Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Northern shrike

by Doug Reeves, assistant chief, DNR Wildlife Division 

I was outside, headed back to the house, when I heard a bird song that seemed to be a jumble of various noises. It was not a clear, predictable song, and much of it was what I would call a racket – sounding like a disturbed or distressed bird – but it was one that I had heard several times before. I knew it was a northern shrike. This makes the fourth year in a row that we have had at least one shrike visit our 40 acres. Previously, they were rare visitors that stopped in for a short time and then disappeared just as quickly. Lately they have been staying for prolonged periods. That may be because the mix of fields and brush suits them very well now.

 

northern shrikeNorthern shrikes have a subtle beauty, being varying shades of gray, white and black. The blocky head, black eye stripe and hooked beak are important identification marks. They tend to be quite visible much of the time, setting on electric lines, the tops of trees and other conspicuous places. My experience has been that they arrive around the first of December and are gone by mid-February. They seem to prefer old fields and brushy areas here. Michigan is in the midst of the wintering region for this bird. Northern shrikes nest in the far northern subarctic forests and tundra. They only go as far south as they have to in winter, which means they don’t go much below mid-Ohio, Indiana and Illinois in this region. [Northern shrike photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] Read more

Wildlife

Training the next generation of conservation officers

On Sunday, Jan. 12, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) opened its first new conservation officer (CO) recruit school since 2007. A total of 31 CO candidates – boasting an array of backgrounds and life experiences – are attending the school.

The Department of Natural Resources welcomed 31 recruits to its first conservation officer recruit school since 2007.Candidates range from a college senior to recruits who are in their early 40s and include nine law enforcement employees from other agencies, including the state police, sheriff’s departments, and small-town and urban police forces. Others have degrees in criminal justice. Six are military veterans; two have been conservation officers in other states – Kansas and Wisconsin; and two are employees with the DNR Parks and Recreation Division.

Still others are from entirely different disciplines, among them a food-processing employee of the Department of Corrections and a pizza restaurant manager – though both have extensive hunting, fishing and outdoor experience. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

U.S. Congress to Consider ‘Three Amigos’ Amendment

GW:  An ESA failure with hope from hunters…

WASHINGTON- -The U.S. House and Senate will consider Dallas Safari Club (DSC)-backed legislation that would exempt from endangered species protections three antelope species nearly extinct in their native countries but thriving on ranches in Texas.
The exemptions would clear the way for ranchers to maintain their herds and to offer hunts for these game animals without government intervention. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

As Fierce Habitat Loss Storm Rages, PF’s Impact Grows

It’s already been tough for the wild birds this season with all the snow and ice cover courtesy of Mother Nature.  Hats off to Pheasants Forever for all it does.

Saint Paul, Minn. – For the third consecutive year, Pheasants Forever spent more than $50 million on its wildlife habitat conservation and education mission. In 2013, $53.8 million mission dollars helped accomplish 13,281 wildlife habitat projects spanning 1.46 million acres – the highest annual acreage total in Pheasants Forever’s 31-year history. The year’s total pushes Pheasants Forever over the 10 million acre mark since the organization’s 1982 inception. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Spring turkey hunting applications on sale now through Feb. 1

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) encourages hunters to start dreaming of spring by purchasing their spring turkey hunt applications today.
The DNR reminds hunters that spring turkey hunting applications are on sale now through Feb 1. The application fee is $4. Applications and licenses may be purchased at any authorized license agent or online at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Michigan Deer Kill Down

In Michigan, the Upper Peninsula’s kill fell an estimated 15 to 20 percent, while the Lower Peninsula’s kill fell about 10 percent. The annual Mackinac Bridge Authority’s survey of deer on hunters’ vehicles showed a 34 percent decline, with 4,207 deer counted in November, down from 6,420 in 2012. Further, the bridge survey was 26 percent below 2011’s count, 5,731.

Hunting, Wildlife

DSC Auction Raises $350,000 for Rhino Conservation

DALLAS (Jan. 11, 2014)-A Dallas Safari Club (DSC) auction has raised $350,000 for rhino conservation efforts in Namibia.
All proceeds-100 percent-will go into a special fund used by the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism for anti-poaching patrols, habitat protection, research and other measures crucial for protecting populations of endangered black rhinos.
The auctioned item is a hunting permit for a black rhino in Namibia’s Mangetti National Park. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Poachers, Wildlife

Michigan Groups’ Battle over Wolves Looms

By Glen Wunderlich

Now that Michigan’s first wolf hunt is over, one thing is clear:  hunters did not wipe out our wolf population.  In fact, only about half of the kill quota was met, or more precisely, 23 of the maximum quota of 43.  That won’t stop the anti-hunting-anything contingent from furthering its emotionally founded cause to prevent another wolf hunt.  It also won’t stop wolf hunting advocates from squaring off all over again in the political arena this year.

Predictably, the protections afforded the gray wolf over the decades would end eventually based on the remarkable growth of the wolf population, which is far beyond recovery goals established under the Endangered Species Act.

The wolf hunt was the state’s first to feature online and call-in reporting of killed wolves and allowed hunters to get text alerts or to check a given hunt’s status via a state website.  The system also ensured that no over-killing would take place.  From a management standpoint, the system worked as planned.

But, groups like Keep Michigan Wolves Protected (KMWP), an arm of the world’s largest anti-hunting organization, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), is still kicking and screaming.  Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

2014: The Year of the Ballot Issue?

This from the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance…

As sportsmen and women are gearing up for the year ahead, the fight for the future of hunting appears headed for the ballot box next fall as ballot issues are popping up from coast to coast.  While the November election might seem far off, hunters and trappers across the country are hard at work preparing for the upcoming battles.

In July, we reported on the ongoing fight over Michigan’s wolf management program.   Now, sportsmen are staring down the barrel of two ballot initiatives that seek to bar the state from designating wolves as a game species.  Sportsmen, not willing to sit idly by, have begun to fight back – and are circulating petitions for a citizen-initiated law to counter the anti’s efforts.  If successful, the law would ensure the ability of the state’s Natural Resources Commission to designate game species. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife
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