Field Notes

From The Dallas Morning News:
A directive that allows Ferris police officers to shoot dangerous feral dogs is drawing criticism from animal welfare advocates.

The policy handed down by City Manager David Chavez last week allows officers to use shotguns to kill the potentially violent dogs. . . [which] breed and form packs that roam the town for food. . . .

"It's not a task anybody relishes down here," [Police Chief Frank Mooney] said. "You have to take care of the situation now or wait until someone's dead."

What do you think? Good policy or not?

From the Daily Inter Lake:

With a hip shot to the head, an elk hunter killed a mountain lion that was stalking him on Crane Mountain south of Bigfork on Sunday. . .

“I was using a cow call and I was bugling when I heard a twig snap behind me. . . . [A] little less than 10 [sic] behind me was a mountain lion, belly to the ground, crawling right toward me," Smith said. "It was a pretty instantaneous response, it being that close and being in the attack position it was in."

Smith fired once from the hip with his 7 mm magnum rifle, the bullet striking the mountain lion in the head and killing it.

From the Star Valley Independent:

“The cat had its eyes fixed on me, never looking away once . . . ,” Kellen [Lancaster] recalled.
In an instant [he] was transformed from being the hunter to being the hunted. . . .

“While I was running for the guns, my dad was trying to back away from . . . the cat,” said [Kellen’s son] Adam. “He tripped over a rock and into sagebrush onto his back.  In a moment’s time, the cougar jumped and was within inches of my dad’s feet. . . .”

“I heard the crack of the rifle to my left,” said Kellen. . . . “Fur puffed into the air. . . . I knew it was over.”

From the Missoulan:
Steve Tintzman of Corvallis knows he’s got a good hunting partner in Hamilton’s Barry Lemon. And he’s got a photograph of one big mountain lion to prove it. . . .

[After hearing] a couple of bull elk down near their tents bugling and carrying on . . . , Lemon and another man started slowly stalking the elk while Tintzman hunkered down on the hillside. Lemon [then saw a] tawny critter flashing through the trees. . . .

“When it got about 25 yards away, I saw that it was mountain lion. . . . Its eyes were glued on Steve. . . .”

Suddenly, the mountain lion turned and began creeping right toward Tintzman, who had no idea the animal was anywhere near. . . .

“My mind was racing. All my experience in the outdoors told me the lion could cover 15 yards to zero in a matter of seconds. It was moving fast.”

Lemon pulled back his bow and let loose. The cat turned and ran off to die about 40 yards away.

From the Anchorage Daily News:
Even in a city whose logo is "Big Wild Life," the summer of 2008 is testing residents' tolerance for large carnivores.

The problem is bears, black bears and bigger grizzlies. So far this summer, three people have been mauled in the city.

Some people say humans are to blame for the confrontations and insist that no bears should be killed because of the attacks. [Others] . . . want something done about the big bruins.

A few excerpts on each side of the debate:
-- "It is pretty much unsafe to walk around at night," [bear-attack victim Devon Rees] said.

--People using the city parks need to practice some common sense, said Dave Parker, a 25-year-old resident of Wasilla, outside the municipality.

"The bears were here before we were," Parker said. "You don't go swimming in shark-infested waters and don't expect to be bit. . . ."

--Mike Vogel, a 51-year-old insurance agent, was stomped by a moose in 2003 on a popular city trail. . . . "We need to kill some of these bears and we need to kill some of these moose," he said. Vogel accuses Fish and Game of catering to "bunny huggers."

"I think the pecking order needs to be re-established with humans on top," he said. "What other city in the world has pernicious wildlife running around in its city parks?"

Care to chime in?

From The Sun-Sentinel:

Kasey Edwards said he never paid "too much mind" to alligators swimming in canals in Okeechobee County.



But early Sunday morning, an 11½-foot alligator had his full attention as Edwards, 18, struggled to free his left arm from the jaws of the reptile.



"It's a very surreal feeling. You know, feeling like you're about to die here and you know, praying to God," Edwards said. "I have to give all the credit to God for keeping me out there."



He got away with his life and the gator with his left arm.

Yet another reason for a hunting season, from The Star-Ledger:

State wildlife authorities will try Friday to capture and "aversively condition" the three female black bears and 10 cubs that have taken up residence in recent weeks in Branchville. . . .

The mayor and council members are skittish about the bruins because of a mother bear's protective nature of her cubs.

If you’re guessing black bear, guess again.

From the Anchorage Daily News:

A black bear wandering through a Galena yard Friday afternoon decided to square off with a pet dog. This time, the fight wasn't even close, according to Galena police.

"It was a St. Bernard and he tore the bear up," police chief John Millan said. "Wasn't a scratch on the dog either."

From the Knox County Times:

As far as Blaine Cardilli is concerned the incident last month with the coyote was not an attack. . . .

What he tells people when he recounts the story is that the adult coyote "jumped" him.

"It was a case of mistaken identity," Cardilli said. "It was not trying to attack me."

Cardilli believes the coyote mistook him for a wild turkey.

From a CBC New story on AOL News:
A man from B.C.'s Interior not only survived being mauled by a grizzly - he killed the bear as well.

. . . "I heard a woofing sound, turned, seen a grizz coming at me. I managed to get my rifle up and get one round into the chest.

. . . At that point he . . . took me down," Shorter said. "He proceeded to try to maul me in the back of the scalp and on the neck, and I protected my neck with my hands. They got fairly chewed up. . . ."

[Eventually putting some distance between himself and the bear, H]e shot the animal a second time, this time killing it. . . .

"You know, if you're in that situation, all you can do is fight for all you got. I mean, I don't think I'm any different from anyone else," he said.