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Maine Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan blames a disgruntled former state worker for an allegation that he broke the law by using his personal float plane to help moose hunters spot prey last fall. Via AP.
A couple hiking near Tucson, AZ were clawed and bitten by a rabid bobcat that did not relent until the man killed it with his geologist's hammer. Rich Thompson, a geologist at the University of Arizona, and his wife, a marine biologist, received rabies treatment after Saturday's attack. Reported in The Tucson Citizen.
You can have my carrot when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. A Connecticut woman is suing her husband for allegedly throwing a carrot at her during an argument, causing her to permanently lose vision in one eye. Initial assault charges against Roderick Vecsey were dropped when the incident was ruled an accident. In The Danbury News-Times.
Anglers leaving their vehicles at Coe’s Landing on Lake Talquin in Leon County are returning to find them damaged by the vultures that roost there. “They tore up the windshield-wiper blades and picked out some of the seal around the windshield,” fisherman Morris Herring said. “I thought it was kind of weird. I didn’t expect them to attack my truck like they did.” In The Tallahassee Democrat.
So, you thought the hubbub over alleged lead bullet fragments in venison donated to food pantries in N. Dakota and Minnesota has the potential to reflect negatively on hunting and hunters? Local 6 News in Orlando reports that a Central Florida woman needed a root canal after she--and other family members--bit shotgun pellets contained in stir-fry beef she purchased at a local grocery store.
Bristol, Maine animal damage control agent Mike Witte was called to an area home last week after a wild turkey crashed through a picture window and sough refuge in the bathroom. "When I opened the door and turned on the light, there he was, on the commode," Witte told The Lincoln County News. "I've seen deer in houses, skunks in basements, coons in attics, squirrels, you name it, but never a turkey on a commode before."
A black bear estimated to weigh 300 pounds and wearing an Arkansas ear tag was struck and killed by a motorist near Koshkonong is southern Missouri. While bear sightings and road fatalities are unusual there, the Missouri Department of Conservation says about 300 bruins reside in the state. Via AP.
Larry Garfinkel, a retired LAPD detective, is recovering from serious, third-degree burns after he was trapped by a wildfire last week while fly fishing on the Roaring Fork River near Glenwood Springs, Colo. Garfinkel found water deep enough to completely submerge himself while the flames passed above him. “The fire just keeps coming,” he told the Aspen Times. “I came up for air once and then went back down.”
We don't quite know what to make of the story about an 18-year-old who was arrested--and handcuffed--by Ball State University police after he was seen throwing a dead squirrel off the top level of a parking garage. Robert Dennis, 18, was charged with criminal mischief, criminal recklessness and possession of a fox squirrel out of season. He was released from Delaware County jail Tuesday on $2,000 bond. In the Ball State Daily News.
An Alaska jogger underwent surgery for injuries he received in what wildlife authorities are calling the first brown bear attack of the season for the region. Marc Johnson said he came upon a sow and her cubs while running near his home on the Kenai Peninsula. "I did what people recommend you don't do," he said. "I panicked." In The Peninsula Clarion.
Unsuspecting residents of Iowa are the latest to become victimized by an e-mail containing a photo purporting to show a huge mountain lion shot and killed in The Hawkeye State. "We're hearing from all over on this one," said Ron Andrews, the chief mountain lion investigator and cougar rumor killer at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "It's taking on a complete life of its own. It's a real house afire. People believe it's in Iowa, and the rumors are about half-ballistic." In the Des Moines Register.
Some fishing blogs were abuzz yesterday with the news of former President George Bush's 135-pound tarpon catch in the Florida Keys. Some claimed HW was in violation of numerous regulations, including the failure to tag a tarpon in possession. Byron Stout, in the Ft. Myers News-Press, writes today that an examination of a hi-res photo reveals that the fish was indeed tagged, and "Mr. Bush had every right to kill the tarpon in his lap, which reportedly was released alive, in favor of a fiberglass replica to be hung in the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas."
The Charles City (Va.) County Board of Supervisors voted 2 to 1 last night to prohibit rifles during the firearms deer hunting season, drawing the ire of many in attendance. The vote reversed a decision made by the same body (albeit with different members) less than three years ago which allowed deer hunting with rifles. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
A pack of 15 patas monkeys that escaped from a private island facility near Lakeland, Florida over the weekend have evaded capture by teams searching for them. The 11 adults and four juveniles are the personal pets of Lex Salisbury, the chief executive officer of Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. In the Tampa Tribune and the Lakeland Ledger.
An animal handler was killed Tuesday by a grizzly bear at Predators in Action, a S. California facility that trains animals for movies and on television. Assistants subdued the 7 1/2 foot bear with pepper spray.Via AP.
