Tail end of turkey season
Andy Thompson
May 15, 2008 10:35 PM
My wife’s cousin, Mike O’Neil, and I came across this fresh bear print while out turkey hunting this morning. It’s from a farm on the James River in Goochland County. It was probably 6-7 inches, toe to heel. It was one of a couple we saw, but we never made contact with the burly critter that created it. That would have been quite a site! We also heard plenty of gobbling from a Tom or two, and flushed a hen, but never got a shot at a Tom.
The turkey season ends Saturday at sundown.
Nothing in life is free…
Andy Thompson
May 13, 2008 2:32 PM
...except, that is, fishing in Virginia—for three days. This is from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries:
For three days next month—June 6, 7 and 8 – you can fish for free in Virginia. No fishing license of any kind will be required for recreational rod and reel fishing on those days, except in designated stocked trout waters.
However, all fishing regulations—size, season, catch limits and gear restrictions – will remain in effect.
“We have some of the best river, lake and stream fishing in the country and we would love it if the non-fishing public would give it a try,’’ said Bob Duncan, Executive Director of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, which regulates freshwater fishing.
A Virginia saltwater fishing license costs only $12.50 a year for state residents, and much of that money is used for programs that directly benefit recreational anglers, such as boat ramps, artificial reefs and fishing clinics for children. A freshwater fishing license costs only $18 a year for state residents and a trout license cost $18 a year for residents. Those license fees also support valuable fisheries work across the Commonwealth.
Primal Quest Sprint Series at Pocahontas SP
Andy Thompson
May 12, 2008 6:31 PM
On Saturday I completed my first adventure race, the Primal Quest Sprint Series, with friend Jason Miller. That’s me on the left above and Jay on the right.
What an unbelievable event, and what an entry into the sport of adventure racing. The 6-hour “sprint” was held at Pocahontas State Park, and despite the ridiculous amount of rain we’ve been getting, the course was in great shape. It went like this: 10 miles of running, during which you had the option of searching the woods for orienteering checkpoints; 15 miles of mountain biking on singletrack and fire roads; a 4-mile flat water paddle; “log pt” and a ropes course invention. It took us about 6:40, though we earned an hour of time credits for finding 3 of the 4 orienteering points.
It was brutal, but in a good way...I guess. Look for the column on the event this Friday.
Run Like a Girl
Andy Thompson
May 08, 2008 8:02 AM
Looks like the first Montrail “Run Like a Girl” 8K was a big success. Kurt Peterson, who coordinated the event for Blue Ridge Mountain Sports said there were 392 registered racers, including a 7-year-old girl and a 70-year-old woman. Here’s his blog entry on it, which includes pictures and results.
http://www.brmsstore.com/blogs/community/article/52/run-like-a-girl-8k
Bird Studies Implicate Lead Bullet Residues as a Possible Threat to Human Health
Andy Thompson
May 06, 2008 11:51 AM
It turns out birds might not be the only animals at risk from lead bullet residue.
This is from the Peregrine Fund:
Washington, D.C. – Studies of several bird species, including the endangered California Condor, have provided extensive documentation of the health hazard posed to birds that ingest lead ammunition residues in the remains of gun-killed animals. Now, new studies suggest that humans who eat game shot with lead ammunition may also be at risk. A conference to further explore these links, “Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans,” sponsored by The Peregrine Fund, will be held May 12-15, 2008, at Boise State University.
“We’ve been studying the effects of condor lead ingestion for years,” said Rick Watson, Vice President of The Peregrine Fund, a conservation organization that leads the California Condor recovery program in Arizona. “Condors are sickened and some die from eating the remains of shot animals. The possibility that other species, including humans, are also at risk prompted us to organize this conference.”
Recently published research suggests that even very low levels of lead exposure in children can cause learning disabilities, and in adults may increase risk of Alzheimer’s disease and death from stroke or heart attack. Lead is also associated with impaired visual and motor function, growth abnormality, neurological and organ damage, hearing loss, hypertension and reproductive complications. The degree of lead exposure associated with many of these problems is much lower than previously believed.
North Dakota state health officials recently ordered food banks to discard donated venison because it can contain lead fragments. Dr. William Cornatzer, a Bismarck physician and member of The Peregrine Fund board of directors, made the discovery after learning about the problem in a Peregrine Fund report. Cornatzer collected about 100 one-pound packages of ground venison from food pantries in December and ran CT scans on the meat. The North Dakota Health Department confirmed the presence of lead in its own tests. Cornatzer plans to present his findings at the conference.
The Peregrine Fund will present results of its own recent investigation on lead in hunter-killed animals at the conference. The group is studying the amount of lead in venison from deer shot with standard lead bullets, which fragment into hundreds of tiny pieces upon impact. Their previously published research has shown that these fragments scatter widely into the meat along the bullet’s path of travel. Preliminary results of The Peregrine Fund’s current study will be given at the conference on May 13. The final report will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
A recent study found elevated levels of lead in Common Ravens during the hunting season for deer and elk in the Yellowstone region. Scavengers, such as ravens and raptors, eat offal piles left by hunters, or animals that were shot and not recovered. These remains contain lead bullet fragments. Derek Craighead and co-authors of the raven study, are expected to present additional data at the conference showing that lead is also reaching elevated levels in Golden Eagles, Bald Eagles, and other scavengers during the hunting season.
Recently, there has been a great deal of attention on the problem of lead bullets due to the poisonings of endangered California Condors, highlighted by several independent studies that will be presented at the conference. The use of lead bullets has been banned in the California range of the condor, and work continues to protect the species in Arizona through voluntary use by hunters of non-lead ammunition.
“When informed of the severity of the problem for condors, most hunters in Arizona have chosen to use non-lead ammunition to benefit wildlife,” added Watson, “and once the results from the conference become widely understood, hunters may also choose non-lead ammunition to benefit themselves and their families.”
Grayson Highlands State Park
Andy Thompson
May 05, 2008 12:03 PM
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Last week my dog, Ruby, and I made the 5.5-hour drive to Grayson Highlands SP in southwestern Virginia for the April installment of my state park series. The column on GHSP will appear in this Friday’s paper. The Web version will include a slideshow.
The place is breathtaking. The views from Big Pinnacle (the above picture) down into North Carolina are worth the drive alone. But the park has more than just mountain views to offer. We hiked along Cabin Creek, with it’s many waterfalls and crystal clear pools, as well as Wilburn Ridge, which boasts semi-wild ponies and a connector to the Appalachian Trail. Mount Rogers is just an easy 4-mile hike from here.
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Here are the prior columns in the state parks series. Pocahontas. Douthat. False Cape.
Next up in May is Westmoreland.
More from Jeff Kelbe, Shenandoah Riverkeeper
Andy Thompson
May 04, 2008 10:10 AM
Today’s column was an interview with Jeff Kelbe, Shenandoah Riverkeeper. There was a ton of our conversation that didn’t make it into print. Here are some excerpts:
One of the things I thought was interesting from the talk was that bass and sunfish reproduction has been very good the past 4 years. This has helped mitigate the fish kills. If that were to stop…
KELBE: If reproduction shuts off, we’re going to have problems. We’ve been replacing the dying fish with good reproduction, but historically in Virginia over a 10-year period, you might get 2-3 good years. We’ve had it for four straight years. We’ve been very, very lucky. If we weren’t getting good year classes our river would be very desolate right now.
He also mentioned other effects the kills have had on the area.
KELBE: I think the greatest effect has been on real estate value. It’s going to be very hard to measure in a down market, but it used to be that riverside properties held high value. When I was guide at any given time 10 to 12 of my anglers would be actively trying to buy properties in the Valley for retirement, for recreation, for second homes and that literally just ended in May of 2005. It just dropped off. [The fish kills] really killed that market.
This might have been the scariest aspect of the whole interview: A huge percentage—like anywhere from 80-100—of male fish in the Shenandoah, Cowpasture, and other rivers are what’s called “intersex fish.” Put bluntly, said Kelbe, “our males are growing eggs in their testicles.”
KELBE: It’s 100 percent in Cowpasture. That’s a very remote stream with very few people. That’s very meaningful to me because historically intersex has been linked to sewage treatment outflows and there isn’t any up there. The North Fork [of the Shenandoah] is 80 percent, the South Fork is 80-90 percent.
In other fish they’ve done studies that show that fish with intersex are less protective of their nests; they have less of a drive to procreate. There are behavioral shifts that occur. But we haven’t looked at it on a population scale in the Shenandoah.
Here are a few background articles on intersex fish.
And here...
Bears!
Andy Thompson
May 02, 2008 9:35 AM
The Depart of Game and Inland Fisheries recently sent out a press release about bears in Virginia. Here’s part of it:
From the Tidewater region to the Alleghany Mountains, VDGIF personnel are already receiving numerous calls regarding bear sightings. With a healthy and growing black bear population, bear sightings during the spring and summer months are becoming the norm in Virginia. While the highest concentration of bears occurs in the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains and around the Great Dismal Swamp, bears are likely to be seen just about anywhere in Virginia.
During the months of April and May bears have left their dens and are ending their winter fast. Bears do not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate while they are in dens. Additionally, while denning, female bears may give birth to cubs. Cubs are born weighing less than a pound and are reliant on their mother’s milk. As new spring growth emerges, so do bears, and they are following their stomachs in search of food. Bears are highly adaptable and intelligent animals and can learn to associate human dwellings with food. In their search for food, bears are attracted to residential areas by the smell of food around homes. The most common food attractants are bird feeders, garbage, and pet food. Additionally outdoor grills, livestock food, compost, fruit trees, and beehives can also attract bears.
If you do see a bear in your area, enjoy watching it from a distance. If you experience a bear problem after taking appropriate steps of prevention, please notify the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries at 804-367-1258.
Here’s the video the DGIF made about bears in the state: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/bear/
Stephen Colbert probably has other ideas for dealing with bears in Virginia
OBX beach access issue finally settled…for now
Andy Thompson
May 01, 2008 6:08 AM
Here’s the final negotiated settlement on off-road vehicle access to parts of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Read here...
7 Beards for 7 Hunters?
Andy Thompson
April 29, 2008 11:42 AM
This isn’t quite the cow with two heads Virginia had a couple of years back, but a turkey with 7 beards is certainly wacky.
Read and see here...
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