September 3, 2023 • 24 mins
This week Cal laments the season ahead, CWD Texas style, and what to pay attention to in upcoming legislation.
Connect with Cal and MeatEater
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube
Shop Cal's Week in Review Merch
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is
Cal's weekend review, presented by Steel. Steel products are available
only at authorized dealers. For more, go to Steel Dealers
dot com. Now here's your host, Ryan cal callahan.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Two thousand New Jersey residents lost power last week after
an osprey dropped a fish on a transformer. What appears
to be a man Hayden or bunka was instantly flash fried,
and local residents lost power for a few hours before
crews were able to restore it. A spokesperson for Jersey
Central Power and Light said that while animals can sometimes
(00:44):
cause power outages, fish are not on the list of
frequent offenders. They continued, quote, we also send our thoughts
to the osprey, because if you've ever dropped your ice
cream cone at the fair, you know the feeling. Not
to be outdone. The local police department post an image
of the fish on Facebook, covered with do not cross
police tape. They also included a sketch of the osprey,
(01:07):
which they labeled suspect. The caption read quote, today's power
outage was a major inconvenience for so many of our residents.
Please let us not forget the victim in this senseless death, Gilligan,
who will assume is what they named the fish, was
a hard working family man. He was a father two
thousands of children. The suspect was last seen flying south.
(01:28):
If you see him, do not try to apprehend him.
Although he isn't believed to be armed, he may still
be very dangerous. If you have any information in this case,
please contact Detective John Silver, who handles all of our
fish cases. That's a reference to long John Silvers for
those of you who aren't familiar with the fast seafood chain, I,
(01:50):
of all people, can appreciate a good animal joke and
a not so good joke too, For more credit that
I can dole out to these local agents. They did
skip the obvious Godfather references, being that they're in New Jersey.
Leave the gun. Take the canoli would have been my
caption of choice for the fish picture, or possibly sleeps
(02:14):
with the fishes like the offending osprey either missed a
meal or is delivering a message to someone at Jersey
Central Power and Light. Anyway, Glad to see at least
some of our public servants still have a sense of humor.
(02:35):
This week, we've got dogs gone wild black vultures, legislation,
and Texas. But first, I'm going to tell you about
my week. And my week well, things are ramping up.
My heart is breaking in at least two directions right now.
I've got doves flying over my head and elk screaming
in my dreams, a little yellow girl dog whose happiness
(02:58):
is my responsibility, and a desire to burn my lungs
on mountains and test my increasingly old back under the wet, hot,
dead elk weight. Responsibilities are tough, darnt it. This late
summertime frame is terrible on me. Every morning that seems
a degree or too cooler creates a high, A bit
(03:18):
of euphoria sets me up. But we all know that
the inevitable ninety degree September day that seems impossibly hot
will be a crushing low to those highs. That day
that transports you back to mid July when you couldn't
even dream of elk songs or brand new birds winging
in from parts unknown. Then we wake up and September
(03:41):
is gone. How the hell did that happen? You wait
so long and it's gone in the blink of an eye.
So we better make the best of October. And birds
with long tails and endless strings of croaking cranes and
invisible snow geese overhead, and the first young mule deer
pushing doze. Then it's November, a wonderful month on its own,
(04:03):
but a harbinger of the end. Do we make the
most of our season? There's not much left. I want
to hike in the thigh high snow for lonely bowl
elk lay in the frozen mud, making eye contact with
Snort as she tells me what direction the honking geese approached.
The decoys from highs and lows, the big trips, the
short scouts after work, the early mornings, the endless coffee,
(04:26):
the precious rationing of coffee in Spike camp, The plucking,
the misses, the cuts, the flushing of birds hard fought
and hard walked, The flushing of seed pods from weeping
brown labrador eyes, emt gel on cracked pads. The heartbreak
of sneaking out the door without her, not that you
can ever be without her. Those hairs are everywhere. Opening
(04:49):
day approaches, and like all hunts, it's a marathon with
intermittent sprints. Keep your powder dry, your feet warm, and
your dog's healthy. One last thing before we hit the news. Huge,
huge thank you to everyone who shared and bid in
the auction house of Oddities, even if you didn't contribute cash.
(05:12):
If you shared that thing around, thank you so much.
If you talked about the Land Access Initiative and Wildcat Bend,
thank you so much. It was a huge success. We
had a goal of fifty thousand dollars and with your
help we were able to raise almost one hundred and
sixty thousand dollars. That's preliminary cash dollars figure right now.
I'll get the official write up later, all of which
(05:33):
all one hundred and sixty ish k every cent will
be going to Pheasants Forevers Build a Wildlife Area program
as twenty twenty threes Land Access Initiative recipient. The Wildcap
Bend property is located on the lower Yellowstone River here
in Montana, and it's an absolute gem access to hunting
and fishing where no access existed before. Cannot thank you
(05:56):
all enough. Now, we're not jumping up and down just yet.
We still need to clear the Montana Fish and Game
Commission and the State Land Board in order to seal
the deal. There's still about forty thousand dollars left to
wrap up the purchase of the property as well, which
you can definitely mail in to Pheasants Forever. Just note
(06:18):
that as build a Wildlife Area Montana and it'll go
in the proper bucket. And outside of Montana, the build
a Wildlife Area program exists in your state more than likely,
if not in multiple places in your state, and again
more than likely, there's probably a wonderful chunk of ground
(06:39):
that you would be more than happy to support, so
be on the lookout. You can also volunteer in a
bunch of different ways with groups like Pheasants Forever. This
conservation work is never done right in and let me
know how I can help in your neck of the woods.
I'll have a full write up on this particular project
at the meat eater dot com as well. Thank you,
(07:00):
thank you, thank you. It's a great way to start
our season onto the news. Feral cats get a lot
of flak on this show, rightfully so, but they aren't
the only pets that kill native wildlife. Feral dogs aren't
as concerning because, let's face it, they're not as skilled
at killing birds, reptiles, and small mammals, but they still
(07:20):
cause a lot of trouble. The Yucatan Times reported this
week that feral dogs are a bigger threat than poachers
to sea turtles on the Yucatan coast. The Sea Turtle
Conservation Program told the outlet that they've received at least
seven reports of dog attacks on loggerhead turtles since April.
Of these seven attacks, four turtles died on the spot,
three received veterinary treatment, and only one survived. In comparison,
(07:44):
they said they haven't received any reports of poaching in
the area. The organization credits local law enforcement for capturing
and punishing poachers, but they say more work needs to
be done to encourage dog owners to not abandon their
dogs on the streets. They also encourage residents to consider
a dog up being stray dogs, and they'd like to
see an awareness campaign urging owners to spay or neuter
(08:04):
their animals. Sounds like we need to resurrect Old Bob
and send them down to the Yucatan. Some of you
will be too young to remember this, but the beloved
host of The Price is Right, who just passed away
last week, Rest in peace. Bob Barker would end every
(08:25):
episode by encouraging his audience to spay or neuter their pets.
Barker became the face of a movement that began in
the nineteen seventies to urge pet owners to have their
animals fixed. When that movement first started, fewer than ten
percent of dogs and cats were spayed or neutered, and
the kill rate at shelters was almost ninety percent. Today,
between eighty and ninety percent of dogs and cats in
(08:46):
the US are fixed, and fewer animals are finding themselves
in shelters. Protecting native wildlife isn't the only reason to
keep track of your furry companions. They also stand a
good chance of being hurt or killed if they're allowed
to wander unattended. In Utah, for example, officials are warning
pet owners to be responsible after mountain goats killed three
dogs in the past three weeks on Mount Timpanaugas. The
(09:08):
Timpanagos Emergency Response Team posted a note on Facebook urging
dog owners to keep their animals from chasing mountain goats.
In one incident last week, a dog was off leash
and harassed a mother goat with kids. The mother goat
was none too pleased about being hassled by the canine,
so she did what you'd expect a mountain goat to do.
She pushed the dog off a cliff. The post doesn't
(09:29):
offer details on the other two incidents from this month,
but it does describe another attack from twenty twenty one.
In that encounter, a dog round at a corner and
surprised a mountain goat, who ran the dog down and
threw it into the air. This dog survived the attack,
but not before sustaining some pretty nasty puncture wounds. I
can tell you from personal experience, the tips of those
horns are sharp. The Emergency Response Team reminded visitors that
(09:52):
allowing dogs to chase goats carries fines similar to poaching.
Quote on the mountain goats and wildlife have the right
of way. We are guests in their space. The mountain
goats on timp are usually very mellow and we'll walk
fairly close to people. Please keep your distance, even if
it means delays on your height. Now you might be
asking yourself, how can you oppose free ranging dogs and
(10:15):
support hunting dogs at the same time. Hunting with dogs
requires them to be off leash, but that doesn't mean
they're no longer under their handler's control. GPS callers allow
hound hunters to know where they are at all times,
and they can be called back if needed. There's also
a right time, right place component to this. If you
are in a hardwood Virginia forest hunting black bears on
(10:37):
public land, you are in a place we've agreed to
allow dogs to hunt off leash. Your dogs might still
run into dangerous situations, but you know what the risks are,
so it's up to you to justify them. If you're
on Mount Timpanogos or the beaches of Yucatan, that's a
different story. You're in the wrong. Don't let your dog
run around off leash. The dangers and the wrists to
(10:58):
sensitive wildlife are way too high. That's my take, and
I have off leash dogs. If you want to chime
in on this one, right in to askcl at the
Meat eater dot com. Moving on to the vulture desk,
farmers throughout the Midwest are reporting that black vultures are
(11:19):
preying on newborn livestock. According to a great report by
Kansas City's NPR station. The large birds normally migrate from
South America through the southeastern US, but milder winters have
allowed them to expand their range over the past decade
in Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. Vultures aren't normally birds of prey,
but they'll take a meal wherever they can get it.
(11:41):
Farmers report that vultures have killed and then eaten calves, lambs,
and piglets, which has cost those producers hundreds of thousands
of dollars. Ranchers in Oklahoma lose two hundred thousand dollars
worth of livestock each year to vultures, and a farmer
in Missouri said he's lost ten thousand dollars worth of
calves to black vultures this year alone. Vultures are fed
really protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so ranchers
(12:03):
can't simply hold a vulture shoot and call it a day. However,
they do have some options for dealing with the pesky critters.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service offers depredation permits to
ranchers that cost one hundred dollars and must be renewed
each year, but the agency recently launched a program that
gives states the ability to issue a certain number of
free sub permits. These sub permits allow ranchers to take
(12:26):
a specified number of vultures usually about five per year.
If you've ever seen a group of vultures, you know
that knocking off five every twelve months won't do you
much good. By the way, because I know you're wondering.
A group of flying vultures is called a kettle, Vultures
in a tree are called a committee, and a group
of feeding vultures is called a wake, which is pretty cool.
(12:47):
And now you're also geared up for the next round
of media or trivia. Anyway, to get the most out
of their yearly vulture quota, ranchers are encouraged to hang
vultures in effigy, and that's not a joke. Ranchers hang
vultures upside down with their wings split out, and they
report this tactic is remarkably effective. One rancher said that
ninety nine percent of his vulture problems have gone away
(13:09):
since he started making an example of offending birds. Vultures
are intelligent and they know when they're not welcome. Of course,
not everyone is convinced that this tactic is the best
way to handle the situation. Marion Wall, a doctoral student
studying black vulture management at Purdue University, believes ranchers should
focus on non lethal deterrent methods. These could include moving
(13:30):
herds closer to humans during calving season or shooting off
fireworks to scare off the vultures. She also points out
that sometimes vultures take the rap for a murder when
they're just at the scene of the crime. Newborn livestock
die all the time, so it's not always easy to
tell when the vultures kill the animal and when they're
just being good garbage men. And that's something to keep
in mind whenever we're talking about carrion eating birds. Vultures,
(13:54):
buzzards and other birds that eat dead things perform an
incredibly vital function in our ecosystem. Can you imagine if
everything that died on the landscape was left to fester
and rot over weeks and months. Not only would this
make the world a smell your place, but it would
also increase disease transmission. Vultures consume and digest bacteria laid
(14:16):
and meat, and then they stay away from humans. Other
scavengers like dogs and rats live in homes, towns, and cities.
If we had to rely on these critters to deal
with dead animal carcasses, you can bet we'd have a
lot more cases of rabies and other deadly human diseases.
In fact, the decline of vultures in India and the
subsequent rise in the feral dog population is thought to
(14:38):
have contributed to the rabies outbreak that was estimated to
have killed forty eight thousand human beings from nineteen ninety
two to two thousand and six in India. Ranchers shouldn't
have to worry about losing their livelihoods to vultures, but
these important birds deserve our respect and protection. Finding that
balance isn't always easy, but that's what wildlife management is
(14:58):
all about. Moving on to the deer desk, the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department issued an emergency order last month
in response to an uptick of CWD among the state's
captive deer herds, but the deer breeders are pushing back.
They say the new rules are unreasonable, and one of
these breeders has launched a legal battle to take away
(15:20):
the ability of state biologists to cull or kill captive herds.
Deer breeding facilities in fourteen Texas counties have recorded CWD
cases since twenty twenty one, and CWD has been detected
in nine facilities this year. Alone. Texas Parks and Wildlife
officials say this is an unprecedented rate of increase, and
they worry captive deer could infect the state's wild deer herds,
(15:43):
so the agency issued an emergency order requiring all deer
to have an external identification tag at all times and
be tested before moving to a different facility. Prior to this,
deer only had to be tested for CWD before being
sold to a game ranch, and those deer could have
their ear tags removed. Officials say these new rules will
(16:04):
allow them to more easily track the spread of the
disease and prevent CWD from spreading between deer breeding facilities.
The owners of these facilities are none too happy the
rules make it more costly for them to operate, and
they argue the regulations should have been passed by the
state legislature rather than Texas Parks and Wildlife. Still, they
do have an interest in keeping CWD out of their facilities.
(16:28):
One positive test can destroy an entire business, so they
want to make sure their deer are disease free. But
one breeder is fighting not only against these emergency orders,
but also against the ability of state biologists to order
the culling of entire facilities. Texas is somewhat unique in
how it handles captive deer herds. While some states have
(16:49):
outlawed captive herds entirely and others treat captive deer like livestock,
Texas classifies captive deer as wildlife. This means that the
owners of these facilities don't don't have the same property
rights as livestock owners, and it gives the state broad
latitude in how they handle positive CWD cases. They've ordered
(17:10):
and tire herds killed based on a few positive tests,
and the number of captive facilities has dropped by more
than half since twenty fourteen. Multiple deer have tested positive
at RW Trophy Ranch in Terrell, Texas, but the ranch's owner,
Robert Williams, has refused to cull his herd. He's been
issued notices that wildlife officials planned to euthanize the deer
(17:32):
in his pens four times over the past two years,
but every time he and his legal team have convinced
judges to stay those orders. Now he's waging multiple legal battles,
including one that could end up at the Texas Supreme Court.
His basic argument is that because he has a property
interest in the deer he raises, he should have more
say and whether those deer are killed. He told The
(17:54):
Huffington Post that the fears about CWD are overblown, since
most deer don't live long enough to die of the
disease in the first place. He also argues that wildlife
officials don't test enough deer to prove that the state's
CWD problems are being driven by the captive herds. He
even argues that the larger whitetail industry in Texas is
(18:15):
trying to put ranches like his out of business because
he grows such giant bucks. He said, quote, it's because
we raise bucks with huge antlers, And if we were
only raising little one hundred and sixty, one hundred and
seventy and one hundred and eighty inch bucks, none of
this would have ever happened. I mean, this dude is
(18:35):
raising enormous deer, and I suppose somebody like him could
say that a one hundred and sixty, one hundred and
seventy or one hundred and eighty inch buck is a
little deer. But brothers and sisters, uh, we do not
share that perspective anyway. CWD was first discovered in Texas
in twenty twelve. There have been over five hundred positive
(18:56):
cases since then. Eighty five percent of those positive cases
have been discovered in captive breeding facilities. While I'm sure
there are many cases in free ranging deer that simply
go undetected, it's easy to see why some hunters blame
the captive facilities for the problem in the first place.
The National Deer Association issued a call to its members
to support the Emergency Captive Deer regulations, and the organization
(19:19):
says moving captive deer between facilities is contributing to cwd's spread.
The facilities argue that the deer tested far more frequently
than wild deer. They also say that controlled breeding programs
are one of the ways we might be able to
leave CWD behind. Biologists have identified genetic markers that make
deer less susceptible to CWD, and some breeders are cultivating
(19:43):
those genes in their herds. If successful, they argue that
project could produce a generation of deer that contract the
disease at a much lower rate. To all my Texican listeners,
I want to hear from you. Should deer breeders be
allowed to keep their herds even if they get infected
with CWD. Let me know, askcl at the meat eater
(20:08):
dot com. Moving on to a quick hitting policy desk.
In Oregon, animal rights activists are once again trying to
get IP three on the ballot. IP three would criminalize
injuring or killing animals, including farming, ranching, hunting, fishing, trapping,
pest control, and research. It would also outlaw breeding practices
(20:32):
by categorizing them as sexual assault. It should probably define
breeding practices for a lot of the general you could
call them like old timey cattle operations. That simply means
putting a bowl out with cows, a male beef with
female beef, and letting them, you know, make a more
(20:55):
out there in the field on their own. That is
what a breeding practice, which you know, if IP three
were to pass, would be defined as sexual assault, not
cattle getting it on with cattle. Anyway. These groups tried
and failed last year to get a similar measure on
the ballot, but they only need one hundred and twenty
thousand people to sign on to put it up for
(21:17):
a vote. In November, in Michigan, a federal judge accepted
a consent decree that will allow five sovereign Michigan tribes
to expand the use of gillnets in the Great Lakes.
Sportsmen's groups such as the Michigan United Conservation Clubs argue
that this will harm the whitefish and lake trout populations.
(21:38):
The new agreement will dictate fishing policy on the lakes
for the next twenty four years. In Connecticut, residents are
trying to figure out when and if to defend themselves
from the growing black bear population. The legislature passed a
bill recently clarifying that someone may kill a black bear
if the bear is about to injure them or their pet,
(21:59):
or has to building occupied by people. The state does
not have a bear hunting season, but hunters say such
a season would encourage bears to stay away from humans.
The bill also prohibits intentionally feeding bears jumping over to
British Columbia. Grizzly bear hunting is illegal in British Columbia,
but a new grizzly Bear Stewardship framework proposed by the
(22:21):
province's Ministry of for Us could be the first step
in reversing that ban. While the framework does not actually
change policy, it does acknowledge that many first nations tribes
want the hunt to reopen. Some of them ran guiding
and outfitting services, and they were hit hard economically when
the province banned the hunt in twenty seventeen. BC bear
(22:42):
hunters stay on top of that one, ma'am, Grizzly bear
hunting BC is a wonderful, wonderful experience, and those bears
taste great. New Mexico is also considering a proposal that
would increase the black bear quota from eight hundred and
four to eight hundred and sixty four. Biologists say this
represents about ten percent of the population, but research suggests
(23:05):
the population could handle as high as fourteen percent harvest.
Animal rights groups argue the quotas should be lowered, not raised,
because well, bears are cute and fuzzy, and what kind
of sicko wouldever you want to kill a black bear
the roast beef of the woods. That's not a direct quote,
but it's pretty close. Also, contrary to what animal rights
(23:25):
folks would prefer. The New Mexico Game and Fish Commission
is considering a proposal that would keep mountain lion hunting
quotas the same in all but one management zone. That's
all I got for you this week. Thank you so
much for listening. Remember to write in to ask c
Al that's Asscal at the Meat Eater dot com and
let me know what's going on in your neck of
(23:46):
the woods. On top of that, go get yourself a
steel chainsaw. I mean, you know you want one. If
you're curious, go to www dot steel dealers dot com.
Find a local knowledgeable steel dealer near you, slide in there,
see what they got, Maybe let them know what type
of issues you're facing in the woods this hunting season,
(24:07):
or around the house or thinking about the long cold
winter ahead. They're gonna get you set up with what
you need and they won't try to send you home
with what you don't. Thanks again and I'll talk to
you next week.
From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is
Cal's weekend review, presented by Steel. Steel products are available
only at authorized dealers. For more, go to Steel Dealers
dot com. Now here's your host, Ryan cal callahan.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Two thousand New Jersey residents lost power last week after
an osprey dropped a fish on a transformer. What appears
to be a man Hayden or bunka was instantly flash fried,
and local residents lost power for a few hours before
crews were able to restore it. A spokesperson for Jersey
Central Power and Light said that while animals can sometimes
(00:44):
cause power outages, fish are not on the list of
frequent offenders. They continued, quote, we also send our thoughts
to the osprey, because if you've ever dropped your ice
cream cone at the fair, you know the feeling. Not
to be outdone. The local police department post an image
of the fish on Facebook, covered with do not cross
police tape. They also included a sketch of the osprey,
(01:07):
which they labeled suspect. The caption read quote, today's power
outage was a major inconvenience for so many of our residents.
Please let us not forget the victim in this senseless death, Gilligan,
who will assume is what they named the fish, was
a hard working family man. He was a father two
thousands of children. The suspect was last seen flying south.
(01:28):
If you see him, do not try to apprehend him.
Although he isn't believed to be armed, he may still
be very dangerous. If you have any information in this case,
please contact Detective John Silver, who handles all of our
fish cases. That's a reference to long John Silvers for
those of you who aren't familiar with the fast seafood chain, I,
(01:50):
of all people, can appreciate a good animal joke and
a not so good joke too, For more credit that
I can dole out to these local agents. They did
skip the obvious Godfather references, being that they're in New Jersey.
Leave the gun. Take the canoli would have been my
caption of choice for the fish picture, or possibly sleeps
(02:14):
with the fishes like the offending osprey either missed a
meal or is delivering a message to someone at Jersey
Central Power and Light. Anyway, Glad to see at least
some of our public servants still have a sense of humor.
(02:35):
This week, we've got dogs gone wild black vultures, legislation,
and Texas. But first, I'm going to tell you about
my week. And my week well, things are ramping up.
My heart is breaking in at least two directions right now.
I've got doves flying over my head and elk screaming
in my dreams, a little yellow girl dog whose happiness
(02:58):
is my responsibility, and a desire to burn my lungs
on mountains and test my increasingly old back under the wet, hot,
dead elk weight. Responsibilities are tough, darnt it. This late
summertime frame is terrible on me. Every morning that seems
a degree or too cooler creates a high, A bit
(03:18):
of euphoria sets me up. But we all know that
the inevitable ninety degree September day that seems impossibly hot
will be a crushing low to those highs. That day
that transports you back to mid July when you couldn't
even dream of elk songs or brand new birds winging
in from parts unknown. Then we wake up and September
(03:41):
is gone. How the hell did that happen? You wait
so long and it's gone in the blink of an eye.
So we better make the best of October. And birds
with long tails and endless strings of croaking cranes and
invisible snow geese overhead, and the first young mule deer
pushing doze. Then it's November, a wonderful month on its own,
(04:03):
but a harbinger of the end. Do we make the
most of our season? There's not much left. I want
to hike in the thigh high snow for lonely bowl
elk lay in the frozen mud, making eye contact with
Snort as she tells me what direction the honking geese approached.
The decoys from highs and lows, the big trips, the
short scouts after work, the early mornings, the endless coffee,
(04:26):
the precious rationing of coffee in Spike camp, The plucking,
the misses, the cuts, the flushing of birds hard fought
and hard walked, The flushing of seed pods from weeping
brown labrador eyes, emt gel on cracked pads. The heartbreak
of sneaking out the door without her, not that you
can ever be without her. Those hairs are everywhere. Opening
(04:49):
day approaches, and like all hunts, it's a marathon with
intermittent sprints. Keep your powder dry, your feet warm, and
your dog's healthy. One last thing before we hit the news. Huge,
huge thank you to everyone who shared and bid in
the auction house of Oddities, even if you didn't contribute cash.
(05:12):
If you shared that thing around, thank you so much.
If you talked about the Land Access Initiative and Wildcat Bend,
thank you so much. It was a huge success. We
had a goal of fifty thousand dollars and with your
help we were able to raise almost one hundred and
sixty thousand dollars. That's preliminary cash dollars figure right now.
I'll get the official write up later, all of which
(05:33):
all one hundred and sixty ish k every cent will
be going to Pheasants Forevers Build a Wildlife Area program
as twenty twenty threes Land Access Initiative recipient. The Wildcap
Bend property is located on the lower Yellowstone River here
in Montana, and it's an absolute gem access to hunting
and fishing where no access existed before. Cannot thank you
(05:56):
all enough. Now, we're not jumping up and down just yet.
We still need to clear the Montana Fish and Game
Commission and the State Land Board in order to seal
the deal. There's still about forty thousand dollars left to
wrap up the purchase of the property as well, which
you can definitely mail in to Pheasants Forever. Just note
(06:18):
that as build a Wildlife Area Montana and it'll go
in the proper bucket. And outside of Montana, the build
a Wildlife Area program exists in your state more than likely,
if not in multiple places in your state, and again
more than likely, there's probably a wonderful chunk of ground
(06:39):
that you would be more than happy to support, so
be on the lookout. You can also volunteer in a
bunch of different ways with groups like Pheasants Forever. This
conservation work is never done right in and let me
know how I can help in your neck of the woods.
I'll have a full write up on this particular project
at the meat eater dot com as well. Thank you,
(07:00):
thank you, thank you. It's a great way to start
our season onto the news. Feral cats get a lot
of flak on this show, rightfully so, but they aren't
the only pets that kill native wildlife. Feral dogs aren't
as concerning because, let's face it, they're not as skilled
at killing birds, reptiles, and small mammals, but they still
(07:20):
cause a lot of trouble. The Yucatan Times reported this
week that feral dogs are a bigger threat than poachers
to sea turtles on the Yucatan coast. The Sea Turtle
Conservation Program told the outlet that they've received at least
seven reports of dog attacks on loggerhead turtles since April.
Of these seven attacks, four turtles died on the spot,
three received veterinary treatment, and only one survived. In comparison,
(07:44):
they said they haven't received any reports of poaching in
the area. The organization credits local law enforcement for capturing
and punishing poachers, but they say more work needs to
be done to encourage dog owners to not abandon their
dogs on the streets. They also encourage residents to consider
a dog up being stray dogs, and they'd like to
see an awareness campaign urging owners to spay or neuter
(08:04):
their animals. Sounds like we need to resurrect Old Bob
and send them down to the Yucatan. Some of you
will be too young to remember this, but the beloved
host of The Price is Right, who just passed away
last week, Rest in peace. Bob Barker would end every
(08:25):
episode by encouraging his audience to spay or neuter their pets.
Barker became the face of a movement that began in
the nineteen seventies to urge pet owners to have their
animals fixed. When that movement first started, fewer than ten
percent of dogs and cats were spayed or neutered, and
the kill rate at shelters was almost ninety percent. Today,
between eighty and ninety percent of dogs and cats in
(08:46):
the US are fixed, and fewer animals are finding themselves
in shelters. Protecting native wildlife isn't the only reason to
keep track of your furry companions. They also stand a
good chance of being hurt or killed if they're allowed
to wander unattended. In Utah, for example, officials are warning
pet owners to be responsible after mountain goats killed three
dogs in the past three weeks on Mount Timpanaugas. The
(09:08):
Timpanagos Emergency Response Team posted a note on Facebook urging
dog owners to keep their animals from chasing mountain goats.
In one incident last week, a dog was off leash
and harassed a mother goat with kids. The mother goat
was none too pleased about being hassled by the canine,
so she did what you'd expect a mountain goat to do.
She pushed the dog off a cliff. The post doesn't
(09:29):
offer details on the other two incidents from this month,
but it does describe another attack from twenty twenty one.
In that encounter, a dog round at a corner and
surprised a mountain goat, who ran the dog down and
threw it into the air. This dog survived the attack,
but not before sustaining some pretty nasty puncture wounds. I
can tell you from personal experience, the tips of those
horns are sharp. The Emergency Response Team reminded visitors that
(09:52):
allowing dogs to chase goats carries fines similar to poaching.
Quote on the mountain goats and wildlife have the right
of way. We are guests in their space. The mountain
goats on timp are usually very mellow and we'll walk
fairly close to people. Please keep your distance, even if
it means delays on your height. Now you might be
asking yourself, how can you oppose free ranging dogs and
(10:15):
support hunting dogs at the same time. Hunting with dogs
requires them to be off leash, but that doesn't mean
they're no longer under their handler's control. GPS callers allow
hound hunters to know where they are at all times,
and they can be called back if needed. There's also
a right time, right place component to this. If you
are in a hardwood Virginia forest hunting black bears on
(10:37):
public land, you are in a place we've agreed to
allow dogs to hunt off leash. Your dogs might still
run into dangerous situations, but you know what the risks are,
so it's up to you to justify them. If you're
on Mount Timpanogos or the beaches of Yucatan, that's a
different story. You're in the wrong. Don't let your dog
run around off leash. The dangers and the wrists to
(10:58):
sensitive wildlife are way too high. That's my take, and
I have off leash dogs. If you want to chime
in on this one, right in to askcl at the
Meat eater dot com. Moving on to the vulture desk,
farmers throughout the Midwest are reporting that black vultures are
(11:19):
preying on newborn livestock. According to a great report by
Kansas City's NPR station. The large birds normally migrate from
South America through the southeastern US, but milder winters have
allowed them to expand their range over the past decade
in Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. Vultures aren't normally birds of prey,
but they'll take a meal wherever they can get it.
(11:41):
Farmers report that vultures have killed and then eaten calves, lambs,
and piglets, which has cost those producers hundreds of thousands
of dollars. Ranchers in Oklahoma lose two hundred thousand dollars
worth of livestock each year to vultures, and a farmer
in Missouri said he's lost ten thousand dollars worth of
calves to black vultures this year alone. Vultures are fed
really protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, so ranchers
(12:03):
can't simply hold a vulture shoot and call it a day. However,
they do have some options for dealing with the pesky critters.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service offers depredation permits to
ranchers that cost one hundred dollars and must be renewed
each year, but the agency recently launched a program that
gives states the ability to issue a certain number of
free sub permits. These sub permits allow ranchers to take
(12:26):
a specified number of vultures usually about five per year.
If you've ever seen a group of vultures, you know
that knocking off five every twelve months won't do you
much good. By the way, because I know you're wondering.
A group of flying vultures is called a kettle, Vultures
in a tree are called a committee, and a group
of feeding vultures is called a wake, which is pretty cool.
(12:47):
And now you're also geared up for the next round
of media or trivia. Anyway, to get the most out
of their yearly vulture quota, ranchers are encouraged to hang
vultures in effigy, and that's not a joke. Ranchers hang
vultures upside down with their wings split out, and they
report this tactic is remarkably effective. One rancher said that
ninety nine percent of his vulture problems have gone away
(13:09):
since he started making an example of offending birds. Vultures
are intelligent and they know when they're not welcome. Of course,
not everyone is convinced that this tactic is the best
way to handle the situation. Marion Wall, a doctoral student
studying black vulture management at Purdue University, believes ranchers should
focus on non lethal deterrent methods. These could include moving
(13:30):
herds closer to humans during calving season or shooting off
fireworks to scare off the vultures. She also points out
that sometimes vultures take the rap for a murder when
they're just at the scene of the crime. Newborn livestock
die all the time, so it's not always easy to
tell when the vultures kill the animal and when they're
just being good garbage men. And that's something to keep
in mind whenever we're talking about carrion eating birds. Vultures,
(13:54):
buzzards and other birds that eat dead things perform an
incredibly vital function in our ecosystem. Can you imagine if
everything that died on the landscape was left to fester
and rot over weeks and months. Not only would this
make the world a smell your place, but it would
also increase disease transmission. Vultures consume and digest bacteria laid
(14:16):
and meat, and then they stay away from humans. Other
scavengers like dogs and rats live in homes, towns, and cities.
If we had to rely on these critters to deal
with dead animal carcasses, you can bet we'd have a
lot more cases of rabies and other deadly human diseases.
In fact, the decline of vultures in India and the
subsequent rise in the feral dog population is thought to
(14:38):
have contributed to the rabies outbreak that was estimated to
have killed forty eight thousand human beings from nineteen ninety
two to two thousand and six in India. Ranchers shouldn't
have to worry about losing their livelihoods to vultures, but
these important birds deserve our respect and protection. Finding that
balance isn't always easy, but that's what wildlife management is
(14:58):
all about. Moving on to the deer desk, the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department issued an emergency order last month
in response to an uptick of CWD among the state's
captive deer herds, but the deer breeders are pushing back.
They say the new rules are unreasonable, and one of
these breeders has launched a legal battle to take away
(15:20):
the ability of state biologists to cull or kill captive herds.
Deer breeding facilities in fourteen Texas counties have recorded CWD
cases since twenty twenty one, and CWD has been detected
in nine facilities this year. Alone. Texas Parks and Wildlife
officials say this is an unprecedented rate of increase, and
they worry captive deer could infect the state's wild deer herds,
(15:43):
so the agency issued an emergency order requiring all deer
to have an external identification tag at all times and
be tested before moving to a different facility. Prior to this,
deer only had to be tested for CWD before being
sold to a game ranch, and those deer could have
their ear tags removed. Officials say these new rules will
(16:04):
allow them to more easily track the spread of the
disease and prevent CWD from spreading between deer breeding facilities.
The owners of these facilities are none too happy the
rules make it more costly for them to operate, and
they argue the regulations should have been passed by the
state legislature rather than Texas Parks and Wildlife. Still, they
do have an interest in keeping CWD out of their facilities.
(16:28):
One positive test can destroy an entire business, so they
want to make sure their deer are disease free. But
one breeder is fighting not only against these emergency orders,
but also against the ability of state biologists to order
the culling of entire facilities. Texas is somewhat unique in
how it handles captive deer herds. While some states have
(16:49):
outlawed captive herds entirely and others treat captive deer like livestock,
Texas classifies captive deer as wildlife. This means that the
owners of these facilities don't don't have the same property
rights as livestock owners, and it gives the state broad
latitude in how they handle positive CWD cases. They've ordered
(17:10):
and tire herds killed based on a few positive tests,
and the number of captive facilities has dropped by more
than half since twenty fourteen. Multiple deer have tested positive
at RW Trophy Ranch in Terrell, Texas, but the ranch's owner,
Robert Williams, has refused to cull his herd. He's been
issued notices that wildlife officials planned to euthanize the deer
(17:32):
in his pens four times over the past two years,
but every time he and his legal team have convinced
judges to stay those orders. Now he's waging multiple legal battles,
including one that could end up at the Texas Supreme Court.
His basic argument is that because he has a property
interest in the deer he raises, he should have more
say and whether those deer are killed. He told The
(17:54):
Huffington Post that the fears about CWD are overblown, since
most deer don't live long enough to die of the
disease in the first place. He also argues that wildlife
officials don't test enough deer to prove that the state's
CWD problems are being driven by the captive herds. He
even argues that the larger whitetail industry in Texas is
(18:15):
trying to put ranches like his out of business because
he grows such giant bucks. He said, quote, it's because
we raise bucks with huge antlers, And if we were
only raising little one hundred and sixty, one hundred and
seventy and one hundred and eighty inch bucks, none of
this would have ever happened. I mean, this dude is
(18:35):
raising enormous deer, and I suppose somebody like him could
say that a one hundred and sixty, one hundred and
seventy or one hundred and eighty inch buck is a
little deer. But brothers and sisters, uh, we do not
share that perspective anyway. CWD was first discovered in Texas
in twenty twelve. There have been over five hundred positive
(18:56):
cases since then. Eighty five percent of those positive cases
have been discovered in captive breeding facilities. While I'm sure
there are many cases in free ranging deer that simply
go undetected, it's easy to see why some hunters blame
the captive facilities for the problem in the first place.
The National Deer Association issued a call to its members
to support the Emergency Captive Deer regulations, and the organization
(19:19):
says moving captive deer between facilities is contributing to cwd's spread.
The facilities argue that the deer tested far more frequently
than wild deer. They also say that controlled breeding programs
are one of the ways we might be able to
leave CWD behind. Biologists have identified genetic markers that make
deer less susceptible to CWD, and some breeders are cultivating
(19:43):
those genes in their herds. If successful, they argue that
project could produce a generation of deer that contract the
disease at a much lower rate. To all my Texican listeners,
I want to hear from you. Should deer breeders be
allowed to keep their herds even if they get infected
with CWD. Let me know, askcl at the meat eater
(20:08):
dot com. Moving on to a quick hitting policy desk.
In Oregon, animal rights activists are once again trying to
get IP three on the ballot. IP three would criminalize
injuring or killing animals, including farming, ranching, hunting, fishing, trapping,
pest control, and research. It would also outlaw breeding practices
(20:32):
by categorizing them as sexual assault. It should probably define
breeding practices for a lot of the general you could
call them like old timey cattle operations. That simply means
putting a bowl out with cows, a male beef with
female beef, and letting them, you know, make a more
(20:55):
out there in the field on their own. That is
what a breeding practice, which you know, if IP three
were to pass, would be defined as sexual assault, not
cattle getting it on with cattle. Anyway. These groups tried
and failed last year to get a similar measure on
the ballot, but they only need one hundred and twenty
thousand people to sign on to put it up for
(21:17):
a vote. In November, in Michigan, a federal judge accepted
a consent decree that will allow five sovereign Michigan tribes
to expand the use of gillnets in the Great Lakes.
Sportsmen's groups such as the Michigan United Conservation Clubs argue
that this will harm the whitefish and lake trout populations.
(21:38):
The new agreement will dictate fishing policy on the lakes
for the next twenty four years. In Connecticut, residents are
trying to figure out when and if to defend themselves
from the growing black bear population. The legislature passed a
bill recently clarifying that someone may kill a black bear
if the bear is about to injure them or their pet,
(21:59):
or has to building occupied by people. The state does
not have a bear hunting season, but hunters say such
a season would encourage bears to stay away from humans.
The bill also prohibits intentionally feeding bears jumping over to
British Columbia. Grizzly bear hunting is illegal in British Columbia,
but a new grizzly Bear Stewardship framework proposed by the
(22:21):
province's Ministry of for Us could be the first step
in reversing that ban. While the framework does not actually
change policy, it does acknowledge that many first nations tribes
want the hunt to reopen. Some of them ran guiding
and outfitting services, and they were hit hard economically when
the province banned the hunt in twenty seventeen. BC bear
(22:42):
hunters stay on top of that one, ma'am, Grizzly bear
hunting BC is a wonderful, wonderful experience, and those bears
taste great. New Mexico is also considering a proposal that
would increase the black bear quota from eight hundred and
four to eight hundred and sixty four. Biologists say this
represents about ten percent of the population, but research suggests
(23:05):
the population could handle as high as fourteen percent harvest.
Animal rights groups argue the quotas should be lowered, not raised,
because well, bears are cute and fuzzy, and what kind
of sicko wouldever you want to kill a black bear
the roast beef of the woods. That's not a direct quote,
but it's pretty close. Also, contrary to what animal rights
(23:25):
folks would prefer. The New Mexico Game and Fish Commission
is considering a proposal that would keep mountain lion hunting
quotas the same in all but one management zone. That's
all I got for you this week. Thank you so
much for listening. Remember to write in to ask c
Al that's Asscal at the Meat Eater dot com and
let me know what's going on in your neck of
(23:46):
the woods. On top of that, go get yourself a
steel chainsaw. I mean, you know you want one. If
you're curious, go to www dot steel dealers dot com.
Find a local knowledgeable steel dealer near you, slide in there,
see what they got, Maybe let them know what type
of issues you're facing in the woods this hunting season,
(24:07):
or around the house or thinking about the long cold
winter ahead. They're gonna get you set up with what
you need and they won't try to send you home
with what you don't. Thanks again and I'll talk to
you next week.
Host
Cal Callaghan
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.