Wolves Taking Only Sick And Weakly Not Historical Fact

It is repeated like an incessant drum beat. Wolves and other large predators keep our ecosystems healthy because they cull out the old, sick and weakly of the prey species they kill. And nearly as often as the myth is perpetrated one asks, how that is substantiated? Certainly not by facts.

Clinging to the false indoctrination that wolves have an “eye” for which prey to destroy, is another allegorical fabrication that before man arrived our wilderness and all the species that dwelt within it was “balanced”, to represent or simulate some fanciful garden of Eden. Historical documents show a completely different picture.

Most who perpetuate these myths, point all blame for anything bad that happens to our environment, whether real or fabricated, on man. The truth is, much of the wildlife that Americans love to see and claim as theirs, was very scarce until man arrived and brought with him agriculture and soon followed by an understanding of the need to control predators, particularly those that where destroying the game herds man needed for survival.

We can look through many historical documents to learn that what is being indoctrinated into our children as fact concerning wildlife and the impact predators have on it, just does not agree with history. If we take, for example, many accounts published in Alaska Wildlife Digest in 1975, there’s no denying that wolves kill for food, for sport and from lust and more times than not the methods they employ in bringing down their prey are brutally cruel.

Many believe Alaska has always been a mecca for wildlife. In 1885, a Lt. Allen led the first exploration into the interior of Alaska right after the state was purchased. His journal describes the route and what was seen.

His party traveled the Copper River from salt water to the head, floated the Tanana River from near the head to the confluence with the Yukon, traveled overland from that point 100 miles to about the location of Hughes on the Koyukuk, floated down the Koyukuk and back into the Yukon, floated the Yukon to its mouth without seeing a single big game animal alive.

The expedition learned that the natives lived off rabbits and salmon as finding moose was rare. Over time, as man began moving into the Alaska wilderness, their mere presence began to create a better habitat. Combine that with efforts to control large predators and soon large game animals like moose began to flourish. It soon became a constant battle between three entities – the men who wanted to control predators to allow game animals to prosper to feed the natives and themselves; wildlife management and the environmentalist who wanted to promote Alaska as their “Disneyland” of wilderness, at the expense of human starvation and the destruction of game herds.

What was taking place on the ground in places of Alaska and what was being told in cities in the lower 48 were very conflicting stories.

Below are documented accounts in Alaska that show clearly that wolves are not discriminate hunters, culling the sick and weak animals all for the purpose of making our ecosystems healthier. It is much to the contrary.

When a blowing storm came he [wolf] did not take the sick and the lame but cut out 40 to 100 from a herd and would slaughter nearly all he took and did not even touch any for feed. If he did take time, all he cut out was the tongue…………………….
One day one of my reindeer herders and myself watched a large caribou herd stalked by 14 wolves. The herd was uneasy. When the time was ready, four wolves appeared from behind the herd and a stampede started which would head this herd straight toward a bluff which would be impossible for any game to descend. As the momentum grew more wolves appeared and as the herd approached the bluff the attack started from both sides. There were dead caribou, also many that could hardly move due to the leg sinews having been cut.

This account came from Sam O. White, known as Alaska’s first flying game warden.

One time over on the Nation River in the upper Yukon-I was up there with a mounted policeman-Clarence Rhodes was with us too-we were watching caribou in the winter. There was a bunch of nine wolves, they weren’t all pups either. There were some big ones and they were chasing a caribou. They caught up with him and we watched what happened. Well, they hit that caribou and knocked it down and they all started eating on it right then. They got their mouths full and you could see them bolting it down, right from the air.
It was a big bull. He got up and ran-took off. They let him go. They didn’t pay any attention to him till they got their meat swallowed and then they took after him again. They had the caribou down five times before he stayed down and each time they got a meal, got a feed off him. Boy, was the blood flying all over the snow, squirting out on both sides! Caribou are awful tough to kill you know-tougher than moose.

Glen Gregory – Alaska Air-Taxi operator:

I have seen nature at it’s cruelest. During the deep snow winters three and four years ago I had occasion to witness sights that made me sick. The route from Tanana to Ruby is over the Yukon River all the way. At that time there was a good moose population that congregated on the willow covered islands of the river in the winter. On several occasions I spotted moose standing in the deep snow with chunks eaten out of them, bleeding to death. The snow would be red all around them. There was no pattern to where the wolves bit first, although the rump seemed to be the favorite location. Probably because it is less protected.

This observation came from someone who used to be a gunner on aircraft that shot wolves to reduce the population.

A couple years ago, my gunner and I saw a moose kill, the moose was, at most, 1/4 eaten. The next weekend we flew by and there were three more dead moose laying within a square block of the first. These three were less eaten than the first.
We watched these kills the remainder of the year, and all that fed there were crows and fox. To me, this is a tremendous waste of good meat, just to satisfy the killing lust of the wolf.

And then there’s the accounts of Mike Stultz, who served for a few years as a Protection Officer for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. His is an incredible story that perhaps best epitomizes much of what’s wrong with wildlife management as it becomes more and more deeply influenced by politics and wildlife biologists being indoctrinated about the myths of predators through our education system.

Stultz bore witness to the complete destruction of a very large moose herd. Regardless of the countless number of times he contacted the Fish and Game Department, they refused, for whatever the reasons, to heed his words or even visit the area that was being systematically wiped out by wolves. He describes it this way:

Little did I realize that I would personally witness the destruction of one of the great moose populations in Alaska through the forces of nature and the blind stupidity of the Department of Fish and Game, and this experience would leave me with a feeling of frustration so great I can never work for the Department again.

Stultz also tells us he arrived at his job as a believer that wolves could not and would not kill moose.

That winter, flying with Dick Nicholes and Terry Holliday of Gulf Air Taxi based in Yakutat, I begin to see things I found very difficult to believe. Everywhere we went south of Yakutat Bay I observed large numbers of moose kills by wolves. Like most people I was of the belief wolves did not or could not kill healthy moose. I was worried and upset that the moose in the area were suffering from a serious food shortage or ailment that made them so weak they fell prey to wolves.

Even after witnessing first hand the destruction being caused by these wolves, Stultz continued hard to convince himself there had to be something else that was making it too easy for the wolves to kill so many moose and moose that from what he could tell were perfectly healthy. His cries for help from the office of fish and game fell on deaf ears and insistence that he was imagining things.

He continued his observations along with gathering facts and witnessing right before his eyes what was happening; events that would change his life forever.

The wolves just took so many fist size bites of meat out of the rump, side, and shoulders of the cow that within fifteen minutes the snow was red in a thirty foot radius around her, and in twenty minutes she was dead……………………………………..
I landed and examined the dead cow. I took a tooth, looked at the heart, lungs, and liver, cracked the leg bone to look at the bone marrow, but I couldn’t see anything wrong with her except she was dead from wolf bites. She appeared a fine, fat, healthy moose that was in the wrong place at the right time.

Still believing he was going to find some other explanation for what he was witnessing, Stultz traveled around to the hunting camps in his region to hear what they were saying.

I flew hundreds of hours during that moose season visiting all the hunters and their camps. Almost everywhere I went the questions and statements were the same: “I have been hunting this area for five years and never failed to get my moose within a half mile of camp the first or second day out. I haven’t even seen a moose this trip, and I have been here a week,” “What are all those big dog tracks doing on all the river bars?” “If things get much worse I will have to have to go to the Interior to hunt next year.” “If there aren’t many more moose around here anymore, why do you guys have a three month either sex hunting season on them?” “I don’t see how hunting can get much worse.”

But it did get worse and yet fish and game still refused to investigate or heed what Stultz was trying to tell them. He was told repeatedly that if moose numbers where being depleted wolves would have nothing at all to do with it. But Stultz continued his work and recording his observations.

Flying my personal airplane that winter, moose because [sic] almost as hard to spot as wolves. I would fly hours and maybe see a dozen moose. Wolf trails and dead moose invariably intersected. The moose herds on the Italio and East Rivers-two of the largest winter herds around-were all but wiped out in a three month span by wolves that were no longer bothered by aerial hunting. As winter progressed moose became so scarce that even the wolves couldn’t find them. They then started to look for other food sources. For the first time in memory wolves were spotted in town eating out of garbage cans. stray dogs running loose disappeared. People with dogs chained outside woke up to find nothing left but blood and tufts of hair. The era of the moose in Yakutat was short lived. They were for all practical purposes gone.

This observation is very important as it falls in line with the seven steps of when wolves become a danger to man as spelled out clearly by Dr. Valerius Geist.

Out of disgust, Stultz left his job and became a teacher. It wasn’t until long after his warnings and cries for help that the fish and game department realized there was a problem, a realization that came too late. From a time when a man, freshly educated with a college degree, enters the Alaska outdoors, it took a short period of time for reality to set in about what wolves are capable of. Stultz clearly became a tainted man as he makes this comment.

The winter of 1973 saw the Department finally put away their comic book entitled “Never Cry Wolf” and admit that wolves were indeed as responsible as hunters for eliminating the Yakutat herds a
peculiar statement since wolves hunt twelve months of the year without regard to season, limit or sex-but it was a definite improvement over their past utterances. Realizing at this late date that predator control was necessary they organized a Department wolf hunt in Yakutat.

So can we now assume that in 1973 biologists learned a very valuable lesson? Can we assume that biologists learned that wolves are a vicious predator, that does NOT subsist mostly on mice and small rodents? Can we now conclude that biologists have finally come to realize that wolves are not selective in their savagery, to weed out the sick and dying? Not at all!

Twenty-three years later in Alaska, biologists talked of an unexplained “die off” of moose on the North Slope. Fish and Game tossed out many theories as to what caused the “die off”; copper deficiencies, brucellosis, insects, range and habitat deterioration, and oh, yes, predation. This is what fish and game said about predators possibly having a role in the moose “die off”.

Both the bear and wolf populations appear quite high and both species are efficient predators, particularly on moose calves. The deaths of half to three-quarters of the calves born on the North Slope each year could be due to predators that thrive on the old, the weak and, most of all, the young (emphasis added).

I believe the cause was blamed on Brucellosis although I can’t find that it was ever proven.

This might shed some light on how deeply ingrained into our wildlife education system certain beliefs have become. While facts and accounts far outnumber any “studies” to show otherwise, the idea that large predators have a measurable impact on our game herds remains the perpetuated theory.

Tom Remington

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Bidding Now On For 2010 Maine Moose Permit Auction

AUGUSTA – Bids are being accepted for the 2010 Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Moose Permit Auction.

Each year, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife auctions 10 moose hunting permits and awards them to the highest bidders. Proceeds from the auction go to the Youth Conservation Education Fund, which awards partial scholarships to send Maine boys and girls, ages 10-14, to one week of conservation camp at the Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center on Lake Christopher or Greenland Point Center on Long Lake in Princeton.

More than 400 boys and girls were able to attend conservation camp in 2009 because of these scholarships.

“Ever since the auction began, hunters have been very generous in their bids because, I believe, they know this program helps send Maine kids to conservation camp,” said Deputy Commissioner Paul F. Jacques. “We are appreciative of their participation in this program. While successful bidders get a permit, the real winners are the children.”

The Moose Permit Auction was created by the Legislature in 1995 specifically to fund youth conservation education efforts. Ten of this year’s 3,015 allotted moose permits will be auctioned. Last year, close to $100,000 was raised from the auction, and the 10 winners had a 90 percent success rate.

The 10 highest bidders are able to choose their 2010 season hunt dates.

Bids must be submitted to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife no later than 5 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) on February 17, 2010. A non-refundable bid fee of $25 must accompany each bid. A bid packet is available by calling (207) 287-5207.

Submitted bids will be opened Feb 19, and successful bidders will be contacted. If selected, bidders have 30 days to send in the bid payment and select a moose hunting district, hunting week for the permit and permit type. A subpermittee, if desired, must also be selected at this time. The bid amount covers the resident or non-resident moose permit fee, but does not include the resident or non-resident hunting license fee.

The Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center and the Greenland Point Center offer five-day residential camps that are designed to teach the boys and girls of Maine the importance of conservation, a respect for the environment and a working knowledge of outdoor skills. Subjects taught at the camp include wildlife identification, introduction to fishing, boating safety, archery, firearms handling, hunter safety, forest conservation and map and compass work.

The two conservation camps currently are accepting applications for this summer’s camp sessions. Partial scholarships are available and distributed on a first come, first serve basis. For information and applications, visit www.extension.umaine.edu/bryantpond/ or www.greenlandpoint.com

And while you are thinking about bidding on one of these permits, visit the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website and apply for a moose permit to be drawn by lottery in June.

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Hydatid Disease Isn’t About Fear But About Health And Education

I suppose much of the reactions from people about the announcement that wolves in the Idaho, Montana and into Canada regions are infested with worms that can spread hydatid disease, is fueled by the existing and ongoing emotional battle over how best to manage the canines in this region.

Anyone, including myself, who supports a more aggressive approach to limiting (I didn’t say elimination) wolf populations, who attempts to bring to light this public health issue, gets chastised for instilling fear in people because I hate wolves.

We’ve been down this road before and those who read my blog know that isn’t true. So let’s make an effort to dispense with the false accusations and more importantly, let’s not brush off this information as non factual and/or something we don’t need to concern ourselves with.

Dr. Valerius Geist began signaling a small alarm bell when he began reading about what he called, “cavalier attitude[s] towards the disease”. In an email sent to a handful of concerned outdoor sportsmen, Geist says:

The people and contra machinations pertaining to wolves are of little concern here. What is important is that people living or recreating in areas with hydatid disease take precautions, while steps have to be undertaken to eradicate the disease.

Geist’s concern about “cavalier attitudes” came because game officials and news agencies in infected areas was seriously playing it down. It is important to note that Dr. Geist makes the point that the precautions we should take are especially true in known infected areas.

Because the tiny eggs, liberated by the millions in carnivore feces, are dispersed even by tiny air currents, it is important for reasons of personal health not to poke or kick such feces. It will usually be dry. It will then liberate clouds of tape worm eggs and this cloud of eggs will settle on your clothing, your exposed skin, in your sinuses and wind pipe, on your lips and if you inhale through the mouth in your oral cavity. If you lick your lips, the eggs will get into your oral cavity. When sinuses and windpipe clear themselves of inhaled particles with your sputum the eggs will get into your mouth and be swallowed with sputum. If you touch the feces or even poke it chances are the cloud of tiny eggs will also settle on your hands, and may contaminate the food you handle or eat.

People with dogs are at risk because their dogs may feed unbeknown to them on carcasses or gut piles of big game infected with that disease, infecting themselves with dog tape worm. These dogs will defecate in kennels and yards, spreading these tiny eggs. They will also lick their anus and fur spreading the eggs into their fur. The eggs will cling to boots and be carried indoor, where they float about till they settle down as dust. Now everybody is at risk of infection, especially toddlers crawling around on the floor. Putty cats can also be involved.

Dr. Geist consulted with a game biologist colleague in Finland who is studying hydatid disease as there have been outbreaks there due to the increased population of wolves. Kaarlo Nygrén, Game and Fisheries Research Institute, expresses that Dr. Geist is accurate in his observations and says he is not exaggerating in his concerns about the disease. Nygren shares his homeland’s concern about the disease.

I am afraid it will not only affect our staple food and essential part of our heritage, moose, but also us directly. Hunters, dog owners, forest workers, berry and mushroom pickers will indeed be in danger. I agree in all you told in your paper; none of it is exaggeration.

Nygren recalls the last outbreak of the disease occurred in the 60s and 70s in Northern Lapland. The wolf population had grown and brought with it the worms. The reindeer were being destroyed from the disease. All means were used to drastically reduce the population of wolves; from aerial gunning with machine guns to public service announcement teaching people the best ways to kill wolves and deal with the disease.

The latest outbreak is now affecting Finland’s moose.

The moose was almost hairless (for a reason we were unable to confirm) but it had hydatid cysts in many organs, particularly lungs. I sampled the contents by injection needle and in a droplet placed on an objective glass, thousands of things like miniature human skulls with sharp teeth (my first impression!)were seen. This was the first case of E.granulosus for me. I have seen thousands of Taenia cysts in our moose after opening thousands of carcasses but this was something else.

Evidently the worms have been spread by wolves into Sweden.

Keeping wolf populations in check is only part of the equation. The disease has to be eradicated and Dr. Geist suggests the possibility of burning big game winter ranges to kill the eggs and/or beginning a program of establishing medicated bait piles to target certain packs known to be infected.

This isn’t fear mongering or trying to use scare tactics to support anyone’s agenda. This is knowledge everyone who goes into the outdoors or has pets, needs to know. It is extremely important to be aware of this if you know you are living in or being exposed to infected areas. If you don’t know, contact your state’s fish and game department. If they are not testing wolves and/or coyotes in your area, insist that they begin doing so and spread the word to your friends.

Again, this isn’t about killing wolves and coyotes, it’s about keeping you, your children, your pets, your livestock and wildlife healthy. Who can argue with that?

Tom Remington

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Hunting Dog Decoy

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Three Bull Moose Encounter In Maine

Photographer/Videographer Gary Inman captured these three bull moose early one morning after a dusting of snow. After the video make sure to check out the still photos Gary took of the biggest of the three bulls.

Gary Inman Photo

Gary Inman Photo

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Moose Hunt Update – Half of N.H. Moose Hunters Successful So Far

CONCORD, N.H. — As of Wednesday, October 21, a total of 265 moose had been taken in the 2009 New Hampshire moose hunt (158 bulls and 107 cows). That means that just over half (51%) of hunters holding moose permits had succeeded by the mid-way point in the state’s moose hunt, very similar to the hunter success rate at this point in the moose season last year. The nine-day season runs through Sunday, October 25, 2009.

“Hunters have reported seeing a lot of big bulls this year,” said New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Moose Project Leader Kristine Rines. “People have observed quite a few groups of bachelor bulls together, suggesting that the rut, or breeding season, is pretty much over.”

Rines explained that moose begin to change their habits around this time of year, so people aren’t necessarily seeing the animals where they were scouted out earlier in the year. Both bulls and cows start feeding heavily in order to gain weight for the winter. Also, moose already have their heavy winter coats, so on warm days they tend to bed down in the shade or move uphill to cooler high elevations.

The largest bull taken so far this year was registered at the Berlin, N.H., check station. It weighed 940 pounds dressed weight (the approximate live weight would have been an impressive 1,372 pounds) and was taken in WMU B by Joe Hill of Brandon, Mississippi. The largest cow taken so far (also checked in at Berlin) had a dressed weight of 700 pounds (about 1,022 pounds live weight) and was taken in WMU B by Michael Baglivo Sr. of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Want to know more? Listen in as Fish and Game’s moose biologist Kristine Rines talks about the state’s moose population and the latest goings-on at moose registration stations in New Hampshire on Fish and Game’s October podcast at http://blog.wildnh.com. (You’ll also hear furbearer biologist Patrick Tate talk about New Hampshire’s wildcats — bobcat and lynx.)

This year, more than 14,500 people entered the 2009 moose hunt lottery, held last spring, for a chance to win one of the 515 permits drawn for the New Hampshire moose hunt.

For more about moose hunting in New Hampshire, including a list of check stations, visit http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is the guardian of the state’s fish, wildlife and marine resources and their habitats. Visit http://www.HuntNH.com.

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New Hampshire: Moose Hunt Opening Weekend Brings 26% Success

CONCORD, N.H. – More than a quarter of New Hampshire’s moose hunters were successful during the first two days of the season, achieving a 26% success rate on the opening weekend of the hunt. On Saturday and Sunday (October 17 and 18), a total of 134 moose were taken by moose hunters statewide – 80 bulls and 54 cows.

“Moose hunting can be affected greatly by the weather, which was varied around the state this weekend,” said Kristine Rines, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s moose biologist. “In Berlin, it was sunny and warm for Saturday’s opening day. Moose are less active on warm, sunny days, with the result being that hunters were less successful in locating moose. Things picked up on Sunday when seasonably cool weather afforded more opportunity to the state’s moose hunters.”

One successful opening weekend hunter was Richard Noyes of Hancock, who bagged a bull moose that topped 1,300 pounds (live weight), with an antler spread of 53.75 inches, in WMU C-2 in Errol on Sunday. It was late in the afternoon, about 4:30 p.m., and Noyes and his hunting party were changing a tire on a back country road, cursing their luck. Shortly after they got the tire changed, Noyes’ prize bull and three other moose appeared in an adjoining clearing. Had it not been for the delay caused by the tire change, Noyes would have missed the prize of his life!

New Hampshire’s nine-day moose hunt continues through Sunday, October 25, 2009.

This year, more than 14,500 people entered the 2009 moose hunt lottery, held last spring, for a chance to win one of the 515 permits drawn for the New Hampshire moose hunt.

For more about moose hunting in New Hampshire, including a list of check stations, visit http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is the guardian of the state’s fish, wildlife and marine resources and their habitats. Visit http://www.HuntNH.com.

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N.H. Moose Hunt Is October 17 – 25, 2009

CONCORD, N.H. — For nine exciting days, from October 17 to 25, 2009, lucky moose permit holders and their hunting partners will have the experience of a lifetime taking part in New Hampshire’s annual moose hunt. There were 515 permit holders drawn in this year’s lottery, randomly selected by computer from a pool of more than 14,500 applicants.

Each hunter with a moose permit is assigned to hunt in one of 22 wildlife management units throughout the state; most have spent the past several weeks or months scouting out potential hunting spots. Each moose hunter may be accompanied by one partner. Last fall, New Hampshire hunters took 333 moose, for a statewide success rate of 65%. Regional success rates for moose hunters last year ranged from 83% in the North Region to 38% in southeastern New Hampshire. Hunters assigned to northern units typically have the greatest success, because of higher moose densities and excellent access to hunting lands in the North Country.

After taking a moose, hunters must have the animals registered and inspected at one of seven check stations around the state. There, wildlife biologists check each moose to gain information about the overall health of the moose herd. These check stations draw many interested onlookers, a reminder of the economic and symbolic importance of moose in New Hampshire, particularly in the North Country. Find a list of locations at http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.

As part of a sound management strategy, the moose hunt has been an annual event in New Hampshire since 1988. The moose population was only about 50 animals in 1950; it had grown to over 4,100 by the time of the first moose hunt in 1988, when 75 permits were issued.

Hunters are reminded to avoid consuming moose liver and kidney. Studies conducted by Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service have revealed high levels of cadmium in some of the moose livers and kidneys sampled. As a result, officials from the Environmental Health Program at the N.H. Department of Environmental Services recommend that no moose kidney be eaten, and preferably no liver. If individuals do choose to eat moose liver, it should be from moose no older than 1.5 years. If the moose is older than that, consumption should be limited to a maximum of two meals (assuming six ounces per meal) of moose liver per year. Biologists at the moose check stations can determine the age of the animal for hunters. Further questions about the issue of cadmium in moose organs may be directed to David Gordon, DES Environmental Health Program: (603) 271-4608.

Applications for next year’s moose hunt will be available via the Fish and Game website or license agents statewide between January and May 2010.

Visit a photo gallery from the 2008 N.H. moose hunt — and find out more about moose hunting in New Hampshire — at http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.

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Crack Kills – Moose Dies After Falling Into Small Crevasse

These photos showed up in my inbox this morning.

Posted by Tom Remington

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2010 Moose Hunt Informational Meeting Set in Ashland, Maine

The Wildlife Division for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will be conducting a public informational meeting to discuss the 2010 moose hunting season and moose management options for Wildlife Management Districts (WMDs) 2, 3, 6, and 11.

WMDs 2, 3 and 6 are in Aroostook County, and WMD 11 includes parts of southern Aroostook, northern Penobscot, and northern Washington (farm-woodlands) counties.

This meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 9, at the Department’s regional headquarters in Ashland beginning at 6:30 p.m.

This meeting was initiated due to the last session of the Legislature when the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries & Wildlife enacted LD 929, a resolve regarding the classification of WMD 2. This resolve directed the Department to adopt rules that for the purposes of moose hunting, WMD 2 would be managed the same as WMD 3.

The agenda for the informational meeting will center on requirements for LD 929 along with background information of moose hunting in WMDs 2, 3, 6, and 11, in Aroostook County. The focus will be on three main issues: 1) The Department’s existing moose population goals and objectives; 2) the number of moose hunting permits the department may allocate in 2010; and 3) the possibility of extending the moose hunting season from the current two week season to a three week season.

The Department will use the public informational meeting input to develop the rule governing the 2010 moose season in WMDs 2, 3, 6, and 11 in Aroostook County, including permit allocation, timing, and hunting season.

Posted by Tom Remington

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Ticks Can Kill Moose

The link to this video was sent to me by a reader. Thank you!

Previously, I have covered this moose and tick problem. As a matter of fact, the same person who sent me his own pictures of tick-infested moose, sent me this link.

At the end of the National Geographic video (5:24), the narrator says that experts believe the upswing in tick infestation may be caused by global warming. They did not say man-made global warming. I have never disputed climate change and believe that we have always experienced climate change and as such, we are witnessing things taking place in our ecosystems that previously we had paid little attention too. With better science and our ability, along with desire, to learn more about our wildlife, we are discovering many things. Ticks killing moose is one of them.

Tom Remington

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Public Hearing On Maine 2010 Moose Hunting Season

The Wildlife Division of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife will conduct a public informational meeting to discuss the 2010 moose hunting season and moose management options for Wildlife Management Districts 2, 3, 6, and 11. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 9, at the Department’s regional office on Station Street in Ashland, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

During the last session of the Legislature, the Joint Standing Committee on Inland Fisheries & Wildlife enacted L.D. 929, Resolve, Regarding the Classification of Wildlife Management District 2. This Resolve directed the Department to adopt rules that, for the purposes of moose hunting, WMD 2 would be managed the same as WMD 3.

At the informational meeting, the Department will discuss the requirements of L.D. 929. In addition, IF&W will take a broader look at moose hunting in WMDs 2, 3, 6, and 11 and consider 1) the Department’s existing moose population goals and objectives, 2) the number of moose hunting permits that the Department will allocate in 2010, and 3) the possibility of extending the moose hunting season from the current two week season to a three week season.

The public will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide its comments and ideas. The Department will use this public input to develop the rule governing the 2010 moose season in WMDs 2, 3, 6, and 11, including permit allocations and the length and timing of the hunting season.

For more information on L.D. 929, refer to:

http://janus.state.me.us/legis/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280031740

The Department’s current moose management documents are found at:

http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/species/plans/mammals/index.htm#moose

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Cow And A Calf Making It In The Wilds Of Maine

The game trail photo was sent to me by a reader from Maine. I believe this is the same mother moose and calf that he has caught on film a couple times this summer.

Tom Remington

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2009 Maine Moose Lottery Drawing Photos And Highlights

Milt Inman Photo

I did a few interviews before the start of the lottery drawing. In the above photo I am interviewing Maine Rep. John Martin of Eagle Lake, Maine.

Milt Inman Photo

In the photo above, I am interviewing John Holyoke, outdoor writer for the Bangor Daily News.

Milt Inman Photo

Mike Paquette is owner of the Allagash Sporting Camps of Allagash, Maine. He and his business was the sponsor of the Skinny Moose Media coverage of the 2009 Maine Moose Lottery Drawing held in Fort Kent, Maine.

Tom Remington

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Maine Moose Lottery Drawing Event Needs Some Changes

The State of Maine has been having a moose hunting season for around 30 years now and for those 30 years permits to hunt moose have been determined by a lottery drawing of applicants. The announcing of the winners of those permits has always been done at an event where people come to gather in hopes to hear their names called. This still goes on today but I think it is time to make some changes to the event.

2009 was the second year that Skinny Moose Media attended the annual Maine Moose Lottery Drawing and the second year we streamed live audio and video as a means of providing a service to those moose hunters unable or unwilling to attend the event. Last year we had over 6,000 viewers log on to the Internet in hopes of discovering if they were one of the lucky ones. I don’t have any hard figures but this year looks like perhaps around 5,000.

The 2009 Maine Moose Lottery Drawing was held in Fort Kent, Maine. I listened as Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Commissioner, Roland “Danny” Martin announced that he thought the number of attendees could have been a record.

But here’s what I see as a problem and something I think MDIFW can easily address without causing much of a dispute for those wanting to know if they’ve won a moose permit.

It has always been my impression that the idea of having the lottery drawing a big event was to make it the first place anyone can hear names drawn (they are now read off a computer generated list.) It appears this is no longer the case and I believe it is beginning to have its effects on the moose lottery event.

A computer generates the names of permit winners. This is done just prior to the big lottery event. But what is happening is these names are also being made available to media outlets and shortly after the start of the event to read the names, the list is posted on the MDIFW web site.

Once viewers of our streaming video discovered the list was out, they signed off, read the list and went to do other things. Obviously that affects Skinny Moose Media’s viewership but what I saw as a negative affect happened last night here in Fort Kent.

If you’ve never attended a lottery drawing before, let me give you a quick overview of how it is done. Attendees gather and sit in the audience. Dignitaries and sometime local celebrities are solicited to read a list of names aloud to the audience. Each reader announces 50 winners and then on to the next reader.

Once members of the audience received phone calls from friends and family telling them they either won or didn’t, they all started leaving. This yanked the rug out from under those who hosted the event. The host wanted to put on a good show as well as hope to make a dollar or two from selling concessions etc.

Making the names available to the general public before or shortly after the lottery show commences is not fair for the host. It’s not fair for those who travel and sit in the audience for long periods of time and it’s not fair to all those who are lined up to read names. By the end of the show, there’s very few people left in the audience.

If this seems a bit like sour grapes, it really has very little to do with my efforts and those of Skinny Moose Media to video stream the event. Yes, once viewers found out they could access a list of names, my viewing audience was cut more than in half but that’s really secondary in my opinion.

When SMM decided to cover the event for Internet viewers, I told MDIFW that we did not intend to take business away from the lottery event itself. We only wanted an opportunity to enhance the experience and that if it ever seemed we were decreasing the crowds coming out to the drawings, we would stop doing this. I don’t think we are diminishing the experience but I think MDIFW is.

During the show, Milt and I talked with some representatives of MDIFW about the timing of the release of winners. We had assorted opinions on the matter but were at least told it would be discussed.

If MDIFW doesn’t intend or sees no importance in having the lottery show the main event for the moose drawing, then nothing in this discussion matters. They also will run the risk of seeing the demise of the annual event. Perhaps they don’t care or see the value and opportunities the show can bring. However they want it to play out they need to decide before it gets worse.

If the sequence of events remains the same, then Skinny Moose Media will have to decide whether it is worth attending the event next year, to be held at L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine. If we do attend and the methods remain the same, we’ve already begun talking about how to change our own format to one of maybe just posting the winners on our web sites and spending most of our time doing interviews before the show.

If MDIFW hopes to find success in allowing the lottery event to be hosted by private business or communities and organizations, they need first to make a commitment to the show and letting the show be the first place any names of winners will be made public. Immediately after the show, the names become public information.

Tom Remington

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