Public Health, said raccoons, skunks and other carnivorous mammals are perfect hosts for the virus, spreading it in their saliva when they bite.
The virus harbors in muscle tissue and eventually travels to the brain, where it multiplies rapidly and eventually causes the telltale erratic and aggressive behavior.
“It’s hard to predict how a rabid animal will behave,” Haskell said. She said separate bizarre cases this weekin Orange and Durham counties, in which rabid foxes chased down people, underscore the need to remain wary of all wildlife — even if the animals at first appear benign.
“What we’re trying to do is get the public health message out to people so they won’t approach or feed or have any contact with wildlife,” Haskell said. She said parents especially should teach children to be cautious.
“It’s not a virus you want to play around with,” Haskell said.
Unless people are treated with vaccines and immune boosters, they will die from the virus after suffering anxiety, confusion, hallucinations and delirium.

N&O

People should make sure that all their cats & dogs are up to date with their shots. Secure trash cans to eliminate access, and don’t leave pets food dishes out.
Wake County Rabies Info Web Page

70 Foot Plunge Off Glenn Waterfall Leads To Second Thoughts

What started off as an effort to get a better waterfall photograph ended with a Florida teenager falling down the 70 foot waterfall .

Climbing out onto the top of a waterfall just isn’t worth the better view.
Jason Jackson said he learned that lesson after surviving a 70-foot plunge down Glen Falls in Macon County that left him with broken bones and bruises.
The 16-year-old St. Augustine, Fla., resident said he strayed beyond a small fence designating a safe viewing area when he lost his footing trying to get a better photo.
“Where I was standing, it felt very safe,” Jackson said Friday from his bed at Mission Hospital, where he was flown by helicopter after the Tuesday afternoon fall. “But I wouldn’t advise anyone to do it after what happened to me.”
Jackson suffered two broken vertebrae, a skull fracture and punctured foot, but he said he’s expected to fully recover.

There is no doubt that Jason Jackson was a very lucky young man to be around and to have regrets. The Citizens Time reports that at least 11 people have died since 2001 falling off waterfalls in western North Carolina.
Photography is a passion of mine but safety is important to think about when getting that perfect shot. Over the years I’ve witnessed a number of people taking crazy risks to get photographs or a better view. A few things I try to always remember;
Watch where you step or plan to Step- You may be looking at a spectacular view in front of you and miss danger right at your feet be it unlevel or lose ground or something else.
Barriers and Trails are designed to keep you safe
Wild animals are always wild no matter how tame they may seem
Weather and water can quickly make an easy trail a slick dangerous trek
Wear footwear for footing and safety and not so much for style.
And my last piece of advice I learned as kid one summer when taking sailing lessons and have used it for many situations throughout life.
“When in doubt Chicken out”

Taken?.. Lost?…Found Safe & Sound

6 Year Old Alexander Suddeath and 4year old Heidi Suddeath were found yesterday afternoon by searchers after spending 20 hours lost in the Pisgah National Forest. They had been on a family outing when they ran ahead of the rest the family and became separated. Officials had issued an amber alert fearing the possibility the children had been abducted because they were last seen near the parking area.

The ordeal began about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday while Rick and Michelle Suddeath, their 15-year-old daughter and the two younger children were on a daytrip to the mountain from their home in Kingsport, Tenn.
Officials said the parents stopped to take pictures in a clearing called the old Cloudland Hotel site just off the mountain’s main parking area in Pisgah National Forest. “They turned their backs, and the kids, being kids, scurried off,” District Ranger Tina Tilley said. The children wandered along the Appalachian Trail and then cut down into a steep cove, she said.

Steep terrain as well as overnight temperatures in the 40’s seemed to stack the odds against the children if they were even still in the area. Searchers continued their efforts and were rewarded with the first piece of hard evidence that they were on the right trail when small pair of crocs was discovered. This discovery allowed searchers to shrink the search area and shortly after searchers located the children relatively unharmed.

“I know they suffered because when we got here this morning, it was cold,” Benfield said. “So for them to make it through the night was miraculous. They were cold, dehydrated, scratched up very badly.”
Rescuers gave the children water, Nutter Butters, oatmeal cookies and peanut butter crackers. They then took turns carrying the children up the steep mountainside, a journey of a little less than a mile that took about an hour and a half.
“It’s remarkable how they came through that, to be that little and the terrain as hard as it was,” Washburn said.

Citizens Times
A tip of the hat to the rescuers, many of them volunteers, that go out and search and help us in our time of need.

New Hunting & Fishing Regulations Posted

The NCWRC has released the new regulations book for the coming year on line version is available and hard copies should be showing up at the license agents soon. This had looked to be a monumental year in the hunting arena with what seemed like the approval of the use of crossbows, archery hunting on Sunday, as well as the addition of a second week of muzzle loader but all of that got delayed on some technicalities.
In an earlier post I wrongly agreed with a fellow outdoor writer Mike Zlotnick of the N&O when he placed the blame for these changes not taking place squarely on the shoulders of the NC Bow Hunters Association. While that is partially true because they spearheaded a letter writing campaign that blocked some of these proposals and educated other special interest groups on how to the same the NCWRC shares a lot of the blame as well. Clerical errors, ineptness, sloppiness or a combination of all of them on the NCWRC part lead to them not having a method of getting many if not all these rules in as temporary to block the shenanigans of a few special interest groups.
The big question is will NCWRC get their act together or will this be an annual occurrence making it a two year process to get any meaningful changes to game laws in North Carolina?

Another Year Without a Permit

The freezer has long been bare of moose meat so I sat by my computer tonight listening to the live stream from Skinny Moose hoping to hear my name called. If not me maybe one of my long over due family members or a friend. Anyone that I might be able to bum a steak or two off. But no such luck. Here is the link to the winners and maybe if your so lucky you’ll take pity on a poor tag less moose hunter and throw me a steak.

“Survivor Camp” Lives Up To It’s Name

Local church youth group looking for a challenging activity for their youth may have gotten more than they bargained for when local, state and federal agencies were called in to rescue them. The Living Word Church youth group was on a “Survivor Camp” guided trip with God’s Country Outfitters on the Uhwarrie River when rapid rising water seperated a number of the 24 youth and 6 adults on the outing. According to the 911 call wghp-mp3-low-water-rescue-911-090618,0,1713170.mp3file 9 boys were missing for an hour and possible in the water.

Morton said authorities were called at 12:16 p.m. and told that between 22 and 30 people were in the water and in need of rescue. It was not raining at the time, and heavy rain had not been reported today in the region. But heavy rain has fallen in much of North Carolina in recent days.
Randolph County Emergency Management officials say seven people were rescued from the river on N.C. 109 at Reservation Road, several hundred yards from the bridge.
It is not clear how far the other boaters had drifted when they were rescued.
Morton said Montgomery County has set up an Emergency Operations Center near the site and asked for the N.C. Highway Patrol to provide its helicopter in the search. A pair of Army Blackhawk helicopters involved in a training exercise nearby also was called in, according to emergency radio reports.

N&O

While this could have had a very tragic ending it is good to see that everyone is accounted for and all right. I have to wonder after looking at the Church’s website and seeing the name and the description of this camp if it was somewhat prophetic.

Survivor Camp 5th – 7th grade students
In the Uhwarrie National Forest, God’s Country Outfitters are waiting to take you on a 3 day journey known as the Survivor Challenge. Combining outdoor adventures with Bible studies, the Survivor Challenge is a chance for you to open your eyes to the many ways God prepares you and partners with you. You will overcome your fears through physical challenges, build community through group activities, and grow in confidence to do God’s work.

The Living Word Church

I hope they overcame their fears but I suspect this outing could lead to some PTSD but let’s hope not.

Moose Draw Tonight

Don’t forget the Moose Lottery is being drawn tonight from Fort Kent Maine. Tom over the Black Bear Blog is doing a live stream from there. One of these years I’m going to have to get up there for the lottery but like many of you tonight I’ll be sitting around my computer straining to hear my name or one of my many friends and relatives. Good Luck.

Next Page »