'I Put the Baby Rabbit Back In Nest, but.....'

I'M FROM MA and recently came across your website when trying to figure out what to do. My dog recently found a baby rabbits nest, and somehow dug one out of the hole. She bit the baby and it was bleeding a little bit, so I picked the baby up and put it back in its hole in the ground. The baby seemed to be okay, just somewhat freightened....I just want to make sure its' mother is going to take care of it. Do you think it will??

Christine

Feeding Wildlife Is Folly

MANY PEOPLE feed wildlife, but do they know they may as well be killing them?

Urban sprawl shrinks wild spaces at a rapid pace, disconnecting habitat and polluting (with chemicals, noise and light) the only home our wild neighbors have. Most don't have the time or ability to relocate and are instantly competing for the last remaining resources they need to survive.

In nature, most wild animal populations will grow and shrink with resource availability, but since we develop and disconnect their habitat so quickly, their populations don't have time to shrink with it. Many will encroach on other habitat, out-compete more sensitive species, become a nuisance to humans and be removed, or be hit by cars.

Though well-intentioned, when we feed wildlife, we are helping to maintain their population at a size that their home can no longer support. We are also desensitizing them to humans (a fear that they need to keep them, and you, safe) or encouraging them to stay put, thus becoming a nuisance.

Feeding alligators will lead to future encounters with humans, then they're trapped and killed. Bird feeders feed squirrels and raccoons, too, so they congregate in our neighborhoods, which can irritate people. Feeders give outdoor cats a one-stop-shopping post, too.

If you love wildlife, consider their life in the wild, and that we can't rob them of their most important skill: survival.

Nikki Benoit,
Tampa, FL

Dealing With Rising Black Bear Problem

MICHIGAN'S Department of Natural Resources plans to deal with growing bear population.  It calls for:

• Allowing bruins to move naturally into southern Michigan to the extent that citizens are comfortable.
• Increasing efforts to educate citizens and law enforcement officials about bears 
• Gauging social tolerance for bears.
• Improving the state's response to farmers and beekeepers who suffer damage from bears. 
• Maintaining large tracts of contiguous forest for bears, along with travel corridors
• Changing 2009 season regulations for bear hunters who bait or run hounds.

Michigan has an estimated 18,000 Black Bears and more than 90% of those are in the upper peninsula. Michigan's DNR says the population has doubled in the past decade. That increase is a sign that the population is healthy, but it puts Michigan's black bears on a collision course with humans (never a good thing).

Road kill is becoming a familiar sight here in Michigan. Last summer my wife and I spotted a dead cub along I75. Now, Black Bears are turning up dead on Michigan roads in the southern half of the lower peninsula. A young bear was killed by a car south of Grand Rapids in 2008.   Another was killed on the outskirts of Grand Rapids in 2007. Another was killed on the road in Flint the year before and the list continues to grow. Bear crossing signs are becoming more common on Michigan highways.

Bears are moving into southern Michigan, the region south of a line from Saginaw to Muskegon. State wildlife officials believe some might be breeding.

More people are building northern homes in bear country. Often, that does not bode well for bears who are viewed as pests or nuisances by former city dwellers. People in the north country know what to expect of bears. In the south, no one knows what to expect. People like the idea that bear are around, but they are not sure they want them in their neighborhood.

Other parts of the plan address the need to get the word out to citizens and law enforcement agencies who might have encounters with Black Bears. The DNR hopes to avoid incidents where lethal force is used as the first line of defense.

A 250-pound Black Bear was killed in 2008 by Battle Creek police officers after it wandered into town. The bear was shot four times, hit by a police cruiser and eventually found in a tree where it was shot and killed. Officers reported acting with concern for public safety, but citizens complained that no attempt was made to tranquilize the bear and relocate it.

Roughly 60 miles west of Detroit may of 2008 there was yet another bear sighting  "There was a big bear, chewing on the feeder and busting up the plastic. I was just in shock, really." the 66 year old gentleman said. No one was hurt and the bear wondered off.

Another bear was sighted by Lansing police yast year as the were responding to a domestic violence call. This bear was never found.

Bears have turned up South of Grand Rapids in  Barry, Allegan and Ionia counties. At least once a year, a bear has been reported in Kent County (Grand Rapids area) every year from 2002 to 2007. The management plan would allow bears to move south naturally to the extent that southern Michigan residents are comfortable. The plan also  reserves the option of hunting to control southern populations if their numbers get too high.

Chance meetings with people and bears are becoming more common in Southern Michigan. Once believed to be a lost bear every now and then, Michigan's DNR is asking for volunteers to help locate and report bear and den sightings.

Education is an important tool and in some ways we are winning the war, if not a few battles.  However, people need to get aquatinted with the fact that there are bear here in The southern half of the lower peninsula and that there will be more and more in northern Michigan.

There is picture and living proof of a Wolverine in Michigan's thumb area since 2004,  now if the DNR will admit to the several Cougar sightings.

Ronald Patterson
Kentwood, MI
WindStar Wildlife Master Naturalist
www.gardening-for-wildlife.com

Weird Winter Wildlife Tales

American Elk


"THE WINTER is so bad in Spokane, Moose are falling into basements."

That's the way my colleague Jim Kershner is describing the weeks of record snow accumulation to friends calling from out of town. He's not exaggerating, not in an eastern Washington dumping ground that endured 5 ft. above the average snowfall.

The Moose calf fell through a window into a basement bedroom of a Spokane home recently. We're still waiting word on whether the Moose will be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for the amount of No. 1 and No. 2 it purged during the two hours before wildlife officials could get it tranquilized and hauled out. The evidence was liberally deposited on the
bedroom's new rug.

But that's just one of countless weird winter wildlife stories filtering out of the region. In Republic, WA the Mule Deer are getting so comfortable panhandling for food, they've taken to hitchhiking.

Pam Taylor, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department enforcement officer, snapped photographic proof of a bold deer in the back of a pickup parked along a paved road recently. Traces of hay from feeding livestock lured the doe aboard.

At Liberty Lake, WA three deer that had been crossing the ice-capped lake regularly found themselves stranded at the public boat launch area last weekend when the warm weather quickly melted the ice along the shoreline. The locked gate and high fence that helps bar vandals from entering the launch site during the off-season prevented the deer from getting out.

"The rocky shore drops to deep water, so the deer couldn't go in the lake and get around the fence, and they couldn't jump out onto the ice because it was too thin around the edges," said Jim Lashbrook, who lives next to the launch site. "Once they realized they were trapped, they got real antsy."

Lashbrook had a plan. After calling the WA Fish and Wildlife Department for permission to unlock the gate, he walked through the deep snow into the access area and then retreated, leaving a trail of apples as he went right on out through the open gate.

"It took them a day or so to get their confidence," Lashbrook said. "But soon enough they just ate themselves out of trouble and left. Then I closed the gate."

Wildlife isn't coming out of all these winter-related predicaments unscathed:

-- A Cougar that had been spotted making a pretty good living for a
couple of weeks in the foothills of Mount Spokane feeding on deer
concentrated by the deep snow was killed in a collision with a vehicle.
By the time wildlife officers were called to investigate on Monday morning,
somebody had picked up the Cougar carcass. Incidentally, that's illegal.

-- Several deer apparently confined by snow to a road near the
Spokane-Pend Oreille county line were likely shot by a motorist using a
shotgun at close range. Three deer were dead at the scene and
wildlife officers said blood trails indicated other deer were wounded.
Officers are still looking for leads in the case.

-- At least three deer have been killed in collisions with vehicles
within Spokane. Somebody dumping food for the deer in an open area
off the road apparently filled their tummies but lured them to their bitter
end, wildlife officials said.

-- Six wild Elk perished in Pend Oreille County after they had taken refuge
from deep snow and a storm under an old hay storage barn that collapsed
under the weight of snow.

-- Priest Lake residents slid boats out on the frozen lake to lasso and
rescue a Moose that had broken through the ice.

Meantime, Bald Eagles, some of which may have been feeding on kokanee
at Lake Coeur d'Alene last month, have turned to bigger game. They are
common sights along area highways as they feed on the bounty of
bumper-tenderized deer carcasses littering the area's roadsides and railways.

But even the Mule Deer and Moose aren't as hungry as they appear
while dealing with the hardships of winter, wildlife officials say. Proof
is littering all the trenches through the snow and other routes big
game have been traversing around town in this period of winter
confinement.

As the snowpack melts and consolidates, it's reassuring to see these routes
are virtually paved with deer and moose droppings. They've clearly been
finding plenty to eat.

Rich Landers
Spokane, WA

Compare Elk To Deer

By Scott Shalaway
ONCE UPON a time, Eastern Elk inhabited the entire state of Pennsylvania. By 1867, the species was extinct statewide, and within a few years the Eastern Elk was gone from its entire range in the northeast.

Today, approximately 700 elk roam six north-central counties. They are descendents of the Rocky Mountain subspecies introduced to the state by the Pennsylvania Game Commission between 1913 and 1926. For decades the population fluctuated. The first scientific census in 1971 revealed a population of 65 animals.

The current herd is healthy enough to sustain a modest harvest. In November, 45 hunters selected randomly from a pool of 17,432 applicants will participate in a six-day hunt.

Though elk are members of the deer family, they are easily distinguished from the ubiquitous White-tailed Deer.

The first clue is size. Compared to deer, elk are huge. At birth, an elk calf weighs about 30 pounds compared to four to eight pounds for a newborn white-tail. A mature bull elk stands about 60 inches tall at the shoulder and weighs 600 to 1,000 pounds; female elk weigh 500 to 600 pounds. Mature white-tailed deer, on the other hand, stand about 33 inches tall at the shoulder, and an average buck weighs about 140 pounds; does are smaller.

Differences in the pelage of elk and deer are also quite obvious. An elk's winter coat is dark tan with a darker, shaggy neck and a creamy rump. The bull's antlers are enormous, consisting of one main beam and usually six points. White-tailed Deer are grayish brown in winter. The underside of the large flag-like tail is pure white. Bucks' antlers consist of several tines arising on a single main beam.

Other differences between elk and deer include:

• Gestation: elk 8-1/2 months, deer 7 months

• Elk have short tails, about five inches; deer tails are about 11 inches.

• Elk have a pair of upper canine teeth; deer lack canine teeth.

• Elk are primarily grazers; deer are primarily browsers.

• Elk rarely have twins; Whitetail Deer usually have twins.
--Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Habitat Loss Key To Bear Problems

IN THE STORIES (Aug.18 issue of WindStar Wildlife Garden Weekly) about Black Bears, it sounded like you were saying that bear incidents are the result of greatly increased bear numbers.  Though Black Bears are doing well, and in many parts of the country have, indeed, expanded their range, the actual cause of these increased numbers of incidents is the fact that humans have taken over more and more of the habitat that used to belong to bears and other wildlife.

Please point out that it is incumbent upon us to learn to coexist with the wonderful animals amongst whom we live, and to change our own behavior, rather than expecting them to change theirs.

Incidentally, I met you at that Wilderness Wildlife Week a few years ago, and I was (and still am) a volunteer for bear organizations who presents programs during the week about Black Bears and our relationship with them.

Kathy Sherrard
Franklin, NC

Will Baby Raccoon Be Okay?

I HAVE had Raccoon families come with their babies to eat my dog food.  This year's litter came up (mother and 3 babies) and were eating when something scared the mother off.  Two of the young got away but one stayed behind.  Not much later I heard this loud screaming and went out to find another large Raccoon had attacked the baby. I was able to chase it off and the baby seemed OK and ran up a tree and was still there hours later when we went to bed.  She was gone the next morning so I figured they were back together.  That night the mother and babies came to eat but there were only two so I assumed she had been killed by another predator.  A few days went by and we came home to find the lone baby on the steps to our deck.  She seemed frightened so we went and got some dog food and water which she ate and drank and then she went and hid in our bushes.  It has been a couple of days since we have seen her but last night I walked outside and she was sitting right off the deck.  She walked up to me and I gave her some more food and water (I have on leather gloves) and she seemed more relaxed, hung around for about 1/2 hour and then wandered back to the bushes.  Will she be OK or should I trap her with a live animal cage and bring her somewhere to be cared for?  I don't want to see anything happen to her and we have some neighborhood cats that come to eat that I am afraid will attack her.  She seems so lost, I thought the mother would take her back in but since the attack she does not seem to want her around.

Stephanie Miller
Westminster, MD

What Should He Do With Baby Fox?

A FRIEND of mine found a baby fox on the highway late one evening. It seems to be uninjured and it doesn’t seem sick. I suggested he feed it a mixture of yogart, powdered milk and an almond milk he had from the food bank. The fox has its teeth but won't eat solid foods, or canned dog or cat food. It seems to like the mixture I mentioned above.  I said I would contact someone by internet about the fox. The fox has adapted to my friend in just a few days. Can you suggest anything for me to tell him? What should he feed or do with this baby fox?

Roxy Houx
Applegate, OR

How Many Birds Killed By Cats?

IN AN EFFORT to drive home the importance of keeping cats indoors (in
relation to bird kills) at many of my bird-related educator workshops,
I've used the figure of "6 million birds per day" killed by cats.  I
don't remember where that figure came from; perhaps derived from the
Wisconsin study (Coleman and Temple 1996)?  I've recently been asked for
the research to support this statement (and need to confirm it myself
before I use it again).  Can anyone help me out?  Is the figure accurate?  Does it apply to
North America or only the United States?  Is there more current research to use instead?

Steven Juhlin
Assistant Nature Center Manager
Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center
Missouri Department of Conservation

Wildlife Officials Kill Pack's 4 Wolves

FOUR WOLVES that made up the Moccasin Lake pack in Montana were shot by Wildlife Services officials this week in the East Fork of the Boulder River drainage, south of Big Timber, after more livestock kills were confirmed.

"They're large carnivores; they're opportunistic," said Carolyn Sime, statewide wolf coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP). "The comparison has been made between bears and bird feeders. It's hard to get that learned behavior turned around."

The wolves were connected to a calf kill in the same area Saturday. The next day, the wolves reportedly returned and harassed the livestock but did not kill any. On Wednesday, as Wildlife Services officials were working in the area, they received a call from a landowner that a lamb and ewe had been killed closer to Big Timber. After investigating and determining that wolves had killed the animals, the officials tracked them through the snow. They had permission to kill two of the wolves and did. They then did more investigation at the sheep kill site, called FWP and got permission to shoot the other two wolves.

"They spend a great deal of time on private land and have demonstrated an escalating pattern of keying into livestock as a food source since January," Sime said. "We work closely with Wildlife Services and area landowners, but it's an FWP decision."

The pack had a history of livestock depredations, with one calf killed a year ago. One wolf was removed from the pack then. Last year, FWP authorized the removal of three packs--21 wolves--in similar situations. Eleven cattle were killed in those incidents. The packs that were removed were the Bearmouth pack near Drummond, the Wedge pack south of Ennis and the Fleecer Mountain pack near Anaconda.

"In situations where we've removed all wolves within an area, they have recolonized within 280 days on average," Sime said. "That basically tells us that we have the opportunity to do something better next time around," such as the use of deterrents like range riders or electrified fladry--strips of flagging that hang off an electrified fence.

Brett French
Billings, MT
Billings Gazette