Okla. Officials Find Doughnuts Help Trap Bears

COOKSON, Okla. — Oklahoma wildlife officials say nothing traps a black bear quite like a doughnut.


Wildlife officers are studying the growing black bear population in the eastern part of the state, and they say they've had the best success in trapping the animals when they use pastries as bait.

Craig Endicott of the Wildlife Department told Tulsa television station KOTV the agency usually finds 300-pound male bears and 200-pound females in its traps. But on a recent day, a 50-pound cub got to the doughnut first.

The bears are tagged and researchers take fur and tissue samples for DNA analysis. Some adult bears get tracking collars.

Researchers also are setting up about 200 bait stations equipped with hair snares. DNA from the hair will help map bears' movement.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/23/doughnuts-trap-bears_n_907767.html

Woman fighting to keep pet kangaroo

In the season of Peter Rabbit, a woman in Oklahoma is fighting to keep her pet kangaroo by her side.


Christie Carr told KIRO Radio's Ron and Don Show Irwin the kangaroo has been her best friend for over a year now. She helped nurse him back to health as part of a program to battle her own depression. Irwin broke his neck and was paralyzed, but with Carr's help, he can now move around.

"He can do two to three hops before he falls," Carr explained.

She explained that in the area of Broken Arrow, Okla. there are domestic kangaroo farms where the animals are sold for pets. Carr discovered the injured kangaroo at an animal rescue shelter.

When she first brought Irwin home, she couldn't find a city ordinance that applied to her situation. Carr said now the USDA has required her to get an exhibitor's license. In the process of acquiring that license, she found out the city does have an ordinance.

"They can't take him away. His ownership was signed over to me, but they can make me move," Carr said. "The city is trying to get an exemption worked out."

So how do you raise a 25-pound kangaroo?

Carr said she carries Irwin around in a denim pouch or child's car seat. He also has quite a wardrobe.

"He has jeans and t-shirts, two suits, and he had a tuxedo until he grew out of that one," she said.

Irwin eats kangaroo food made by an exotic pet food company, which looks similar to dog food. He also sleeps in Carr's bed.

"He hogs the bed. He stretches out and tries to push me off," she said.

Stephanie Klein, MyNorthwest.com Editor
http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=458247

Skunk stinks up Oklahoma town's $16,000 worth of toys

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press 5


PURCELL — "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" in the Oklahoma town of Purcell is actually a skunk.

Peggy Christian coordinates Operation Christmas in the town of about 6,000 people, 35 miles south of Oklahoma City. She said Tuesday that most of the $16,000 worth of toys gathered in the drive to benefit more than 800 children from poor families had been ruined by the scent sprayed by a four-legged intruder in a shed where the toys were stored.

She said volunteers found a few pieces that were salvageable, but most of the toys stink — dance mats, dolls, pizza ovens and stuffed animals alike.

Plans called for the toys to be distributed this Friday, and Christian said residents are now scrambling to replace the damaged goods with new donations.

Skunk stinks up Oklahoma town's $16,000 worth of toys

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press 5


PURCELL — "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" in the Oklahoma town of Purcell is actually a skunk.

Peggy Christian coordinates Operation Christmas in the town of about 6,000 people, 35 miles south of Oklahoma City. She said Tuesday that most of the $16,000 worth of toys gathered in the drive to benefit more than 800 children from poor families had been ruined by the scent sprayed by a four-legged intruder in a shed where the toys were stored.

She said volunteers found a few pieces that were salvageable, but most of the toys stink — dance mats, dolls, pizza ovens and stuffed animals alike.

Plans called for the toys to be distributed this Friday, and Christian said residents are now scrambling to replace the damaged goods with new donations.

Tiny community is troubled by Bigfoot sightings (Via Paul Cropper)

Tiny community is troubled by Bigfoot sightings
SHEILA STOGSDILL
6 April 2010
Tulsa World
© 2010 World Publishing Company. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.

JAY -- For the past month, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office has been bombarded with telephone calls about the legendary elusive apelike creature known as Bigfoot. It seems the creature was roaming the wooded countryside near Kenwood -- a small, isolated community about 20 miles southwest of Jay and surrounded by acres of trees and fresh springs of water.

"We had calls from people that were worried and others wanting to know if it was a joke," Sheriff Jay Blackfox said. For weeks, cell phone photos and an audio recording circulated throughout the community of 200.
Trouble was, there was no Bigfoot. It was a prank instigated by a group of boys, Blackfox said.

The infamous black-and-white, cell-phone photograph is known in Bigfoot circles as "Jacobs Photos."
Reports state it was taken on Sept. 16, 2007, in northwestern Pennsylvania. In October 2007, the Pennsylvania Game Commission referred to the creature as a "skinny mangy bear." At first Kenwood folk were concerned, then the rumor quickly turned to a prank, now a joke, Blackfox said.

"Now, there is a photo circulating of Bigfoot with Ronald McDonald going to McDonald's in Jay to get something to eat," he said. The sheriff said he assumed the Bigfoot sighting was a prank and never sent a deputy to Kenwood to investigate. Blackfox wanted to let the boys know that pranks are serious and that he had to spend time away from county business to take calls from nervous residents.

"I attempted to talk to the boys, but they weren't at home," he said. Another authoritative voice confirmed Blackfox's conclusion. "We heard about the Kenwood rumors and sent one of our investigators, who confirmed it was a hoax," said D.W. Lee, the Mid- America Bigfoot Research Center's executive director.

Lee said his investigator identified the cell-phone photograph as one from the Patterson-Gimlin footage taken in California. The audio recording is a recorded howl out of Ohio. Both the photograph and audio clip are downloaded from the Internet. Lee said the organization gets about 10 telephone calls a month. They are evenly divided among legitimate, misidentifications and hoaxes, he said.

The organization is currently working 25 active investigations of Bigfoot sightings in Oklahoma, he said.
"When we do expose a hoax, it shows the credibility of our organization," Lee said. Lee is quick not to discount the Bigfoot sightings in northeastern Oklahoma. "About four weeks ago, there was a Bigfoot sighting witnessed by 12 people," Lee said. Lee would only say the hairy creature was spotted in southern Adair County by one of his research groups on an overnight trip. He estimated the creature to be between 7 and 8 feet tall. "He stepped out of water and stood behind a tree," Lee said. "We turned off the spotlight, and he disappeared through the river reeds."

For more information, go to Mid-America Bigfoot's Web site, www.tulsaworld.com/midamericabigfoot .