Moose Droppings

Montana Fish & Wildlife has a program to rescue orphaned bear cubs and reintroduce them into the wild once they have a reasonable chance to survive.

Each year, a number of orphaned black bear cubs end up at FWP’s Wildlife Center in Helena. The bear cubs arrive anytime between spring and late fall during their first year of life. They have all been separated from their mothers (sows) for various reasons including:

* Sows killed by cars
* Sows illegally shot
* Cubs area abandoned by mothers because of poor environmental conditions, food shortage, or human disturbance

Orphaned bear cubs raised in captivity in Montana will be moved into man made bear dens in the wild soon so that when they wake up from hibernation this spring they’ll be in the backcountry. Then hopefully they’ll go on and live like all the other bears that were raised by a bear and not Montana wildlife.

“Our mission is to provide a temporary place for injured and orphaned animals so they can be returned to the wild. Our emphasis is definitely on orphaned bear cubs,” said Patty Sowka, director of the rehab center.

All of the cubs were born in January or February and all orphaned. They will be placed back in the wild sometime in December.

Montana Fish & Wildlife has a rehabilitation center that has been operating this program for a number of years as an alternative to euthanizing the orphaned cub and they have had some good success. Their studies show that bear cubs in their program have a 44% survival rate for their first year compared to cubs raised by sows in the wild that have a 37% survival rate.

Montana Wildlife reports that they discovered a sow that went through their program raising cubs on her own;

Success Story
In the fall of 2004, the Montana Wildlife Center received a sighting of a bear and her cubs, the sow had a conspicuous green ear tag. Staff at the center researched the bear’s tag number and found that it was a female raised at the center over six years ago. She had no record of human disturbance and had obviously proven herself to be successful in the wild. Though we will never be able to know exactly what happens to the cubs once they are released, stories like this one make us realize that efforts to return orphaned bear cubs to the wild is worth it, one bear at a time.

How many bears have they rescued?

Sowka says that since 2000, the center has taken in approximately 196 bears, 9 of which were grizzlies that ultimately were placed in captivity. Two black bears were also placed into facilities.

There plan is that once a bear is put back in the wild that they never see it again. They tag them so they can track any future encounters they may have. How many they have reintroduced that became “problem bears” ?

“The only bears we find out about are the hunter harvested, the management removals and the road-killed bears. We know that three or four of the 34 that we just put out in the spring earlier this year have been legally harvested in good situations. They were not removed because of conflicts; they were being good bears in good areas and legally harvested this year from last year. They were going on two years old.

“We have very few management removals. Those are the ones we mostly are concerned about. In entire history of the program — we can safely say 10 at the most that Im aware of.

This sounds like a great program giving opportunity to return the majestic bear back to the wild rather then destroying it or placing it in captivity.

Resources for this story

Great Falls Tribune
Montana Fish & Wildlife

Post & Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

If you wanted to kill a bear that tipped the scale in access of 600 lbs where would you head? Now I’m talking about a black bear not a brown or a grizzly so that narrows your choices downs a bit. North Carolina should be at the top of your list and eastern North Carolina to be more specific. The North Carolina Wildlife Commission has done a phenomenal job at managing the black bear. The eastern part of the state of North Carolina has some of the best bear habitat anywhere and the bear population is booming there and the photos I have to show you will prove we have some monsters walking around.

This bear is being called “Maximus” and rightly so when you look at these photos. I acquired these photos from Mike Noles owner of Conman’s Guide Service. I’ll admit that judging the size of bears can be difficult but this bear is huge. This bear will easily go over 600 lbs and Mike believes it is in the 800+ neighborhood and he sees a lot more bears then I do. I wonder if we might not be looking at a new state record if not possible one of the largest black bears ever. Heavens know how big Maximus will be by the time the hunting season rolls around.

Bear hunting in North Carolina is either done by two methods; stand hunting like Mike does, or hunting them with hounds. Baiting is not a legal practice in this state. When I talked with Mike this past Friday he still had a couple of openings for this November’s bear hunt. If you think this bear is some kind of a fluke check this photo of another bear that was photographed last summer.

This is obviously a different bear because of the scarring on the face and none of their hunters took this bear last year.

Two years ago a couple of 600 plus bears were taken just a day apart at Conman’s so he certainly has the habitat to grow’em big.

Jim Delpapa - 11/13/06 - 663 lbs

Charles Miller - 11/14/06 - 616 lbs

If you want to bust a big bruin head for eastern North Carolina and if you want someone with a proven record for putting folks on some nice ones give Mike Noles a call.

Story by Dan McLaughlin (AKA Moose) Photos courtesy of Conman’s Guide Service Creswell, NC

Tom over at the Black Bear Blog has an interesting story and a series of photographs of a wolf catching salmon. Not an activity that many of us would imagine a wolf doing but it appears to be a true story. I’ve discovered a few newspaper accounts from 2007 and a video of the wolf fishing.
[quote]A wolf vying for salmon along with the oft-photographed Brooks bears was startling enough that more than a few photographers thought the pictures might be computer-enhanced composites. Stinsa heard such comments, too.

“The photos are not doctored in any way,” he said last week.

They were cropped, he said, and some spots with bad light were highlighted. Other than that, they are 100 percent as they appeared in the viewfinder of his camera, he said.

And he has Park Service employee Niki Quester as a witness.

“She said she’d never seen anything like this,” Stinsa said. [/quote]

The Seattle Times has the story as well as the Anchorage Daily News has the actual video. So I would say based on this it’s true Tom wolves do like to fish and it wasn’t photo shopped.

A successful hunt and a great trip to Washington County NC but its good to be back home. It was a bit hectic leading up to last Thursday when I left for Washington County but I soon felt relaxed as I sat in a muddy ditch on Friday morning in full camo watching tundra swan circling the decoys.
This morning I didn’t even have my gun opting for the camera and the opportunity to see a young person bag her first swan. But that is another story that I’ll post latter.
Friday afternoon Billy, Nicole, and I bagged our swans as we slipped back into the field after lunch. Tundra Swan unlike many of the other waterfowl seems to fly best on blue bird type days. They also fly all day so hunts are not necessarily limited to the hours around sunrise and sunset.
We went back into the field around 1:30 and we each had our bird by 3pm. The field we were hunting was an old corn field that had been reseeded in winter wheat. The tender wheat as well as the old corn is a tempting meal to the swans. The land is very flat so it is easy to spot the places the birds are working because once a few hit the field it attracts even more in. We saw fields with thousands of birds in them so the decoy spread of a couple hundred goose decoys painted white lured these birds in.

In the coming days I’ll share some of my photos on both of my blogs and post additional stories about hunts I photographed on Saturday and Monday before I returned home. It’s good to be back home and maybe I can stay ahead of the chaos.

Thanks to Mike, Connie, & Andy at Conman’s Guide Service for a great time.

This time of year the tundra swan returns to the wintering grounds here in North Carolina along the coast and it is a sight to behold. The whole concept of how a creature can fly from Canada and Alaska every year and back is a pretty amazing feat when you think about it. I had heard from some folks in that part of the state that the swans were beginning to return with some numbers this past week and so I felt an urge this past Sunday to take a ride that direction to have a look. I think part of my fascination with the swan is the haunting call it makes and the similarities of the call with that of the loon we listened to often on summer nights in New England.

We rode down to Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday and I got some great photographs and took in the sights and sounds of the birds returning to their wintering grounds. I’m running a lot of the photos I took on Mooses Wild America this week so be sure to check them out as well.

There is an opportunity for schools in the area of the wintering grounds to get involved in research on the Tundra Swan that is being conducted by Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park. They are looking for assistance with banding and tracking tundra swan along their migration route.

Sylvan Heights Director of Education Dan Louk is excited about the opportunity the project presents to Valley youngsters. “This is a real-world research project they can not only observe, but also become involved in,” said Louk. He added there is still time and room for more schools to participate, but the window of opportunity is closing fast.

In addition to participating as a group at Sylvan Heights, Louk said the students will also keep in touch with other groups of students all along the migratory track from North Carolina to Alaska. “The students will actually exchange data that all can benefit and learn from. Since the birds winter almost exclusively in North Carolina, the students here will study the wintering behavior patterns which are very different from the behavior in the breeding grounds in Alaska, which will be studied and reported on by students there,” said Louk.

Roanoke Daily Herald

This sounds like a great opportunity for people interested in helping with research to get involved. The North Carolina Wildlife Commission has been participating in researching the tundra swan for some time and has a fascinating website where you can learn about some of the research they have conducted. They have some migration studies they did back a few years ago and although it is no longer being up dated you can see the travel routes of many of the swans they banded and attached tracking devices to during that time. It’s certainly a site worth checking out if your like me and just a little bit fascinated by the distances these creatures fly each year.

I’ll be doing my part to help with the research on these birds when I participate in the hunting aspect. As one of the limited 5,000 permits drawn this year I’ll complete a survey after my hunt reporting what type of bird I took and answer a few other questions. In addition to that should I or any other hunter take a banded bird there is a reporting mechanism for that to help get the information to researchers so they are aware that a banded bird has been taken.

Within the waterfowl hunting community there is an honor in taking a banded bird and often you’ll see hunters with bands attached to their duck calls. As hunters we realize the important role we play in the conservation of the specie as well as the protection of the habitat that allows these birds to flourish.

The tundra swan is a magnificent creature and if you get the chance you should make a point of visiting Mattamuskeet Wildlife Refuge this winter and see them.

Andrew & his roommate “diehardhunter” with a 317lb feral hog

Feral hogs have been in North Carolina for a number of years but now their numbers are growing and to many they are a nuisance. On this week’s show I interview Andrew Partin a student at NC State University in the Fisheries and wildlife program and a hog hunter. Andrew and his roommate recently killed this big hog and another smaller one that were tearing up a farmer’s sweet potato crop. In addition to hearing about his hunting Andrew will tell us a little about his summer job working in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park trapping bears and wild boars. So tune in today at 1pm or check out my show archives later this weekend to download this exciting show.

I haven’t done much hunting this year but a invite for a goose hunt this past Saturday sounded like the perfect way to ease myself back into hunting. Normally I’ve bought and stock up on steel shot so these last minute deals are not a big deal but I hadn’t done that yet. Friday evening I found myself wandering into the local Dicks Sporting Goods to pick up some shot. I began to panic a bit when I realized that the selection of steel shot was a bit slim and the largest shot I could find in my favorite brand was #2. Not really enough to goose hunt, BBB’s or T’s is what I usually want. Well as I’m searching around I see the new Federal Black Cloud and they have a couple of boxes of BBB’s so I grabbed them.

I’ve certainly heard the hype about these shells but not one to jump into that I had no real intention of trying them out. Daybreak found me in my layout blind in a cow pasture with my gun loaded with Black Cloud Shells. Well the geese certainly didn’t fly in like we had hoped by we did squeeze out a few. My initial thoughts about this product are that what I thought was hype is really the truth.
Federal has taken the science and technology to improve turkey loads and now using them in waterfowl loads. I certainly want to shoot some more with this product to really run it through its paces but so far it looks real good. I may have to pick up some duck loads as well to see how it works on them as well.

The view from my blind at daybreak

Photo Courtesy of NCWC

The North Carolina Mountain Fair is going on right now and besides the games, the rides and the food if you get the chance check out the North Carolina Wildlife exhibit. This year the featured subject is the American Beaver;

With its broad, flat tail and large, sharp incisors, the American beaver is second only to humans in its ability to modify a landscape. For this reason, the beaver has been both friend and foe to humans for centuries.
Learn more about North America’ largest rodent when you visit the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s exhibit at the Mountain State Fair in Fletcher, Sept. 7-16.

I don’t believe I’ll get the chance to check out this exhibit but hopefully they’ll have it for the State Fair here in Raleigh in October.

American Beaver Handout PDF

Bears are becoming a problem in the areas and neighborhoods surrounding the State Park so Wildlife officials have decided to try to reduce some of the bears within the park through the best option available for this, Hunting. In addition to the problems with bears feral hogs have really gotten a good hold on the park as well and Wildlife is hopeful hunters will harvest a number of them while bear hunting. Recent rule changes or at least clarification identifies “wild boar” (Big Game Animal in NC) as only occurring in the far south western mountain counties. All other parts of the state hogs are considered feral and are not a game animal so they can be hunted year round.

Today I watched “Management Advantage” television show on feral hogs in the US and they are really expanding their range rapidly. Places like Hawaii, Texas, and California they have been problems for years. The biologist they were interviewing said that feral hogs can now be found in 40 states. They are predicting that grain growing areas of the Midwest will really be seeing major problems with hogs in the next few years.

As hunters we need to try to help keep some of these species under control be it native critters like bears or deer that have taken over or invasive critters like these hogs. I’m glad to see the state is using the best management tool they have at their disposal and setting up a hunt. For More Information on the hunt check out the Special Hunting Opportunities the drawing for this is coming up quick.

How they got there is unclear but there is feral hogs tearing things up. Farmers in the area around Lillington are working to eradicate the problem but as experts will tell you getting rid of feral hogs is nearly impossible. Farmers first noticed hog sign back in January but it’s just recently that they began trapping them. The hog is a smart creature and he’ll adapt so what worked on getting a few today may not work tomorrow. At the age of 10 months a hog is able to reproduce and basically the only real predator for a hog is man.

The wild pig is the most prolific large wild mammal in North America. Given adequate nutrition, a wild pig population can double in just 4 months. Feral hogs may begin to breed before 6 months of age, if they have a high-quality diet. Sows can produce 2 litters per year and young may be born at any time of the year.

Extension

Usually by the time people really start noticing feral hogs they have a pretty good head start and are difficult to get rid of. In North Carolina wild hogs found outside of the mountain counties are considered feral hogs and not regulated by NCWC. The ones found in the mountains are what the Wildlife Commission refer to as “Wild Boar” and they do have a set season.
I would caution people about being short sighted and not looking at all the ramifications releasing hogs into the wild will cause. As hunters we sometimes get excited about having something else to hunt however the damage to the land and the impact on native species can be devastating.

Dunn Record

Most hunting, fishing, and trapping rules pass though Wildlife commission and then get presented in public meetings ( district 3 district 5 ) allowing citizens from across the state to voice their opinions and then the Wildlife Commission holds a final vote on whether or not to adopt the new rules. This for the most part works well and the majority of outdoors people across the state at least feel like they get some say in the changes. When this system that seems to work is circumvented and the legislators poke their noses into it one has to scratch their head. Initially the new law would have required a bow hunter hunting deer to wear hunter orange while his fellow hunter who is hunting doves with a shotgun would not have to wear it. I’m glad that someone caught this before it became law. The rewrite has been changed to make bow hunters have to put on orange only during a firearm season for deer.

SECTION 4. G.S. 113 291.8(a) reads as rewritten:
“(a) Any person hunting game animals other than foxes, bobcats, raccoons, and opossum, or hunting upland game birds other than wild turkeys, with the use of firearms, must wear a cap or hat on his head made of hunter orange material or an outer garment of hunter orange visible from all sides. Any person hunting deer during a deer firearms season shall wear hunter orange. Hunter orange material is a material that is a daylight fluorescent orange color.”

I’m not sure that orange makes a safe hunter any safer if you properly identify your target before discharging your weapon you shouldn’t have any problem. I personally believe that on private land the use of orange should be left up to the landowner and the hunter. Wearing orange while bow hunting is regulating a non issue I’m sure the number of people hunting deer with a bow during a firearm season is minuscule. One has to wonder if there are no other pressing issues in this state that the legislators couldn’t tackle rather then micro managing wildlife laws.

My recent trip out west I captured many young creatures with my camera. I hope you enjoy these photos. Most photos shot in and around Grand Tetons National Park and Yellowstone National Park.

Bison Calf

Mallard Ducklings

Look close to see the Big Horn Sheep lamb. Amazing how well it blends in.

These are two Great Horned owlets in the hollow of the tree not a great shot but as close I could get without risking disturbing the nest.

Newly hatched Sandhill Crane Colt (Yes a young sandhill is called a colt) Once again shot at a good distance so as not to disturb the nest. They had hatched only hours before I took this photo both Mom & Dad on hand to raise the young’uns

Grizzly Sow with 2 cubs