Southern Outdoors

Another bee job

traperjeff — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:42:08 +0000

Nuisance Wildlife Removal takes out several bee hives weekly.

We often get calls here at Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. about bees invading a home or other structure on a property. The unseen hive usually has the iceberg effect, where you only see the entrance, and not the main colony.

On this particular call, the bees were spotted going in and out of a hole up near the rain gutter of a two story house. Once the gutter and drain pipe were removed, you could see the damage and rotted wood, which allowed the bees to enter the structure and build a hive.

First things first, the bees need to be eliminated. Some people don’t understand why this is necessary, considering the world wide distress that domesticated bees are in due to CCD or “colony collapse disorder“. Bees are dying off by the billions due to everything from infections, to mites, to lack of food, pesticides and even the stress of being trucked all over the country at harvest time.

The bigger danger is that the healthy domestic bees would be contaminated by cross breeding with the AHB or Africanized Honey Bees which have now invaded our part of Florida. We can’t take the time to try and recognize whether we are dealing with the AHB or just wild honey bees. We exterminate the hive to help the Florida bee industry keep its good hives intact. In the past, a licensed bee keeper may want to take the wild hives that we find, but not any more.

Now that the bees have been “dusted”, we start the removal process. You can’t just leave an empty hive in place, or it will attract maggots which would feed on the dead bee larvae. Also, all that honey may eventually start running down the inside walls. That is a mess you don’t want to ever have to deal with. Bees and humans are’nt the only creatures who like to eat honey. Our technicians will make sure that all traces and remnants of the hive are cleaned away, and the area is left ready for the contractor to repair any structural damage left behind by the bees.

State wildlife officials to reconsider Florida’s ‘nuisance’ wildlife rule

traperjeff — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:39:12 +0000

Here we go again, The state makes decisions from biologists data and here comes the “Bunny Huggers” I wish the state would look at all the stake holders and the biggest stake holder the “Public” before making these decisions.

February 4, 2009

State wildlife officials to reconsider Florida’s ‘nuisance’ wildlife rule

BY JIM WAYMER
FLORIDA TODAY

Outcry over a bobcat that was trapped near Orlando then “put to sleep” last month has prompted state wildlife officials to reconsider Florida’s “nuisance” wildlife rule.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said Wednesday they may change a provision of the rule — which took effect July 1 — that says nuisance wildlife, if trapped, may be transported only for euthanasia, or that the animal may be released alive on site.
In January, a wildlife trapper trapped a bobcat in a residential area near Orlando.
Under the nuisance wildlife rule, the animal was subsequently euthanized.

“Concerns raised by the public and our commitment to continuously improve our policies led to the decision to explore the possibility of revising the rule,” the commission’s Executive Director Ken Haddad, said in a news release issued from the commission’s meeting Wednesday in Sandestin.

Other animals affected by the rule include armadillos, foxes, raccoons and coyotes.

“We have opened dialogue with key stakeholders to find an acceptable level of flexibility to our rule,” Haddad said. “We are currently considering several options and will bring back any proposed rule changes at a future commission meeting.”

Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com

Should We Ban Trapping

traperjeff — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:34:51 +0000

Well I am going to discuss a very conferational subject. “Trapping” while I ran across this story on the Internet it is just an example of many story’s ran everyday across America. So please read this story and read my comments to follow.

“Dog Killed By Trap, Owner Wants State To Act

Posted: March 13, 2009 10:42 PM EDT Updated: March 13, 2009 10:54 PM EDT

by Jim Grawe (SALINA, Kan.)When you see how much effort it takes to set a small game trap, you can imagine how dangerous it is when it’s tripped. Carson Mansfield found that out on a recent hunting trip.

“You’re out there and you’re having a good time and your dog yelps for help,” says Mansfield, who is Salina’s deputy police chief.

Mansfield ran to the aid of his dog to find the beagle’s head caught in the steel jaws of a trap designed to catch and kill wild animals. There was nothing he could do to save his beloved pup.

“It’s devastating when it happens,” Mansfield says. “It’s devastating.

Mansfield has a new beagle now and hopes the state will help keep her safe. He testified before the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission, asking them to ban trapping on public land. Mansfield says he has no problem at all with trapping, but says it shouldn’t be done in areas where unsuspecting hunters and dogs are walking around.

The owner of Cleve’s Marine and Sporting Goods sympathizes with Mansfield.

“It’s a shame that anything like that should happen,” Larry Mulder says.

But Mulder, who is one of the few trap dealers in Salina, says all trappers shouldn’t suffer because of this tragedy.

“I haven’t heard of it happening before,” Mulder says. “We’ve been selling traps and such for 40 years.”

Meanwhile Mansfield fears the next victim could be a child. “It would not be good,” Mansfield says.

While it was legal for the trap to be placed on state park land, Mansfield says it did violate the law because it wasn’t tagged with the trapper’s name.

There’s no indication whether the Commission will act on Mansfield’s request.”

While I understand this family’s pain in loosing a pet and I do not think this is the case in this incident I would like to point out that most pets killed or injured in traps are the fault of the pet owners. A lot of the time the pet owner has let there pet free roam and it gets entangled or trapped. Thus you hear a public out cry for trapping to be halted.

A prime example of this was yesterday we were hired to trap a cat that was defecating and tearing the screens of a neighbor. the neighbor was furious we trapped their cat and that now they were having to pay a fine witch was less than the home owner had to pay my company.

Here is the other problem I have with trap bans. You limit a professional in his or hers ability to do ethical and professional wildlife control. You see I can set a conibear trap and trap a raccoon in an attic a lot more faster and quicker witch means a lower cost to the pubic. It just takes half the tools out of our toolbox. Now how much danger is the pet when I have a trap on the roof?

I guess it is just a Lil pet peeve of mine…

Here Piggy, Piggy

traperjeff — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 20:27:18 +0000

Trapping ThisWell I would like to start out this blog by thanking Steve Remington and the Skinny Moose Network for letting us be part of this great team..

One of the great benefits of being a wildlife management professional (WMP) is spending a lot of time outdoors and with our youth. You see, a lot of children have not had the opportunity to spend any time in the woods or in a rural setting in fact most youth now days are brought up on concrete and steel. Thus this gives us an opportunity to go into urban areas to remove nuisance animals and educate the public as well.

So now to the good stuff. I have been trapping this trailer park for about 5 years and every year we get the call “Back there,” and so we set a couple of traps for awhile. Well last Saturday morning we got the call “Black Hog Caught”

Most of the feral hogs we catch at this site are around 60-70 pounds, But this time this was a good sized one.

Feral Hog Trapping

This sow weighs about 175. She had a lot more potential but she was on the skinny side… Notice the long snout on this piney wood rooter.

So thats it for my inaugural blog on Skinny Moose…

Keep checking back for more posts.