Cops have busted a group of oddball poachers in Prospect Park — a band of vagrants that was trapping and eating ducks, squirrels and pigeons.
Parks officers wrote four tickets — two for killing wildlife and two for illegal fishing — totaling $2,100 in fines during a two-day period last week.
The city would not immediately release details of the incidents, which occurred on July 17 and 18 — just days after park-goers told rangers about a “Beverly Hillbillies”-like scene on the southeast side of the lake, near the ice skating rink.
“This is a dodgy group,” said park-goer Peter Colon, who spotted one of the men catching a pigeon while his friend started a fire. “They are the most threatening people in the park.”
The disheveled — and possibly homeless — tribe in question uses “makeshift” fishing poles and traps to catch the critters, then grills them over the fire, according to park watchdogs.
“One woman uses a net to bag the ducks,” said wildlife advocate Johanna Clearfield.
Wildlife advocates have long pushed the Parks Department to crackdown on illegal hunting and fishing in Prospect Park — especially after a stunning array of cases in which geese and cygnets were injured by illegal barbed fishhooks and lure.
In the most-dramatic case, a plucky little goose who lost the top half of his beak to a fishhook earned him endless sympathy and the nickname, “Beaky.”
The fishing and hunting ticket blitz comes while park-goers collect and document large mounds of fishing wire, claiming waterfowl are frequently get tangled.
And it’s not the first time that poachers have been busted. Last year, park-goers confronted a man after spotting him catching fish and secreting them into a bag — a violation of the city’s “catch-and-release” rules.
After being confronted, the man dumped the dead fish back into the lake.
The new poaching busts bring to mind last year’s wave of animal murders by the so-called “Butcher of Prospect Park,” whose death toll included waterfowl, chickens, turtles and a goat.
For now, wildlife advocates were hailing this month’s busts.
“The fact that they’re ticketing is great — it’s so badly needed,” said goose lover Mary Beth Artz. “I hope they keep it up.”
by Natalie O'Neill
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/34/31/dtg_poachersbusted_2011_08_06_bk.html
Showing posts with label vagrants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vagrants. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Monday, October 11, 2010
The great egret makes for exciting sighting
 |
| A great egret forages for food. Note the dark black legs that make identification easy. A white great blue heron would have yellow legs. (Bill Danielson) |
Published: 12:00 a.m., Sunday, October 10, 2010
During the school year, I am trapped inside during the most productive birding hours of the day. As the days get shorter and shorter, there is less of a chance for me to do any birding at all. Mornings don't offer much, but autumn afternoons can sometimes produce some good sightings and tend to keep my eyes peeled for anything interesting while I'm in the car.
For instance, consider my drive home last week. I had made it all the way back to the Watervliet Reservoir without much interesting to report, when all of a sudden I saw something quite exciting. I saw a ghostly figure standing among the withering water chestnuts. It was a great egret and it was a great sighting!
Anyone familiar with the great blue heron (Ardea herodias) will immediately notice a similarity between herons and egrets. In fact, the great blue heron has a rare all-white form that looks almost identical to a great egret, except for one important difference. Great blue herons have yellow legs, whereas great egrets have black legs. Since the bird I saw had black legs, I knew this was an egret on walkabout.
The great egret has had a long and interesting history with its scientific name. Twenty-five years ago, the great egret was known as Casmerodius albus. "Casmerodius" was a combination of the Greek word "kasis," meaning "brother or sister" (a relative), and the Greek word "herodios," or "heron." The word "albus" is simply Latin for "white." Translated, the name would be something like, "the white brother of the herons."
According to the Dictionary of American Bird Names, by Ernest A. Chohate, a German ornithologist by the name of Constantin Gloger may have intended the genus name to be "Cosmerodius" with an "o." There is a Greek word "kosmos," one of the meanings of which is "decoration." Had this been the actual root of the name, the translation would be something like, "the white, decorated heron." Given the opulence of the egret's feathers during the breeding season, it is not too hard to imagine that this may have been the true intention of Gloger.
Today, the great egret's scientific name is Ardea albus. The word "ardea" is Latin for "heron," so the translation of the newest name is simply "the white heron." This name also suggests that the great egret is a close relative of its very similar cousin, the great blue heron.
Great egrets, like the other species in the heron family, are bedecked in glorious nuptial plumage in the height of the breeding season. So fantastically gorgeous are these delicate, lacy feathers that they were once highly prized as decorations for hats and clothing. The millinery had a catastrophic impact on bird populations, because the feathers could only be harvested by killing breeding birds.
The great egret seems to be a species born with wanderlust. Its breeding range extends from the Gulf of Mexico up the basin of the Mississippi River to Michigan. There is then a very thin arm that hugs the coast of the eastern United States as far north as Long Island. Clearly, the great egret is a bird dependent upon water for its living.
While the breeding range of the great egret is rather narrowly confined, the range over which it can be found is immense. Draw a line from the middle of Texas, up to the Great Lakes, and then east to Nova Scotia. Non-breeding birds, it seems, like to explore.
Late summer and early autumn seem to be the times when these rather exotic-looking nomads turn up in the strangest places, and I was happy to see that one had found its way so close to my home. Anyone who travels by train from Albany to New York is likely to see increasing numbers of these birds as the train moves south. The Hudson is a natural conduit for the movements of such coastal birds.
Keep your eyes peeled for great blue herons, great egrets and any other interesting birds in the next couple of weeks. As soon as temperatures fall and we have our first frost, most of these birds will probably clear out, but you never know.
Sometimes stubborn adults or inexperienced immature birds will stay far longer than seems wise.
Cold weather won't really chase them away until ice starts to prevent them from hunting, and in the meantime they can offer exciting sightings for any birders desperate for a glimpse of nature on the way home from work.
Bill Danielson is a freelance writer living in Altamont. Send your questions about the natural world to him at billd@speakingofnature.com.
http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/The-great-egret-makes-for-exciting-sighting-695916.php
The great egret makes for exciting sighting
|
| A great egret forages for food. Note the dark black legs that make identification easy. A white great blue heron would have yellow legs. (Bill Danielson) |
Published: 12:00 a.m., Sunday, October 10, 2010
During the school year, I am trapped inside during the most productive birding hours of the day. As the days get shorter and shorter, there is less of a chance for me to do any birding at all. Mornings don't offer much, but autumn afternoons can sometimes produce some good sightings and tend to keep my eyes peeled for anything interesting while I'm in the car.
For instance, consider my drive home last week. I had made it all the way back to the Watervliet Reservoir without much interesting to report, when all of a sudden I saw something quite exciting. I saw a ghostly figure standing among the withering water chestnuts. It was a great egret and it was a great sighting!
Anyone familiar with the great blue heron (Ardea herodias) will immediately notice a similarity between herons and egrets. In fact, the great blue heron has a rare all-white form that looks almost identical to a great egret, except for one important difference. Great blue herons have yellow legs, whereas great egrets have black legs. Since the bird I saw had black legs, I knew this was an egret on walkabout.
The great egret has had a long and interesting history with its scientific name. Twenty-five years ago, the great egret was known as Casmerodius albus. "Casmerodius" was a combination of the Greek word "kasis," meaning "brother or sister" (a relative), and the Greek word "herodios," or "heron." The word "albus" is simply Latin for "white." Translated, the name would be something like, "the white brother of the herons."
According to the Dictionary of American Bird Names, by Ernest A. Chohate, a German ornithologist by the name of Constantin Gloger may have intended the genus name to be "Cosmerodius" with an "o." There is a Greek word "kosmos," one of the meanings of which is "decoration." Had this been the actual root of the name, the translation would be something like, "the white, decorated heron." Given the opulence of the egret's feathers during the breeding season, it is not too hard to imagine that this may have been the true intention of Gloger.
Today, the great egret's scientific name is Ardea albus. The word "ardea" is Latin for "heron," so the translation of the newest name is simply "the white heron." This name also suggests that the great egret is a close relative of its very similar cousin, the great blue heron.
Great egrets, like the other species in the heron family, are bedecked in glorious nuptial plumage in the height of the breeding season. So fantastically gorgeous are these delicate, lacy feathers that they were once highly prized as decorations for hats and clothing. The millinery had a catastrophic impact on bird populations, because the feathers could only be harvested by killing breeding birds.
The great egret seems to be a species born with wanderlust. Its breeding range extends from the Gulf of Mexico up the basin of the Mississippi River to Michigan. There is then a very thin arm that hugs the coast of the eastern United States as far north as Long Island. Clearly, the great egret is a bird dependent upon water for its living.
While the breeding range of the great egret is rather narrowly confined, the range over which it can be found is immense. Draw a line from the middle of Texas, up to the Great Lakes, and then east to Nova Scotia. Non-breeding birds, it seems, like to explore.
Late summer and early autumn seem to be the times when these rather exotic-looking nomads turn up in the strangest places, and I was happy to see that one had found its way so close to my home. Anyone who travels by train from Albany to New York is likely to see increasing numbers of these birds as the train moves south. The Hudson is a natural conduit for the movements of such coastal birds.
Keep your eyes peeled for great blue herons, great egrets and any other interesting birds in the next couple of weeks. As soon as temperatures fall and we have our first frost, most of these birds will probably clear out, but you never know.
Sometimes stubborn adults or inexperienced immature birds will stay far longer than seems wise.
Cold weather won't really chase them away until ice starts to prevent them from hunting, and in the meantime they can offer exciting sightings for any birders desperate for a glimpse of nature on the way home from work.
Bill Danielson is a freelance writer living in Altamont. Send your questions about the natural world to him at billd@speakingofnature.com.
http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/The-great-egret-makes-for-exciting-sighting-695916.php
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Rare sighting draws birdwatchers to Provincetown
By Jason Kolnos / Cape Cod Times
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
PROVINCETOWN — There’s a red-headed vagrant with a big mouth and colorful outfit turning heads in town these days. And it’s not an outlandish Commercial Street performer.
A stately sandhill crane has been spotted foraging for a good meal around a soccer field near Route 6 and the airport a few times over the past week or so.
The long-legged crane with a distinctive crimson forehead and white cheeks has area bird enthusiasts flocking to the Cape’s tip for a gander at the species not seen too often around these parts.
"It is a strikingly good-looking bird," said Joseph F. Cavanaugh III, a Mashpee attorney and bird enthusiast who photographed the crane Sunday morning.
Online bird-sighting message boards have been buzzing with posts about the crane, with some folks even organizing carpool excursions to go see it.
"They are real crowd-pleasers," said local bird expert E. Vernon Laux, a naturalist for the Linda Loring Nature Foundation on Nantucket and a Times columnist.
Adult sandhill cranes are big birds — standing about three feet tall and having a wing span of around six feet. Large, grey and rusty-orange colored feathers are hallmarks of their plumage.
The sandhill crane’s prolonged appearance in Provincetown is rare for the Outer Cape, but sightings of the species in the region have increased over the past five years, Laux said.
There have been reports of a few sandhill cranes spending the winter in places such as Cummaquid and Wareham.
To read the rest of this story, go to www.capecodonline.com
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100929cape_air_founder_reduces_role/
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
PROVINCETOWN — There’s a red-headed vagrant with a big mouth and colorful outfit turning heads in town these days. And it’s not an outlandish Commercial Street performer.
A stately sandhill crane has been spotted foraging for a good meal around a soccer field near Route 6 and the airport a few times over the past week or so.
The long-legged crane with a distinctive crimson forehead and white cheeks has area bird enthusiasts flocking to the Cape’s tip for a gander at the species not seen too often around these parts.
"It is a strikingly good-looking bird," said Joseph F. Cavanaugh III, a Mashpee attorney and bird enthusiast who photographed the crane Sunday morning.
Online bird-sighting message boards have been buzzing with posts about the crane, with some folks even organizing carpool excursions to go see it.
"They are real crowd-pleasers," said local bird expert E. Vernon Laux, a naturalist for the Linda Loring Nature Foundation on Nantucket and a Times columnist.
Adult sandhill cranes are big birds — standing about three feet tall and having a wing span of around six feet. Large, grey and rusty-orange colored feathers are hallmarks of their plumage.
The sandhill crane’s prolonged appearance in Provincetown is rare for the Outer Cape, but sightings of the species in the region have increased over the past five years, Laux said.
There have been reports of a few sandhill cranes spending the winter in places such as Cummaquid and Wareham.
To read the rest of this story, go to www.capecodonline.com
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100929cape_air_founder_reduces_role/
Rare sighting draws birdwatchers to Provincetown
By Jason Kolnos / Cape Cod Times
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
PROVINCETOWN — There’s a red-headed vagrant with a big mouth and colorful outfit turning heads in town these days. And it’s not an outlandish Commercial Street performer.
A stately sandhill crane has been spotted foraging for a good meal around a soccer field near Route 6 and the airport a few times over the past week or so.
The long-legged crane with a distinctive crimson forehead and white cheeks has area bird enthusiasts flocking to the Cape’s tip for a gander at the species not seen too often around these parts.
"It is a strikingly good-looking bird," said Joseph F. Cavanaugh III, a Mashpee attorney and bird enthusiast who photographed the crane Sunday morning.
Online bird-sighting message boards have been buzzing with posts about the crane, with some folks even organizing carpool excursions to go see it.
"They are real crowd-pleasers," said local bird expert E. Vernon Laux, a naturalist for the Linda Loring Nature Foundation on Nantucket and a Times columnist.
Adult sandhill cranes are big birds — standing about three feet tall and having a wing span of around six feet. Large, grey and rusty-orange colored feathers are hallmarks of their plumage.
The sandhill crane’s prolonged appearance in Provincetown is rare for the Outer Cape, but sightings of the species in the region have increased over the past five years, Laux said.
There have been reports of a few sandhill cranes spending the winter in places such as Cummaquid and Wareham.
To read the rest of this story, go to www.capecodonline.com
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100929cape_air_founder_reduces_role/
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
PROVINCETOWN — There’s a red-headed vagrant with a big mouth and colorful outfit turning heads in town these days. And it’s not an outlandish Commercial Street performer.
A stately sandhill crane has been spotted foraging for a good meal around a soccer field near Route 6 and the airport a few times over the past week or so.
The long-legged crane with a distinctive crimson forehead and white cheeks has area bird enthusiasts flocking to the Cape’s tip for a gander at the species not seen too often around these parts.
"It is a strikingly good-looking bird," said Joseph F. Cavanaugh III, a Mashpee attorney and bird enthusiast who photographed the crane Sunday morning.
Online bird-sighting message boards have been buzzing with posts about the crane, with some folks even organizing carpool excursions to go see it.
"They are real crowd-pleasers," said local bird expert E. Vernon Laux, a naturalist for the Linda Loring Nature Foundation on Nantucket and a Times columnist.
Adult sandhill cranes are big birds — standing about three feet tall and having a wing span of around six feet. Large, grey and rusty-orange colored feathers are hallmarks of their plumage.
The sandhill crane’s prolonged appearance in Provincetown is rare for the Outer Cape, but sightings of the species in the region have increased over the past five years, Laux said.
There have been reports of a few sandhill cranes spending the winter in places such as Cummaquid and Wareham.
To read the rest of this story, go to www.capecodonline.com
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100929cape_air_founder_reduces_role/
Bird Notes – sighting of whiskered black tern
Sep 30 2010 by Andrew Forgrave, Daily Post
There are three species of marsh tern in Europe, including white-winged, black and whiskered.
None breed in the UK however. Black terns are by far the more numerous, especially on their south-westerly autumn passage.
In juvenile plumage all three species are very similar. But close scrutiny of some images taken of a bird thought to be a black tern at Inner Marsh Farm RSPB, Wirral, actually revealed a young whiskered tern.
A great record for the area!
A common quail was also seen at the same site, giving a very rare opportunity to see a species almost always “heard only”, due to its habit of preferring vast crop fields and scurrying away if disturbed, rather than flying.
A blast of northerly air brought in a grey phalarope (Llydandroed Llwyd) to Conwy RSPB.
This remained until September 27 at least, feeding around the margins of the southern lagoon.
This is only the third record for the reserve.ŠThe adult bird has probably flown in from Iceland or the high Arctic and will be heading to winter on the seas off West Africa.
It is bizarre to think that such a small dainty wader can spend the whole winter out on the ocean, then return north in the spring to breed again.
Up to seven Lapland buntings were seen on the Great Orme last week and over 50 were at Hen Borth west of Cemlyn.
Nationally, this has been one of the best autumns for the species.
Elsewhere, two absolute “megas” turned up this week in the form of an alder flycatcher on Blakeney Point, Norfolk, and a superb northern parula found on Tiree, Argyll.
Both are cracking American vagrants.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/farming-north-wales/farming-news/2010/09/30/bird-notes-sighting-of-whiskered-black-tern-55578-27369541/
There are three species of marsh tern in Europe, including white-winged, black and whiskered.
None breed in the UK however. Black terns are by far the more numerous, especially on their south-westerly autumn passage.
In juvenile plumage all three species are very similar. But close scrutiny of some images taken of a bird thought to be a black tern at Inner Marsh Farm RSPB, Wirral, actually revealed a young whiskered tern.
A great record for the area!
A common quail was also seen at the same site, giving a very rare opportunity to see a species almost always “heard only”, due to its habit of preferring vast crop fields and scurrying away if disturbed, rather than flying.
A blast of northerly air brought in a grey phalarope (Llydandroed Llwyd) to Conwy RSPB.
This remained until September 27 at least, feeding around the margins of the southern lagoon.
This is only the third record for the reserve.ŠThe adult bird has probably flown in from Iceland or the high Arctic and will be heading to winter on the seas off West Africa.
It is bizarre to think that such a small dainty wader can spend the whole winter out on the ocean, then return north in the spring to breed again.
Up to seven Lapland buntings were seen on the Great Orme last week and over 50 were at Hen Borth west of Cemlyn.
Nationally, this has been one of the best autumns for the species.
Elsewhere, two absolute “megas” turned up this week in the form of an alder flycatcher on Blakeney Point, Norfolk, and a superb northern parula found on Tiree, Argyll.
Both are cracking American vagrants.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/farming-north-wales/farming-news/2010/09/30/bird-notes-sighting-of-whiskered-black-tern-55578-27369541/
Bird Notes – sighting of whiskered black tern
Sep 30 2010 by Andrew Forgrave, Daily Post
There are three species of marsh tern in Europe, including white-winged, black and whiskered.
None breed in the UK however. Black terns are by far the more numerous, especially on their south-westerly autumn passage.
In juvenile plumage all three species are very similar. But close scrutiny of some images taken of a bird thought to be a black tern at Inner Marsh Farm RSPB, Wirral, actually revealed a young whiskered tern.
A great record for the area!
A common quail was also seen at the same site, giving a very rare opportunity to see a species almost always “heard only”, due to its habit of preferring vast crop fields and scurrying away if disturbed, rather than flying.
A blast of northerly air brought in a grey phalarope (Llydandroed Llwyd) to Conwy RSPB.
This remained until September 27 at least, feeding around the margins of the southern lagoon.
This is only the third record for the reserve.ŠThe adult bird has probably flown in from Iceland or the high Arctic and will be heading to winter on the seas off West Africa.
It is bizarre to think that such a small dainty wader can spend the whole winter out on the ocean, then return north in the spring to breed again.
Up to seven Lapland buntings were seen on the Great Orme last week and over 50 were at Hen Borth west of Cemlyn.
Nationally, this has been one of the best autumns for the species.
Elsewhere, two absolute “megas” turned up this week in the form of an alder flycatcher on Blakeney Point, Norfolk, and a superb northern parula found on Tiree, Argyll.
Both are cracking American vagrants.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/farming-north-wales/farming-news/2010/09/30/bird-notes-sighting-of-whiskered-black-tern-55578-27369541/
There are three species of marsh tern in Europe, including white-winged, black and whiskered.
None breed in the UK however. Black terns are by far the more numerous, especially on their south-westerly autumn passage.
In juvenile plumage all three species are very similar. But close scrutiny of some images taken of a bird thought to be a black tern at Inner Marsh Farm RSPB, Wirral, actually revealed a young whiskered tern.
A great record for the area!
A common quail was also seen at the same site, giving a very rare opportunity to see a species almost always “heard only”, due to its habit of preferring vast crop fields and scurrying away if disturbed, rather than flying.
A blast of northerly air brought in a grey phalarope (Llydandroed Llwyd) to Conwy RSPB.
This remained until September 27 at least, feeding around the margins of the southern lagoon.
This is only the third record for the reserve.ŠThe adult bird has probably flown in from Iceland or the high Arctic and will be heading to winter on the seas off West Africa.
It is bizarre to think that such a small dainty wader can spend the whole winter out on the ocean, then return north in the spring to breed again.
Up to seven Lapland buntings were seen on the Great Orme last week and over 50 were at Hen Borth west of Cemlyn.
Nationally, this has been one of the best autumns for the species.
Elsewhere, two absolute “megas” turned up this week in the form of an alder flycatcher on Blakeney Point, Norfolk, and a superb northern parula found on Tiree, Argyll.
Both are cracking American vagrants.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/farming-north-wales/farming-news/2010/09/30/bird-notes-sighting-of-whiskered-black-tern-55578-27369541/
Friday, December 18, 2009
Heron tries to swallow turtle for dinner
A heron tried to swallow a turtle for its dinner but was left frustrated as it could not pierce its shell to kill it. 8 Dec 2009
The bird, which usually spears its prey before swallowing it whole, spent 25 minutes attempting to eat the nine inch turtle before flying away carrying the turtle in its beak.
The young Florida Softshell Turtle wriggled as Jose Garcia photographed the Blue Heron at the Everglades National Park in Florida, United States.
Herons, which usually eat fish and small snakes, have been known to choke on prey that is too large.
Mr Garcia, 50, said: "This particular species of heron is the largest of the wading birds and they have been known to prey on everything from fish to small alligators and snakes.
"But in all my years of photographing the Everglades wildlife this is the first time I've seen one of these birds trying to eat a turtle.
"This went on for about 25 minutes, with the bird repositioning the turtle in order to swallow it, to no avail.
"The problem was that the turtle was still alive. It was moving its legs non stop and the circumference of its shell was too wide.
"The bird looked frustrated and the turtle was trying desperately to 'swim' away.
"Eventually, with almost no light the heron flew out of range with the turtle still in its beak.
"If I had to bet money I would say the turtle is now ten to 11 inches in circumference and that heron is probably hunting easier prey."
Blue Herons, or Ardea Herodias, have a head to tail length up to 55 inches, a wingspan up to 79 inches and weigh between 4.4 and 8lbs.
They are found throughout North America near bodies of water, usually nesting in trees or bushes. It has been recorded as a vagrant in England.
Florida Softshell Turtles, or Apalone ferox, are native to the eastern United States and are popular as pets.
They have a long neck, an elongated head, with a long snorkel-like nose and can grow up to 25 inches.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/6838752/Heron-tries-to-swallow-turtle-for-dinner.html
Saturday, October 17, 2009
There's Nothing So Rare as a Cougar in Missouri
Photo: Dave RodgersOCTOBER 15, 2009
Still, Many Sightings Reported; Mistaking Tabby for a Mountain Lion
By JUSTIN SCHECK
When Jeff Beringer got a Sunday-night call from a deer hunter who said he had shot an aggressive mountain lion last fall, he whipped the Missouri Mountain Lion Response Team into action.
Mr. Beringer, a state biologist and the team's leader, rushed to the scene to investigate the hunter's claim and see the bloody arrow that fell from the beast as it fled. It was one of 150 or so mountain-lion reports that Mr. Beringer's team probes each year.
The team's verdict: Like every other report since 2006, it was a false alarm. Missouri's Mountain Lion Response Team has eight members. What Missouri doesn't have, says Mr. Beringer, is a single permanent-resident mountain lion. None of the big cats -- also known as cougars, pumas and catamounts -- are known to breed in Missouri, Mr. Beringer says. Occasional wanderers step across the state line from the west for a day or two and then go home, he says, but that is unusual.
Missouri needs an eight-member cougar team because it, like other nearly cougarless states, has a bad case of "cougar hysteria," as Mr. Beringer puts it. Of the 765 cougar reports Missouri has received since 2005, only two have been verified.
There is no shortage of cougars in the U.S. More than 30,000 live west of the Rocky Mountains, according to estimates. And there is evidence they are starting to move eastward. But deforestation and heavy hunting cleared the Midwest of cougars by about 1910. They remain scarce and are confined, wildlife officials say, to a few vagrants in the most remote areas of the Midwest.
Apocryphal big cats, on the other hand, are infesting the heartland faster than ever, thanks to a combination of mistaken sightings and deliberate hoaxes -- and the tendency of the Internet to magnify assertions. Residents of Minnesota and Wisconsin have recently reported false cougars in their midst, sometimes using photos of house cats. In Michigan, academics have published dueling papers based on tests of certain feline feces: One argues they are cougar feces; the other holds that most of them could belong to the neighbor's cat.
In several states, conspiracy theories have spread on the Web accusing state officials of cougar coverups. A lawyer formed Michigan Citizens for Cougar Recognition to push the state to admit there are mountain lions there.
In Illinois, "It is absolutely not true that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is releasing cougars anywhere in the state," said Sam Flood, a former Illinois wildlife official, last year. He was responding to a furor over emailed photos of a cougar that were purportedly taken there. Cougars don't live in Illinois, Mr. Flood said, though they occasionally pass through. An itinerant cougar was shot last year in Chicago.
The photos Mr. Flood was alluding to -- of a black-eyed cougar baring its teeth outside a house window -- were taken in 2004 in the backyard of optometrist Dave Rodgers in Lander, Wyo. There are lots of cougars in Wyoming. "It's just a bummer that they're kind of getting stolen by other people," Mr. Rodgers says. The same pictures have circulated in at least five other states and one Canadian province as "proof" of local cougars.
Such incidents baffle most biologists. "Maybe we really want to believe there are cougars," said Eric Anderson, a University of Wisconsin naturalist who gives monthly talks explaining that there are few, if any, cougars in Wisconsin. He uses a PowerPoint presentation to debunk sightings of purported catamounts, including the "Brillion cougar" (actually a tabby), the "Stanley cougar" (a house cat), and the "Ettick lion" (a bobcat).
He also shows that photos of the "Franklin cougar" were digitally altered, and pictures of the snarling "Conover cougar" were the same set from Wyoming. Mr. Beringer has discussed his findings at the Cougar Field Workshop, a three-day convention in New Mexico. Two sessions were dedicated to training biologists from states without resident cougars to deal with cougar figments.
Such training hasn't quieted the controversy in Michigan, a state with vast wilderness but, according to state officials, just two confirmed cougar encounters in the past 100 years. "As far as we can tell, these were passing through," says Chris Hoving, a state biologist.
That assertion frustrates biologist Patrick Rusz, who says, "I'm 100% sure, no question, absolutely, we have cougars in Michigan." In 2003, he began a three-year effort to prove his point by having volunteers collect feces from Michigan woodlands. In 2006, he published a paper that said DNA tests on the excrement proved the presence of eight Michigan mountain lions.
But in a rebuttal the following year, other scientists said Dr. Rusz used DNA-testing methods that couldn't distinguish cougar droppings from house-cat or lynx excrement -- and that only one of his stools was likely from a cougar. The rebuttal was led by Allen Kurta, a bat expert who was recruited to do the study because he hadn't previously been involved in the cougar spat. "With the controversy, they wanted to bring in someone who wasn't that set one way or the other," he says.
Dr. Rusz calls the rebuttal study "a politically inspired off-the-cuff attack" that "didn't take into account the physical nature of our scat," which was up to an inch-and-a-half in diameter. He says state biologists are in denial because they don't want to deal with the expense of managing an endangered species.
Dr. Rusz has support from the Michigan Citizens for Cougar Recognition, founded by attorney Denise Noble after she heard a Department of Natural Resources official say a few years ago that Michigan is cougar-free. "They said, 'Ma'am, we have no cougars.' And I said, 'That's ridiculous,'" she says.
Ms. Noble was on alert this past summer after a trio of Michigan cougar reports. The first two were quickly debunked as fraudulent. But on Labor Day, Jerome Wiater, a Beverly Hills, Mich., orthopedic surgeon, saw a large cat skulk past his country house. "It was like our eyes were locked on each other," he says.
Dr. Wiater took a photo when he recognized the animal as a cougar. Dr. Rusz drove to Dr. Wiater's home, took photographs and measurements, and determined that a cougar had been there. "He said it was one of the best photos that they have of a wild cougar in Michigan," Dr. Wiater says.
Mr. Hoving, the state biologist, says the sighting remains unverified. Dr. Wiater says state officials told him the photo looks like that of a house cat. Mark Dowling, director of the Cougar Network, a nonprofit research group, says scientists with the group decided, "It's an obvious house cat."
The Missouri team often tells people the same thing. "You would be astounded by how many videos we receive of house cats walking through fields," says Bill Heatherly, a team biologist.
Last year, team members investigated a reported horse mauling. (They concluded the horse's scrapes were from barbed wire.) They questioned a 12-year-old, who recanted his account of a cougar attack after tests on his bloody coat turned up evidence of DNA from chicken and cow blood, but none from a cougar.
In the bowhunter case, Mr. Beringer says, he and his colleague investigated the scene until "we found a dead bobcat" with a puncture wound. "But the hunter was pretty convinced that wasn't what he shot," Mr. Beringer says, and insisted he hit a mountain lion. DNA tests on his arrow matched the blood of the bobcat carcass.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125554858267385473.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
(Submitted by Brian Chapman)
There's Nothing So Rare as a Cougar in Missouri
Photo: Dave RodgersOCTOBER 15, 2009
Still, Many Sightings Reported; Mistaking Tabby for a Mountain Lion
By JUSTIN SCHECK
When Jeff Beringer got a Sunday-night call from a deer hunter who said he had shot an aggressive mountain lion last fall, he whipped the Missouri Mountain Lion Response Team into action.
Mr. Beringer, a state biologist and the team's leader, rushed to the scene to investigate the hunter's claim and see the bloody arrow that fell from the beast as it fled. It was one of 150 or so mountain-lion reports that Mr. Beringer's team probes each year.
The team's verdict: Like every other report since 2006, it was a false alarm. Missouri's Mountain Lion Response Team has eight members. What Missouri doesn't have, says Mr. Beringer, is a single permanent-resident mountain lion. None of the big cats -- also known as cougars, pumas and catamounts -- are known to breed in Missouri, Mr. Beringer says. Occasional wanderers step across the state line from the west for a day or two and then go home, he says, but that is unusual.
Missouri needs an eight-member cougar team because it, like other nearly cougarless states, has a bad case of "cougar hysteria," as Mr. Beringer puts it. Of the 765 cougar reports Missouri has received since 2005, only two have been verified.
There is no shortage of cougars in the U.S. More than 30,000 live west of the Rocky Mountains, according to estimates. And there is evidence they are starting to move eastward. But deforestation and heavy hunting cleared the Midwest of cougars by about 1910. They remain scarce and are confined, wildlife officials say, to a few vagrants in the most remote areas of the Midwest.
Apocryphal big cats, on the other hand, are infesting the heartland faster than ever, thanks to a combination of mistaken sightings and deliberate hoaxes -- and the tendency of the Internet to magnify assertions. Residents of Minnesota and Wisconsin have recently reported false cougars in their midst, sometimes using photos of house cats. In Michigan, academics have published dueling papers based on tests of certain feline feces: One argues they are cougar feces; the other holds that most of them could belong to the neighbor's cat.
In several states, conspiracy theories have spread on the Web accusing state officials of cougar coverups. A lawyer formed Michigan Citizens for Cougar Recognition to push the state to admit there are mountain lions there.
In Illinois, "It is absolutely not true that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources is releasing cougars anywhere in the state," said Sam Flood, a former Illinois wildlife official, last year. He was responding to a furor over emailed photos of a cougar that were purportedly taken there. Cougars don't live in Illinois, Mr. Flood said, though they occasionally pass through. An itinerant cougar was shot last year in Chicago.
The photos Mr. Flood was alluding to -- of a black-eyed cougar baring its teeth outside a house window -- were taken in 2004 in the backyard of optometrist Dave Rodgers in Lander, Wyo. There are lots of cougars in Wyoming. "It's just a bummer that they're kind of getting stolen by other people," Mr. Rodgers says. The same pictures have circulated in at least five other states and one Canadian province as "proof" of local cougars.
Such incidents baffle most biologists. "Maybe we really want to believe there are cougars," said Eric Anderson, a University of Wisconsin naturalist who gives monthly talks explaining that there are few, if any, cougars in Wisconsin. He uses a PowerPoint presentation to debunk sightings of purported catamounts, including the "Brillion cougar" (actually a tabby), the "Stanley cougar" (a house cat), and the "Ettick lion" (a bobcat).
He also shows that photos of the "Franklin cougar" were digitally altered, and pictures of the snarling "Conover cougar" were the same set from Wyoming. Mr. Beringer has discussed his findings at the Cougar Field Workshop, a three-day convention in New Mexico. Two sessions were dedicated to training biologists from states without resident cougars to deal with cougar figments.
Such training hasn't quieted the controversy in Michigan, a state with vast wilderness but, according to state officials, just two confirmed cougar encounters in the past 100 years. "As far as we can tell, these were passing through," says Chris Hoving, a state biologist.
That assertion frustrates biologist Patrick Rusz, who says, "I'm 100% sure, no question, absolutely, we have cougars in Michigan." In 2003, he began a three-year effort to prove his point by having volunteers collect feces from Michigan woodlands. In 2006, he published a paper that said DNA tests on the excrement proved the presence of eight Michigan mountain lions.
But in a rebuttal the following year, other scientists said Dr. Rusz used DNA-testing methods that couldn't distinguish cougar droppings from house-cat or lynx excrement -- and that only one of his stools was likely from a cougar. The rebuttal was led by Allen Kurta, a bat expert who was recruited to do the study because he hadn't previously been involved in the cougar spat. "With the controversy, they wanted to bring in someone who wasn't that set one way or the other," he says.
Dr. Rusz calls the rebuttal study "a politically inspired off-the-cuff attack" that "didn't take into account the physical nature of our scat," which was up to an inch-and-a-half in diameter. He says state biologists are in denial because they don't want to deal with the expense of managing an endangered species.
Dr. Rusz has support from the Michigan Citizens for Cougar Recognition, founded by attorney Denise Noble after she heard a Department of Natural Resources official say a few years ago that Michigan is cougar-free. "They said, 'Ma'am, we have no cougars.' And I said, 'That's ridiculous,'" she says.
Ms. Noble was on alert this past summer after a trio of Michigan cougar reports. The first two were quickly debunked as fraudulent. But on Labor Day, Jerome Wiater, a Beverly Hills, Mich., orthopedic surgeon, saw a large cat skulk past his country house. "It was like our eyes were locked on each other," he says.
Dr. Wiater took a photo when he recognized the animal as a cougar. Dr. Rusz drove to Dr. Wiater's home, took photographs and measurements, and determined that a cougar had been there. "He said it was one of the best photos that they have of a wild cougar in Michigan," Dr. Wiater says.
Mr. Hoving, the state biologist, says the sighting remains unverified. Dr. Wiater says state officials told him the photo looks like that of a house cat. Mark Dowling, director of the Cougar Network, a nonprofit research group, says scientists with the group decided, "It's an obvious house cat."
The Missouri team often tells people the same thing. "You would be astounded by how many videos we receive of house cats walking through fields," says Bill Heatherly, a team biologist.
Last year, team members investigated a reported horse mauling. (They concluded the horse's scrapes were from barbed wire.) They questioned a 12-year-old, who recanted his account of a cougar attack after tests on his bloody coat turned up evidence of DNA from chicken and cow blood, but none from a cougar.
In the bowhunter case, Mr. Beringer says, he and his colleague investigated the scene until "we found a dead bobcat" with a puncture wound. "But the hunter was pretty convinced that wasn't what he shot," Mr. Beringer says, and insisted he hit a mountain lion. DNA tests on his arrow matched the blood of the bobcat carcass.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125554858267385473.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
(Submitted by Brian Chapman)
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