Galliform
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Posts posted by Galliform
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If you had the occasion to witness one of these attacks by dogs, you might start wondering yourself just how much has really changed between wild wolves and supposedly domesticated dogs. The behavior sure wasn't typical of the typical lazy dog flopped out on the living room floor. That switch got turned by something from their primal past, and they definitely were not acting very domestic.
I have livestock, and I've witnessed it elsewhere too. It's scary, and even moreso because they were people's pets (not truly "feral"). They get into that group mentality and they aren't afraid/wary of people because they are domestic dogs, and it's really messy. Some of the very traits we have bred into them over the centuries gets pretty ugly when this happens.
That said, respectfully, a lot of domestic dog pack behavior is still quite different than that of most wild wolves, especially when it comes to livestock (sounds like these elk were fenced?).
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I have witnessed this kind of behavior before as a kid. We had sheep, and a pack of dogs (close relative of the wolf) had quite the time running through the township, visiting each of the sheep producers and engaging in an activity that could only be described as "thrill killing". There was no indication of them eating any of them as they went from one to another doing enough damage to kill them. No these were not wolves, but they are the same biological family of canidae. So when people use this same kind of terminology that was used in this article, I have no reason to be critical. I know that "sport killing" is a potential mind-set among this genetic family of predators. I have seen the same thing with dogs vs. deer. No intention to eat the prey, just the thrill of the kill. It is a "pack-thing".
Feral or even pet dogs running in a pack, killing livestock, is MUCH different than the behavior of wild wolves.
Folks thinking that thousands of years of domestication doesn't change much when it comes to dogs, do a great disservice to both dogs and wolves.
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Thought this would be of interest here.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/105649.html
DEC Announces Zero Hunting Fatalities in 2015 Season 2015 is the first year in decades without a reported fatality, marks growing trend of improved hunter safetyThe 2015 New York hunting season proved to be one of the safest on record and yielded the first year without a hunting-related shooting fatality since the 1950s, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today. DEC's 2015 Hunting Safety Statistics report (PDF, 141 KB) highlighted a total of only 23 hunting incidents, the third lowest number on record, with 10 incidents self-inflicted and 13 two-party incidents.
"Hunting is a strong and economically important tradition that continues to be safely enjoyed by many in New York State, and I commend hunters of all ages for maintaining high standards in hunting safety," Acting Commissioner Seggos said. "The trend of declining hunting accidents is proof that our hunter safety education programs are working thanks, in large part, to the efforts of the 3,000 volunteer Sportsman Education Instructors that teach our hunter safety courses every year."
This is the first year without a hunting-related shooting fatality in New York since record-keeping on hunting statistics began in the mid 1950s. 2015 also continued the trend of declining incidents with New York's hunting-related shooting incident rate (incidents per 100,000 hunters) declining almost 80 percent since the 1960s. The past five-year average is down to four incidents per 100,000 hunters, compared to 19 per 100,000 hunters in the 1960s.
While hunting is safer than ever, accidents can still happen. It is important to remember that every hunting-related shooting incident is preventable. As this year's report indicated that eight of the victims in the multi-party incidents were not wearing hunter orange. Accidents can be prevented if hunters follow the primary rules of hunter safety:
- assume every firearm is loaded;
- control the firearm muzzle in a safe direction;
- keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire;
- identify your target and what is beyond; and
- wear hunter orange.
"Sportsman education is an essential and required training course for hunters and teaches future sportsmen and women how to be safe, responsible, and ethical hunters and trappers," Acting Commissioner Seggos said. "Through our NY Open for Fishing and Hunting Initiative, Sportsman Education Programs are being enhanced and our hunting license privileges have been updated to ensure increased opportunities for recreational hunting in the state."
The declining in hunting-related accidents is evidence that New York has a safety-conscious generation of hunters thanks to the committed efforts of DEC's volunteer instructors. These trained, DEC-certified instructors teach safe, responsible and ethical outdoor practices and the important roles hunters and trappers serve in natural resource conservation. All courses are offered free of charge and class registration is easy. In 2016, DEC is updating the course curriculum to further enhance the program and implement recommendations identified in a 2015 peer-reviewed analysis if New York's education program.
For more information on Sportsman Education course registration, access to the course manuals and worksheets, please visit the Sportsman Education Program webpage on DEC's web site.
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I know someone that has one as a pet. They are actually pretty intelligent and as mentioned their mimicry skills are very good.
They do mount up pretty and are fairly easy to do, if anyone needs practice with bird taxidermy. They are actually very pretty birds in good light.I confess I've eaten them before, wrapped in a slice of bacon. I don't know if mine tasted better because they are not eating city garbage, but they weren't bad at all. In rural locations, their diet isn't much different than some of the larger birds we hunt and eat.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Very interesting.
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Tanning can take a while, as can the amount of work to be done. Any practiced taxidermist can put together a standard mount pretty quickly once the tanning, etc, is done, and you are next in the queue, but a real artist taxidermist will spend that little extra time making the piece incredible. It's why highly sought out taxidermists have a long turn around time. It really is a form of art, which is why there are as many bad mounts out there as good ones, and lots in-between. You might as well ask why a painting takes 'so long' for an artist.
If any of you are ever interested in seeing some amazing work, check out the Taxidermy forums. Click a sub-forum "Deer and Gameheads", "Birds", etc, and look for the threads called "______ of the month". Or, in some forums, "____ of the week". There are a lot of gems in there. Here's a link to the Feb Game Heads of the Month. http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php/topic,394901.0.html
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For whatever it's worth, on my property the deer prefer hemlock, especially after we get snow on. They bed under it and it is a favorite browse item once winter hits and easy food sources dry up. I don't know if it's ideal for your situation, and one must be careful to check if there is HWA in your area (hemlock wooly adelgid) http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7250.html
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I was just coming on here to post info but you found it first, Mike. I talked to George Rockey from the Southtowns/Hamburg chapter the other day on the phone and they seem like some really nice people.
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The Webster Penfield DU dinner is a lot of fun, those guys have a hoot. I'll be there. The next day, the 27th, is the Hamburg/Southtowns DU dinner also, if you are closer to Buffalo.
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I cook nearly every day because I'm nuts about food sourcing. But more on topic, we still do family dinners on Sundays with my folks. No kids of our own.
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I'm 34, and I've been hunting since age 12 (legal age for small game at the time), so I've been hunting for 22 years. My dad would let me go with him to watch when he small game hunted, since I could walk, but I'm not counting that because I was not participating.
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Well, I went in for my DOT physical last week and Dr says my BP is high, cholesterol and sugar are "borderline". Told me I have to cut back on sodium, red meat, salmon, eggs, pork, and sugar. Hell, my BP, cholesterol and sugar are going to come down really fast because I'm going to starve to death!
I told him I'd pick up an extra chicken or turkey meal during the week, but I've got a freezer full of venison, beef and pork, so I need some lower sodium recipes for seasonings, rubs and such. Whatcha got?
PS: I guess my days of frying up backstraps in bacon grease with onions and mushrooms are over. Or maybe not, I'm not known for following orders real well.
There is lots of research out there that points to food cholesterol not having an impact on your blood cholesterol. Saturated fats and trans fats can, but food cholesterol, not so much. If you look at the gritty biology of it all, it's true. Even the government's dietary guidelines is hearing the science and has greatly reduced the warnings on food cholesterol intake. http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/health/2015-dietary-guidelines/That is not to say that high blood cholesterol is not a problem, just that the cholesterol you eat is not impacting it too much. Eat your venison, salmon and eggs (medium-chain fats are some of the healthiest foods you can eat, which are found in things like fish, coconut oil, avocado...). Enjoy your beef and pork too, in moderation. If you are eating genuinely pastured animals, know that their fats are "healthier" in general, and they tend to be leaner. I used rendered suet to cook in regularly, though I will only use it from pastured animals that I get from local farmers so that I know what I'm getting. Sugars and carbohydrates have a greater negative impact on your blood chemistry (especially if you are borderline diabetic) than almost any other food. If nothing else, try to cut back on the heavy saturated fats, sugars, and carby foods for a few months and see how your blood tests come back.
I'm not a doctor and I don't want to cherry-pick articles for you to read, but there is a lot of science behind this and doctors and the governing bodies are slowly catching up. Also remember that everyone's body is different and processes things differently. There is no 'one size fits all' diet or lifestyle out there.
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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.
I actually found this while I was searching for information about the film being made (a work of fiction) about a boy and a golden eagle. I strongly suspect that the opening shot of the incoming eagle was a totally different shot; this is behavior I would expect an eagle coming to the glove to do (a young bird begging), with the camera being set up near the bird's handler so that the eagle appears to come right at the viewers. I think this was just added to the beginning of a real hunting video for drama. I agree that young raptors are often prone to dumb hunting mistakes. It's partially what makes the mortality rate in first year bird so high.
Here's a trailer, complete with added Red-Tailed hawk screams...
And their other videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJm-xleWM0gajLDKCd3CCtw
The eaglecam videos are worth checking out.
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How do you capture them? Is it a method similar to turkey capture with fired nets? I imagine bow nets and the like would be difficult to set up in the situation with deer carcasses.
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The National Wildlife Refuge system in particular is a unique treasure in the USA. I can't imagine any sportsman, hunter, fisher, nature lover or conservationist hating NWRs. If you are interested in learning more about the ideals and management of the NWR system here is a lot of info out there.
History: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/history/over/over_main_fs.html
Mission: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/about/mission.html
Land acquisition and funding: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/about/acquisition.html
Land and Wildlife Management: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/whm/
(etc)
They exist primarily because of federal level funding (through the Migratory Bird Fund, etc). States, frankly, could not handle this, financially nor in terms of manpower or orgnization. The nation and continent-wide network of science coming out of the NWR system is priceless. As are the benefits to land, water, plants, animals, and people too. I respect state's rights, but the fracturing of NWRs to the state level would be devastating to the progress we have made in conservation in the last 100 years. Given how the world is going, they will prove to be crucial in the future.
I'll just leave this as well. https://medium.com/@travislongcore/i-stand-with-linda-sue-beck-a651895b71ce#.r6ye9mgc6
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Much of the birding community are great allies to conservation, and could be to hunters as well if approached correctly. There will always be some antis in the birding community, but we share more in common with birders and they with us than either 'side' tends to realize. I once attended a seminar for birders where some bird banders were doing a study on bird populations and nesting habits in different habitats (old growth, mid- successional, early successional forests, etc), and found universally in areas that are over-browsed by deer, bird numbers and nesting success plummets for all species that depend on understory growth. By the end, I think nearly everyone in the audience was pro-deer hunting!
Back on topic:
Audubon of Portland released this statement: http://audubonportland.org/news/audubon-society-of-portland-statement-on-the-occupation-of-malheur-national-wildlife-refuge
Mike Rossi, the ABA (American Birding Association) put this article out in response to the ones you posted above:
http://blog.aba.org/2016/01/birders-the-media-and-the-malheur-standoff.html
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I've seen squirrels fall out of the canopy of tall oaks a number of times and were seemingly none worse for wear. It seems a bit unlikely your squirrel perished from a fall, but not impossible.
I leased my sugar bush to a guy some years ago. He was having trouble with squirrels chewing lines. He put D-Con all over without consulting me. My wife discovered it on a dog walk. Actually, the dog discovered it. It was really good Mrs. C was paying close attention. We don't think the dog ate any. Anyway, he was fine.
Also, the next door neighbor had a rat problem - and a yard full of feral cats she fed. She put rat poison where the cats couldn't get it. Unfortunately, the dying rats came right out in the open for the cats to eat. The positive thing was fewer feral cats. There may have been a lot of dead foxes and hawks we never found.
Poison is vile.
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Watching a group of 7 does graze and move slowly through the woods behind my house. At least some are up and moving, despite the sheeting rain.
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I'm not hunting as I don't have a bow or smokepole, but I sure am thinking of you guys that are out there today. It's pouring like a summer thunderstorm here. Good luck!
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There was an article about how animals are adapting to development in developed areas, the link can be found in "General Chit-chat" under the "more development:" thread concerning Sterling Forest
I was just reading that one. Here's a link for anyone that wants to see. http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/30768-more-development/
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Permethrin itself is a common insecticidal synthetic chemical. Saywer's is just one of the major brand names that sells it for outdoors persons. I personally use a quart of the agricultural/veterinary stuff by Martin brand (10% Permethrin), dilute it with distilled water to what Saywer's is (0.5%), and soak my outer hunting clothes in it. It's much less expensive, just a bit more work. I still haven't run out of the first quart I purchased, and I had to use some to treat my chicken coop too.
Be careful for those with pets, Permethrin can be fatal to cats.
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Has any one ever thought of puting flea and tick collers on your cloths.
For the price, I will stick with treating with Permethrin, known to work. Flea and tick collars are sometimes a cocktail of nasty pesticides out of China that I would not only not want on myself, but I don't even want them on my pets. Some are okay and some are quite questionable. At least with Permethrin I know exactly what it does and the risks.
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At the end of the day, a cleaned bone is a cleaned bone. The symbolism you assign it is, of course, a personal thing...
Yotes have them? I thought only bears and whales had them
Most primates (humans are one of the few exceptions), rodents, bats, bears, felines, canines, mustelids, raccoons, walruses, sea lions, and seals have a baculum (penis bones).
Whales actually do not have them, nor do dolphins.
More than you ever wanted to know about the darn thing: https://books.google.com/books?id=2rkHQpToi9sC&pg=PA68&dq=pinniped+baculum&hl=en&sa=X&ei=otYCU4rBHKuR1AHXxoDgDg&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=baculum&f=false
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Feral swine predation on turkey nests in south
in Turkey Hunting
Posted · Edited by Galliform
An interesting article published by the USDA, covering the formal study of nest predation by invasive swine (hogs/pigs/boars/etc) in Texas.
http://blogs.usda.gov/2016/04/04/the-little-known-threat-to-wild-turkeys/
You can be sure that any other ground-nesting bird has been impacted as well.