Curmudgeon

Right. I should have said passerine. Ravens are songbirds. Doves are not.

Good article. However, these guys don't care about conservation, wildlife, or anything else other than their deluded political agenda.

Doves can be identified by ear both by their vocalizations and flight noises. They do call more during breeding season. It is a long season, among the longest of any songbird at this latitude. According to the NYS Breeding Bird Atlas, egg dates (that is viable eggs in a nest) range from the beginning of March to the end of September.

FSW - What is your problem? You are not helpful. You are hurting this effort with your digressions.

Counting by sound is actually a much better way of surveying birds for presence. Your ignorance is showing. What you see or don't see may have something to do with what you are looking for.

A comment on CBCs: They are conducted by skilled people who can identify birds by both voice and visually. They are people who do not have an agenda. They are not counting during peak bird numbers. They are counting all birds found in a geographic area during early winter. You might be amazed at what a skilled person can find that you would miss.

They are cool animals. I've only watched them in the Pyrenees. Talk about steep terrain.

Sometimes they make mistakes and get removed from the gene pool. Maybe the next generation will not make the same mistake.

I haven't hunted them but I haven't gotten close either. I take my Swarovski spotting scope with me whenever I go to Europe. Watching them from even a mile away, I feel lucky.

My downstate, 87 year old MIL, who has broken 2 hips, was out shoveling this morning. Her daughter gave her hell.

Today, 2 red squirrels were copulating for an extended period near the bird feeder. I don't think they do it just for fun. It seems having young in February might not be the best strategy. I posted this link in the AEP topic but it might be lost down in the bottom. It is worth watching. It is a video of a young, wild golden eagle attacking a chamois. The chamois I have seen are about the size of a domestic goat. Take a look at what happens to this bird - not to mention the chamois. I have doubts about whether the bird could recover and survive. http://www.redbull.com/us/en/adventure/stories/1331761920585/see-an-eagle-chase-down-a-chamois-in-the-alps Golden eagles attack ungulates rarely. When they do, they generally knock them off cliffs, or grab their backs and hold on while they run until completely spent and collapse.

No dumb questions. Crows and ravens are closely related but quite different. By weight, ravens are 3X as heavy as a crow. Ravens and red-tailed hawks average the same size. Crows are more versatile in the eating habits. Ravens are carcass specialists in winter.

I don't think it was weak. I think it was dumb. The videographer claims he videoed a wild bird but there is something in there about edited. I mention this because I can accurately age the bird in the opening shot. I cannot accurately age the bird hanging onto the chamois. The opening bird is not more than a year old. The bird that attacked the chamois is a young bird. It might be the same bird, if not, it is not more than 2 years old. I think it was a young bird that made a big mistake. Golden eagles kill ungulates rarely. They do so by knocking them off cliffs. They also grab their backs - like this bird did - and hang on until the deer, or whatever, drops of exhaustion.

FSW - You are a gas bag. You want to discredit me - and now nyanter too. He is one of the most knowledgeable people on the site regarding deer and wildlife. I called you out. You say I am not a hunter. Put your money where your mouth is. Why no response? Shawn - Something you said earlier triggered a memory. It was something like, you didn't know any hunters who would not kill a coyote. I remember a quote I read in the paper years ago. Someone said "I can't believe Nixon won. I don't know a single person who voted for him." It is the same thing. We choose our friends and talk to people like us. I can't imagine any one of my hunting group shooting a coyote. Why would they?

Someone sent me this link to a video of a young, wild golden eagle trying to prey on a chamois. I have to wonder if the bird survived long term. Take a close look at what happens to it. http://www.redbull.com/us/en/adventure/stories/1331761920585/see-an-eagle-chase-down-a-chamois-in-the-alps

What are you talking about?

So, because I don't hate coyotes like you do, I am not a hunter? Because I don't fear them, and don't kill them, I am not worthy. I hunt for a lot of reasons but never as out anger, fear or hate. I don't worship antlers. You could show us hundreds of photos of deer that were killed inside a fence. "High fence" isn't different in substance from raising lambs for slaughter. I don't take photos of myself with dead deer because it brings me no pride. I do have some photos of myself with others and their deer because they wanted me in the photo. You are a lot of hot air. Would you like to make a real wager on whether I am a hunter? Something substantial, like 6 figures? You name the price and the proof needed. Then, bring along the checkbook. How about the loser gives the amount to an organization of the winner's choice? You game? Hunters are the original conservationists. Aldo Leopold is one of my heroes, but, apparently I am not tough enough for the likes of you.

Okay. I make a distinction between hunting and protecting property, and between hunting and the elimination of invasive species.

I posted a photo of 8 or 9 deer hanging in MY barn the last time you brought this up. You have a short memory. How many times do you want to see that photo? Oh yes, I said I eat what I kill but I was referring to hunting. I did not eat the rabid racoon I killed in the barn. I did not eat the sick skunks that wandered into the yard over the years. I would not eat a human intruder if I had to kill one. I do not hunt woodchucks and I do not hunt coyotes. I hunt deer, squirrels, grouse and occasionally rabbits. What? Go back and read it. I did not compare a coyote to bacon. I was listing risks for a rational risk assessment: real risks vs the risk posed to humans by coyotes. You are more likely to be harmed by bacon than a coyote. That is just reality.

You should ask where is my outrage about the mice in the root cellar. You are off topic. Start a new thread. BTW - FSW keeps implying that I have only book learning experience. Anyone who knows how much time I have spent watching wildlife would laugh. I have spent countless hours conducting wildlife surveys, been hired as a contractor by DEC to work in ADK wilderness areas, and the thousands of hours watching while hunting or just for my pleasure. I would bet the farm that I have spent at least 10X as many hours watching coyotes behave naturally as he has.

Nice. Maybe if you embellish that field dressing story a bit more, I might join your side. Correct me if I am wrong but municipalities contract with APHIS not NYS. NYS contracted with APHIS to remove feral pigs - a different thing both ecologically and economically. What is the problem we need a solution for? Too many coyotes? Doing what? Eating 2% of the deer population? A population that is way too big in much of the state.

I suspect the PA DNR is responding to the emotional reactions coyotes bring out in people. Hunters and fishers are the original constituency of game departments - whatever they are now called. They respond to them in ways they don't respond to other constituencies. I have no evidence for this feeling. It would just seem to be consistent with how things have worked for decades.

But is this the reason for the bounty proposal? Yeah for some but according to the NYON article on the PA legislation "Most complaints (about coyotes) were related to a general fear of the animals, not because of a threat."

Since the NYON started this conversation, you should all read the commentary in the most recent edition. It discusses what types of hunting non-hunters support and what they do not. While it does not cite surveys on coyote hunting, it does on other predators. It isn't good. If you don't think what non-hunters think is important, you are naive. Hunters are a small minority. Don't expect to win at the ballot box. You are not going to get hunters to agree on any need to control coyotes. I hunt and raise sheep and I think most of this is nonsense. The stories get better over time, and there may be a grain of truth in there, but there is no "coyote problem". Yes, there are problem animals but in 40 years of raising sheep, the yotes have done nothing more than walk through the pastures - with the sheep in them! As NYAntler likes to say, there are 10 times as many deer hunters in NY as coyotes. Anyone who has spent any time studying these animals knows that persecuting them causes them to increase reproduction. So, even if we agreed there was a problem - which we do not - the bounty effort will do nothing to change the situation. It is 19th Century wildlife management at its worst. So, the "downside" to a year round season: Divisions among hunters; Strong resistance from the antis; Deteriorating support for hunting among non-hunters; A demonstrated lack of respect for the hunted animal by hunting them during whelping season: And, marksmenship? Are they no more than targets, like a clay pigeon? Last year we were discussing how coyote and crow hunting contests bolster the negative view non-hunters can have of hunters. This is more of the same.