Pete Thomas Outdoors

Can time-release fish feeders attract bears to a pond?

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 regarding a fish pond at the house we recently purchased in Tahoe. We aren’t up there all the time so I was thinking about tossing in a time-release fish feeder but do not want to attract bears. It would basically be the flake stuff in a compressed block form. The four goldfish occupying the pond seem to do fine for long periods without food and even survived for several months before we bought the house. They must have been eating bugs, algae or whatever. I’d hate for them to have struggled to survive all that time, and then I come along and think I’m doing a good thing by feeding them, and end up attracting bears.

The house is definitely in bear territory and only a block away from forest area. The fish are located in a pond in the front yard. My question is whether or not a bear is able to smell a time-release Tetramin fish feeder. Is this something to worry about? Any information you can provide would be much appreciated! Thanks. (Liz C., Lake Tahoe)

Answer: Regarding bears’ ability to smell and potentially be attracted to your automatic feeder, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife Black Bear Program Coordinator Marc Kenyon, the answer is yes. Bears can smell fish food and are attracted to it. What’s worse is if they are attracted to the pond by the smell of the feed, then they may decide to snack on your fish in addition to the fish food.

Kenyon recommends feeding your fish with time-release pellets (feeding blocks). He has done this with his aquarium fish while away on vacation or out in the field, and he claims it worked well for him. These pellets are little disks that you toss into the pond, and over time water dissolves the material that holds it together. This process works slowly, and depending on the size of the pellet, it could last for about a month or two. The benefit to this approach is that because they are submerged, they do not put off any odor into the air, and thus bears won’t be attracted to your pond.


Q: An interesting question came up at the fish cleaning station concerning an actual trip. This was sport fishing, not commercial or commercial passenger. There is one boat that holds three people, including the captain. The scenario is the captain goes out ocean fishing with fisherpersons A and B, and returns with full limits of salmon (six). The captain drops off both people and picks up fisherperson C. Can the boat still fish with two rods under the boat limits rule, or are they limited to one rod as the captain has already caught his fish earlier in the day? The consensus at the table was he would be at risk of a violation. (David G.)

Tropical storm Juliette leaves Cabo San Lucas a bit messy, but otherwise in fair shape

Tropical storm Juliette passed over Cabo San Lucas on Wednesday night into Thursday, leaving flooded streets, downed trees and messy roadways, but no significant damage.

However, low-lying areas throughout Baja California Sur were especially hard-hit and one person died from an electrical shock in a region where residents routinely draw power with jury-rigged, illegal taps into electricity lines.

On Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Glenn Ehrenberg, whose family runs Pisces Group Cabo, emailed the accompanying images and a brief assessment of visible storm damage in the Los Cabos area:

"It is clearing up already and sun is coming out, it seems like the storm hit much stronger in Cabo than San Jose [del Cabo].



"The Salto Seco arroyo which runs between Villas del Palmar and Ocho Cascadas on Medano Beach is still carrying water down from the mountains.

"There seems to have been light damage in town with telephone and electricity poles knocked over, localized flooding and minor landslides.

"Some portions of the highway between Cabo and San Jose are flooded due to bad drainage and roadworks. Port is still closed but the ocean is as flat as a lake."

The top image shows flooding at the new Jack Nicklaus golf course at Copala, or the Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resort.

Damage in town is minor, Ehrenberg said, adding that the highway on the hotel corridor was flooded slightly in stretches between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.

Juliette, at the time of this post, was over the Pacific north of Cabo San Lucas, traveling in a northwesterly direction and boasting winds of 40 mph. It will be downgraded to a depression as it reaches cooler water.

Click here to view a live webcam showing current conditions from Medano Beach, facing Land's End.

--Pete Thomas

World's oldest-known wild bear dies of old age at 39

The world's oldest-known wild bear has died, reportedly of old age, at 39-1/2.

The female black bear, known to Minnesota Department of Natural Resources researchers as Bear No. 56, was found in a secluded wooded location by DNR bear researcher Karen Noyce, who tracked her by using the signal from the bear's radio collar.

From all indications, Bear No. 56 died a quiet death, with no evidence of injury or struggle.

"We knew she was getting feeble," Noyce said. "It would have been sad to find her on the side of the road somewhere, hit by a car. After following her all these years, I’m glad to know she died peacefully. It was a fitting death for a fine old bear." Noyce had been involved in the first capture of Bear No. 56 in 1981.

Bear No. 56 outlived any radio-collared bear of any species in the world -- the second-oldest was a brown bear that lived to age 34. She also outlived by 19 years all of the 360 other radio-collared black bears that Minnesota DNR researchers have followed since the bear research program began in 1981.

"This is the first bear in our study to die of old age, and there is something satisfying in that," said Noyce.

Researchers attribute Bear No. 56's survival to a few factors, including that her home range was located in an area with few people or major roads, as well as just plain luck.

"Getting this information about this bear has taken a lot of effort," said Dave Garshelis, DNR bear project leader. "It was not just documenting that she lived to be so old, but understanding how she was able to live to be so much older than other bears that made this incredibly interesting and useful."

-- Kelly Burgess

Image of Bear No. 56 roaming the woods in June 2013 courtesy of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Mountain lion guarding fresh deer kill photographed on Mulholland Highway

A mountain lion photographed while it guarded a freshly killed deer Sunday morning on Mulholland Highway was a young female that had recently dispersed from its mother.

The rare image was captured in the Malibu area by Irv Nilsen, who sent the photo and details to experts at the Santa Monica National Mountains Recreational Area.

They identified the cougar as P-23, a young female that had recently set out on its own.

They did not divulge the precise location but a ranger named Kate stated in a Facebook post: "Contrary to some reports, this was a remote section of Mulholland Highway and not near the Rock Store or homes."

Kate added: "Of the 400+ kills our biologists have hiked in on, this is the only one they've seen right on a road, so it's quite a rare sight! She dragged this deer into the dense brush shortly after this photo was taken for a little more privacy."

Mountain lions prey largely on deer and mostly at night, although sometimes at dawn and dusk.

It's not clear whether the deer P-23 was soon to feast upon was road kill, or her fancy work.

--Pete Thomas

--Hat tip to LA Observed

Tropical storm Juliette advancing toward Cabo San Lucas

Tropical storm Juliette has formed off Mexico and is expected to pass over Cabo San Lucas and other parts of the Baja California peninsula, delivering up to three inches of rain.

The Mexican government has issued a tropical storm warning for Cabo San Lucas to about Magdalena Bay, including portions of the peninsula's eastern shore.

Juliette is not predicted to attain hurricane status, but will maintain storm winds through Thursday morning as it turns toward the west and weakens.

The storm is likely to result in port closures in Cabo San Lucas, which is at Baja California's tip.

On Wednesday afternoon Juliette boasted 45-mph winds as it traveled rapidly toward the southern tip of the peninsula.

The storm is expected to pass over the region Wednesday night, into Thursday.

--Image showing Juliette's projected path is via the National Hurricane Center

Wounded great white shark surprises divers with remarkable healing power

A savage bite to the head by an adult great white shark would almost always be fatal–unless another great white shark is at the receiving end of such an attack.

The top image, captured last week by Rachel Montero of SharkDiver.com, shows a Guadalupe Island great white affectionately known as Chuggy.

The Shark Diver crew was pleased to see the apex predator, but surprised that he was still alive and astonished by how quickly his wound seemed to be healing.

The images posted below, captured last year at Guadalupe, show how Chugey looked after another shark had bitten him on the head, removing a large chunk of the gill area.

Martin Graf, Shark Diver CEO, used before-and-after images of Chugey in a blog post to show viewers how swiftly Chugey was recovering from what seemed to be a fatal wound.

"I have to admit that I didn't think much of his chances to survive this bite and thought I'd never see him again," Graf wrote of a shark that has now been seen every season at Guadalupe since he was first spotted in 2004. (Chugey is named after Chugey Sepulveda, a San Diego scientist.)

Of the more recent images showing Chugey swimming around as though nothing had happened, with his gaping wound having all but closed, Graf wrote: "Look at the amazing difference! There are no veterinarians, no surgeries or stitches and yet he looks like he's healing just fine.

"I'm blown away by their ability to survive injuries that would kill just about any other animal and the weirdest thing is, these nasty injuries don't even seem to bother them all that much."

Guadalupe Island, which is located 165 miles west of Baja California, is a seasonal gathering place for adult white sharks. They often scuffle during mating rituals and for territorial supremacy, and many bear extensive scarring.

The bite to Chugey's head, however, was more severe than injuries Guadalupe shark divers have seen on other sharks.

As for the divers themselves, most of them, smartly, observe the apex predators from the safety of metal cages.

--A version of this post also appears at GrindTv Outdoor

Baby salmon shark, mistakenly identified as a great white, strands on Oregon beach

A shark initially described as a baby great white became stranded and died Monday morning at Roads End State Recreation Site in Oregon.

However, the shark has been identified by an expert as a salmon shark, which probably suffered from a form of meningitis.

Oregon Coast Today posted the accompanying photo on its Facebook page with these words:

"Found on the beach at Roads End this morning, a four-month old Great White Shark. Rangers say the mother might well still be offshore. Possibly a good day to skip the surfing…"

The post was shared more than 500 times.

Wrote Charles Sloat in the comments section: "Poor little shark I guess it will never be scary to any one. I wonder what happened to it?"

We shared the photo with Dr. Chris Lowe, who runs the Sharklab at Cal State Long Beach.

Lowe emailed back: "No, it's a baby salmon shark.  Probably had meningitis.... BTW - the way you can tell it's a salmon shark is the really dark dorsal and white belly line above the pectoral fins.  Also salmon sharks have two caudal keels (if you can see the tail)."

Apparently, meningitis is a serious issue for salmon sharks, and often leads to strandings.

Said Jim Rice, stranding coordinator for the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network: "Salmon shark strandings are very common along the Oregon and California coasts this time of year and I know of at least three others within the last few days."

--Pete Thomas

Angler almost gets skewered when marlin jumps into boat

One of the most frightening moments for a marlin is becoming hooked and pulled by some unknown force toward the surface–the bad place, beyond which fish cannot live.

One of the most frightening moments for a marlin fisherman, on the other hand, is when a panicked billfish jumps into the boat. (Video has been shortened to get right to the action. Click here for the full version.)

 

The accompanying footage features an angler almost becoming skewered by a 350-pound blue marlin  that leaped onto a boat called Marlin Darlin, off the Dominican Republic, just as it had been reeled to the leader.

The angler got his catch, but the marlin nearly made him pay dearly for the experience.

This kind of incident is uncommon, but not super rare. Marlin and sailfish have been known to jump into boats either accidentally or on purpose, as part of an attack, while on the hook.

--Pete Thomas

How to differentiate between green and white sturgeon?

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 caught a couple of sturgeon recently that were golden around the edges of the fins. I called them "golden sturgeon" but have never heard of sturgeon being this color. They were 40-45 inches in length. Could they just be young white sturgeon, or are they something else? (Dan)

Answer: According to California Department of Fish and Wildlife Sturgeon Monitoring Program Manager Marty Gingras, California has only green and white sturgeon, and those species have never been hybridized. We’ve never seen or received reports of a white sturgeon that looked golden. A "golden sturgeon" is most likely a green sturgeon that appears a bit golden. Please remember that green sturgeon may not be removed from the water and must be released immediately (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 5.81(b)).

To differentiate between green and white sturgeon, here are a few quick and easy tips:

    •    Dorsal scutes (bony plates) – Greens have 1-2 dorsal scutes trailing the dorsal fin, but on white sturgeon they are absent.
    •    Vent – Greens have the vent between the pelvic fins, but on white sturgeon it’s found toward the tail.
    •    Belly stripe – Present on greens but absent on white sturgeon.
    •    Scutes along the side – Greens have 23-30 scutes while whites have 38-48.

The first three characteristics above are most readily apparent and should help correctly identify the species. Sometimes the bluntness of the snout and location of barbels is mentioned, but these are variable and somewhat subjective.

You mentioned the fish you caught were 40-45 inches in length and you wondered if they were young. Unfortunately, not much is known about green sturgeon, but white sturgeon of that size are usually 10-15 years old, and quite likely have not yet  spawned for the first time.

For more information on sturgeon, please visit www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Resources/Sturgeon/.

Q: I would like to use luminocks or nocturnal lighted nocks on my hunting arrows to help better recover arrows after the shot. I’ve heard current laws were being amended to allow the use of lighted nocks on arrows for bowhunting. I plan to hunt for bear and deer but want to be sure they are legal in California? (Carl)

Bear versus motorcycle collision caught on helmet-cam

 

Riding motorcycles is dangerous, especially in an era in which so many automobile drivers are texting and talking on phones instead of paying attention to the road.

But riding motorcycles also is dangerous in the country on uncrowded roads, because there are critters in the country, and they sometimes dash across roadways.

The accompanying helmet-cam footage shows a motorcyclist's perspective when, after accelerating to a speed of 87 m.p.h, a bear runs into his path and creates a collision.

The accident was June 30 in Canada's Fraser Valley, but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police just uploaded the footage on Thursday. The driver suffered "significant though non-life-threatening injuries," the RCMP states  in the video description.

The young black bear, which was startled out of the woods by a passing train, walked away from the incident and did not appear to be injured.

--Hat tip to Jalopnik