October 21, 2024 • 22 mins
This week, Cal covers a squirrel contest gone wrong, a bear that treed a hunter, and why raccoons make poor houseguests.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Kalaan. Here's Cal,
a Washington State woman just outside of Seattle, was forced
to call the police and flee in her car last
week after her home was surrounded by as many as
one hundred raccoons. In a video posted on Facebook by
(00:32):
the Kitsup County Sheriff's Office, the masked bandits can be
seen meandering around her yard searching for food. Here, she
is explaining to deputies that even though she's been feeding
the animals for a long time, the raccoon flash mob
is a recent development.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So thirty five years ago you first started fiends raccoons,
and then when all of a sudden did it explode
like this six weeks ago. Six weeks ago many of
you sent me this story. I understand and why the
video is crazy if you haven't watched it yet. And
I can honestly say I've never seen so many live
raccoons in one place. They seem peaceful enough, but there
(01:09):
are dozens of them, and after all, they wear masks.
The story has gone viral, but there have been some
developments since it was in the news first, the sheriff's
office and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife determined
that the woman hasn't broken any laws. While the wildlife
agency strongly recommends against feeding raccoons, there isn't a lot
in the books that prohibits it. That's probably because most
(01:32):
people don't want raccoons around and they have the good
sense not to attract them onto their property. Side note,
a group of raccoons is not called a flash mob.
It's called a gaze, which is kind of creepy but
makes sense if you've ever shown a flashlight on a
bunch of raccoons in a tree at night. Happy Halloween, everyone.
(01:54):
A spokesperson with the Wildlife department said that they've referred
the woman to a wildlife control operator in her area
and they're working on trapping the critters. State REGs say
the animals either have to be released on site, which
would defeat the purpose of the trapping, or euthanized and
disposed of. In other words, it's not looking good for
these trash pandas this is usually how it goes. Despite
(02:16):
our best intentions, feeding animals and attracting them to human
civilization almost never works out. Well for the animals. Last
thing I'll say about this story. The woman who is
feeding the raccoons hasn't been named, and she claims that
even though she's been putting out food for thirty five years,
the problem only started escalating six weeks ago. The sheriff's
office seems to believe her, because a spokesperson told People
(02:38):
magazine that quote. Somehow the word got out in raccoon land.
Maybe it's just me, but that strikes me as a
little fishy unless all the other neighbors finally locked up
their trash piles. Although it's kind of funny to think
of out of work raccoons griping about inflation and the
economy marching their way up the ladies driveway, question remains,
(02:59):
would you wrap have a raccoon lady or a cat
lady as a neighbor. A group of cats is called
a glaring By the way, if you like that one,
here's a few more for you. Better perk up those ears.
For metior to trivia, if the groups of animal card
ever gets played, A group of tigers is a streak,
A group of bears is a sloth, hippos a bloat.
(03:23):
Leopards You say why that's a leap crocodiles. Now you're
asking about a group of crocodiles, Well, that would depend
if they're in the water or on land. A group
of crocodiles on land is called a bask like basking
in the sun. If they're in the water, they're called
a float. If you know any catchy ones, let us know,
but don't bore us with a zeal, which is obviously
(03:46):
a group of zebras. This week we've got politics, conservation,
bear trees, legislation, and so much more of it. First,
I'm gonna tell you about my week in My week
was spent down at the end of the world Venice, Louisiana.
We just wrapped up a collective three weeks of hosting
(04:06):
our first round of meat eater experiences and it was great,
awesome folks, great fishing, way too much food, and despite
the horrible hurricanes that repeatedly battered Florida, we managed to
hit the gap as well as we could weatherwise. A
little wind and rain on the front end and it
started all over again. The night we put the rods away,
got red and black drum trout chiefs had a five
(04:28):
foot long alligator gar black fin tuna jackravall and some
really nice yellowfin tuna, in fact, the biggest yellowfin I
have ever seen in person. We managed to boat three
each over one hundred and fifty pounds and that's gild
and gutted weight on the scale, folks. Really impressive fish,
just super super cool, and that was like top water action.
(04:52):
We were bridling live baits and fish were coming up
from two hundred feet water to the surface and just
smashing them. Really really fun. Great group of guys, great time.
I can't wait to get back down there. Awesome group
of captains too, super fun. I could talk about it
all day. The alligator guar was an awesome catch as well,
(05:12):
something I've wanted to do for a long time. That
was just like bycatch and a little paddle tail jig,
just like you'd use for throwing a walleye out on
the river here in Montana. But now back in town.
Gotta get snored on some birds and got to slap
a tag on a big old bull elk here too.
Time to get serious with the backpack. Back on, kids.
A little bit of housekeeping for you. I have been
(05:35):
getting some good submissions on your Field Journal Game Bird
Survey homework. I'm still gonna give away some cow pouches
from the FAHF line and a final rise vest just
like the one I carry to the winner that we're
gonna randomly select. As I said, October thirty one is
going to be like the do date. So this is
(05:57):
your last week if you're listening to this to participate
Citizen science gang, get in, get on board, make it happen.
So send us those submissions and we'll randomly pick a
couple of you. Make sure you get some good bird
hunting stuff for participating in your game bird surveys and
field journals. On top of that, if you want to
(06:18):
hear much more about the whole Louisiana experience, we got
Meat Eater podcast coming out. You'll be able to dig
into that. The tailgate tour is still going on, so
be able to catch a bunch of my buddies down
at some of these college games. Look that one up
to see where the Meat Eater tailgate Tour is coming next.
(06:38):
You can go add a little excitement to your day
of non hunting, angling and watching football. Lastly, just a reminder,
this is voting season. Be sure to get out there
and vote. We got more of that talk coming up
in this podcast. But this is how we hold our
elected officials accountable more and more. Even in my home
(07:02):
state of Montana, folks don't vote for the individual, They
vote for the party line. If that's your prerogative, you'd
just be sure that you stay on that elected official
and say, hey, this is the stuff that matters. This
is not a one and done type of responsibility being
a voter here in the US of A. We got
to stay on these folks and make sure that they
(07:24):
know that we are going to hold them accountable. That's
the job that being said, let's move on to the
politics desk. American politics never gets more heated than in
the weeks leading up to a presidential election, and based
on my conversations with some of you on social media
and elsewhere, I can verify that folks are getting feisty.
(07:45):
This is an important election, so I get it, and
I have my own opinions about the political animals in
our state and national capitals. But a recent survey caught
my eye that I think might help lower the temp,
at least among conservationists. The survey was commissioned by the
Indianapolis Zoological Society and found out a striking bipartisan agreement
about the importance of conserving wild animals and wild spaces.
(08:05):
They contacted over one thousand individuals throughout the US and
found that eighty seven percent say that when thinking about
the issues they will be voting on in the twenty
twenty four election, a candidate's commitment to animal and environmental
conservation is important in their decision. It's tough to think
of another issue that nearly nine and ten Americans support,
and the trend is moving in the right direction. The
(08:26):
same outfit asked the same questions in twenty twenty, and
in that year only eighty percent of people said that
the candidate's commitment to conservation is important, down seven percent
from this year. What's more, Republican support for this issue
has grown even more sharply. In twenty twenty, only sixty
eight percent of Republicans wanted a conservation minded candidate, while
(08:47):
this year that number is eighty two percent, a fourteen
point bump. Everyone should understand by now that surveys and
polls can be manipulated to say pretty much anything, but
this isn't a one off. Twenty twenty one survey by
the Progressive Group Data for Progress found that ninety one
percent of voters think it is important to save at
risk wildlife, fish and plants for future generations, and that
(09:11):
majorities from all parties support the Recovering America's Wildlife Act.
Republicans are more likely to say that local collaboration is
the best way to do this, but everyone agrees it
should be a priority. A twenty seventeen pole commissioned by
the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership TRCP surveyed one thousand hunters
and anglers and found strong bipartisan support for public land
(09:32):
and conservation eighty seven percent so they didn't want to
see cuts to federal conservation budgets four and five support
the Clean Water Act, and over seventy seven percent of
Republicans and Democrats don't want to see national monument shrunk
as long as they offer hunting and fishing. I could
go on, but I think our interactions with friends and
family bears this out. We have incredible natural and ecological
(09:54):
richness in our country, and everyone wants to conserve that
for future generations. We may disagree on how to do it,
and you may think one party or candidate will do
it better than the other. But when you meet someone
on the street at deer camp on Instagram, remember that
when it comes to conservation topics, you probably agree on
more than you think. Moving on to the squirrel desk,
(10:18):
the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish found itself
in some hot water last week after it announced and
then abruptly canceled a squirrel hunting contest. Spokespeople for the
department said the contest was supposed to spark interest in
small game hunting among young New Mexico hunters. Big game
gets all the attention, but the agency wanted to highlight
the many opportunities for animals like tree squirrels, which are
(10:39):
both delicious and fun to hunt, so they announced a
contest in which hunters and photographers would be given a
challenge coin for harvesting or photographing each of the state's
four tree squirrel species, the Aberts, fox, gray, and red.
But it didn't take long for animal rights activists to
get involved. It's unclear exactly how they made their feelings known,
(10:59):
but the contest was canceled within forty eight hours due
to quote misperception regarding the opportunities intent. Reading between the lines,
it sounds like uninformed people believe that contestants would be
tasked with killing as many squirrels as possible. That's not true,
because New Mexico sets season dates along with possession and
bag limits. Hunters would still have to abide by all
(11:21):
the rules they do now. But that didn't matter to
the anti hunters. They complained and the agency folded like
a cheap tent. That might be unfair. I don't know
all the details of this, but it seems like if
there was a misperception about the contest, the New Mexico
Department of Game and Fish should have worked to correct
those misperceptions, not called the whole thing off. Their decision
(11:44):
makes it seem like they were doing something wrong, but
they weren't. I understand that putting the word contest or
challenge next to hunting makes some people uncomfortable, but this
seems like would have blown over almost immediately. Most people
are reasonable and they'd understand that this contest isn't about
the wholesales s lilofe of New Mexico's squirrels. Instead, New
Mexican hunters lost out on an opportunity, and now the
(12:05):
anti hunters know they can use public pressure to dictate
Wildlife Department decisions. The good news is that contesters know
there are still tons of opportunities to hunt tree squirrels.
In the Land of Enchantment. Squirrel hunting is allowed on
any big game license. The season runs from September one
to December thirty one, and hunters are allowed eight per day.
(12:27):
Moving on to the legislative desk. Legislation is part of
the reason the hunting community has paid attention to that
squirrel story is because it's another sign that hunting contests
are under attack. For example, listener Jonathan Slessinger wrote in
(12:49):
to tell me about an Illinois bill that would ban
contests or competitions with the objective of taking any fur
bearing mammal, Much like similar bills passed in other states,
Illinois HB two nine zeros zero would ban anyone from
organizing or participating in so called wildlife killing contests. This
is mainly targeted at coyote hunting contests, and it's been
(13:09):
one of the most effective campaigns by anti hunting groups.
Ten states have passed similar bills, and several of them
have been in the last few years. This one in
Illinois passed the state House on a sixty two to
forty five vote, and now it's being considered by the
state Senate. Up in Minnesota, voters will have a chance
to renew a policy that requires forty percent of the
(13:30):
proceeds from the state's lottery to go to environmental and
natural resource projects. Voters first put the policy in place
in nineteen eighty eight, and since then, the lottery has
generated one point one billion dollars to fund about seventeen
hundred projects. These include everything from research on drinking water
and air quality, to building trails and campsites to supporting
the loon population. Money from the fund has been used
(13:52):
to protect the state's lakes and rivers from invasive species,
help kids cannoe the boundary waters, and build peers to
allow more people to fish. The fund is brought by
partisan support, but it still needs to be renewed when
voters go to the polls this year. It's hard to
imagine someone voting against this policy if they'd understand what
it does. But I can't imagine someone voting no if
they see it for the first time on a ballot
(14:14):
and it hasn't been explained to them. If the ballot
measure fails, one hundred percent of the money from the
lottery will go to the general fund, and state legislators
will have the power to distribute it however they see fit.
Judging from how readily politicians raid out or funds in
other states, I wouldn't want to trust them to make
the decision big Thanks to listener Josh Ringsmouth for sending
us that story. Moving over to the Garden State, a
(14:38):
bad bill we covered all the way back in episode
one sixty has resurfaced. Thanks to listener Matthew Knoblock for
making us aware of this. A new Jersey bill, A
one four zero four, would make two changes to the
law that could make hunting much more difficult. First, it
would prohibit bow hunters from having a knocked arrow within
four hundred and fifty feet of any occupied building unless
(15:00):
the bow hunter has written permission from the owner or
lease of the building. You can see how this can
make hunting more difficult in a suburban setting or even
along the border of a rural property. There also doesn't
seem to be any justification for the change. The legislator
who introduced it, assembly Woman Shama Hater, hasn't identified any
instances of a bow hunter injuring or killing anything because
(15:23):
they were too close to a building. Rather than solving
an actual problem, this bill looks more like an attempt
to make it harder for hunters to be successful. That
also seems to be the motivation behind the other new
component of the bill. A one four zero four would
require the owner of a property to provide a written
notice to all their neighbors whenever they plan to hunt
the property. The notice must include that date, time, and
(15:45):
duration of the hunt, which tells me this bill was
written by someone who's never set foot in the woods.
I don't know about you, but I've never been able
to predict how long my hunts will last. Property owners
must receive written confirmation from each neighbor that they've received notice,
which is just impossible gang, and they have to provide
notice at least twenty four hours prior to hunting. The
(16:06):
bill technically doesn't require the neighbors to grant permission, but
they could easily keep a property owner from hunting by
not sending a written confirmation. Again, this seems like a
solution in search of a problem, not to mention a
gross violation of private property rights. If someone owns a
peaceful land and they follow all other hunting laws to
stay safe and legal. They shouldn't have to notify their
(16:27):
neighbors every time they planned to go hunting. This bill
didn't even get a committee vote when it was introduced
in twenty twenty two, and I think we can all
hope for the same outcome this year. Either way, be
on the lookout. Moving from the state to the national level,
I'm pleased to report that, for the first time ever,
the United States House of Representatives will consider a comprehensive
(16:48):
piece of legislation aimed at conserving our country's vital grassland ecosystems.
A bipartisan group of representatives announced last week their intention
to file the North American Grasslands Conservation Act. The Grassland
Act is modeled after the wildly successful North American Wetlands
Conservation Act, which was first passed in nineteen eighty nine.
The Grasslands Act would essentially create a fund that landowners
(17:09):
and conservation groups can tap into to do vital grassland
conservation work for one of our country's most imperiled ecosystems.
And I don't use the word imperiled. Lightly more than
seventy percent of America's tall grass mixed grass and short
grass prairies have vanished in the last century or so.
That's stuff that you just can't really replace. Gang. That's
(17:30):
been followed by the precipitous decline of grassland bird populations,
which have dropped by more than thirty percent since nineteen
sixty six. Elk and muldeer also rely on grasslands, not
to mention the dozens of non game species that live there.
We're talking anything from antelope to pollinators gang. This is
a critical ecosystem and it is literally dying on our watch.
(17:53):
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act is a great step
in the right direction, and it's going to take a
lot of effort to get this one across the finish line. Now,
the Grasslands Act should sound familiar to regular listeners of
Cal's Weeken Review. The concept of Grasslands Act was first
introduced in the US Senate in twenty twenty two, and
we've covered it several times since, but it failed to
gain much traction, and part of that was due to
(18:16):
the fact that it didn't have any Republican co sponsors.
This new US House version was introduced by two Democrats
and two Republicans, and advocates say it makes some key
changes that might help it gain steam once the new
Congress convenes next year. The text of the bill hasn't
been released, but the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership reports that
the House bill aligns it more closely with Wetland Conservation Act,
(18:37):
improves tribal provisions, and is generally more bipartisan. One of
those changes may not come as welcome news to grassland conservationists,
but it might be necessary if we want it to
pass a closely divided Congress. Outdoor Life reports that the
Senate version of the bill would authorize up to two
hundred and ninety million per year for grasslands conservation grants,
while this new version would only authorize sixty million dollars
(18:59):
in annually. It's a lot less money, but advocates hope
that's just a starting point and the cap might be
raised in future years. Keep in mind, this is money
for public and private land. There's a ton of cash
here for private landowners. Sixty million in't much to spread
around for now. The bill will head to the House
(19:19):
Natural Resources Committee for consideration, amendments, and hearings, but those
hearings aren't likely to happen until next year, so you
have plenty of time to get in touch with the
committee members to voice your support. We'll post contact info
over at the meat eater dot com forward slash cat
if you want to get ahead of that. That's Naturalresources
dot house dot gov forward slash contact. Moving on to
(19:42):
the bear attack Desk, yet another hunter shot and killed
the grizzly bear last week, this time after escaping the
bear's pause by climbing a tree. Montana Fish, Wildlife and
Parks reports the hunter called nine to one one from
his perch just after two pm on Saturday, October fifth.
The man said he'd been charged by a bear with
two cubs and and so he'd climbed a tree. From there,
he used a pistol to shoot the female grizzly, but
(20:04):
he only managed to injure it. Apparently seeking revenge, the
brewin hung out around the tree and prevented the hunter
from climbing down, so he called search and rescue, and
an FWP grizzly specialist was able to helicopter into the
area and kill the bear before the hunter sustained any injuries.
Because grizzlies are still protected under the Endangered Species Act,
this incident is under investigation by the US Fish and
(20:24):
Wildlife Service. Right now, there's nothing to indicate that the
hunter is lying, but there are a few discrepancies. First,
Montana FWP said that the hunter shot the bear after
climbing the tree, but the Gallatin County Sheriff's office said
the hunter shot the bear and then scrambled up the tree.
This could just be the result of a bad note
taking situation, but it could also be an inconsistency of
(20:45):
the hunter's story. Another potential inconsistency is whether the grizz
had cubs with her. The hunter claimed he was charged
by all three bears, but a Montana FWP spokesperson said
FWP staff did not see any cubs or cub tracks
in the area after flying over it several times. Maybe
agency officials just missed the signs, but it's another discrepancy
(21:05):
federal investigators will have to work out in the meantime.
I've been interested enough to click through a new online
grizzly bear mortality dashboard published by Montana f TOBP. Grizzly
deaths are tracked closely by the US Fish and Wildlife
Service and state agencies, but you'd be surprised how hard
it can be to find the data. Most grizzly attacks
get coverage in the media, but you don't always hear
(21:27):
about livestock depredation, kills, vehicle accidents in other ways that
grizzlies end up dead. To increase transparency, Montana f TOBP
now publishes some of that info in a simple online dashboard.
There have been twenty four recorded grizzly mortalities in Montana
this year, eight of which have been due to conflict removal.
That's the most common reason, followed by defensive life with
(21:48):
four incidents, and mistaken identification with three. Two grizzlies have
been killed by cars or trains, two were killed illegally,
and two incidents from earlier this year remain under investigation.
One bear was youth and ie because it was injured
or sick, and two more removed alive. The bears were
almost evenly split among males and females, thirteen male eleven female.
(22:09):
I want to emphasize that these aren't all the grizzlies
that have died so far this year. These are just
the ones that have involved humans and have been reported,
so it makes sense that conflict removal would be the
most common cause listed here. If you want to check
it out for yourself, we'll post a link over at
themeatbeater dot com forward slash cow. That's all I've got
for you this week. Thank you so much for listening.
(22:31):
Remember devote public lands, waters and wildlife. You know why
I will. Thanks again. We'll talk to you next week.
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Kalaan. Here's Cal,
a Washington State woman just outside of Seattle, was forced
to call the police and flee in her car last
week after her home was surrounded by as many as
one hundred raccoons. In a video posted on Facebook by
(00:32):
the Kitsup County Sheriff's Office, the masked bandits can be
seen meandering around her yard searching for food. Here, she
is explaining to deputies that even though she's been feeding
the animals for a long time, the raccoon flash mob
is a recent development.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
So thirty five years ago you first started fiends raccoons,
and then when all of a sudden did it explode
like this six weeks ago. Six weeks ago many of
you sent me this story. I understand and why the
video is crazy if you haven't watched it yet. And
I can honestly say I've never seen so many live
raccoons in one place. They seem peaceful enough, but there
(01:09):
are dozens of them, and after all, they wear masks.
The story has gone viral, but there have been some
developments since it was in the news first, the sheriff's
office and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife determined
that the woman hasn't broken any laws. While the wildlife
agency strongly recommends against feeding raccoons, there isn't a lot
in the books that prohibits it. That's probably because most
(01:32):
people don't want raccoons around and they have the good
sense not to attract them onto their property. Side note,
a group of raccoons is not called a flash mob.
It's called a gaze, which is kind of creepy but
makes sense if you've ever shown a flashlight on a
bunch of raccoons in a tree at night. Happy Halloween, everyone.
(01:54):
A spokesperson with the Wildlife department said that they've referred
the woman to a wildlife control operator in her area
and they're working on trapping the critters. State REGs say
the animals either have to be released on site, which
would defeat the purpose of the trapping, or euthanized and
disposed of. In other words, it's not looking good for
these trash pandas this is usually how it goes. Despite
(02:16):
our best intentions, feeding animals and attracting them to human
civilization almost never works out. Well for the animals. Last
thing I'll say about this story. The woman who is
feeding the raccoons hasn't been named, and she claims that
even though she's been putting out food for thirty five years,
the problem only started escalating six weeks ago. The sheriff's
office seems to believe her, because a spokesperson told People
(02:38):
magazine that quote. Somehow the word got out in raccoon land.
Maybe it's just me, but that strikes me as a
little fishy unless all the other neighbors finally locked up
their trash piles. Although it's kind of funny to think
of out of work raccoons griping about inflation and the
economy marching their way up the ladies driveway, question remains,
(02:59):
would you wrap have a raccoon lady or a cat
lady as a neighbor. A group of cats is called
a glaring By the way, if you like that one,
here's a few more for you. Better perk up those ears.
For metior to trivia, if the groups of animal card
ever gets played, A group of tigers is a streak,
A group of bears is a sloth, hippos a bloat.
(03:23):
Leopards You say why that's a leap crocodiles. Now you're
asking about a group of crocodiles, Well, that would depend
if they're in the water or on land. A group
of crocodiles on land is called a bask like basking
in the sun. If they're in the water, they're called
a float. If you know any catchy ones, let us know,
but don't bore us with a zeal, which is obviously
(03:46):
a group of zebras. This week we've got politics, conservation,
bear trees, legislation, and so much more of it. First,
I'm gonna tell you about my week in My week
was spent down at the end of the world Venice, Louisiana.
We just wrapped up a collective three weeks of hosting
(04:06):
our first round of meat eater experiences and it was great,
awesome folks, great fishing, way too much food, and despite
the horrible hurricanes that repeatedly battered Florida, we managed to
hit the gap as well as we could weatherwise. A
little wind and rain on the front end and it
started all over again. The night we put the rods away,
got red and black drum trout chiefs had a five
(04:28):
foot long alligator gar black fin tuna jackravall and some
really nice yellowfin tuna, in fact, the biggest yellowfin I
have ever seen in person. We managed to boat three
each over one hundred and fifty pounds and that's gild
and gutted weight on the scale, folks. Really impressive fish,
just super super cool, and that was like top water action.
(04:52):
We were bridling live baits and fish were coming up
from two hundred feet water to the surface and just
smashing them. Really really fun. Great group of guys, great time.
I can't wait to get back down there. Awesome group
of captains too, super fun. I could talk about it
all day. The alligator guar was an awesome catch as well,
(05:12):
something I've wanted to do for a long time. That
was just like bycatch and a little paddle tail jig,
just like you'd use for throwing a walleye out on
the river here in Montana. But now back in town.
Gotta get snored on some birds and got to slap
a tag on a big old bull elk here too.
Time to get serious with the backpack. Back on, kids.
A little bit of housekeeping for you. I have been
(05:35):
getting some good submissions on your Field Journal Game Bird
Survey homework. I'm still gonna give away some cow pouches
from the FAHF line and a final rise vest just
like the one I carry to the winner that we're
gonna randomly select. As I said, October thirty one is
going to be like the do date. So this is
(05:57):
your last week if you're listening to this to participate
Citizen science gang, get in, get on board, make it happen.
So send us those submissions and we'll randomly pick a
couple of you. Make sure you get some good bird
hunting stuff for participating in your game bird surveys and
field journals. On top of that, if you want to
(06:18):
hear much more about the whole Louisiana experience, we got
Meat Eater podcast coming out. You'll be able to dig
into that. The tailgate tour is still going on, so
be able to catch a bunch of my buddies down
at some of these college games. Look that one up
to see where the Meat Eater tailgate Tour is coming next.
(06:38):
You can go add a little excitement to your day
of non hunting, angling and watching football. Lastly, just a reminder,
this is voting season. Be sure to get out there
and vote. We got more of that talk coming up
in this podcast. But this is how we hold our
elected officials accountable more and more. Even in my home
(07:02):
state of Montana, folks don't vote for the individual, They
vote for the party line. If that's your prerogative, you'd
just be sure that you stay on that elected official
and say, hey, this is the stuff that matters. This
is not a one and done type of responsibility being
a voter here in the US of A. We got
to stay on these folks and make sure that they
(07:24):
know that we are going to hold them accountable. That's
the job that being said, let's move on to the
politics desk. American politics never gets more heated than in
the weeks leading up to a presidential election, and based
on my conversations with some of you on social media
and elsewhere, I can verify that folks are getting feisty.
(07:45):
This is an important election, so I get it, and
I have my own opinions about the political animals in
our state and national capitals. But a recent survey caught
my eye that I think might help lower the temp,
at least among conservationists. The survey was commissioned by the
Indianapolis Zoological Society and found out a striking bipartisan agreement
about the importance of conserving wild animals and wild spaces.
(08:05):
They contacted over one thousand individuals throughout the US and
found that eighty seven percent say that when thinking about
the issues they will be voting on in the twenty
twenty four election, a candidate's commitment to animal and environmental
conservation is important in their decision. It's tough to think
of another issue that nearly nine and ten Americans support,
and the trend is moving in the right direction. The
(08:26):
same outfit asked the same questions in twenty twenty, and
in that year only eighty percent of people said that
the candidate's commitment to conservation is important, down seven percent
from this year. What's more, Republican support for this issue
has grown even more sharply. In twenty twenty, only sixty
eight percent of Republicans wanted a conservation minded candidate, while
(08:47):
this year that number is eighty two percent, a fourteen
point bump. Everyone should understand by now that surveys and
polls can be manipulated to say pretty much anything, but
this isn't a one off. Twenty twenty one survey by
the Progressive Group Data for Progress found that ninety one
percent of voters think it is important to save at
risk wildlife, fish and plants for future generations, and that
(09:11):
majorities from all parties support the Recovering America's Wildlife Act.
Republicans are more likely to say that local collaboration is
the best way to do this, but everyone agrees it
should be a priority. A twenty seventeen pole commissioned by
the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership TRCP surveyed one thousand hunters
and anglers and found strong bipartisan support for public land
(09:32):
and conservation eighty seven percent so they didn't want to
see cuts to federal conservation budgets four and five support
the Clean Water Act, and over seventy seven percent of
Republicans and Democrats don't want to see national monument shrunk
as long as they offer hunting and fishing. I could
go on, but I think our interactions with friends and
family bears this out. We have incredible natural and ecological
(09:54):
richness in our country, and everyone wants to conserve that
for future generations. We may disagree on how to do it,
and you may think one party or candidate will do
it better than the other. But when you meet someone
on the street at deer camp on Instagram, remember that
when it comes to conservation topics, you probably agree on
more than you think. Moving on to the squirrel desk,
(10:18):
the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish found itself
in some hot water last week after it announced and
then abruptly canceled a squirrel hunting contest. Spokespeople for the
department said the contest was supposed to spark interest in
small game hunting among young New Mexico hunters. Big game
gets all the attention, but the agency wanted to highlight
the many opportunities for animals like tree squirrels, which are
(10:39):
both delicious and fun to hunt, so they announced a
contest in which hunters and photographers would be given a
challenge coin for harvesting or photographing each of the state's
four tree squirrel species, the Aberts, fox, gray, and red.
But it didn't take long for animal rights activists to
get involved. It's unclear exactly how they made their feelings known,
(10:59):
but the contest was canceled within forty eight hours due
to quote misperception regarding the opportunities intent. Reading between the lines,
it sounds like uninformed people believe that contestants would be
tasked with killing as many squirrels as possible. That's not true,
because New Mexico sets season dates along with possession and
bag limits. Hunters would still have to abide by all
(11:21):
the rules they do now. But that didn't matter to
the anti hunters. They complained and the agency folded like
a cheap tent. That might be unfair. I don't know
all the details of this, but it seems like if
there was a misperception about the contest, the New Mexico
Department of Game and Fish should have worked to correct
those misperceptions, not called the whole thing off. Their decision
(11:44):
makes it seem like they were doing something wrong, but
they weren't. I understand that putting the word contest or
challenge next to hunting makes some people uncomfortable, but this
seems like would have blown over almost immediately. Most people
are reasonable and they'd understand that this contest isn't about
the wholesales s lilofe of New Mexico's squirrels. Instead, New
Mexican hunters lost out on an opportunity, and now the
(12:05):
anti hunters know they can use public pressure to dictate
Wildlife Department decisions. The good news is that contesters know
there are still tons of opportunities to hunt tree squirrels.
In the Land of Enchantment. Squirrel hunting is allowed on
any big game license. The season runs from September one
to December thirty one, and hunters are allowed eight per day.
(12:27):
Moving on to the legislative desk. Legislation is part of
the reason the hunting community has paid attention to that
squirrel story is because it's another sign that hunting contests
are under attack. For example, listener Jonathan Slessinger wrote in
(12:49):
to tell me about an Illinois bill that would ban
contests or competitions with the objective of taking any fur
bearing mammal, Much like similar bills passed in other states,
Illinois HB two nine zeros zero would ban anyone from
organizing or participating in so called wildlife killing contests. This
is mainly targeted at coyote hunting contests, and it's been
(13:09):
one of the most effective campaigns by anti hunting groups.
Ten states have passed similar bills, and several of them
have been in the last few years. This one in
Illinois passed the state House on a sixty two to
forty five vote, and now it's being considered by the
state Senate. Up in Minnesota, voters will have a chance
to renew a policy that requires forty percent of the
(13:30):
proceeds from the state's lottery to go to environmental and
natural resource projects. Voters first put the policy in place
in nineteen eighty eight, and since then, the lottery has
generated one point one billion dollars to fund about seventeen
hundred projects. These include everything from research on drinking water
and air quality, to building trails and campsites to supporting
the loon population. Money from the fund has been used
(13:52):
to protect the state's lakes and rivers from invasive species,
help kids cannoe the boundary waters, and build peers to
allow more people to fish. The fund is brought by
partisan support, but it still needs to be renewed when
voters go to the polls this year. It's hard to
imagine someone voting against this policy if they'd understand what
it does. But I can't imagine someone voting no if
they see it for the first time on a ballot
(14:14):
and it hasn't been explained to them. If the ballot
measure fails, one hundred percent of the money from the
lottery will go to the general fund, and state legislators
will have the power to distribute it however they see fit.
Judging from how readily politicians raid out or funds in
other states, I wouldn't want to trust them to make
the decision big Thanks to listener Josh Ringsmouth for sending
us that story. Moving over to the Garden State, a
(14:38):
bad bill we covered all the way back in episode
one sixty has resurfaced. Thanks to listener Matthew Knoblock for
making us aware of this. A new Jersey bill, A
one four zero four, would make two changes to the
law that could make hunting much more difficult. First, it
would prohibit bow hunters from having a knocked arrow within
four hundred and fifty feet of any occupied building unless
(15:00):
the bow hunter has written permission from the owner or
lease of the building. You can see how this can
make hunting more difficult in a suburban setting or even
along the border of a rural property. There also doesn't
seem to be any justification for the change. The legislator
who introduced it, assembly Woman Shama Hater, hasn't identified any
instances of a bow hunter injuring or killing anything because
(15:23):
they were too close to a building. Rather than solving
an actual problem, this bill looks more like an attempt
to make it harder for hunters to be successful. That
also seems to be the motivation behind the other new
component of the bill. A one four zero four would
require the owner of a property to provide a written
notice to all their neighbors whenever they plan to hunt
the property. The notice must include that date, time, and
(15:45):
duration of the hunt, which tells me this bill was
written by someone who's never set foot in the woods.
I don't know about you, but I've never been able
to predict how long my hunts will last. Property owners
must receive written confirmation from each neighbor that they've received notice,
which is just impossible gang, and they have to provide
notice at least twenty four hours prior to hunting. The
(16:06):
bill technically doesn't require the neighbors to grant permission, but
they could easily keep a property owner from hunting by
not sending a written confirmation. Again, this seems like a
solution in search of a problem, not to mention a
gross violation of private property rights. If someone owns a
peaceful land and they follow all other hunting laws to
stay safe and legal. They shouldn't have to notify their
(16:27):
neighbors every time they planned to go hunting. This bill
didn't even get a committee vote when it was introduced
in twenty twenty two, and I think we can all
hope for the same outcome this year. Either way, be
on the lookout. Moving from the state to the national level,
I'm pleased to report that, for the first time ever,
the United States House of Representatives will consider a comprehensive
(16:48):
piece of legislation aimed at conserving our country's vital grassland ecosystems.
A bipartisan group of representatives announced last week their intention
to file the North American Grasslands Conservation Act. The Grassland
Act is modeled after the wildly successful North American Wetlands
Conservation Act, which was first passed in nineteen eighty nine.
The Grasslands Act would essentially create a fund that landowners
(17:09):
and conservation groups can tap into to do vital grassland
conservation work for one of our country's most imperiled ecosystems.
And I don't use the word imperiled. Lightly more than
seventy percent of America's tall grass mixed grass and short
grass prairies have vanished in the last century or so.
That's stuff that you just can't really replace. Gang. That's
(17:30):
been followed by the precipitous decline of grassland bird populations,
which have dropped by more than thirty percent since nineteen
sixty six. Elk and muldeer also rely on grasslands, not
to mention the dozens of non game species that live there.
We're talking anything from antelope to pollinators gang. This is
a critical ecosystem and it is literally dying on our watch.
(17:53):
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act is a great step
in the right direction, and it's going to take a
lot of effort to get this one across the finish line. Now,
the Grasslands Act should sound familiar to regular listeners of
Cal's Weeken Review. The concept of Grasslands Act was first
introduced in the US Senate in twenty twenty two, and
we've covered it several times since, but it failed to
gain much traction, and part of that was due to
(18:16):
the fact that it didn't have any Republican co sponsors.
This new US House version was introduced by two Democrats
and two Republicans, and advocates say it makes some key
changes that might help it gain steam once the new
Congress convenes next year. The text of the bill hasn't
been released, but the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership reports that
the House bill aligns it more closely with Wetland Conservation Act,
(18:37):
improves tribal provisions, and is generally more bipartisan. One of
those changes may not come as welcome news to grassland conservationists,
but it might be necessary if we want it to
pass a closely divided Congress. Outdoor Life reports that the
Senate version of the bill would authorize up to two
hundred and ninety million per year for grasslands conservation grants,
while this new version would only authorize sixty million dollars
(18:59):
in annually. It's a lot less money, but advocates hope
that's just a starting point and the cap might be
raised in future years. Keep in mind, this is money
for public and private land. There's a ton of cash
here for private landowners. Sixty million in't much to spread
around for now. The bill will head to the House
(19:19):
Natural Resources Committee for consideration, amendments, and hearings, but those
hearings aren't likely to happen until next year, so you
have plenty of time to get in touch with the
committee members to voice your support. We'll post contact info
over at the meat eater dot com forward slash cat
if you want to get ahead of that. That's Naturalresources
dot house dot gov forward slash contact. Moving on to
(19:42):
the bear attack Desk, yet another hunter shot and killed
the grizzly bear last week, this time after escaping the
bear's pause by climbing a tree. Montana Fish, Wildlife and
Parks reports the hunter called nine to one one from
his perch just after two pm on Saturday, October fifth.
The man said he'd been charged by a bear with
two cubs and and so he'd climbed a tree. From there,
he used a pistol to shoot the female grizzly, but
(20:04):
he only managed to injure it. Apparently seeking revenge, the
brewin hung out around the tree and prevented the hunter
from climbing down, so he called search and rescue, and
an FWP grizzly specialist was able to helicopter into the
area and kill the bear before the hunter sustained any injuries.
Because grizzlies are still protected under the Endangered Species Act,
this incident is under investigation by the US Fish and
(20:24):
Wildlife Service. Right now, there's nothing to indicate that the
hunter is lying, but there are a few discrepancies. First,
Montana FWP said that the hunter shot the bear after
climbing the tree, but the Gallatin County Sheriff's office said
the hunter shot the bear and then scrambled up the tree.
This could just be the result of a bad note
taking situation, but it could also be an inconsistency of
(20:45):
the hunter's story. Another potential inconsistency is whether the grizz
had cubs with her. The hunter claimed he was charged
by all three bears, but a Montana FWP spokesperson said
FWP staff did not see any cubs or cub tracks
in the area after flying over it several times. Maybe
agency officials just missed the signs, but it's another discrepancy
(21:05):
federal investigators will have to work out in the meantime.
I've been interested enough to click through a new online
grizzly bear mortality dashboard published by Montana f TOBP. Grizzly
deaths are tracked closely by the US Fish and Wildlife
Service and state agencies, but you'd be surprised how hard
it can be to find the data. Most grizzly attacks
get coverage in the media, but you don't always hear
(21:27):
about livestock depredation, kills, vehicle accidents in other ways that
grizzlies end up dead. To increase transparency, Montana f TOBP
now publishes some of that info in a simple online dashboard.
There have been twenty four recorded grizzly mortalities in Montana
this year, eight of which have been due to conflict removal.
That's the most common reason, followed by defensive life with
(21:48):
four incidents, and mistaken identification with three. Two grizzlies have
been killed by cars or trains, two were killed illegally,
and two incidents from earlier this year remain under investigation.
One bear was youth and ie because it was injured
or sick, and two more removed alive. The bears were
almost evenly split among males and females, thirteen male eleven female.
(22:09):
I want to emphasize that these aren't all the grizzlies
that have died so far this year. These are just
the ones that have involved humans and have been reported,
so it makes sense that conflict removal would be the
most common cause listed here. If you want to check
it out for yourself, we'll post a link over at
themeatbeater dot com forward slash cow. That's all I've got
for you this week. Thank you so much for listening.
(22:31):
Remember devote public lands, waters and wildlife. You know why
I will. Thanks again. We'll talk to you next week.
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