Red Bluff Daily News

April 07, 2012

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2B Daily News – Saturday, April 7, 2012 Outdoorlife living The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has completed its 2012 year- ling bear release program by returning six orphaned cubs to the wild where they were born. The cubs were found in various locations around the state in the summer months of 2011 and were rehabilitated at a licensed care facility in Lake Tahoe prior to being judged ready to return to the wild. All six cubs, four males and two females, were in distress and weighed between 15 – 30 pounds when found. Two brother cubs that were found by hikers in the Fresno area had lost their mother to the arrow of a poacher, while another cub was found bawling in a farmer's pear tree in San Luis Obispo. The others were victims of some other unfortunate circumstance. "One of the most satisfying experi- & DFG successfully returns yearling bear cubs back to Mother Nature When the yearling bears leave, each has tripled its size or more. Most weigh from 45 -80 pounds, depending upon their body type and the condition they arrived in. wake up to bountiful buffet of spring food and become productive members of California's thriving bear popula- "Our hope is that these cubs will ences I've had at DFG is to return a bear back into its environment and live the way natured intended it," DFG Bear Program Coordinator Marc Kenyon said. "The bear rehabilitation program at Lake Tahoe is completely funded by generous donations and passionate volunteers. Our hope is that we can take learnings from facilities like this and keep bears from becom- ing public nuisances." To be eligible for rehabilitation, a cub must still be dependent upon its mother and not habituated. DFG works with the non-profit Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC) organization – the only licensed bear program in Cal- ifornia to rehabilitate qualified cubs. At the facility, cubs learn how forage for real bear food such as berries, acorns, fish, grubs and insects. Human contact is kept to a minimum or is non- existent. California Outdoors Q&A Fore!! Teed Off Golfers Say … "Scoot Coots!" Question: I am a golf course superintendent on a municipal course located within the city of Pacific Grove. The front nine of our course is located within the neighborhoods of the city, but the back nine is located within sand dunes along the Pacific Ocean and the Monterey Bay. On the back nine we have a fresh water pond, and this year we have been inundated by coots. We easily have between 300 and 400 birds this year, up from about 30 to 40 last year. These coots are a terrible nuisance and they make a mess of the greens and the fairways, making it difficult for golfers to play some of the holes on our course. How we can either remove the birds or reduce their population using deterrents or through other means? (Daniel G., Pacific Grove) Answer: Many courses in this area seem to be Carrie Wilson having the same problem. Coots are considered migratory birds and as such are regulated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. A permit from the FWS may be required for removal of coots. Additional information can be found on their website. According to DFG Environmental Scientist Jeff Cann who oversees Monterey County, many cours- es in this area use trained dogs to haze waterfowl off the greens. Hazing coots is a legal activity but it is recommended that folks contact the profes- sionals at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Ani- mal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for information. APHIS has extensive experience with hazing and removal of nuisance wildlife, such as coots. California Department of Fish & Game photo tion," Kenyon said. "Regardless if it's six bears or 30,000, every bear in Cal- ifornia is important." final health check up which includes taking hair and blood samples, and is fitted with a radio transmitter to track its movements for the next year. Year- lings are placed in man-made dens Upon release, each cub is given a ly seven years ago, scientists from Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center sampling sharks caught on charter boats off Fort Lauderdale stumbled on a startling discovery: some of the sharks that looked like scalloped ham- merheads were actually a different, unidentified species. different," said professor Mahmood Shivji, head of the Guy Harvey Research "Completely genetically Playday Safe Haven Horse Res- cue will hold its annual Spring Playday starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 14 at the Cottonwood Creek Equestrian Center, 18550 Evergreen Road. The event will be in the Horse rescue plans Spring covered arena and will be held rain or shine. Featured will be riding, food and raf- fles to benefit Safe Haven, which gives neglected and abused horses a second chance. Institute and Save Our Seas Shark Center headquartered at the university. At first, the new species appeared to be just a local oddity. But then it turned up in waters off South Carolina and, later, thousands of miles away off the coast of southern Brazil. The discov- ery — detailed in the April issue of the scientific journal Marine Biology — means both the scalloped hammer- head and its lookalike could be in grave danger from overfishing. Hammerheads the summer youth job pro- gram. Anyone between the ages of 15 and 18 years may apply for a summer job. Applications may be obtained at career counsel- ing offices at Whiskeytown Headquarters building on Kennedy Memorial Drive beginning April 18. Open to all horse lovers and riding abilities. For more information, call 347-4941 or visit www.safehavenhorseres- cue.org Recruiting for summer Youth Corps Whiskeytown National Recreation Area will be accepting applications for Conservation received by May 14 in order to be considered. There will be six positions available. The eight-week program will begin on June 11 and end on Aug. 3. Participants will earn $8 per hour. Work is mostly outdoors and will involve performing trail maintenance, bridge repairs, fence building, spe- cial projects and lakeshore cleanup. For more information, call J.D. Odom at 242-3423 or visit http://www.nps.gov/whis. Applications must be Proposed hunter with bedding used from the LTWC to give them some familiarity. In most circumstances, DFG rec- ommends that people leave wildlife alone, including removing attractants from their properties. If this is not an option, DFG should be contacted. For more information, please see www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/. New hammerhead shark species is identified MIAMI (MCT) — Near- are sought worldwide most- ly for their fins, which are the key ingredient in shark fin soup. Millions have been killed, upsetting the balance of ocean ecosystems in which they are a top preda- tor. the new species raises even more concerns about ham- merhead populations. "If you don't really curtail edged," Shivji said. "You run the risk of losing a whole species." Coot populations in our area fluctuate as new birds migrate through in fall and winter, and others leave the area. You can try applying mylar reflec- tive tape streamers on poles in areas the coots use to scare them off, but the birds usually get used to this. In addition, these might be distracting to golfers. waterfowl hunting season, but discharging a firearm on the golf course is probably not legal in your area. Check with your local sheriff or police department to find out. Courses in more rural areas can employ this method of control and hazing. Some airports use sonic devices with some suc- cess to repel a variety of types of birds. I am not aware of focused studies on using them to repel coots, however. You can try contacting the USDA Wildlife Ser- Licensed hunters can harvest coots during the The misidentification of fishing of the scalloped hammerhead, you'll also overfish a species that hasn't been officially acknowl- tions that would create spe- cific eligibility criteria for its existing Hunter Education Instructor Incentive Pro- gram. The program helps recruit and retain certified instructors, thus building a volunteer staff that can address the currently unmet public demand for hunter education classes. These classes are mandatory for all new hunters in California. The proposed regula- tions are available on the DFG website, www.dfg.ca.gov/HunterEd/ Instructor_Incentive . Public comment will be accepted until 5 p.m. on May 14, 2012. regulations The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has released proposed regula- education the regulations would add sections 709 and 709.1 to the California Code of Reg- ulations, Title 14. The new sections would address spe- cific eligibility criteria for hunter education instruc- tors, such as employment status, length of volunteer service, in-service training requirements, compliance with existing game laws and payment of an application fee. If accepted as proposed, tions would also create a new hunt drawing open The proposed regula- The scalloped hammer- head is on the red list of endangered species under the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. It also is under review by NOAA Fisheries Service to deter- mine whether it should be listed as a threatened or endangered species. The unnamed species is on nei- ther list. But that could change. OUTDOOR BRIEFS only to instructors. Long- term volunteers would be rewarded with additional entries for the drawing. Instructors would have to complete three years of ser- vice in order to be eligible and would earn an addition- al entry for each additional 10 years of service complet- ed. Successful applicants would be required to pay all state tag and stamp fees, as appropriate. Bottom line, not much will help repel the coots as long as there is food (grass on the course) and water available for them to drink and relax on. vices offices for information on dealing with nui- sance waterfowl or check with the FWS permitting office for additional assistance. Shooting turkeys within city limits? Question: We have about two dozen turkeys that are running around our local streets? If I use an air gun, can I legally kill (and eat) a turkey within the San Pablo/Richmond city limits? (Bob C.) Answer: Turkeys can be taken under a hunting license with air rifles firing pellets and powered by compressed air or gas (0.177 caliber minimum for taking wild turkey), but I seriously doubt you can shoot anything within the city limits there! It depends on local city and county ordinances on discharging air rifles within the city limits. Fish and Game Section 3004(a) generally prohibits the discharge of any deadly weapon while hunting within 150 yards of a building without specific consent of the owner. Most city and county ordi- nances say, "No discharging of firearms or other dangerous weapons," which would include air rifles. Check with the local Sheriff's Department for the local policies to be sure. The proposed regula- tions will be available for public review and comment from March 30 until May 14, 2012. Comments can be e-mailed to rgriffith@dfg.ca.gov or hand-delivered to: Capt. Roy Griffith Hunter Education Pro- gram Game 1342-6A Department of Fish and 1416 Ninth St., Room Sacramento, CA 95814 Comments received by the due date will be consid- ered before the regulations are considered for adoption by the Fish and Game Com- mission. Questions about the reg- ulations should be directed to Capt. Roy Griffith at (916) 653-9727 or rgrif- fith@dfg.ca.gov. Using trout for bait in ocean waters? Question: Is it legal to use dead rainbow trout or wild non native brown trout as bait when fishing in the ocean? My buddies want to make sure they are not breaking any laws when shark fishing in Humboldt Bay starts to pick up next month. (Trevor L., Fortuna) Answer: It is legal as long as each angler never possesses more than the legal limit possession limit for trout in that area (regardless of whether the fish are brought in from elsewhere). As long as the fish were taken legally, they can be used for bait in the ocean waters of the state. round magazine? Question: I have an AR-type 308 rifle with a 10-round detachable magazine. Can this type of rifle be used for wild pig hunting? (Julio R.) Answer: Yes. Any rifle that is legal to possess in California and that uses centerfire ammunition may be used to take big game, including pigs. Just remember to use non-lead ammunition when in condor country. Pig hunting with an AR-type 308 rifle with 10- Carrie Wilson is a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. While she cannot personally answer everyone's questions, she will select a few to answer each week. Please contact her at CalOutdoors@dfg.ca.gov.

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