Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh MY!

Drats!

Yesterday I was told by my landlord that there are black bears in the area, and to keep my garbage inside... and bird feeders may get wrecked if I put them up.

Today, the owner of the corner store nearby tells me bears are not really much of a problem but there are cougar, coyotes and panthers within 1/4 mile. I guess my domestic cat will NOT be going outside.

Oh my, I think I'd be afraid to go outside at night. I hope you don't have any run-in's with them.

Well, pathway lights are on my list when my next SS check comes in. I'm seldom away after dark much now as I don't see as well anymore, so maybe it will not be a problem!

Don't leeeeeeave me
Out in the forest
Where
I might
get eaten by a bear...

Here's a rainslickered fella straight from Maine, Darius. If any more hurricanes dump rain on you, your bears may look like this one:

(from http://www.belfastbearfest.com/index.html )

Wrong file! LOL

He's cute, but I wouldn't want to eat that lobster!

I don't think he'd let you!

Saw my first bobcat today. I was on the narrow road on the way to my new place, and he (she?) loped across the road about 200 yards in front of me.

Wow, that'd be a sight. I'd like to visit you and set up a blind near your house!

GW, I'm thinking my cat is for sure going now to be a strictly inside cat, LOL. She will know she may be prey if outside.

I could do without wild cats, but I love the idea they still exist. The one I saw was awesome, probably about 35 pounds.

Very cool! The only wild predators I have seen lately are dead Coyotes on the side of the road. :( I have seen two for some reason lately. They are occasionally spotted in the area, but I had never seen them hit by cars. There must be a large amount of development in rural areas all of a sudden.

Coyotes are spotted more than Bobcats, but they both have been known to haunt an area for a while, killing cats and small dogs. I think the closest Mountain Lions are in the hill country though.

The only wild predators I have seen lately are a few in a bar last weekend.
Just kidding.....I would love to see those cats and bears Darious! bet they are absolutely beautiful.

One of the Locals I have helping me said today that the shallow spot in the creek about 75 feet from my door will be a good drinking spot for der.

He also suggested a salt block for that spot but I reminded him I am a gardener with tasty plants for deer! Sorry, deer... NO salt block!

FOLKS!!
I wasn't near that bar that Weeds was in, I promise :-)

Y'wanna see wild-cats, come to the Highlands of Scotland Darlin ... I'll show you a few nests, and you'll never, EVER want to see them again, second promise :-D

DARIUS:

No salt blocks for deer, give them a Jägermeister (Schnapps), and you'll be barbecueing for the rest of the year ... just invite the butcher, he'll do the rest ;-)


Hungrymoor

DH saw 4 wild turkeys in the woods today. I've seen deer, squirrel, rabbit, turkey, no bobcat...except for the one with 4 wheels and a bucket.

LOL @ vic

Grinningmoor

... I jes gotta folks .... I jes gotta!

(Hee Hee) .. sweezel ..
... Coyotes do NOT have more spots than Bobcats!! .. LOL ..

- Magpye

Okay Mags, miss smarty pants, you know what I mean.
:-P

that was a big gotcha!! lol

hee .. and, a course ah did sweez !! ... but it was sure a lil peck o'fun to tease ya a bit about it ...
That's jes a wee mere part of what makes life and love (and DG too) .. so delightful, interesting, enjoyable, and somewhat of a riot .. on occasion!! ..

Darius .. I can certainly understand your concerns about your health and safety .. and that of yore meows also .. naturally ... But, as difficult as it may be .. try to consider yourself (and I'm sure you probably do) a bit lucky (blessed) too .. For can't jes everyone live, or have .. such a wonderful 'wildlife' habitat .. literally, right outside their door!!! I'd imagine it may make ya wish ya had yaseff a BIG OL tall fence around the perimeter too tho', 'ey!? ...

gw ... the pic of the bear with the rain slicker .. is cute. But that 1st pic go-round - was even better .. not to mention, most delightfully entertaining, in a sense .. hee hee .. For I suspect that we don't get to witness ya makin' 'em kinda boo-boo's too too often !! .. hee hee ..

Please know, that my meek teasin' .. is ONLY out of a bit of lovin' jest .. and, in no way .. is meant to be cruel or offensive ...

- Magpye

This message was edited Oct 12, 2004 10:23 AM

Many, many years ago, there used to be grizzly bears in the area where I live. I hate to see a species get wiped out, but I am glad that I don't have to worry about grizzly bears in my yard. Once in a blue moon, someone will see a mountain lion around here even though I am in town. It's so rare, though, that I don't worry about them. I see coyotes on the street from time to time, but they don't concern me. (Obviously, I don't have a cat or small dog.) I can see how they get hit. They don't seem very afraid of cars.

I know I know nobody wants to hear this and it's a touchy topic but should people really let their pets outdoors unsupervised? I don't know how much of it is true but they say that songbird numbers are being threatened b/c of domestic cats.

Also, aren't we just guests in the native predators territory? Bobcats, cougars, coyotes, ect. where here before my poodle and I were. I really wish they could live around my home area but whenever a preditory animal is spotted, it is immediately considered rabit and needs to be shot. Which is not always the case. Most of them are spotted from a far acting totally normal. I don't know what people are basing these rabid claims on. Probably fear and a need to conquer mother nature.

CaptMicha, at the moment I have a wild bird in the living room that accidentally flew in my open door while I was bringing down boxes from the truck. My indoor (mostly) cat isn't even interested, LOL.

I have all the windows and the door opened but so far just manage to chase it from LR to kitchen (where the door is) and back again. I need another person to help... and have no neighbors.... closest friends are 40 miles away.

This domestic cat hasn't hunted anything but moles and voles in 10 years, although she got very interested in the skinks at my last place. She's too old and fat to catch anything. In all her life, I think she's just captured one bird, one baby rabbit and one chipmunk. The bird was dead when I got to it, but the chipunk and rabbit were alive and barely touched so they went back into the woods after I got them away from my cat.

With your eggplant cat, I'd be more concerned with her becoming someone's meal than her catching something, LOL.

LOL, GW... I think that's why she seldom ventures out... and then only when I'm nearby.

We had a huge bluejay in the front room this summmer. Now that was a surprise and absolutely my fault. Poor thing!
I had fed the dogs on the deck and left the screen door open. With water on 3 sides of us the bird could see straight through. In it flew, hit the huge picture window and went down for the count. Got a towel, put it out on the front stoop and left it. It took about 2 hours but it finally flew away - with a giant headache of course!
Dianne

Once a hummingbird flew into the house and my mom thought it was a big bee so she knocked it out and realized what it really was when she saw it still! Thankfully the little guy was okay and flew away after it regained consciousness.

Just had a crooked beak after that and talked like thish. ;)

Darius, if you're gonna live in the woods (like me) you need to get a child's butterfly net (one without holes). It's mighty handy for me, I've transported hummers, birds, and countless lizards out of my home.

I've had wild turkeys, possum, giant rabbits fox, and deer around here, bobcats are said to be here also but haven't seen them. With your plantings, I'd keep a good supply of bloodmeal around, it lasts until the next rain, but you don't need too much.

Is there a high branch you can hoist a birdfeeder and use a pulley-type system? I'd hate to see you go without birds! Best of luck to you dear :)

Vi, I'm hoping that 2 feeders right between me and the creek (20 feet) may escape predators. So far I just have finch feeders up but haven't seen any finch. Maybe when the sunflower seed feeder goes up, birds will come.

I remember when I moved to Macclenny for a year, I started putting out bird feed immediately. I was beginning to think none would come. But suddenly, the cardinals came, then the mourning doves, then all the rest, along with the squirrels. I hope someone else began feeding them when I left. I knew they wouldn't starve down here--too much natural food available year-round!

They'll come, after all the excitement of your moving in has fully subsided.

Back to the original topic, thought this warning might apply:

The California State Department of Fish and Game is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen and golfers to take extra precautions and keep alert for bears while in the Yosemite and Mammoth areas. They advise people to wear noise-producing devices such as little bells on their clothing to alert but not startle the bear unexpectedly. They also advise carrying pepper spray in case of an encounter with a bear. It is also a good idea to watch for fresh signs of bear activity and know the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings. Black bear droppings are smaller and contain berries and possibly squirrel fur. Grizzly bear droppings have little bells in them and smell like pepper spray.

I'd hate to run across a bear in the woods!

The droppings in my yard include stuffed animal fur and bits of rope toy. Be on the lookout.

It was on on our news tonight that coyotes attacked a pomeranian. This happened in River Oaks (an elite subdivision in Houston).

The teenage girl heard the dog yelping and she took off toward the yelps when she came up on the two coyotes both pulling on the dog. They said with all her comotion it startled the coyotes and they dropped her dog and took off.

The pom was sent home after 2 days at the vet, and when they talked to him, he said it had puncture wounds as deep as the lungs.

Poor thing was all bandaged up.

The mom said what was the use of living in such an expensive neighborhood if that sorta thing was going to happen. (what does that have to do with it?)

They added it is all the developing that was forcincing them out.

They should have added it is also killing off the smaller animals with no where to live and bear their young, nothing for them to eat. Which leaves a gap in the food chain.

Darius you be careful out there. Sounds like a very beautiful place you have to live.

There hasn't been a verified sighting of a mountain lion in NC in 100 years. A/K/A as catamount, cougar, puma...

Woodspirit, the local ranger has been after my friends who live in Andrews to get a photo of the one they see regularly, for a verification, since there haven't been any. They even saw it with 2 cubs last year, and just recently covering up its droppings in the middle of the dirt road up from their house. Natch, no camera in hand.

There's no gap in the food chain b/c of coyotes. They used to live all over the US and are natural predators. Same thing with wolves.

Geese, deer, squirrels and other animals are rampant b/c there are only a few natural (and unnatural) predators to keep them in check.

P.S. Every time I take my poodle outside, I supervise her to make sure that no harm befalls her and to make sure she doesn't wander into the neighbor's yards and do anything she shouldn't.

Maybe people just need to watch their pets better.

You are right about people keeping an eye on their animals. This little dog was not in his yard when he was attacked. He was out where they were clearing for more subdivision

Now the city will look it what to do about the coyotes. And they are doing what they have always done. We are taking over there world and forcing them out looking for food.

What I was meaning about the food chain is we are taking out all the places for the rabbits, and geese and deer to live, by continuing to build subdivisions back to back. They are clearing land out here where I live (which was the only subdivision out here for miles around. Now it is starting to look like a little Houston.

This would force the coyotes out to look food.

Here in Texas people pay astonomical amounts of money to have a deer lease. 700 dollars and up.
They feed the deer all year and come deer season they (well I don't call it hunting) sit and wait till the deer returns to where they always are fed and shoot them. Deer here are about the size of a greyhound. They are not as big as the ones from northern states.

I lived in PA up until 26 years ago. My dad had 41 acres and he and a few other neighbors, and a few other responsible people hunt ours and the neighbors property.

We did not feed the deer either. If they got one they got one, if not not.

That feeding the deer trick sounds a little like when people use their car lights to freeze them and shoot them. It's totally unfair. Hunting is considered a "sport" but they won't even give the deer a sporting chance.

While I hate it, I admit that hunting is important and beneficial. I wouldn't do it personally but I'm saying I can see why it is done.

Here in the North, the deer get huge! The males reach maybe around 200 lbs. I watched a show about whitetails a few months ago and the differences between them in different places in the US is astounding!

I never realized the difference in size across the US. You'd think the ones up north would be scrawnier because of the shorter growing season and their having to forage over the winters. But then again, there is an abundance of corn for them, too.