Moose Droppings

I ran across an interesting article in the Salt Lake Tribune on how to survive encounters with wildlife. They cover the wildlife native to their part of the country but much applies to a large part of the United States. Check it out and maybe you’ll walk away from your next photo op with a buffalo.

Photo & Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Photo Credit Jeff Schmaltz MODIS Land Rapid Response Team,NASA GSFC

Interesting photo from NASA showing a satellite’s view of the smoke from the Evans Road Wildfire in Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge as well as the much smaller wildfire burning in the Dismal Swamp.

Thick smoke from two large fires in North Carolina and Virginia traveled up the East Coast in mid-June 2008, affecting air quality in numerous cities and towns, including the nation’s capital. The Evans Road Fire had burned over 41,000 acres of the Pocosin National Wildlife Refuge as of Sunday, June 15, while the South 1 Fire in the Great Dismal Swamp had burned about 1,500 acres.
This natural-color image of Virginia and North Carolina was captured by the MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite on Saturday, June 14, 2008. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. Smoke billows out over the sounds that separate mainland North Carolina from the islands known as the Outer Banks.

The good news is that the fire is 70% contained and not growing the bad news is that the amount of fuel (peat) is significant so this fire will continue to smolder and burn for weeks if not months. The smoke will be a problem for air quality and for those with respiratory problems for the foreseeable future. It will take a significant soaking from a hurricane or tropical storm to fully extinguish this fire.

Story by Dan McLaughlin

A US Forest Service-contracted Heavy Air Tanker has been brought in to assist firefighters on the Evans Road Fire. This tanker can deliver 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in one drop.
Credit: USFS-Chris Carlson

Two weeks after lighting started the massive wildfire in Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge the weather has aided firefighters in getting the upper hand. The fire is now 60% contained and there is only about 5 miles of containment line to dig. Pumping operations from Lake Phelps and New Lake are allowing fire fighters to put 92,000 gallons a minute on to the still smoldering Pocosin fuel.

That is a massive amount of water.

The operations involve 35 high-volume pumps that can move about 92,000 gallons of water per minute, according to representatives from the incident command center for that fire.
“That would fill a normal-size in-ground swimming pool six times in one minute,” spokesperson Greg Pate said.
The pumps will run continuously, stopping when an area is completely flooded and the units need to be moved to another location.
The firefighters are authorized to draw down Lake Phelps by up to 5 inches.

Pilot online

I understand that evacuees have been allowed to return to their homes and the main concern is the air quality with the heavy dense smoke this fire is still putting up. Hopefully the weather will continue to be helpful in the fight and total containment will be reached soon. I will continue to follow this story and bring you additional updates.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Photo credit - USFWS

The Wildfire continues to grow in the eastern part of the state with latest reports holding at 40% containment. This area is important habitat for many species including the Red Wolf. Fire is an important tool of nature to reshape and regenerate areas and for the most part wildlife quickly adapts and escapes the fire.

Dr James Gallagher of Texas Agrilife Extension Services is currently studying the effects of wildfires on wildlife in Texas;

“While some dead animals are found in the aftermath of a fire, many more are seen wandering the landscape in search of food and shelter,” Gallagher said. “And with smaller-scale fires, mobile species populations like those of birds and white-tailed deer don’t normally suffer too greatly due to their ability to move quickly to escape fires and travel to new locations to find food and water.”
Even under harsh burning conditions, less mobile species like small mammals, Texas horned lizards and snakes, fare reasonably well during a fire itself, he added. But while some wildlife is killed during wildfires, more serious losses can come days and even weeks later.
“Even though the majority of animals may escape a fire, many will suddenly find themselves in the middle of thousands of acres of burned-over country side, with a lot less shelter and food than before,” he said. “Those living near the edges of the burned areas can usually travel to find what they need, as can those living in or near unburned patches. But unburned areas tend to be few and far between. Competition for resources in the unburned pockets can be intense, and those resources won’t last very long.”

Texas A&M
US Fish & Wildlife are reporting that within the current foot print of the fire there is no known Red Wolves dens. Most of the Red Wolves have telemetry collars and biologists in the early spring map out where the dens are.

April and May are very exciting months for red wolves - both in the wild and in captivity. It’s pup season! This annual occurrence finds Red Wolf Recovery Program, USFWS, wildlife biologists spending many hours in the field, seven days a week, looking for hidden dens over the five counties of Dare, Tyrrell, Hyde, Washington and Beaufort. Radio telemetry collars tell the biologists that there are 18-20 packs in this 1.7 million acres of northeastern North Carolina - the only place in the world where red wolves roam free in a portion of their original home range. So far for the 2008 pup season, the biologists have found 12 litters with 51red wolf puppies. But there could still be more! For the next several weeks, the 5 red wolf wildlife biologists will keep looking. Ideally, the red wolf field crew would like to find 3 or 4 more dens, but this season has already proven to be a “healthy” denning season. During 2007, 2006, and 2005, 31, 44, and 55 pups (respectively) were found among the wild population. The pups shown above are wild pups from a 2008 litter in eastern North Carolina.

US Fish & Wildlife Alligator River

For the most part the pups are big enough now that if a den was threatened I’m sure the adults would get the pups to move out of the path. Of course the unknown question in this event given the overall size as well as the rather long duration of the fire burning in the peat will species crowd up into areas outside of the fire and are those areas big enough to provide food and shelter for the additional displaced wildlife. Dr. Gallagher identified that as an issue in Texas and I’m sure it will be an even bigger issue here given the amount of time this fire could burn.

“The majority of wildlife exposed to wildfire will see a drastic reduction in their amount of cover and a drastic increase in their exposure to starvation and predation,” he said. “Many animals forced to move to more suitable areas will often have to do so at unusual times and in unusual locations. As a result, many of them find themselves coming in contact with humans and, more specifically, their vehicles.”
According to Gallagher, wildlife’s need for shelter is often under-appreciated. Not only does shelter provide a place to avoid predators, it is also essential to help wildlife conserve energy and water. “Without adequate shelter, wildlife is exposed to the elements, requiring them to use up more energy to stay cool or warm,” he said.
Gallagher said it may take several months before an area has adequately recovered to once again support wildlife, and unless growing conditions are adequate, most burned areas will provide marginal wildlife habitat at best.

Although he does not directly mention it I’m sure the potential for diseases is also significantly higher. We’ll have to wait and see what if any long term effects the fire has on the Red Wolf project but right now the impact seems to be minuscule.

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Manager Howard Phillips (far right) looks over high-volume pumping operation while George Constantino (back to camera) discusses the Water Handling Operations with Rowan County Assistant District Forester David
Credit: USFWS

That is what the latest reports from what is currently the largest wildfire burning in the United States. The Evans Road fire continues to grow in Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and with only 40% containment it will take some time and some help from above to put this fire out.

Earlier on I reported about Mike Noles and his family having to evacuate because of the fire. They have returned home for now and hopefully the fire danger for them has subsided. Mike was interviewed by an NBC news crew today and featured on a number of NBC stations across the state. Here is a link to the short video.

For many in other parts of the country that is use to experiencing wildfires there is one major difference, many places a wildfire rolls through and an area burns and the fire keeps moving. In the Pocosin terrain that this fire is burning that after the flames on the surface move on the thick peat continues to smolder and burn. So basically much of this 65 square miles is still hot and burning and will not be extinguished until the peat gets a good soaking and that will likely have to come from a tropical type storm.

Photo Courtesy of NCFS

The Evan’s Road Fire continues to grow a week after it was started by a lighting bolt. Fire personnel from Federal, State, and Local departments have been able to get 40% containment but knocking this fire fully out will take months. The fire is consuming the trees and the brush on the surface but it is the ground itself that is proving to be the difficult fuel to extinguish.

Combating this fire is different from fighting most forest fires, Thompson said. Once the surface fire burns away brush and crops, what remains are pocosin fuels — decayed plant matter that smolders rather than burns. With the earth itself aflame, firefighters are taking a different approach to putting it out. Instead of hosing the fire down, firefighters will flood the burning area in order to raise the water table from below, which Thompson said would extinguish the fire from below. Crews will then use pumper trucks and hoses to extinguish hotspots.

Photo Courtesy of NCFS

Weather is also a factor in the fire fighting effort with much of North Carolina breaking record high temperatures as the area is in the grips of a heat wave. Incident Command reported a noontime temperature of 101’f. The fire itself has had a reported wall of flames that was 250 feet in the air as well as a smoke plume that is reaching 40,000 + feet and creating it’s own weather system.

The smoke plume from the fire — which has reached as high as 45,000 feet — is large enough to create its own weather. Friday night the smoke spawned a thunderstorm the threw at least 200 lightning bolts at the area in and around the fire. Thunder from that storm could be heard as far as Washington. Saturday evening, the smoke plume was clearly visible from Washington — appearing as a large white cloud looming on the northeast horizon. Ash has rained east of the fire as far as Elizabeth City Thompson said.

“It looks like an atom bomb went off out here,” one firefighter could be heard over the team’s radio system Saturday afternoon. “Looks like the smoke has reached about 40,000 feet again.”

Washington Daily News

As of Saturday evening, the Evans Road Fire had grown to 31,423 acres in size. The fire is now 40% contained; however, 25 miles of containment lines still need to be constructed or improved. The fire was active throughout Saturday night and early Sunday morning. With temperatures exceeding 100 degrees and lower relative humidity values predicted for today, additional significant fire growth is anticipated. The fire is projected to spread farther east into the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and portions of the refuge are closed due to the fire.

US Forestry Press Release

This fire is very unpredictable, the terrain is difficult for getting equipment and men in and around, ample fuel, and shifting winds make it difficult to predict where this fire may go. There are still evacuations going on in this pretty remote part of the state and as of now I do not believe any homes have been reported lost.

We’ll continue to follow this story and keep these men and women who are fighting this wildfire in your prayers.

NCCE

After being treated for a rattlesnake bite a week ago Pamela Summers died at her home in Marion North Carolina from complications of the bite.

On Monday afternoon, Gregory found Summers dead in her home, apparently from complications due to a rattlesnake bite. Gregory said the snakebite occurred early last week while she and her husband, Jimmy Gregory, were away. Pamela had been trimming weeds.
“She was wearing jeans,” Barbara said. “When we got back, she called me and said she didn’t feel good. She said she’d either been bitten by a dog or a snake. I went and looked; it was on her right leg. It had two holes and it didn’t look good.
“She said she wanted to go to sleep,” she added, “and I said ‘Pam, don’t you go to sleep on me.’ Then I called 911.
“The responders said it didn’t look like a snakebite,” she stated. “They thought maybe she’d gotten into a bees’ nest. But the guy from EMS said it was a rattlesnake, so they took her to the hospital.”
Gregory added that Summers had suffered from high blood pressure and several other ailments.
Summers spent the night in the intensive care unit and returned home the next day with orders, said Gregory, “to keep her leg elevated for a month.” She had respiratory problems for several days after the incident, but she would not rest and keep her leg elevated as the doctor had directed, she added.
“She didn’t like to be sitting in the house,” said Jimmy Gregory. “She had to get out and do something.”
On Memorial Day, Barbara received a call from Summers’ sister, she said, asking her to go and check on Pam. When knocking and calling out got no response, Barbara used a spare key and entered the home.
“She was laying on the couch with her leg elevated and she was blue around the mouth and she was cold,” she remembered tearfully. “I’m afraid to go down to the mailbox now.”

McDowellnews.com
With the advances in medical care fatalities from snake bites are rare. North Carolina leads the nation in snake bites with only 3 fatalities since 2000.

Snakebites frequently go unreported. Approximately 4000-7000 bites are reported to national centers each year. North Carolina has the highest frequency, with 19 bites per 100,000 persons. The national average is approximately 4 bites per 100,000 persons.

E Medicine

There is no doubt that with the warm weather snakes are out and about across the state. Rattlesnakes can be found across most of the state as well as a number of other venomous snakes. A neighbor earlier this week killed a copperhead in our subdivision. Be careful and if you get bit seek medical attention immediately.

First Aid for Snakebites
(This first aid for snakebites information was provided by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Red Cross)

According to the American Red Cross, these steps should be taken:

Wash the bite with clean water and soap.
Immobilize the bitten area and keep it lower than the heart.
If the bite is on the hand or arm remove any rings, watches or tight clothing.
Get medical help immediately.
Most bites don’t occur in isolated situations where the victim may be a long distance from medical help. Some medical professionals, along with the American Red Cross, cautiously recommend two other measures:

If a victim is unable to reach medical care within 30 minutes, a bandage, wrapped two to four inches above the bite, may help slow venom. The bandage should not cut off blood flow from a vein or artery. A good rule of thumb is to make the band loose enough that a finger can slip under it.
A suction device may be placed over the bite to help draw venom out of the wound without making cuts. Suction instruments often are included in commercial snakebite kits.
How NOT to Treat a Snakebite
Snakebite first aid methods are not always agreed upon by U.S. medical professionals, but they are nearly unanimous in their views of what NOT to do.

NO ice or any other type of cooling on the bite. Research has shown this to be potentially harmful.
NO tourniquets. This cuts blood flow completely and may result in loss of the affected limb.
NO electric shock. This method is under study and has yet to be proven effective. It could harm the victim.
NO incisions in the wound. Such measures have not been proven useful and may cause further injury.

Desert USA

National Geographic Photograph by Mattias Klum

North Carolina Wildlife Officials are investigating the possible sighting of a King Cobra in Cedar Creek area after a man reported an encounter last week.

Vernon Byrd was on an all-terrain vehicle in a field off Johnson Road last Tuesday when he said an 8-foot-long snake reared up beside him – and the serpent’s head was about shoulder high to him.
“I caught something out of my eye, and this snake comes up beside me and looked at me,” Byrd said. “I’ve seen every kind of snake in this part of the country, but I’ve never seen a snake like this.”
He called Freddie Mims, a licensed wildlife rescue agent, who said the description of the snake sounded like a king cobra, the world’s largest poisonous snake.

WRAL

If it turns out to true chances are pretty good that someone illegally let an unwanted snake go. A King Cobra can kill an elephant with one bite so needless to say it is very dangerous to a human.

Their venom is not the most potent among venomous snakes, but the amount of neurotoxin they can deliver in a single bite—up to two-tenths of a fluid ounce (seven milliliters)—is enough to kill 20 people, or even an elephant. Fortunately, king cobras are shy and will avoid humans whenever possible, but they are fiercely aggressive when cornered.

National Geographic

Hopefully officials will capture this snake or get to the bottom of the story very quickly.

WRAL Video Story

Every Thursday the News and Observer runs an outdoor section which is pretty good. In a day when many papers have long abandon the outdoors as a place to make cuts the N&O continues to run it weekly. I highlight articles from them often but I rarely point out how good it is to have a newspaper that still writes about hunting and fishing. Many times they pick up outdoor stories from other parts of the country like they did today with a turkey hunting story out of the Miami Herald.
They also feature local stories as well like this weeks story about NC State students learning how to shock fish to study the health of a lake.

If you have a local newspaper that devotes any type of coverage to the outdoor sports you should be grateful and supportive. So a tip of the hat to the N&O for writing about the great outdoors every week.

I was in the mountains this past weekend and witnessed a wide array of weather and the power of Mother Nature. Storm cells rolled through much of the state brining severe thunderstorms, hail ( some the size of baseballs), high winds and tornadoes. North Carolina was not hit as bad as some of the other states across the Midwest and the Southeast where deaths and injuries and major property destruction were reported.

Monday morning on the back end of this front the temperatures dropped, in some of the higher elevations snow squalls were reported overnight, where we were in Boone NC we witnessed many trees and branches down along with traffic signs bent over by the strong wind. Wind gusts were being reported in excesses of 60 mph in Boone yesterday morning.

We had planned to do go up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Grandfather Mountain so I could do some photography work. The Blue Ridge Parkway was littered with limbs and shredded leaves not unlike what an area looks like after a hurricane rolls through. The wind was pretty strong and at times I had difficulty just standing up when some of the stronger gusts hit.

We stopped at one of the visitor centers on the parkway and the outside thermometer read 30’ a bit cool even for the mountains this time of the year. I’m sure the wind chill made it felt closer to 0’F.

We arrived at Grandfather Mountain to discover it was closed but hopefully parts of it would be opening latter in the day. Talking with Grandfather Mountain staff the conditions on the summit was bad with 100 mph wind and numerous trees down all over the mountain blocking roads, buildings and trails. With only the morning free we returned to the Blue Ridge Parkway and continued our exploring there. We did find some turkeys working a field that was blocked from the winds.

Once back in Boone we had a lunch meeting to attend and as we sat there I couldn’t help but notice as the clouds broke up and the sun beamed down how beautiful a day it was turning out to be. We had to return to Raleigh so I ride back was much like Saturdays ride with lots of sunshine. Hopefully I’ll get up on Grandfather Mountain one of these days when it’s not so crowded like it is in the height of the tourist season.

Story & Photos by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Photo Courtesy of N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries

A non native shrimp, Tiger Shrimp, is starting to show up in North Carolina Costal waters. The Tiger Shrimp is native to the western Pacific Ocean but they are often used in aquaculture operations and may have escaped. Aquaculture operations in North Carolina do not use the tiger shrimp so it is probably migrated here from one of the operations in other Atlantic or Gulf coast states. North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is requesting that any one that catches a tiger shrimp to please report it to them.

MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is asking fishermen to be on the lookout for a non-native species of shrimp called the black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon).
This shrimp, native to the West Pacific, has been found in North Carolina waters and could pose a threat to the native shrimp species.
Fishermen reported capturing three of these shrimp last year, two in waters of the Pamlico Sound and one offshore from Bogue Banks.
During the past several years, black tiger shrimp have also been reported in Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina waters.
It is believed that black tiger shrimp were introduced into the coastal waters of the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico by escaping from aquaculture facilities.
No commercial shrimp farms in North Carolina grow black tiger shrimp, so it is unlikely they were released from aquaculture operations in this state.
The impact of these shrimp on native species is unknown. However, many problems can result from the introduction of non-natives, including new diseases and competition for food and habitat.
The black tiger shrimp has distinct dark and white stripes along its back. If a fisherman captures one, he should freeze it, record the date and location where he caught it and contact Trish Murphey at the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries at (800) 682-2632 or Trish.Murphey@ncmail.net.

Unknown at this point what the impact of this specie will be and whether it will become another evasive specie impacting native species.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Earlier this week I did a story about big bears in the eastern part of the state but the reality is that bear management in this state has increased the number of bears across the entire state. The concentration of bears remains in the western and eastern sections of the state but we in the central portions of the state are coming across the occasional bear.

With the increase in bears and the increase in human populations as well as the development of land that were once undeveloped bear and human encounters are also on the rise. Over the years the black bear has not been viewed by many people with the same fear that his cousin the grizzly but that perception is changing with the numerous attacks over the past few seasons.

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has issued some tips to help those living in bear country and the big one is to not purposely or inadvertently feed a bear because he’ll return time after time looking for food.

“Feeding a bear rewards it for coming in close proximity to you and your home,” said Michael Juhan, a commission biologist. “When the food becomes unavailable, the bear may resort to damaging items around your property in search of it. In addition, bears feeding on unnatural food sources around your home may cause them to lose their fear of humans and approach them – a situation that rarely ends well for the bear and could have potential safety issues for humans as well.”

NCWRC

Moving bears that have become a problem bear is not a practice that the NCWRC will do because it often does not work these bears will need to be killed. Studies have shown that bears moved from one area to a new area, even if it’s a 100 miles, will often return to the old area. Additionally bears that have learned to associate humans with food can be unpredictable and extremely dangerous.

Here are some thing we can do around our homes and camps to avoid problems;

• Secure bags of trash inside cans stored in a garage, basement or other secure area, and place outside as late as possible on trash pick-up days – not the night before.
• Purchase bear-proof garbage cans or bear-proof your existing garbage container by outfitting it with a secure latching system.
• Discontinue feeding wild birds during spring and summer, even with feeders advertised as “bear proof.” Bears can still be attracted to seed that spills on the ground.
• Do not “free-feed” pets outdoors. If you must feed pets outdoors, make sure all food is consumed.
• Clean all food and grease from barbecue grills after each use. Bears are attracted to the food odors and may investigate.

NCWRC has additional resources on how to co-exist with wildlife that is worth checking out.