Pete Thomas Outdoors

Why don't game wardens release all poached animals?

In support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column:

Question: I support the work of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and want to congratulate and say thank you for all your services. However, I was watching an episode of "Wild Justice" recently and something didn’t seem right about the way the game wardens carried out a couple of operations. On the show, game wardens busted a poacher with 42 abalone. The wardens spied on a group and knew they were fishing illegally, so why didn’t they stop them when they came back to the beach? Why did the game wardens allow the group to pull the abalones away from the beach and wait? By the time you guys busted the group, all 42 abalone were dead. My 4-year-old daughter couldn’t understand why you didn’t catch the poachers as soon as they hit the beach so the abalone wouldn’t have had to die. Can you please give me an answer so that I can explain it to her? (Christopher R.)

Answer:  Wardens are often faced with the dilemma of when to make contact on a poaching case. According to CDFW Lt. Patrick Foy, there are circumstances where a warden can make an excellent poaching case, contact the perpetrator, and return the live animals to the water/or wild. Those cases usually result in a fine. There are other times, such as the one you reference, where an effort needs to be made to prove that the perpetrator’s actions weren’t just a one time occurrence by a person who wasn’t aware of the law. If a warden can document that the perpetrator’s actions were planned, and intended to make a profit poaching wildlife, it is called commercialization. Commercialization cases are difficult to make, but when a warden makes them, they can lead to life-time revocation of fishing privileges, steep fines, and even jail terms. The wardens in the case you watched made the judgment that the loss of 42 abalone was necessary to permanently take the poachers out of business.


Q: Is it legal to hunt and bring a wolf hide from another state into California? (Stephen H.)

Seal harassment at Children's Pool leads to nightly closure

 

A recent video showing two women harassing harbor seals at Children's Pool beach in La Jolla has prompted San Diego Mayor Bob Filner to order the immediate closure of the beach overnight.

“I felt it was important to take this step after evidence of individuals seen on videotape harassing, taunting and causing stress to the seals,” Filner said in a statement.

The closure will be enforced until May 15, when the pupping season is expected to end. San Diego Police Department officers have also stepped up patrols of the area.

The video footage, seen above, is from a recently installed web camera put in place so that viewers can watch the seals. The cam includes infrared capability -- which is how the two women were caught on video harassing seals.

"The pregnant seals are giving birth and when they’re harassed, they end up being separated from their offspring, and then the chances of survival for the offspring are very much reduced," Larry Wan, founder of the Western Alliance for Nature, which installed and oversees the video camera, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

"And if they’re forced into the sea when they’re giving birth, that also doesn’t bode well for the seals."

San Diego Police Department Capt. Brian Ahearn, who oversees the department's Northern Division, said that the harassment case involving the two women caught on the video is still being investigated.

-- Kelly Burgess

Video from La Jolla Light via YouTube

Legal in California to use firearms to safely land large halibut?

In support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column:

Question: I have a question about safely bringing large halibut onboard. Because the Pacific halibut caught in Alaska are often over 100 pounds, deckhands use pistols or small shotguns to kill the fish before bringing them on board. This is to prevent the fish from causing damage or hurting anyone once on the deck. Would this method be legal to use in California ocean waters with large fish? Of course, the fish would already be "landed" by first being gaffed. Is it even legal to carry a pistol while fishing on a private boat near shore? (Timothy B., Morro Bay)

Answer: Sport fishermen may take halibut by hand, hook and line, spear fishing, spear, harpoon or bow and arrow (California Code of Regulations Title 14, sections 28.65, 28.90 and 28.95.) Firearms are not a legal method of take for halibut, so a gun may not be used to assist in taking or landing the fish.

In some areas it may be legal to carry a pistol on a private boat but there are closures that prohibit the possession of any firearm on a boat along portions of the Monterey and San Luis Obispo county coastlines within the California Sea Otter Game Refuge. If considering carrying a pistol on your boat, you need to research local laws and ordinances within the jurisdictions you will be transiting on your fishing trip.


Q: I’m interested in catching some local tarantulas to try breeding them. I can’t find anything obviously referring to either tarantulas or prohibitions on such things. Are there any licenses required? Are there any definite prohibitions against it or any issues pertaining to the different public lands (e.g. city, county, state, federal)? (S. Godfrey)

A: The Fish and Game Code and its implementing regulations currently do not prohibit the take of spiders, but federal laws may apply to the take or breeding of tarantulas. You may want to consult the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding federal prohibitions, and be aware that some public lands (e.g. state and national parks, scientific reserves, etc.) have laws that prohibit the taking of any live animals. You need to check with the jurisdiction of the land on which you want to hunt tarantulas.

Q: How far can a fisherman be from his nets once the traps are in the water? 100 yards? 500 yards? (Dixon C.)

California without wolves again as OR7 returns to Oregon

California is without wild wolves again as the famous male gray wolf known as OR7 has returned to his home state of Oregon.

Oregon's Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that OR7, which first entered California on Dec. 28, 2011, crossed the state border  on Tuesday evening. He entered via southwest Klamath County, Oregon.

This marks the second time OR7 has returned to Oregon, the other being a brief visit two months after he became California's first recorded wild wolf in nearly 90 years.

(See our story from last week, implying that OR7 might be headed back to Oregon.)

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife had been issuing daily position reports obtained via OR7's GPS collar unit, but will no longer do so unless the wolf returns to California.

The ODFW will not post daily location information, but will keep track of OR7's whereabouts.

Presumably, the wolf has been on a long and fruitless search for a mate. Perhaps his fortune will change in Oregon, which boasts an estimated minimum wolf population of 53, including seven packs and at least five breeding pairs.



OR7 hails from the Imnaha pack  in northeast Oregon. His first entry into California was via Siskiyou County.

--Pete Thomas

--Image captured by Richard Shinn of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is the only known color photograph of OR7. The wolf was in Modoc County at the time (last May)

Penguins' clumsy, comical moments appear in bloopers video

 

Two reasons people love penguins: They're cute and, when out of the water, they're clumsy.

The accompanying footage, showing off both of these attributes, was uploaded March 1 by John Downer Productions, which gathered the footage while working on BBC One's "Penguins -Spy in the Huddle."

The crew spent nearly a year amid the iconic flightless birds, and used 50 spycams to gather its "spy" footage.

Of course there would be several "fail" moments. These, after all, are penguins.

Red tide bloom kills record number of Florida manatees

A red tide algae bloom off the coast of southwest Florida has killed a record number of manatees so far this year, and that number will likely grow.

Through Sunday 174 manatees have died, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

While results are preliminary, that number includes all manatee carcasses collected within the known red tide bloom boundary -- approximately 70 miles of coastline from Sarasota County to Lee County.

"This is probably going to be the worst die-off in history," veterinarian Martine DeWit told the Tampa Bay Times.

The previous record for manatee deaths attributed to red tide was 151 and was set in 1996.

DeWit, who oversees Florida's marine mammal pathology laboratory, believes that toxins in the algae bloom have settled onto the sea grass that manatees consume, causing the gentle sea mammals to become paralyzed and drown.

DeWit added that the manatee die-off will probably continue for months after the red tide bloom ends because the grass beds will likely retain this toxic coating.

So far, almost a dozen manatees have been rescued and taken to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo for treatment.

With an estimated population of 4,000 to 5,000, Florida manatees are endangered mammals protected by both the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

-- Kelly Burgess

Image of a healthy Florida manatee courtesy of Keith Ramos / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Is California's lone wild wolf, OR7, homesick for Oregon?

Could California's only known wild wolf be headed back to its home state of Oregon?

The male gray wolf cataloged as OR7, who made headlines after ranging across much of Oregon and entering California on Dec. 28, 2011, is presently in southwest Modoc County, which borders Oregon and Nevada.

That's the farthest north he has been since last May.

OR7, which returned to Oregon briefly two months after first entering California, had spent the past several months in Plumas, Tehama and Lassen counties. His most southerly position was Butte County.

The wolf's collar is fitted with a GPS unit that allows scientists to track its whereabouts. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife issues daily updates and Thursday's placed the wolf in Modoc County.

During that May visit to Modoc County Richard Shinn, a DFW employee, captured the only known color image of OR7 (pictured top right).

The wolf is 4 years old and presumably searching for a mate. Perhaps his instincts are luring him back to a state that boasts an estimated minimum wolf population of 53, including seven packs and at least five breeding pairs.

OR7 hails from the Imnaha pack  in northeast Oregon. His first entry into California was via Siskiyou County, just west of Modoc County.

Are there laws against feeding wildlife?

In support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column:

Question: I have a question about feeding raccoons. My good-intentioned neighbor puts large pans of dog food out every night for the raccoons. We live in a very close community and the raccoons keep me awake at night with sounds of their fighting over food. They also venture onto my patio to cause more commotion and damage. I’ve tried everything to discourage their visits -- ammonia-soaked rags, cayenne pepper, lights, etc. Nothing works.

I’ve tried to talk to my neighbor, telling her it’s not good for wildlife to be fed by an unnatural food source, but she turns a deaf ear. Are there laws against feeding wildlife? Is there any other advice you can give me? (Anonymous)

Answer: While feeding wildlife makes those people doing so feel good, in the long run it is often to the detriment of the animal recipients. Although many animals will eat offered food, temporarily satisfying their hunger, in reality, many human foods lack the protein and nutritional components animals need for good health.

So, although your neighbor may be well-intentioned, she’s actually hurting the wildlife and her neighbors by encouraging wild animals to get too comfortable around humans. When animals concentrate around food, they are more likely to spread diseases to each other and to domestic pets. When wild animals lose their natural fear of humans, they can become very aggressive. Coyotes, in particular, are well-known for eating small pets because they do not differentiate between the food you leave for them and other prey items, like dogs and cats.

People often think they are just feeding cute, furry critters. But if they were to put a surveillance camera out, they would likely be surprised to find out what’s actually eating the food at night. They would probably be appalled to discover animals fighting over the food, and that they’re actually keeping the neighborhood rats fat and happy.

By feeding wildlife, your neighbor may be disrupting the animals’ normal behavior patterns in violation of California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 251.1. There may also be a local ordinance that bans feeding of some wild animals. Los Angeles County, for example, has an ordinance that prohibits feeding of "non-domesticated mammalian predators, including but not limited to, coyotes, raccoons, foxes and opossums."


Q: Can you please clarify whether trout can be used in California inland waters as bait? (Andrew G.)

How cute is this albatross chick, hatched by Wisdom, its famous 62-year-old mother?

The chick might not be everybody's idea of "adorable," but a 1-month-old Laysan albatross born to the remarkable Wisdom, the world's oldest known bird of her species, is cute in a disheveled kind of way.

Wisdom, who resides on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, is at least 62 and she amazed scientists and bird enthusiasts when she successfully hatched another chick on Feb. 3.

If the chick, named Mana'Olana (which is Hawaiian for "Hope"), reaches half of Wisdom's age it will have enjoyed a long life. (Hopefully free of plastic pollution, which is often ingested at sea mistakenly by adult birds and fed to their offspring.)

The accompanying image was captured on Feb. 28 by J. Klavitter of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was posted on Wisdom's Facebook page along with a post that reads, "A little Wisdom to brighten your day!" The post also linked to Wisdom's Flickr photo album.

Wisdom was first banded in 1956, in the same location of the refuge, at an estimated minimum age of 5 years old.

This marks the sixth consecutive year she has had a successful hatch at the refuge.

Midway, site of the famous World War II battle, is the world's largest nesting grounds for Laysan albatrosses.

About 71% of the planet's population nests on the atoll's three small islands.

--Pete Thomas

Two bobcats square off after fight in suburban Texas (video)

Two large bobcats were seen fighting this week in suburban Texas and a resident captured their dramatic stare-down afterwards, with his smartphone from the safety of his car. The accompanying video shows the cats squaring off, snarling at one another, before ultimately going their separate ways.

 

According to the local CBS affiliate, the neighborhood of Carrollton is said to be on edge after the incident on Highlands Creek Road.

Mike Martuscello, Kevin's father, told the network that he saw the bobcats first and was witness to the fight.

"They were clawing and scratching, biting at each other, jumping up and down in the air," he said.

Bobcats and coyotes are occasionally seen in the region, but rarely have people gotten so close to them.

Mike Martuscello added: "It was kind of scary at first. But they were so preoccupied with each other that they ignored us pretty much."

Bobcats have been known to prey on poultry, house cats, exotic birds and even small dogs. There have been no known attacks on people, the CBS report states. But residents have been cautioned to keep tabs on their pets.

--Pete Thomas