Smarter critters

I've written about smart critters before. They're out there. Animals that use tools, animals that work cooperatively, animals that have their own types of language.

Crows are some of those animals: tools and languages and dialects - cool stuff.

The new one I just read about was whales. Yeah, they are some smart mammals, and you have all heard whale song before. But did you know that whales from different pods have dialects.

Like those southern cousins of yours..

When they dive together, sperm whales make patterns of clicks to each other known as "codas." Recent findings suggest that not only do different codas mean different things, but that whales can also tell which member of their community is speaking based on the sound properties of the codas. Just as we can tell our friends apart by the sounds of their voices and the way they pronounce their words, different sperm whales make the same pattern of clicks, but with different accents.

Caribbean and Pacific whales have different repertoires of codas, like a regional dialect, but the "Five Regular" call -- a pattern of five evenly spaced clicks -- is thought to have the universal function of individual identity because it is used by sperm whales worldwide.

You can read more here.

When does one species become more important than another?

The spotted owl.

Steeped in controversy and the bane of northwest loggers. Is the continuation of this species (subspecies) more important than other similar species?

Fish and wildlife may think so.

If the spotted owl isn't able to compete, do we "thin out" its competitors? Is that right?

The ever-controversial northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) has been protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1990, but despite the best efforts of lawmakers and conservationists the bird's population numbers continue to dwindle. Now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has a radical plan to help the raptor: kill some of the barred owls (S. varia) that are outcompeting their spotted cousins for food and habitat.

Spotted owls became notorious following several decades, starting in the 1980s, of back-and-forth lawsuits as environmentalists tried to end logging in the Pacific Northwest's old-growth forests, the habitat the owls depend on for their nests and food. Logging on federal land was banned in 1991, and since then logging in Oregon alone has declined 95 percent, from 4.9 billion board feet of timber in 1988 to just 240 million board feet in 2009, according to The Oregonian. But even with less of its habitat being destroyed the spotted owl population has yet to bounce back.

Aside from its shrinking habitat, the major threat now, according to the FWS, is the growing number of barred owls in the area. These birds are more aggressive, can live in any type of forest, and eat more types of food than spotted owls, making them more adaptable to the current Pacific Northwest landscape.

According to the FWS's latest draft recovery plan for the spotted owl: "Limited experimental evidence, correlational studies and copious anecdotal information all strongly suggest barred owls compete with spotted owls for nesting sites, roosting sites and food—and possibly predate spotted owls. The threat posed by barred owls to spotted owl recovery is better understood now than when the spotted owl was listed. Because the abundance of barred owls continues to increase, the effectiveness in addressing this threat depends on action as soon as possible."

The recovery plan doesn't spell it out how it would control the barred owl population, but The Oregonian reports that "over the next year, in three or more study areas from Washington [State] to northern California, they might kill 1,200 to 1,500 barred owls."

We have barred owls all over on the east coast. They are a handsome species - but... does their commonality make them less important?

Just something to think about. You can read more here.

Coyotes get big

whenever I get the chance I like to spend time with my parents in upstate New York. My brother has a farm out there and we like to get out and walk the land when we have the opportunity.

A new thing that we need to consider now - crossbreeds.

Bigger than coyotes but smaller than wolves, their howl is high-pitched and their diet includes deer and small rodents. They are "coywolves" (pronounced "coy," as in playful, "wolves"), and they are flourishing in the northeastern U.S., according to a study published today in Biology Letters.

Although coyote–wolf breeding has been reported in Ontario, where coyotes started migrating from the Great Plains in the 1920s, this study provides the first evidence of coywolves—also known as coydogs or eastern coyotes—in the Northeast. And even though they are more coyote (Canis latrans) than wolf (gray wolves are Canis lupus, and red wolves are Canis rufus), the expansion of these hybrids into western New York State marks the return of wolves to the Empire State.

"It's kind of interesting that we drove this species from the area and it sort of came back in another form," says Roland Kays, curator of mammals at the New York State Museum in Albany and first author on the study.

Read the rest here....

Accepting place

I decided a long time ago that this would not become an "I live at the beach" blog. At some point though I need to address where I live and how it affects me and the animals in my care.

In the course of my inner dialog, I often complain about where I live and how it impacts my hunting.

I live on a little spit of land off of the coast of North Carolina. There is not much to it. We are surrounded by the ocean on one side and the sound on the other. We are only about a mile wide at the thickest part, 200 yard in others. We are windswept and everything we due is based on the ocean and the weather.

I don't have mountains or large tracts of hunt able land. Most areas where I hunt are waterlogged, parts of it impassable due to swamp or bog. In the summer, we are inundated with tourists, which is both good and bad. We lose our elbow room, but they are our main economy.

I could go on, but instead of lamenting what I don't have, I've decided to embrace what I do.

I took my camera with me when I went to work cleaning pools the pother day and napped some pictures. Just random things I would see on any given day as I drive up the beach. Some of it is good, some not - but all of it makes this place what it is.


We have wildlife. More than most people would ever expect. but we are missing some of the staples of other areas. No skunk, no ground hog and not too many rabbits.

But lots of snakes and reptiles, plenty of deer, hog,and squirrel.

Lots of water, lots of boating and fishing, surfing and kayaking.

Tics and spiders and bugs.

And history.

We live in an area that was settled before Jamestown.
The local families can trace their roots back to shipwrecks and sailing vessels, piracy and plunder.

Roots go back to black beard and further to the lost colony.


It is very easy to complain - I know - I'm guilty. It is sometimes harder to appreciate what you really have. I've got access to hunting, I have wildlife, I have natural beauty.

I have space, and birds to trap.

falcons and accipiters.

Red tails

Of course I have family and roots.

I encourage you to take the time to look around and see what you have.

Try no to worry to much about what you don't.

Who needs hawks?

African Bullfrogs free babies!

This is a cool video that I found over at Retrieverman's blog.

A Casual Drive

On our drive through Rocky Mountain State Park the other morning, I was amazed at the amount of wildlife that we saw. It might be that I have becoming jaded to the wildlife in my home state. I get used to seeing herons, osprey, fox, and raccoons. (wild boar, bald eagles, deer, etc.)

Many of the animals may be common in Colorado, but I hadn't seen them myself before. So for many of you they may be common, but for me it was a thrill.


I have never seen a magpie before. They are a member of the crow family and reputed to be just as intelligent and man are they good looking. I am sure that there are those out there who can share horror stories about these birds as apparently, they are fearless.


Here we see a mule deer, a marmot, and a pika. I never thought I would actually see a pika (not my pic).

I tried to get pictures of some of the more exotic (read "ones I don't often see") species, but I couldn't get them all. I was also amazed at how close I could get to almost all of them. I don't have much zoom on my little point and shoot, so any pictures I get are amazing.



This is a ground squirrel, here is a young elk buck, and of course a chipmunk (not my pic), which we don't have on the Outer Banks.

I took the drive with my father, who is an avid gun hunter. His major trip every year is to go to Wyoming to hunt elk, so seeing so many was a huge thrill for him and got his adrenaline pumping. He can't wait for the season to open now.


Impressive, no? I could have hit them with a rock.

And there was more, all in a short, 2 hour drive around the park.