Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/61136
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-
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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