If you haven’t checked out this extensive thread on the joys of feral hogs, you should do so.

Feral Hogs in Texas

Looks like it would be fun for about two or three weeks. Then it would become an ongoing hell.

Via The Defensive Handgun Blog.

Alaska:

Seward police say that a bystander was injured when they fatally shot a bear roaming through the town.

Police say that a shotgun round pierced the black bear Thursday night, but ricocheted and hit a bystander in the abdomen.

“I think it went through his ear and maybe out one side of his head. And then, like I say, it ricocheted off something and then hit the bystander,” City Manager Phillip Oates said.

Oates added the person was merely bruise

The bystander was about 125 feet from the bear at the time. Lucky.

Pitbull shot in Grand Rapids; its puppies remain missing

Very odd. The missing pups were offspring of the shot dog. My guess is that it was the mother and she was defending her pups and property. It was still alive when police arrived but had to be put down.

There’s no indication that the pups are somehow particularly valuable. Was it worth shooting a dog over?

Murdoc is not really a dog person, but we’ve got a couple and love them. And I’ve never been a fan of the pit bull thing, but unless the dog had done something to warrant it, this is obviously out of line.

I’ve always thought that the way people treat animals says a lot about them.

Via The Outdoor Wire:

Montana Officials Decry Federal Court Decision on Gray Wolves

Montana wildlife officials decried today’s federal court decision that placed the recovered Rocky Mountain gray wolf back on to the federal list of threatened and endangered species…

“If we understand the ruling correctly, Judge Molloy is telling the federal government that because Wyoming still doesn’t have adequate regulatory mechanisms to manage wolves, you can’t delist the wolf in Montana and Idaho.” Maurier said. “We simply can’t manage wildlife successfully in that environment. We must have the ability to manage wildlife, to do our job, to seek a balance among predator and prey. As a practical matter, as wildlife managers, we need the authority to respond to the challenges wolves present every day.”

This means, obviously, no wolf hunting season in Montana.

New York Girl Attacked by Coyote in 2nd Strike in 4 Days

Predator Xtreme:

A coyote has attacked a 3-year-old girl playing in her backyard in suburban New York, the second coyote attack on a child in the same suburb within four days…

The latest attack occurred as Rye Police Commissioner William Connors was addressing a group of residents about the last coyote attack.

The previous attack was on a 6-year-old girl playing in her front yard about a mile and a half away from this girl’s home, which is located behind the Rye Nature Center.

The Rye Nature Center has a note on their home page about the attacks which includes:

Proper precautionary measures and responsive behaviors should be reviewed with all family members and caregivers. A few suggestions include:

• Using noise, light and aggressive behavior to scare the animals which are naturally timid.
• Remove all potential food sources by securing garbage and compost, not feeding pets outdoors and keeping bird feeding areas clean.

Alaska:

A man and woman reported that they were hiking Friday evening when the bear emerged from trailside brush and charged the woman, park spokeswoman Kris Fister said in a statement.

The man fired nine rounds from his .45 caliber, semiautomatic pistol at the animal, which then stopped and walked into the brush.

The bear was found dead about 100 feet from the location of the shooting. Park officials are looking into the justification for the shooting.

Best comment on the story:

If you want to see animals but can’t resist the impulse to shoot, go look at them at the zoo.

Spitting cobras track first, predict later

So spitting cobras defend themselves by initially tracking an aggressor’s movements. However, at the instant that an attacker triggers the cobra into spitting, the reptile switches to predicting where the attacker’s eyes will be 200 ms in the future and aims there to be sure that it hits its target.

Always wear eye protection:

A military working dog wears his Doggles, his assigned Personal Protective Equipment to protect his eyes, as a Chinook Helicopter takes off, kicking up dust and debris, during an Air Assault operation Soldiers of Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 172nd Cavalry Regiment, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, conducted, May 11. The Soldiers visited a remote village in the Parwan province to conduct a key leader engagement with village elders.

Doggles are available in a variety of styles.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry shoots coyote that threatened his dog

Perry told The Associated Press on Tuesday he needed just one shot from the laser-sighted pistol he sometimes carries while jogging to take down a coyote that menaced his puppy during a February run near Austin.

Perry said he will carry his .380 Ruger — loaded with hollow-point bullets — when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. He’d also seen coyotes in the undeveloped area.

Jim Shepard’s editorial in today’s Outdoor Wire concerns tomorrow’s Nonnative Pet Amnesty Day at Miami’s MetroZoo:

“Our main purpose is to give pet owners an alternative to releasing nonnative animals into the wild,” says Jenny Tinnell, FWC biologist. “It’s illegal to release a nonnative animal into the wild in Florida, and it could be detrimental for the animal and the environment.”

People can come to the zoo and surrender exotic pets they can no longer care for, free of charge, with no questions asked.

“A licensed veterinarian will examine all surrendered pats,” says Tinnell, “if they appear healthy, we’ll try to place them with willing qualified, adopters.”

I’ve posted on invasive species before, particularly iguanas and boas.

Every time I do, I get all sorts of commentary and email from iguana and boa owners who think I should be shot (literally) for suggesting that invasive species in Florida be hunted. They seem to have trouble getting their little minds around the idea that I’m not talking about family pets but feral animals that little-minded people have put into an environment where they aren’t welcome.

This “amnesty” program, which has a number of dates in a number of cities throughout Florida is great way for people to get rid of pets that they don’t want without doing more harm to the environment. Between this program and some generous hunting allowances, maybe the invasive animal situation could be brought back under control.