Syracuse.com - Dolphins crash surfing contest, drones help nab poachers: Oddities in the Outdoors

[HuntingNY-News]

Note to those who feed deer and other wild animals during the winter. Suspected human feeding of a wild bull elk during the current cold snap caused its death, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The following are among the more interesting, funny and bizarre outdoors stories I've come across lately:

1) Dolphins stold the show at a recent surfing competition in Santa Barbara, Calif., surfing right along with the human competitors.

What impressed me is the number of dolphins that got into the act.

2). The Kenyans are using drones to protect wild, endangered animals from poachers, according to natureworldnews.com.

The drones help park rangers observe, track and protect wildlife by delivering video and thermal imaging feeds to teams on the ground. They can not only monitor the animals, butcan detect humans who shouldn't be there.

3). Suspected human feeding of a wild bull elk during the current cold caused its death, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

According to pennlive.com: "Test results returned last week cited rumen acidosis as causing the death of the 6- by 7-point bull found Jan. 9 in Byrnedale, Elk County. The disorder affects wild deer and elk, as well as domestic animals such as cattle and sheep, and in wild animals often is linked to supplemental feeding by humans. Rumen acidosis is brought on by the sudden introduction of carbohydrates, usually grain and often corn, to an animal's diet.

"The diets of wild deer and elk vary by their home ranges, and often change throughout the year. Their bodies adjust to accommodate those changes, but if their diets change suddenly rather than gradually, their bodies are unable to digest the newly introduced food. If they eat enough of that food, it can kill them," the press release said.

Food for thought for those who feel they're helping things by feeding deer (which by the way, is illegal) and other wild animals during the winter.

4). Why do birds flock and fly together. There's a variety of reasons, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Check out this video taken by a couple of women on a canoe trip. I've seen this phenomenon before but nothing as awesome as this..

5).South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, with the help of Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Authority recently trapped 40 bighorn sheep from the Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana and transported them to South Dakota's Black Hills and Badlands.

The interesting thing about the effort is that they used helicopters and net guns to get the job done. An amazing effort.

4).

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog