Moose Droppings

Photo source Wikipedia
Anyone that has driven in the Aid Atlantic or South East of the United States has probably seen if not run over a Bigfoot if this past weekends Bigfoot unveiling is to be believed. Just last week I told you how two guys from Georgia had reportedly recovered the remains of a Bigfoot and how many of the major news organizations were running with it. Which isn’t surprising because they also seem to think Obama will make a good president.

Well the Bigfoot press conference was held and it turned out to be a bust

At the press conference, the self-proclaimed “best Bigfoot hunters in the world” declined repeated requests to display the Sasquatch remains. Instead, they handed out photographs purportedly showing the creature’s mouth and tongue, and a blurry image of a hairy figure strolling through the woods.
Reporters and other Bigfoot investigators were underwhelmed by the group’s evidence.

The DNA report came back as human & possum;

Casting further doubt on the group’s claim are mixed DNA results from the purported body.
The DNA sample was analyzed by Curt Nelson, a molecular biologist at the University of Minnesota, who described it as a mixture of human and opossum.
Biscardi’s “suggestion was that the tissue sample was from the intestine of the animal, and that the animal had eaten an opossum,”

NG News

I don’t know much about checking DNA and all that but I certainly would take samples from a digestive track. So chance are pretty good if you’ve driven any where on a summer night in this part of the country you’ve seen a possum oops I mean a Bigfoot. With a story like this I’ll never look at road kill the same way.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Photo from Cryptomundo.com

Multiple news sources (real ones like Fox) are reporting that a couple of guys from Georgia have recovered the body of a bigfoot in Northern Georgia. The body is suppose to be reveled sometime the end of the week. Now I’m not one to shy away from mysterious critter stories( Ohio Maine North Carolina ) but this one has got to take the cake.
Now I know there are many out there that believe in the existence of bigfoot as a matter of fact this past deer season while driving to my hunting lease I heard a show about it. Come to find out according to the callers North Carolina had a number of reported sightings. I spend a lot of time in the woods and have never encountered one but that doesn’t prove much.
Based on the size alone it is hard to believe a critter this big could move around freely without more sightings and clear documentation that one exists. The guys in Georgia reported that they saw other bigfoots fleeing from them so I guess we can assume they travel in family group at least. I can’t believe we don’t have more sightings then we do.

I remember as a young EMT in Western Massachusetts getting a call for a tractor trailer accident. We rolled up on the scene of a rural fairly straight road with a tractor trailer truck into a telephone pole on the wrong side of the road. The driver was a French Canadian that insisted he had swerved to miss a moose in the road. At the time a moose in the road is about as rare as it would be here in North Carolina. I was convinced the driver had been drinking and told the investigating State Trooper that because the driver continued to insist he swerved to miss a moose. A week later I opened the newspaper and on the front page was a photograph of a moose chasing a local farmer’s mare around the pasture. How or where that critter came from I don’t know but it was a real shocker.

Now 20 years latter Western Massachusetts has a small moose population. Will Bigfoots become as common in Northern Georgia? I don’t know but the results of what these remains are will be interesting.

Photo by Moose

Canadian First & Second graders had their scavenger hunt disrupted when park workers observed a polar bear in the area. The students were gathered safely in a park building while wildlife officers hunted and killed the large male polar bear.

“Because there were people in the park we didn’t want to detour the bear. There were just too many people around,” Williams said.
The Amarok Hunters and Trappers Association (HTA) had one polar bear tag left over this year, which has now been applied to this bear.
It kept the hide and distributed the meat at four corners downtown.
David Veevee, who stopped by the site as residents cut up the steaming meat, pointed to the bear’s teeth, which were ground down to stubs and stained with age.
“It’s got to be a pretty old bear,” he said.
Williams estimated the bear, which was about 2.5 metres tall, to have been about 20 years old. It was healthy and not too skinny, he said.
Only about six bears have been spotted this close to Iqaluit over the past six years, and in each case the bear was shot, according to Alden.
“The ones we chase off will return once or twice, and then we have to put them down anyway,” he said.

Iqaluit resident Elizabeth Qammaniq harvests a piece of polar bear downtown on June 25. The male bear was shot by wildlife officers at Sylvia Grinnell Park earlier that day. - Karen Mackenzie/NNSL photo

Northern News Service

Healthy 20 year old polar bear? Seems odd guess he hadn’t heard about global warming. The villagers ate good I bet here in America it would of gone to waste for sure. Can’t imagine hungry Americans coming out to the city square to cut off a hunk of meat off a fresh kill to bring it home to feed the family.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

(Photo courtesy of Harnett County Animal Control and WRAL)

Well maybe a bit of a stretch but animal control and North Carolina Wildlife officials captured another 8 foot gator that was snarling up traffic earlier this week highway 401. This is less then a year since they relocated another 8foot gator to a more secluded part of the county. In case you were wondering if this was the same gator it is not according to the Dunn Daily Record;

Mr. Ellington speculated it was possible the alligator is the one captured and released in a pond on Christian Light Road near Angier in August. Residents caught the alligator in a pond with the assistance of animal control officers. It was then taken to another pond with an undisclosed location, still in Harnett County, where Mr. Ellington said, to his knowledge, it has continued to live.

He said the owner in that case was comfortable with the large reptile in his pond.

“The gentleman last year said he didn’t have a problem with it and said he would keep an eye on it,” Mr. Ellington said. “It is possible it migrated up to the location where we found the alligator Sunday.”

Animal Control Supervisor Tino Medina said the owner of the pond where the alligator was put last year reported to his office that the alligator is still in the pond.

“We figure it has to be a different one,” he said

I was alerted to this story by one of my reader’s Chuck who lives in Harnett County and has been trying to get me down there to catfish with him and his boys. I’m not sure emailing me stories like this makes me any more inclined to join them for a fishing outing.
This particular gator has been relocated to an undisclosed area closer to the coast where it is more common to find them. Two 8 ft gators in less then a year makes me think the population must be growing if they are looking to expand their territory this far up the Cape Fear River.

Story by Dan McLaughlin

ESPN
There is no doubt that across much of the country feral hog populations are growing leaps and bounds. Here in North Carolina what was once isolated problem in just a handful of areas is now a problem in many areas across the state. Within the feral hog population is there a strain of monster size hogs or hogzilla that will see more and more of? Stories like the National Geographic story a while back and the story of the little boy killing a monster pig has fueled speculation that such a strain exists. Both these stories have been stretched and are don’t seem to hold up to public scrutiny.

I have no doubt that there are some huge hogs out there but I believe that for a hog to exceed 1200lbs or more he either has been pen raised and released or he is being fed something to get him to grow that big. I find it hard to believe that on it’s own a pig could grow that big. We have a few large hogs in North Carolina but nothing close to the size reported in these two national stories. None the less once a hog gets over 500 lbs in my book that’s a big hog and not one I’d want to encounter in the wild with out my 30/06.

I’ll admit I missed the show last night it bumped up against the hockey game. So if your like me and missed Monster Quest there will be a few more opportunities to catch this episodes airing. The marvel of satellite TV. So check it out.

Zibby Wilder director of public relations for Animal Protection Institute denies that their organization had anything to do with the release of two monocled cobras in Onslow County. As earlier reported in on this blog news sources were suggesting that Animal Protection Institute had released these cobras in an effort to get lawmakers who are currently debating a bill to make private ownership of exotic animals illegal to pass the bill.

These unfounded claims made by WITN, and apparently some unnamed “officials,” are not only an example of bad journalism (not citing sources, making unfounded and slanderous claims, not bothering to call the organization you are accusing — or responding to their attempts to contact you), they are great examples of how great a need the state has for regulation of dangerous wild animals.

I’ll admit that I have no love loss for snakes, well I’ll qualify that because fried rattlesnake is pretty darn good, so I really don’t have an opinion on whether we should regulate private ownership of them.

I know little about API but given the nuts in the animal rights movement I wouldn’t be surprised if someone acted on their own thinking they were furthering API’s cause. When you have the bigger household name animal rights groups like ALF & PETA involved in or financially supporting Eco Terrorism making a leap like this is not outside the realm of possibility.
Although people at API and myself would not agree on many things I would hope that we could agree that whoever the individual or individuals are that released this snake or snakes they should be held accountable. I further stand by my earlier opinion that if this was purposely done or if someone made up this story that this is an act of terrorism.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

The Jacksonville Daily News is reporting that authorities were unsuccessful in efforts to capture what is believed to be a monocled cobra indigenous to southern Asia.

“The snake came up from under the porch and went toward her puppy,” Jen Grooms, founder and director of HERP Wildlife Rescue, said Thursday night.
“She grabbed her puppy and then it charged her,” said Jen Grooms, director of HERP Wildlife Rescue, which responded to the scene along with Onslow County Animal Control, Onslow County Emergency Medical Services and the Piney Green Volunteer Fire Department.
Grooms, who said the snake went back under the porch after charging the woman, identified the snake by peeking under the porch. When she looked, the snake showed it’s hood, which had a round circle on it - the sign of a monocled cobra, which is indigenous to Southeast Asia.
With permission from the property manager, those on the scene dismantled the front porch in an effort to capture the snake, said Animal Control Director Dino Einsig. However, the snake was not there.
“We searched for the snake and turned up nothing, so we secured,” Einsig said, adding that the snake was last seen at about 3:30 p.m. Both Grooms and Einsig believe the snake went into the woods.
“These are very fast and agile snakes, and somewhere in the ruckus it got past us,” Grooms said.

Where the snake came from and how many there are is not clear other news sources are reporting that two snakes may have been purposely released as I reported in my earlier story. We’ll continue to follow this as it develops….

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Photo by National Geographic

On the heels of the possible King Cobra sighting in Cumberland County reports are now coming out of Onslow County that NC Wildlife officials have been called in to search for two Monocled cobra.

Officials say the two Monocled Cobras on the loose in Onslow County may have been dumped there by an animal rights group pushing for a ban on exotic animals.
The two cobras are believed to be near Mill Farms Road off Piney Green Road in Onslow County.
Officials say they found a flyer indicating someone lost the two cobras. They believe the snakes were placed there by the group Animal Protection Institute. The group wants to make it illegal for people to own exotic animals and uses such tactics to raise awareness.
Officials warn these snakes can be deadly with one bite. They urge you to stay away if you see these snakes and immediately call authorities.

WITN TV 7 Be Sure to check out video Story off this link as well.

Animal Protection Institute is supporting bills in North Carolina to have the state step in and begin regulating the private ownership of exotic animals. What a better tactic then to cause a panic among the public by turning some of these snakes loose. If a group or an individual purposely turned poisonous snakes loose I believe this should be considered a terrorist attack. Even if they didn’t turn them loose but falsely reported they did to make a point that should still be a terrorist attack in my book. No different then these other animal wacko groups burning buildings and other such criminal activities to further their loony ideas. Hopefully know one gets hurt and don’t worry I’ll continue to follow this story and bring you the latest.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

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

Angola Prison otherwise known as the farm in a rural part of Louisiana has a new guard that works for free. It seems last week a 400+ lb black bear was observed by a prisoner as it crossed a road inside the prison last Friday. Louisiana Wildlife does not believe that this bear nor any of the other bears on the grounds of the prison pose any risk to the people at the prison
The Warden seems to see it as a benefit;

“I love that bear being right where it is,” Warden Burl Cain said Monday. “I tell you what, none of our inmates are going to try to get out after dark and wander around when they might run into a big old bear. It’s like having another guard at no cost to the taxpayer.”

AP Story

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Killing a gobbler with multiple beards is a rare feat but taking one with 7 beards is unbelievable.

Jerrell Keele knew his turkey had a pretty good beard on him when he shot him last month. He could see the black hairs hanging from the gobbler’s neck when he shot him from 37 yards away.

But the 67-year-old Burnsville resident didn’t realize that the 17.28-pound turkey actually had seven beards and scored enough points to make it a state record in the nontypical division.

There were so many beards that the registration form had to be altered.

“The form only has room to write in six beards for each turkey,” said Keele, whose turkey scored 151.155 points. “Jerry Hazlewood (the Northeast Region wildlife biologist) wrote in the seventh beard on the side of the form.”

NE Mississippi Daily Journal

Congratulations Jerrell that is a once in a lifetime trophy.

Update on this morning’s news that a secret agreement has been made not unlike the lottery deal a few years ago to allow limited hunting for deer on Sundays with a bow.
From what I have been told that “donations” from the insurance lobby to the Non Game Animal fund were threatened to be cut off. For a number of years the insurance industry has been funding a pilot project with NCWRC and the restocking of the eastern cougar in a number of spots throughout the state. The cougar-stocking program was halted in 2006 because of the number of attacks on humans in other states and the possibility of liability for the state if this was to become general knowledge. Auto Insurance lobby continued to funnel funds into the Non Game Fund with hopes that this or a similar project would resume. With no longer any support at NCWRC to continue such an endeavor the lobby pulled the funds as of January of this year. These funds were being used to support a number of other projects as well and many of them are threatened. This compromise will open up the dried up funding stream once again enabling the State to meet requirements to get matching Federal dollars for these other projects.