Milt Inman Photo

Milt Inman

During my recent vacation trip around the state of Maine, Milt Inman and I had the pleasure of accompanying our friend Gordon on his lobster boat that he moors in Seal Harbor on Mount Desert Island.

Photo by Tom Remingon
This is Gordon’s lobster boat – “Jacquelyn”

Photo by Tom Remington
First you need to grab a small pitch fork and move the bait from the tub to a holding bin.

Photo by Tom Remington
I nice tub of ripe smelling herring seems to be the bait of choice today.

Photo by Tom Remington
Pulling traps is done mechanically these days and not so much by hand.

Photo by Tom Remington
Once the trap is up, hopefully you’ll find some legal-sized lobsters. Once the trap is cleaned out, it is baited again and dropped back into the sea.

Photo by Tom Remington
Lobster traps can claim more than just lobster. You might find various shelled creatures, including crabs. In this one instance a sea sculpin was found flopping around in the trap.

Photo by Tom Remington
Really, you do find an occasional lobster – hopefully a lot more than that. This lobster was a pretty good sized one but with tiny claws. Lobsters do tend to lose their claws and nature is kind to allow them to grow back. In this case they just hadn’t had the opportunity to get back to full size again.

Unfortunately, the fog refused to lift. Although Gordon is a very proficient and experienced seaman, he is uncomfortable about being on the water in the fog as he doesn’t have a lot of trust in other boaters. We checked perhabs 25 to 30 of his 70 traps and headed back to port.

Tom Remington

Milt Inman Photo

I did a few interviews before the start of the lottery drawing. In the above photo I am interviewing Maine Rep. John Martin of Eagle Lake, Maine.

Milt Inman Photo

In the photo above, I am interviewing John Holyoke, outdoor writer for the Bangor Daily News.

Milt Inman Photo

Mike Paquette is owner of the Allagash Sporting Camps of Allagash, Maine. He and his business was the sponsor of the Skinny Moose Media coverage of the 2009 Maine Moose Lottery Drawing held in Fort Kent, Maine.

Tom Remington

Certainly one with any knowledge of what goes on in Maine and any hint of the facts of coyote and wolf biological science would automatically assume that a recent letter to the editor in the Bangor Daily News is a joke. Unfortunately it’s not.

Aside from the fact that just about everything in that letter is not factual, claims made by the writer cannot be scientifically substantiated. Most claims are merely perpetuated myths that have existed for decades or longer.

The writer speaks of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s coyote policy. What policy is he referring to? One that he made up in his own mind? The only policy MDIFW has toward coyotes is that they have a liberal hunting season on them. Aside from that, even a mandate from the Maine Legislature to come up with a bona fide predator management plan has gone by with little action.

I chuckled though at this writer’s comments about a nationwide conspiracy to kill all coyotes.

Despite a nationwide attempt to annihilate an important predator, there are more coyotes in North America than there were in the 19th century.

The writer also claims that no matter how many coyotes get killed they will automatically do a numbers count and make a few adjustments to their reproductive system and birth more pups than got killed the previous year. Before anyone should go spewing this poor information in a public forum, they should at least have the common decency to provide uninformed readers where they can verify the claims.

Unfortunately, for those readers who really don’t know what’s going on and should read this misinformation, it actually can do more harm for all wildlife should they decide to accept this as fact. Making claims that all hunters, trappers and those at the MDIFW want to do is destroy every coyote in the state is laughable. The writer is a ball of contradiction, first saying that no matter what anyone has ever done through history to eradicate us from coyotes, nothing has worked. As a matter of fact, the writer claims there are more coyotes in North America now than ever before. How can we attempt to kill all the coyotes and now have more than ever before coming out of one corner of his mouth while out of the other corner we hear fear mongering that MDIFW’s policy, along with hunters and trappers are going to wipe out the coyote population.

And lastly, the writer alludes to the fact that we should let things become “natural”.

If we just left them alone they naturally would self-regulate.

We hear this garbage incessantly. One of the major problems with this Disneyesque philosophy is that how they intend to make it work is to get rid of man, like somehow man is not a natural species in the larger scheme of things.

The writer not only suggests we should just simply let the coyote “self-regulate” but that we should “allow” the gray wolf to repopulate the state. Is there somebody not allowing this to happen? Surely the writer wouldn’t be suggesting that we import some wolves? My, that wouldn’t at all be “natural” now would it?

There is no way that the MDIFW is going to create a policy that is geared toward the eradication of coyotes. And even if they and all the hunters and trappers statewide wanted to do that, as the writer suggests, it’s for all intent and purposes impossible to do. What knowledgeable and concerned outdoor sportsmen are hoping to accomplish as part of an overall plan to restore severely diminished white tail deer populations, is go to areas hardest hit by severe winters and reduced habit and reduce predator populations before we end up with non sustainable deer herds.

It would be just as irresponsible and a “wrong Maine coyote policy” to allow for the destruction of one species while “allowing” another to self-regulate as it would be to promote for the eradication of coyotes from the Maine woods.

Tom Remington

Milt Inman Photo

Milt Inman

Milt Inman Photo

Milt Inman

*Editor’s Note* The log the turtles are resting and sunning on, was placed there by the photographer thinking it would provide a nice little sanctuary. I guess he had a vision.

The June 2009 issue of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s “Insider” magazine is now available for your viewing pleasure. Please follow this link.

In this issue you will find information about a study done on the use of rubber or soft plastic lures for fishing and the effects this may be having on our fisheries. Anglers are encouraged to use biodegradable lures.

There’s also an article about the awards presented as part of the success of the recovery of bald eagles in Maine from the endangered list, a story of how 46 acres have been added to the Scarborough Wildlife Management Area, Warden of the Year honors, 2009 winter field study on Canada lynx, all about snakes in Maine, bears and bird feeders, the Open Water Fishing Report and tons more.

Tom Remington

*From the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife*

This is the time of year when many members of the public encounter baby fawns, robins, raccoons and other young wildlife in their back yards and woodlands.

Young wildlife is often ‘kidnapped’ by well-meaning people in the mistaken belief that they have been abandoned. The mother-young bond is very strong in mammals and birds, and parents will return given the opportunity to do so with out human interference.

Because wild parents can’t hire babysitters, and must leave their youngsters alone while they search for food, people often stumble upon a fawn hidden in the leaves on the forest floor, young birds taking their first flights, or young raccoon and fox kits wandering a bit too far from the home den.

Three moose calves and 6 deer fawns have already been brought to the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray this spring, and unfortunately, we expect many more before the end of the season. Only one is an orphan.

Fawns: If you encounter a fawn, leave it alone! Adult mother does return only 2-3 times a day to young fawns to nurse them, otherwise leaving them stashed in a protected place and relying on their camouflage and lack of scent to protect them from predators. As soon as fawns are able to keep up with mom, they travel more with her as she forages for food.

Squirrels or Raccoons: If a nest of squirrels or raccoons must be disturbed, (for example if a tree has been cut down or fallen) leave the young in the den part of the tree and leave them nearby in a protected place. The mother will in all likelihood come back and transport them to a new location.

Birds: The same is true for a bird’s nest. Put the nest and nestlings into a nearby tree, supported in a basket or other container that has drainage. The mother robin or blue jay is probably right around the corner, and will return to feed the young and care for them until they can fly on their own.

But in most instances, if you come across any healthy young wild animal or bird, leave it alone! The mother will come back to care for it, as long as humans move a distance away to let the family reassemble. If you have pets, put them inside your home or leash them so they can’t disturb the young wildlings.

If, however, you think an animal may be orphaned, please call an IF&W regional biologist to see whether that is the case. Please, do not pick it up and take it home.

Wild birds and mammals do not make good pets, and it’s against the law to possess them without the proper state and federal permits.

So remember, if you care about young wildlife, leave them where you found them!

Posted by Tom Remington

On a lonely dead end road miles from the end of hot top, this little cemetery held a piece of our National History. These 3 pictures will tell “THE REST OF THE STORY!”

Milt Inman Photo

Milt Inman Photo

Milt Inman Photo

Milt Inman

Milt Inman Photo

Milt Inman