Syracuse.com - An albino marlin, hummingbird migration, a charging wild boar: Oddities in the Outdoors

[HuntingNY-News]

With this cold winter wipe out most of the ticks? I'm afraid not.

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

1). In Upstate New York, we marvel at albino deer and squirrels. In Costa Rica, a deep sea angler recently caught and released an albino blue marlin, according to petethomasoutdoors.com.

The extremely rare catch was made aboard the Spanish Fly, a 43-foot yacht operated by Maverick Sportfishing out of Los Suenos, on the Central American country's Pacific Ocean side.

A ruby-throated hummingbird.AP photo 

2). They're coming. The ruby-throated humming birds, that is.

Each year, hummingbird enthusiasts from across the country email in their reports of sightings of the tiny birds as they make their way back north during their annual spring migration. Check out the map on hummingbirds.net to see their progress as of today.

3). Some things are just bigger out west.

John Grubenhoff, of Pasco, Washington, recently caught a monster walleye weighing more than 20 pounds in the Columbia River, which is a pending state record, according to fieldandstream.com. The fish measured 34 inches long.

For perspective, the New York State walleye record is 16.9 pounds, caught in February 2009 on Mystic Lake in Cattaraugus County by an ice fisherman.

4). With this cold winter wipe out most of the ticks?

I'm afraid not.

"Ticks do not die in the winter. They do not die until they have lived their two-year life cycle. They survive the cold by burrowing underground, hiding in tall grass or in shrubs, according to ask.com.

5). A hunter in Sweden had a close encounter recently with a wild boar that could have ugly (for the hunter), according to liveleak.com.

In this video below, the hunter got the shot off just in time before the boar's tusks did any damage. (Warning: This is a graphic video and some may find it disturbing.)

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog