Hat tip to Susan at North Carolina Responsible Animal Owners Alliance and Sportsmen’s & Animal Owners’ Voting Alliance.

While I would never want to see anyone harmed from a pack of coyotes, there’s no better place for them to decide to live than within city parks all over this country. Often it is the inhabitants of the urban jungles that work the hardest to protect predators, such as coyotes, and yet never have the pleasure of having to deal with them. Now is their chance. The problem is, their ignorance of the behavior of such creatures puts people at risk.

For instance, in a report published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a woman who lives near the park told reporters: “They’re probably just as scared of us, but my guard is going to be up.” If you stop and think about that statement for a minute, you soon realize how illogical it is. If the coyotes were “just as scared of us”, then they would be too scared to have established a den in the middle of nearly a half million people.

A local veterinarian said that coyotes this close to the city are not common. Another vet said “People don’t normally come in contact with them.” If this were true then why is it that all we hear about in a growing way are human/coyote encounters? Perhaps the over protection has created a surplus forcing these predators to now encroach on human settlements?

And any report on these kinds of encounters wouldn’t be complete until we hear the drool from the lips of the ignorant predator lovers: “The best option is for people to learn to peacefully co-exist with coyotes and other wildlife.” Please go share your Kentucky Fried Chicken with them tonight.

Tom Remington

65-year-old Sherry Schweder and her 77-year-old husband Lothar Karl Schweder died of multiple dog bites last week. Mrs. Schweder evidently was out for a walk when she was attacked and killed. Her husband it appears went looking for her and became a victim himself.

More on the story here.

Tom Remington

We sometimes spend far too much time with our noses stuck in the middle of all that is wrong with game and wildlife management that we forget (maybe I should just say I forget) to take a look at the successes of what we have accomplished, even to a point where in some cases it might just be too good.

Harold Brown, an agricultural scientist and professor emeritus at the University of Georgia and author of “The Greening of Georgia: The Improvement of the Environment in the Twentieth Century”, authored a commentary at Online Athens about the growth and success of recovering the black bear populations, specifically in Georgia and more generally in nearly all parts of the U.S.

He presents some interesting facts, numbers and observations. A good read.

Tom Remington

It appears that a mountain lion, rare to Georgia, that a hunter shot and killed from his tree stand while feeling threatened for his life, was somebody’s captured cougar that may have escaped or was intentionally released.

But that may not be stopping authorities from charging the hunter for violations of killing an endangered species. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, initial necropsy results indicate the cat was living in a pen, was well fed and healthy. Genetics tests are being performed to determine the type of cat and it could make a difference as to whether to charge the hunter with a crime.

State biologists do not yet know if the large cat was an Eastern cougar, which is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, or the more common Western variety, WRD spokeswoman Jennifer Barnes said. A genetics test is being performed.

The answer may determine whether the hunter is charged with a crime, she said. The hunter, who was hunting from a tree at the time, told state biologists the cougar approached him and he was concerned for his life.

Authorities need to figure out where the cat came from for sure but it would seem reasonable to think that the first determination should be as to whether the hunter was justified in shooting the cat. If he was justified, the talk of charging the guy is a moot point.

Tom Remington

Okay! I’ve avoided writing about this little six-legged deer found in Northern Georgia after it had been attacked by dogs but I guess I can’t avoid it any longer. Enough of you have asked for a picture, etc. so here is a video I found on YouTube.

BTW – Do you all remember the photo and short story I posted back in November of 2006 about the five-legged deer? I still have readers leaving comments on that story.

Tom Remington

Many of you may or may not have already heard about a 15-year old Valdosta, Georgia boy taking a state record black bear back in October. Ed Gliddens, a student at Lowndes High School, shot a 574-pound black during the bear season. You can read all about the hunt and see a picture here.

Tom Remington

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue on Saturday declared the northern part of Georgia a disaster because of drought and is asking President Bush to also declare that area a federal disaster. Drought has stricken this area for some time leaving Lake Lanier at its lowest levels ever.

Last week I told you about the problem stating that much of the problem of Lake Lanier being so low was the requirement to keep water flowing out of the damn at a prescribed release amount in order to protect some endangered species. There are also issues with water power plants downstream on the Chattahoochee River. Gov. Perdue would like in his declaration to change the law and reduce the amount of water being released from the lake in order to conserve it for the 5 million customers it supplies.

The Army Corps of Engineers reached an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the 80s to release 5,000 cubic feet of water per second in order to supply power plants and assist in the protection of certain mussels and sturgeon, considered endangered species. One U.S. congressman has come out publicly in opposition to this requirement.

“What we’ve learned from this is what a blunt weapon the Endangered Species Act has become, where some obscure bureaucrat in Fish and Wildlife and some obscure judge can decide that mussels are more important than our children and grandchildren,” said U.S. Rep. John Linder, R-Georgia, who spoke after Perdue at Saturday’s news conference.

Governor Perdue thinks it’s a bureaucratic mess.

“We are also mired in a frustrating manmade disaster of federal bureaucracy,” Perdue said. “The actions of the Army Corps of Engineers and the Fish and Wildlife Services are downright dangerous, and Georgia cannot stand for this negligence.”

Tom Remington

The below photo seems to be making its way around the Internet saying this buck was taken in Georgia by bow. Can anyone confirm or refute this picture? Any information?

Tom Remington

We are at a point where it would be safe to say that this year’s outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) is quite widespread. Here’s a list of states that have confirmed cases of the virus that is carried to deer by biting midges or no-see-ums: Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, Montana, Mississippi and Georgia. In addition, some states are waiting for test results to confirm what they already suspect – South Carolina is one such state.

To confirm the presence of the disease, blood and certain tissue has to be analyzed.

According to both the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the Alabama Department of Conservation, dealing with EHD is quite routine. Charles Ruth, Deer/Turkey Project supervisor for the South Carolina DNR says flair-ups in that state seem to run in cycles of 3-5 years and there’s a reasonable explanation.

“This is probably related to the fact that once deer are exposed to the disease they are more resistant to it. Therefore, if you have disease one year the deer become exposed or inoculated to the disease and you do not see much disease activity until there is turnover in the deer population. After several years you are dealing with another cohort of deer and their systems are ‘naïve’ to the disease. The last time there was significant hemorrhagic disease activity in South Carolina was in 2002, therefore, disease activity could be relatively high this year.”

This theory is confirmed by a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

“We have some cases every year,” said Keith Guyse, a whitetail specialist with the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division in the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “In the Coastal Plain, the virus is there frequently enough that deer have been exposed to it and have some resistance to it.

Both representatives indicate that EHD in their respective states is pretty much routine only because of the build up of a certain degree of immunity. Therefore, these southern states don’t see wide outbreaks of the disease that often. When EHD hits the more northern climes, EHD seems to grab harder. Ruth explains.

Deer likely die in South Carolina each year from hemorrhagic disease, however, there is no indication that a major outbreak has occurred in the state since the mid 1970s. The disease is part of life for deer in the Southeast and fortunately it appears that Southern deer have acquired some immunity to the disease, said Ruth. Northern deer, on the other hand, are not exposed to the disease as frequently since the insect vector is not as common in cooler climates. For this reason, significant outbreaks and mortality from hemorrhagic disease are more likely in northern deer populations.

Guyse from Alabama makes reference to the same theory.

“Typically in North Alabama and above the fall line, they’re not exposed to it as often. So over a period of time you have a population that doesn’t have much resistance. When you have (outbreaks) up there, it tends to be more noticeable.”

This helps us understand why some states may have more severe outbreaks, killing larger numbers of deer, than others but why this year are outbreaks so widespread across the landscape of the country? Some have related it to the summer heat and drought. That may be true, I don’t know. It would be logical to assume that being that the virus is carried and spread by tiny midges or gnats, a larger than normal population of that insect would be directly proportional to the spread of the disease. Of course science isn’t that simplistic and we know that there are probably many more factors to consider or it could be just merely a coincidence.

However, Guyse from Alabama eludes to the theory of increased numbers of midges, somewhat.

“Auburn (researchers) had traps out to catch the flies and they might catch a few every once in a while, and then all of a sudden they catch hundreds,” Guyse said. “Much of that still is a mystery.”

Obviously, they don’t have a good handle on it either.

Hunters and others should be aware of the symptoms they may find on deer suffering from the disease.

Symptoms of hemorrhagic disease include poor physical condition, sloughing hooves, abrasions or sores on the brisket and legs, and ulcerations on the mouth, tongue, and rumen (stomach).

As I said earlier, verification of the disease has to be done in the lab.

If you see sick or dead deer in your travels, please report it to the appropriate authorities. It is highly recommended that nobody eats any of the meat from deer sickened by EHD.

Tom Remington

A Georgia dad and his three sons were on a camping trip to the Chattahoochee National Forest when a bear tried to carry away a cooler full of food. The youngest son, 6, picked up a shovel and tried to scare the bear away. That’s when it turned on them. The father fought back with a piece of firewood killing the bear.

Read the whole story here.

Tom Remington