Public Health Awareness: A Fox Parasite.

Remember This: Parasites are like computer hackers. They get in, get what they want and really work you over before they are done. Some you can treat; others stay like family come to visit that don't know how to leave.

After roaming the woods, working in an animal hospital and the extreme sport of getting myself into trouble, my doctor is treating me now with medication directed at would be interlopers into my system. I wondered after years of beating my head into the brick wall of medicine,  given my previous animal related history, no one listened? Finally, someone did and he's a pretty smart MD. I bring this up to merely remind you not to scare you.

I got to thinking,  as a stab at public awareness for all those that hunt, to spotlight a nasty bugger.

Enter Echinoccoccus multilocularis.

Personal story #1:

Two different clients came to the office I was employed at. The first client exhibited a sickly cat. Out of it fell this thick fleshed, white tightly segmented parasite. For all intents and purposes,  looked like a monster tapeworm. It was placed in a red-topped blood tube with formalin and placed in the refrigerator. At this time, the veterinarian who saw this in the litter pan,  stepped back and looked like he had smelled the worst pile of manure ever dropped out an animal. "That is a fox tapeworm." By his actions, I determined this was like nuclear waste. A massive cleaning in the spirit of OCD proportions was carried out by staff.  We didn't want that parasite. Said parasite was shipped off to the State laboratory for testing and confirmed as a fox parasite.

Second client came in with a dog and a stool sample in a clear plastic bag with a UFO (unidentified fecal object). The same reaction followed of intensive cleaning. We were happy that both animals did not get a chance to defecate on our lawn, thereby transmitting this little gremlin.

Hopefully no one got infected through cross contamination.

I got to thinking about all the times I have seen people dressing out animals. Some rupture the gut through misplaced shots, the dogs ripping the animal (fox) open, or pick through a carcass, found dead or scraped off the road for that night's dinner. Let's face it,  there are people with morbid curiosity and ghoulish ways when crossing the path of a situation where they may not get the chance again, will poke around into the unknown, contrary to personal harm. We all do it. Reminded me of Chunk of Goonies fame when he yells to Mikey, "Dead things, Mikey. Dead things!"

These same hunters/huntresses will half-heartedly wipe their faces while dressing out to scratch an unconscious itch, remove sweat, or finger around in the body cavity. This unconscious action moves closer and closer to the eyes and the mouth, which are oral entry ways for parasites and disease. I don't even want to go there thinking about bloody fingers and someone eating uncooked meat, safe or not. It's human nature, I guess.

On the other hand, lets consider those hunters that keep scat collections. Hopefully,  you had someone put that literal crap in a autoclave after it petrified to kill whatever was in it or at least a plastic container lined with 60 cc syringes and filled minutely with Formalin and closed for several days. (Trust me on this. Make sure you get someone to test a sample to see if you left it in long enough.)
Otherwise every time you handle the scat you are at risk,  if you're not already repeatedly infecting yourself. 

If the Fox defecates on the ground, then a wild boar comes rooting through, there you go: up the ole pie hole.  Now the wild boar has it. At another time and incident, you could have a person walking through the woods eating off the land: berries, dandelions, and root tubers. Oooops. Infestation. On another occasion, you could have a family pet playing with their food and eating a rat. Gotcha again, then the cat uses the litter pan, which you clean. I can't recall Haz-mat suits being sold at Wal-mart because a lot of time the OB-GYN will only tell you about Trichomonas possibly infecting pregnant women. Another scenario is the hunter picking up scat for closer inspection while saying, "It looks like fox crap to me."

Think of all the ways this could come visit you at your door.

Personal Story #2:

Had a co-worker come down sick at the animal hospital. We will call her June.  June went to her doctor only to find that she had this case of Pseudomonas which had lodged itself in her sinus. 

June was a poor example of washing her hands and she was always snotting and wiping her nose. After coming back from her doctor with a confirmation, she thought to test all her animals. She had 3-4 horses, ~5 dogs, and a house cat. All of them were positive. All were administered a medicinal regime including Old June. June couldn't take time off because of the demands of her boss and job. She had to come to work sick, potentially infecting us all, and wearing a Picc line, which is a peripheral inserted central catheter that fed her medicine. It was like someone walking around pushing an IV pole except she could hide it on her person. This was what I called 'extreme fucking over of your employee'. I hated it for June; her personal problems aside. I was also considering the erroneous attitude the doctor had at bullying June into potentially infecting the other patients, clients, and staff. She touched everything. In the above personal story June was no longer with us.

Personal story 3#:
A well meaning citizen brought in a sick red fox. When I got to work, the other worker applied an intravenous catheter while medicating and giving fluids to this sick fox. I walked in and thought, "Oh Shit. Tapeworms/rabies? Take your pick." The doctor finally showed up and found out about the fox.  He directed them to euthanize it. While declaring stupidity among those few that had done such works, the doctor himself did not feel the need to have the head tested by DHEC, which is done at no cost as a public service.  This service caters to any animal found to be suspicious of carrying the Rabies disease.

Here I report,  Veterinary medicine is filled with true professionals, given the quality of the practice. Which at times is not perfect,  but then there are places that make you question the belief in God, the Anti-Christ and the fact someone in Psychology missed their calling to study the mentality of people working in this particular field.


Here you have two incidences, where you could have contamination or infestation. Think about it. This is just examples that can happen at a job. Imagine if you are at leisure.

My understanding it is worse in Europe but researchers cry foul with lack of money, so who knows for sure at any given place just how prevalent things are.

As an example, I jumped in the Scientific Time Machine and visited a poster presentation written in 2008 entitled, Wild life surveillance on Echinococcus multilocularis in Sweden, written by Birgitta Andersson, Bodil Christensson, Susanne Johasson, Eva O Lind, and Göran  Zakrisson.

Here is the link:
www.actavetscand.com/content/pdf/1751-0147-52-S1-S10.pdf

There are several good examples of information here:

http://www.actavetscand.com/search/results?terms=Echinococcus%20multilocularis

Here this poster is saying the Swedish government is paying for investigations into the existence of this parasite.

The facts:

2007

• 245 red foxes shot by local hunters from different parts of Sweden. (Potential contamination/infestation). These harvests are not done in a localized area.
• Carcasses are placed in -80 degrees Celsius/week before sampling using coproantigen ELISA testing.
• 48 positive Fox and 28 additional specimens randomly selected were examined by sedimentation technique.

Results:

• 48 Foxes out of 245 were positive for Echinococcus sp. by the coproantigen Elisa.
• The Sedimentation technique was negative. (Using both positive and randomly selected individuals).

When ever a sedimentation procedure was done in our office we used fresh feces. Older feces is not embraced because parasites have an odd way of migrating into soil around the area where the feces is deposited. You could think of dropping a stone in water. Once the stone hits the water there is an outward wake. This wake is equal to the migration of parasites larvae from the feces. That could go for some distance and it's hard to kill them even with burning, depending on what parasite, nematode, or X factor you have.

When I was reading this, I saw where the sedimentation was not positive. That might have something to do with treatment of the carcass. What is in the bowel may die versus the samples needed for the ELISA, which is two different procedural tests. Sedimentation studies also depend on solute to solution percent and if they are mixed properly or you would have non-flotation or rupture of the eggs.

At this point, you can agree, always be careful with what you are handling.

Ways to avoid:

• Research and Read. Libraries give out library cards at low rates with free computer access.
• Don't touch it.  Cat's only have nine lives. You may not be a cat.
• Learn how to wash your hands like a professional.
• Get a professional to remove the carcass for testing or removal.
• In the South, people would  put gas on it and strike a match to watch the pretty colors of the flames.
• Wash all your fruit, vegetables, and berries.
• Don't eat and browse in the woods because it looks clean and not infested. Your eyes are not electron microscopes or even 50X microscopes. Birds poop from the sky all the time; a statue can vouch for that.
• Buy surgical gloves or dish washing gloves. Use these when cleaning litter pans, dog poop, or gardening. (I have known clients to wash their cat pan right in their house sink and put the cat pan on the counter where their dinner is displayed. I can confirm: I don't eat anything they cook or stay long.)
• Take your prized pet/hunting dog to the Veterinarian for a yearly, semi-yearly check, vaccinations, diagnostic tests, and deworming/treatment.
• Go to the doctor when you show signs or feel you may have picked up a parasite. Don't wait for it to breed in your entrails like the Alien baby, to burst out your chest or float by in your eyeball juices (i. e. loa loa).
• Educate yourself.

Now when you read your hunting dog a bed time story before you go to bed at night ask yourself this:    

Have I done enough to keep my prized hunting dog parasite free?
Have I took precautions to keep myself parasite free?

Always be on guard and don't touch that shit.


~Courtesy of the AOFH~

Google these links for further reading :

(read on page 295-298:)
http://books.google.com/books?id=g_tBWVBevM0C&pg=PA297&lpg=PA297&dq=fecal+sedimentation+techniques&source=bl&ots=V6OeSumg5v&sig=k_PhiFKYVHkEHDrl9ZtMeGYYJwE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fSxRUdm6MIfi0gHe-YC4DQ&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=fecal%20sedimentation%20techniques&f=false

http://www.mabtech.com/Main/Page.asp?PageId=26

http://www.biobest.co.uk/diagnostics/techniques/elisa-how-does-the-test-work.html

Interesting links to Scientific Research and General facts:

http://www.actavetscand.com/content/52/S1/S10
http://www.thefoxwebsite.org/disease/diseaserisks.html

Keystone XL Pipeline and Wildlife: Investigative Huntress Reports.

Remember this: As a hunter, when there is a potential threat to the quarry you hunt, find out what is at stake to disappear, or lower your standard of hunting. No quarry, no hunt.

With this post I am using this link as sourced material:
http://keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/draftseis/index.htm

The whole purpose of this blog is to investigate hunting issues or concerns. The theme of hunting is born out of the realization that to hunt you need quarry, areas to hunt, necessary tools, and compromised/uncompromised conditions. What if there existed a foreseeable question as to the health, welfare, and longevity of one of those attributes? Mainly quarry. 

What hunter/huntress would not want to have a vested interest in that topic? Here you have the opportunity to join up with non-hunters that believe that wildlife, habitat and your environment is worth safe-guarding. There are no enemies here. What you do is let the world know your concerns that way if someone in the XL pipeline sector doesn't keep up their maintenance schedule, or overseeing the line they can't cry foul. I question what person wants to go down in history as the 'most hated president' either but we have had some real contenders for that title. 

The above photo illustrates there is an existing pipeline from Canada at Winnepeg, but after the pipeline generates itself out of Calgary's area that would mean the pipeline from Calgary to Winnepeg could be closed because why have two pipelines pumping to the same destination? If that pipeline were to close that would mean that Canada would have less ground line for the pipeline if something were to happen excluding the damage in the Tar Sands Region. 

Even if the Enbridge Northern Gateway (which in this is proposed and I have yet to check) doesn't go through that would mean most of the transfer across country would be done on American soil at TransCanadian benefit. If that is the case maybe they should be getting charged for that so we can pay off our national debt? Either way if TransCanada's faux oil pipeline ship should run afoul on American soil will there be any restitution for the damage to our once pristine land while Canada doesn't suffer other than the damage it has already done to itself or monetarily?

Can you imagine if some kind of war broke out and someone opened a match on that thing to watch it burn a line across America? Love speculation. What better way to screw a country by dividing it with a pipeline? An unassuming bomb? Interesting or as Johnny Cash put it 'Ring of Fire' which could do a loop back to Winnipeg from Alberta.

With this post I wanted to disclose which quarry would be in trouble if things were to go South on any given part of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.  Mind you wildlife does not have any concept of boundaries. Wildlife has no concept of legal ownership through survey of a piece of property that is registered at the tax office by a citizen.

In the section in the link 4.6.3.1 Big Game Species it is as quoted, "Construction of the proposed Project could impact hunter success rates with the Project area. Hunting could be adversely affected due to construction activities occurring during hunting seasons, primarily due to the displacement of big game animals from construction and noise disturbances. Once the proposed pipeline is constructed, harvest rates could potentially increase after construction because of increased access by hunters using the pipeline ROW to access remote areas (Comer 1983). In addition, big game species that use a cleared ROW could be more likely to be hunted than animals in forested habitat. Increased hunting along cleared ROWs in the fall hunting season has been documented elsewhere (Crabtree 1984)."

If this is likely then it makes it to easy to hunt an animal because you are sitting on a pipeline which could result into a barrier to fence them in thereby possibly obliterating 'fair chase'. On the other hand if human disturbance stresses out the slow breeders then there might be some concern with taking animals during a season due to low birth rates. Something to consider.

Big Game Animals Possibly affected:
Pronghorn Antelope
Bighorn Sheep
Elk (as of the time of this impact study it was noted there was a re-establishment program going on) in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.
American Bison (States that there is no free-ranging bion in the propsed Project route.)
Mule Deer
Whitetail Deer

Note quoted on Big Game Species 4.6.3.1 from above link:

"Construction activities could result in increased agitation, physiological stress, and use of sub-optimal habitat. Animals can become physiologically stressed when energy expenditures increase due to alarm or behavioral avoidance (Lutz et al. 2011). These responses are often attributed to interactions with humans or activities associated with human presence such as traffic and noise. Physiological stress diverts time and energy away from critical activities such as foraging and resting, both of which are important to maintain or improve fitness (Gill et al 1995,  Frid and Dill 2002).
Construction of the proposed Project may alter migration routes and displace wildlife from preferred habitats (Sawyer et al. 2006) by creating barriers that hinder migration and use of these  habitats (Sawyer et al. 2009)" 

"In the northern portions of their range, white-tailed deer, mule deer and elk may aggregate or yard during winter in stream bottoms, on south-facing slopes, or in other areas where snow accumulations are reduced. In Nebraska, where the proposed pipeline ROW has been modified to avoid the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality-identified Sand Hills Region, white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and pronghorn are principal big game animals that occur along the proposed Project route."

"The proposed Project has been designed to avoid impacts to many state and federally managed areas within the vicinity of the Project area. In Nebraska, all state-managed Wildlife Management Areas that provide protected habitats for wildlife have been avoided. These areas are all more than 500 feet from the proposed Project centerline."

I sat back and pondered thoughtfully if Ranger X was going to go out and sit the Wildlife down and explain to them that there will be no migration off of Wildlife Managed Areas. I wondered to myself does a Bison or an Elk really understand the '500 yard rule'? I then wondered in what land I was walking because I then contrived if the oil should come out of that pipe was there a command that TransCanada had taught pipeline oil to 'stay put there on the ground and not move'?

Moving on.

Below is a list of assorted animals. Glance down through it and see if you hunt any of these.

Small game and furbearers:
Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)
Mountain Cottontail (Sylvilagus muttallii)
Coyote (Canis Latrans) ~on the fence with this one.
Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
Raccoon (Procyon lotor)
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Squirrel (Sciurus spp.)
American Beaver (Castor canadensis)
American Mink (Neovision vision)
Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis)
American Badger (Taxidea taxus)
Black Tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
Common muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)
Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii)
Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)
Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger)
Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
Eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius)
Franklin's ground squirrel (Spermophilus franklinii)
Gray fox (Urocyon vinereoargenteus)
Long tailed weasel (Mustela nivalis)
Mink (Mustela vision)
Nutria (Myocaster coypus)
North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)
River Otter (Lontra canadensis)
Spotted Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus spilisoma)
Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans)
Striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis)
Thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus)
Virginia opossum (Dipelphis virginiana)
White-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii)

Small game and furbearers would suffer:
Nest/burrow destruction
Abandonment
Loss of young
Foraging/Cover habitat
Displacement
Could fall into open trench during pipeline construction causing injury or death
Could be attracted by change in ground temperature


Birds Possibly Affected :
Hawks
Eagles
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Ducks/Geese
Chimney Swift
Nighthawks
Plovers Killdeer
Gulls, Terns
Sandpipers, Snipe, Woodcock
Dovers
Belted Kingfisher
Cuckoos
Kestrels, Merlins, Falcons
Common Loon
Northern Bobwhite
Upland Game Birds (Pheasants, Grouse, Turkey)
Cranes
Coots and Rails
Rock Pigeon
Snow Goose
Sharped Tailed Grouse
Northern Bobwhite
Greater sage-grouse
Gray patridge
Mourning dove
American woodcock

Migratory and Non-Migratory birds affected by:
Destruction of nesting area
Nest or burrow abandonment
loss of eggs or young
death
Habitat loss
Alteration
Fragmentation
Degradation of habitat after revegetation due to spread of noxious and invasive species, noise, or human presence.
Communication pump stations tower collisions/guy wires

Possible Fish Affected:
Brown trout
Mountain Whitefish
Rainbow Trout
Burbot
Channel Catfish
Smallmouth Vass
Walleye
Crappie
Sauger
Shovelnose sturgeon
Sunfish
Yellow Perch
Bait fish

I also wanted to see what this draft stated were the Environmental Consequences of construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of the proposed project: Page was left blank. Why? Its a draft come on. We want to know.

I read the Potential Impacts on Wildlife in Section 4.6.3.1:
"Construction of proposed Project would have direct and indirect, and temporary (short-term and long-term) and permanent impacts on wildlife resources. Direct impacts could occur due to the vegetation removal or conversion, obstructions to movement patterns, or the removal of native habitats that may be used for foraging, nesting, roosting, or other wildlife uses. (Barber et al. 2010). Indirect impacts to wildlife are difficult to quantify and are dependent on the sensitivity of  the species, individual, type and timing of activity, physical parameters (e. g. cover, climate, and topography) and seasonal use patterns of the species (Berger 2003). Short term impacts on wildlife would occur during construction and may extend beyond construction activities. Disturbed habitats may not be returned to former levels of functionality for up to 3 years following restoration efforts (Baun 1998), but long-term impacts on wildlife could extend through the life of a project and possibly longer for those habitats that require many years to be restored (Harju et al. 2013). Permanent impacts would result from construction of aboveground facilities that convert natural habitat to land used for pipeline operations, and where operational maintenance of the right-of way (ROW) permanently alters vegetation characteristics (Braun 1998).
The proposed Project could affect wildlife resources through the following:

• Habitat loss, alteration and fragmentation;
• Direct mortality during construction and operation;
• Indirect mortality because of stress or avoidance of feeding due to exposure to construction and operations noise, low-level helicopter or airplane monitoring overflights, and from increased human activity;
• Reduced breeding success from exposure to construction and operations noise and from increased human activity; and
• Reduced survival or reproduction due to less edible plants or reduced cover."

Listed of the Disturbances:
(~12, 696 acres of various habitat)
7744 acres of grassland/rangeland
40 acres of upland forest habitat
636 acres of wetland habitat
58 acres of forested wetlands
156 miles--150 temporary access roads
20 miles-41 permanent access roads.
80 acres each---*Building four or more construction camps
6.3 acres of grassland and developed land for a pump Station in N. Dakota
15.2 acres of grassland for a pump station in Kansas.
X amount-Pubic lands
X amount-Private lands
29 acres of forested wetlands converted to non-forested habitat due to ongoing ROW maintenance.
X amount -Access roads that increase human activity that affect Elk, Moose, Deer, Carnivores, small mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles (people do love to eat rattlesnake).
Slow-growing sagebrush inhibited by increased foraging by wildlife for browse.
Loss of shrubland and wooded habitat which moose and other animals eat.
High noise levels at site pumps which can mask wildlife communication whereby impuning reproduction during breeding seasons.
Nest abandonment
Decreased wildlife reproduction.
Vibrations detected in the soil surrounding roadways or construction
~285 acres of undeveloped habitat permanently lost due to construction of aboveground facilities
 Now I read this but near the end it says that "total habitat loss due to the pipeline construction would likely be small in the context of available habitat because of its linear nature. Restoration is suppose to follow construction with reseeding but areas of native vegetation could be converted to non-native species which could reduce the value of habitat for wildlife."

Moving on to Fragmentation.

"Fragmentation of wildlife habitat would result from the proposed Project. Fragmentation is the splitting of a large continuous expanse of habitat into numerous smaller patches of habitat with a smaller total habit area, and isolation within a matrix of habitats that are unlike the original (Wilcove et al. 1986). Habitat fragmentation has two components:
1)reduction in total habitat area;
and
2) reorganization of areas into isolated patches (Fahrig 2003.)
Habitat loss generally has adverse effects on biodiversity; fragmentation typically has a lower magnitude effect (relative to habitat loss) that may be either beneficial or adverse (Fahrig 2003).
The effects of habitat fragmentation are dependent on many variables including original habitat structure, landscape context, predator communities, and susceptibility to nest parasitism (Tesksbury et al. 1998) Habitat fragmentation effects are typically most pronounced in forested and shrubland habitats and are generally reduced for pipeline corridors because of their sides can be narrowed in sensitive habitats, vegetative cover is re-established in temporary working areas, and there is minimal human disturbance during operations (Hinkle et al. 2002) During construction, however, pipelines can be significant barriers to wildlife movements (Hinkle et al. 2002). After construction, pipeline corridors may be used as travel corridors by coyotes, deer, raccoon, and many other species.  The following are wildlife habitat fragmentation issues relevant for pipeline construction and operation:

• Reduction in patch size of remaining available habitats;
• Creation of edge effects;
• Creation of barriers to movement
• Intrusion of invasive plants, animals and nest parasites;
• Facilitation of predator movements;
• Habitat disturbance; and
• Intrusion of humans (Hinkle et al. 2002).

Pipeline construction would remove vegetation including native grasses, shrubs, and trees creating an unvegetated strip over the pipeline trench and the adjacent construction areas.

Subsequent re-vegetation may not provide habitat features comparable to pre-Project habitats, and restoration of wetlands in arid regions is not always successful (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [FERC] 2004). Removal of vegetation increases the potential for the establishment and spread of noxious weeds and other invasive plants that have little use or value for wildlife and that displace native plants, resulting in degraded wildlife habitat values."

I stopped there because I don't believe in spoon feeding people but as you can see when in consideration for the encompassing conditions of a pipeline that affect the quarry that pipeline could affect the hunter/huntress and hunting act itself.

In each state and amongst hunters/huntresses in the hunting community there is a public declaration of how much revenue the hunting sport puts back in the system of conservation toward pubic lands, private lands, wildlife refuges, wetlands, state parks, natural resources, research, habitat restoration, animal specie monitoring and welfare and jobs for people.

Where is all that going to go in the face of a series of explosions?

I would contend that every hunter/huntress should pick up a pen and paper or e-mail President Obama himself to tell him about your feelings on this. I dare not tell you what you should say. You have a mind, the power of google, initiative and where-with-all to decide if this is worth a sack of egg sucking  chicken killing dogs.

Whereby the power of your conviction for hunting is aided and abeded by non-hunters with the same goal even if the motive is different. The outcome will be the same.

If you so desire to pen your feelings you can find our good man President Obama at this website and address:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Choose in the right hand column: Write us. Read the next page and send them an e-mail.
I am sure he'd be glad to hear from you plus you'll probably receive a picture of him and the family dog.


~Courtesy of the AOFH~

What Lies Beneath: Hunting, Caribou, and the XL Pipeline.

Audubon

Remember this: Look for yourself and consider the potential harm that can be done. After a deal is made it is hard to renegotiate on the agreement after said ink is dry on paper. As a hunter, a caribou is a large animal that is a slow producer. This is an important fact. Let it soak in.

Side bar update: This man and this woman are popular in Alaska. This was not fake accounts but these two people, more so the female probably, chose to load themselves onto the internet to do some stupid bat guano. They have a book about their love affair while telling me about drinking wine and having a vampire bite them....somewhere. Mind you, I have had my share of weird type stuff because Google use to show analytics where other people in foreign countries were trying to log in to your account...but this, takes the cake and to see they have success in the light while doing weirdly- weird crap in the dimly lit room in their house or cave somewhere. When I say I know exactly who this married couple is-I know.

I was having a conversation with Hunter Bob, (as you might want to read the post before this to get to know this character), where I had posted on my private social media account a page about the Woodland Caribou up in Alberta, Canada. Some other accounts use the words 'brink of extinction'. I do not have OCD so either way I took it the caribou is in trouble. This petition was through the Wildlife Federation website declaring the woodland caribou in Alberta were threatened by the XL Pipeline which translated means human interaction/disturbance through construction over miles of alternating habitat straight through to Texas. It is not as yet approved. I did noted to whomever saw it that they asked for money after you signed the petition but if they wanted to, could ignore it.

As for the National Wildlife Federation, I was looking into getting a section of land certified as a habitat so the school kids could come down and get acquainted with a working habitat in progress. You always have to teach the little children I say. As it was my own page and not spammed out on someone else it was a take it or leave it kind of thing. At this time I was feeling under the weather and not myself but would be confirmed the next day at a doctor's visit. 

Of course, here come Hunter Bob? It seems I inflamed Hunter Bob quite a bit.  Besides when did the National Wildlife Federation become criminal? When did it become a crime to be active in your world?

Here is the original link:

https://online.nwf.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1707&s_src=Website

Part II: A Man and Woman Converse over the intrepid Caribouuuuuu. (I can have humor about it).

This is the first comment:

Hunter Bob: The claim is mildly interesting but seems to have no substance. Pipelines have been built through the most magnificent population of caribou on the planet with no ill affects. The post does not present any significant facts that would suggest this pipeline will be built in any but the most responsible way and if that is the case, the concern that this will push caribou to the brink of extinction: is ridiculous and is suggested by individuals who are running their mouth about something they know nothing about. It reminds me of all the assholes that object to every development of fossil fuel we attempt and then fly their sorry asses to the place to protest or who knows what. Phoney assholes, when they are all walking or riding a bicycle to profess their bullshit then maybe someone might listen to them.

I chuckled at this but then it struck me:

a) This was not the same person I had been talking to.

b) Someone was perusing my information to gain ideas for themselves.

c) Someone was intending to deceive me for unknown reasons.

d)When considered the antagonistic way in which the comments were made in dismissiveness with all the burden of proof tossed in my way-their intent to harm was over 50%.

e)Radical change in demeanor, attitude, and aggressive attitude probably means I am dealing with a bi-polar personality or a pissed off woman.

I then asked:

She likes to dip: You want me to find some facts.

Hunter Bob: No, the facts that you are probably referring to are simply facts found when
the outcome is predetermined, those do not mean shit to me. See it all the time and am extremely tired of it.

She likes to dip: You don't know what I am referring to so you are assuming they are totally bogus anyway? So now you want to talk shit to me?

Hunter Bob: Not talking shit, check your facts from a disinterested source, then make your case. As it is, it means absolutely nothing but folks trying to garner donations, which sadly enough is the case in either side of these types of issues. 

And yet here I scratch my head because if he states all the facts are predetermined why does he want me to check facts if  these imaginary facts are just 'facts of manifest destiny on the part of XL pipeline' as he contends.

She likes to dip: haaha. By what you've already said you disregarded facts before they were even offered. maybe I should say "Dismissive". I have looked at disinterested sources. Of course no one doing work on this could be considered 'disinterested'. Why waste time? I just don't believe in sucking the Earth dry for a dollar while ripping up every piece of boreal forest/animal/woodland for someone that wants to live in the time of 'progress' when its 'regression' back to the early years of America when people killed, destroyed, and begged a pardon while they waited to build, uplift, only to tear it back down again. hahahahaha. Just so you know I am laughing my ass off about this. Are you aware of the fucked up shit that goes on in Canada?

I posted these links:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/alef-ewe/default.asp?lang=en&n=ED2FFC37-1
http://www.registrelep.gc.ca/species/schedules_e.cfm?id=1

She likes to dip: Looks like that caribou is listed on there.

Hunter Bob: Really there is nothing in that post or the link to it that remotely suggests anything factual. I am aware of the fucked up shit that goes on everywhere. But what this is suggesting goes completely contrary to the recent decisions Canada has made regarding caribou and other species. If there was any validity to this claim it would be well known and would be in the limelight of every conservation organization out there. But go ahead, find something from a disinterested source and further their special place in life. I am glad you are laughing your ass off, I guess I am just too angry in general to find the humor.
At this point I was trying not to have a conversation with him but give him information.

I posted this link:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/06/05/236978/james-hansen-keystone-pipeline-tar-sands-climate/?mobile=nc

Hunter Bob: Yep, blah, blah, blah.

She likes to dip: How about you prove your case because right now all I see is someone acting like a child, or a female. That's like Bush making all the money off of oil. Then you have that soldier who writes a letter about dying for a president that used him and others as bodies to win wars. Are you telling me that when politicians and governments make decisions like this on the sides of corporations and people die, animals die, and the habitat is mangled like the ocean oil disaster that you are that flippant to argue for XL pipeline? Really Hunter Bob?

Hunter Bob: You brought it up and while it maybe be a great source of entertainment for you, it is not for me. So how about you prove it.

At this point, I was not getting mad but someone was attacking. Asking me to prove it while they just sat back and instigated a fight. Originally I had no problems with this man. This was a complete 360 degree turn from a fellow hunter over caribou. Now I took up this because Caribou is a hunting food source. Why would I not want to defend it in the face of potential habitat destruction for building an XL pipeline? I realized this person was not interested in the issue only merely attacking me and I guess publicly humiliating with only less than 20 people watching or exerting their intelligence because they are insecure? Who was I dealing with really I thought?

She likes to dip: I am trying to have a conversation about it but you seem to be more prone to poking me instead of actually giving credible information yourself other than "I don't believe so". haaha What is up with that? I think you are trying to make me mad which you aren't I don't believe in the XL pipeline. If you do then great. I commend you. You stand on that side of the fence. I'll stand on mine. lmao. I'll still love you from afar. I don't think your real interest here is in the topic: only spite work. I wouldn't have disrespected you like that but now I know how you fly then I have a square on your real person which up til now must have been painful for you to act like someone that
seemed to have some kind of decorum about himself.

Then I posted this link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110622102646.htm

I still do not know who this is and the person came for several helpings to feed his rage after reading my Ted Talks. This is where whomever it is insults me:

Hunter Bob: Of course there are all those things but one can plead that they do not have a hand in it if they are utilizing the modern world as we know it. Like these god damn computers and a society that burns fossil fuel as if it were piss. No, She likes to dip, my interest was only to point out that there is more to the story. There is not an animal on the planet that I don't fret about daily but we also have to live in a world that sucks the life blood out of everything we touch. In spite of that and withing the confines of what our society finds acceptable, we have to do things that are in a perfect world very unseemly. And, your full of shit.

Here I thought, if he frets over wildlife then why didn't he just sign the petition and go cook some bacon? 

He also goes on to say things like 'sucks the life blood out of everything we touch' but it would seem he complains that something like the XL pipeline is picked on by bicycle riding tourists-conservationists that only want a donation so the world can prop them up from a real job. Out of Hunter Bob's converse, I had yet to see him direct my simpleton female mind toward one of the lucky doors on Let's Make a Deal for information that pertained to the topic. Contrary indeed.

She likes to dip: I'm not full of shit. I know there is more to the story. I know that caribou and elk are stressed by human contact which leads to abortions, migrations, and etc. Putting something like this up is not a matter to take lightly or treat with transparency. I would think anyone that sees it would investigate for themselves. You just want to take a stab at someone then eventually insult and try to discredit. Yes, I posted something on my page. You can take it or leave it but for a while I have been suspicious that you were lurking for no good. I would hate to think what is going to become of Alaska as its suppose to be the last frontier and we know how frontiers end up. Industrialized, over populated, full of crime, and people fighting over property and the old way of life. Wait until they march all over Alaska like Sherman's March then whose going to be crying about a pipeline. Wait til they suck Alaska dry then on to the Arctic. When ever you go back to your buddies for high fives tell them you really did a lot trying to pick on a woman. I guess that is all you can wrestle with right now.

(I was wondering what this next comment came from because I never mentioned in my comments about picking up a woman. Don't flatter myself? What was that? I literally felt like I was talking to a multiple personality. I would not be surprised this wasn't his girlfriend and him talking turns at the conversation and stalking me from his page).

Hunter Bob: Well of course can think what you will. It is astonishingly grandiose of you to think people are lurking to do whatever. Pick up a woman, now that is some funny shit. Don't flatter yourself there She likes to dip, Jesus Christ you are seriously disturbed. (Now I am disturbed. They always go straight to the crazy angle).

I posted another link because I was really starting to raise and eyebrow or two:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222154641.htm

She likes to dip: I think the idea that you want to put me over a pyre while making me think Indigenous people should just lay down and let the placement of a pipeline rape them till there is nothing left of their land is quite disturbing and take away the wildlife they fight for all the time not to mention clean water. Go (very bad curse word that begins with a strong hard F) yourself.

I then posted this link (in the spirit of staying on topic):
src.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/RSC_ExP_ExecutiveSummary_ENG_Dec14_10_FINAL_v5.pdf

She likes to dip: I say that with love too.

Hunter Bob: Do you not see that you are proving my point. Yes, there are all sorts of these types of facilities, developments, environmental destruction et. al. it is a part of the world as we know it. No, I don't like it but I live amongst oil field development that has been insignificant in and in fact, in many ways beneficial to some of our fauna. I do not think that indigenous people should just lay down but having lived amongst them, they are not nearly as pure as you might believe. But anyway, in a hundred years none of this shit will matter. 

Here was when I realized that this person has already become accepting because it was forced on his living space. His belief of ACCEPTANCE of an unnecessary/necessary evil of the oil pipeline in Alaska or oil development areas. My concern with this is given the natural disasters that are becoming more recurrent in the Kenai area that given the question of maintenance of pre-existing pipeline and subsequent damage to oil developed areas after a major disaster is Hunter Steve going to change his thinking when his truck is tire deep in oil waste?

I was also a little put back that a perfect stranger would assume that in my simpleton female brain that I believed in the Noble Savage theory of Providence. If he lived among them then the indigenous people did not know what they had occupying their yucca hut (as I like to say).

She likes to dip: BTW. You've come to my wall before trying to tell me what I can post because it enraged you. You have tried to bully me like you are some kind of dominant male. I don't go to your wall doing such things. I take this as a threat on my person. You have insinuated to know what I look like. You come over to my page and pick fights. You're no better than the men on other pages that treat me like I am not suppose to say anything even on my own page. I do welcome other people's opinion but not when they curse at me in the beginning and tell me I am full of shit. You are disrespectful. I don't recall going over to your house and crapping on the lawn. You are not even interested in the above. You just want to BULLY. So far, you haven't added anything in the way of documentation of known source or science. Just what you say. Really, you haven't done anything but make yourself to look like a Ass. If I had done something against you I could understand but you're just like _____.

(Trust me you don't want to know or open that can of decayed male worminess.)

Unless you are Christmas using Hunter Bob's page, and by the way you have baited me in messages, makes me wonder exactly what you're after so... let's have it. What is it you really want?

Hunter Bob: Yep, you are insane, see you.

She likes to dip: Usually when I ask such shit people run away. I am the crazy one. Figures.

After this conversation with subsequent walk off and unfriending, I was still wanting to know about the  caribou-XL pipeline conundrum. I was more disturbed as I found things such as maintenance issues, non-compliance audits, pipeline explosions, and human sickness and disease incurred by parts of the process to get that oil to you. There was also the argument over who got blamed for what after an explosion. I even found myself looking at the Alaskan connection. I know this would contend for more jobs for people improving the economy (I guess) but what happens when it goes South? You can't really undo what has been done overnight.

In my perspective, when something matters you gain knowledge, talk to your intellectual peers, debate, share information then if you have to fight (maybe not violently but in whatever way that doesn't cause someone to die literally). If someone comes to you with poor intentions, and rebukes what you say in conversation as heresy, then maybe its better to not waste oxygen on selectively deaf ears.

Yes, it was confusing to have a fellow hunter treat me so vulgarly, but when in consideration, I think I might have gotten more out of it then he did. At least I carried on with the topic instead of walking away from it.

When people come at you, fight even harder because there are some things in this life that are worth it. Worth it for a hunter to hunt, for a child to see in the woods for the first time, for its pleasure to step its foot on the ground, nature lovers to gawk at or live unmolested, for someone to consider it their sacred charge, a chance at life until it dies contrary to suffering or torture, and mere existence because it can. Existence should be treated with awe because it is not someone's bank roll while they step all over the lives of people that are casualties in their march to claim all in existence for their own revenue.

At the given time, I considered the ramifications of what could possibly happen to a much loved quarry if disaster struck then it wasn't just about the caribou. It was everything in the wake of that possible destruction's path.

Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.


~Courtesy of the AOFH~


Here are some other links to enjoy:

http://keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/draftseis/index.htm

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.350.org/images/kxl-own-words-v2.pdf

http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/Media-Center/News-by-Topic/Global-Warming/2013/03-01-13-State-Dept-Keystone-XL-Analysis-Fatally-Flawed.aspx

http://www.journalofappliedecology.org/view/0/editorschoice493.html

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.350.org/images/kxl-own-words-v2.pdf

http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/http://keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/documents/organization/205609.pdf

http://awionline.org/awi-quarterly/2012-spring/tar-sands-pipelines-and-oil-tankers-threaten-north-american-wildlifehttp://www.governor.nebraska.gov/news/2013/01/docs/0122_Pipeline_Approval.pdf

www.transcanada.com

Alaskan Consideration:

http://www.thealaskapipelineproject.com/

http://www.thealaskapipelineproject.com/docs/news_releases/20120730.pdf
http://www.thealaskapipelineproject.com/docs/news_releases/20120330.pdf
http://www.thealaskapipelineproject.com/docs/APP-Solicitation-of-Interest.pdf

TransCanada audit for non-compliance for safety issues:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/10/31/transcanada-national-energy-board.html

NEB Safety Letter to TransCanada:
http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rsftyndthnvrnmnt/sfty/brdrdr/so_t241_002_2012-eng.html

Related links to oil/gas disasters and its effects on wildlife:
http://www.otterproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Garrott_etal_1993_Mortality_of_sea_otters_in_Prince_William_Sound_following_the%20_Valdez_oil_spill.pdf
http://labor.state.ak.us/trends/trendspdf/mar99.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/osweroe1/content/learning/exxon.htm
http://www.wec.ufl.edu/Effects%20of%20oil%20spills%20on%20wildlife.pdf
http://okaloosa.ifas.ufl.edu/MS/OilSpillFactSheetAlaska.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/osweroe1/docs/oil/edu/oilspill_book/chap5.pdf
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41311.pdf
http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/winter-2012/oil-spills-severity-and-consequences-to-our-ecosystem
Take your pick on here:
http://www.fws.gov/contaminants/Issues/OilSpill.cfm

Pipeline stuff:
http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/651408.pdf

http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/02/06/transcanada-laying-defective-keystone-xl-pipeline-texas
http://search.usa.gov/search?query=pipeline+&commit=Search&affiliate=fws.gov&utf8=%E2%9C%93
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2013/01/29/pipeline-explosion-rattles-natural-gas-industry/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_San_Bruno_pipeline_explosion
http://www.energybiz.com/article/13/01/pipeline-eruptions-causing-fiery-debate-over-safety

How crap like this affects people:

http://pipelineobserver.ca/another-alberta-family-flees-oil-sands-pollution/

http://www.stopbaytex.ca/open-letter-to-baytex-energy/
http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/cicad/cicad59_rev_1.pdf
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/first-nations-leaders-gather-ottawa-strengthen-legal-case-against-oil-sands-development
http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/603659/oil-spill-response-ship-runs-aground-en-route-to-vancouver-news-conference/
http://www.protectourmanoomin.org/1/post/2013/03/maps-of-red-lake-enbridge-ceded-land-site.html
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/new-guidelines-increase-inspections-penalties-for-oil-tankers-1.1200348

For further reading:

http://www.albertacariboucommittee.ca/maps.htm

http://esrd.alberta.ca/

http://srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/SpeciesAtRisk/SpeciesSummaries/Default.aspx

http://srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/SpeciesAtRisk/SpeciesSummaries/documents/Caribou_March02.pdf

Conversations between Hunter-Huntress.

Remember this: Earth is a great big fish bowl with an unnumbered amount of smaller fish bowls within it. There is a complete ecosystem to consider at all times.

As always, this is merely an investigation in the spirit of taking a closer inspection of things. There are days depending on peoples attitudes that I wonder when I became the enemy?

(This is dated information)

Part One: The Introduction:

Let me introduce the character of Hunter Bob.  Bob, in the beginning seemed to be interested in hunting. I was informed that he liked sado-masochistic sex, being bitten by a vampire, and goes back and forth with sexual innuendo to the point I finally tell him I have had people harass me before so please don't go there.

Excusing this bad behavior, I decided to give him a chance because he did hunt after all. Of course Hunter Bob has a girlfriend whom I do not know. Enter the character Huntress Christmas. In good conscience, I  decided I was not about to home wreck her happy life with Hunter Bob. I am at least somewhat noble. At some point, I am not so sure that I am talking to Hunter Bob because the verbiage used is not the same. I am suspicious that its Christmas who is trying to lure me into a sexual conversation to use against me, or maybe its her that is interested? Or it could be a trap to sully my good name? Whatever girl!

I am sure in their communities they are perceived as upstanding citizens but that all changes when people log on to the internet.

In one conversation, the person tells me they are sipping brandy while getting enraged at shit I write; my suspicion is female? I could be wrong. I know there are many woman that hide behind the pages of their men doing naughty things but hurting people needlessly is their stick. Mind you, I have never met these people and my conversation initially is based around my interest in wildlife conservation, hunting, and topics around these themes. Usually I don't out people like this but I wanted the reader to  have some kind of back story.

In this conversation, I was discussing with Hunter Bob his opinion on the problems of moose die-off in different areas. Seeing how (?he?) lived in Alaska.

Reminding myself what the definition of (die-off) is: die′-off` or die' off`, n.

a sudden decline in a natural population from causes other than human intervention. 

As I read on Hunter Bob commented, "There was no mass die off and no peritonitis, not sure where you are seeing that but if it is reference the Kenai Peninsula its bullshit" and "It is not just a matter of killing predators. That world help some but the reality is, because there has been little in the way of wildfires the carrying capacity is so low it probably doesn't make any difference."

Here I say is one of the times when its evident that there are hunters that do not give other females the respect of hunting, or knowledge themselves. Once again, I am not sure who Hunter Bob is. 

This reminded me of a fish tank. You have a fish tank with two structures inside where you have a nice peaceful fish (much like a moose) but once you buy an aggressive beta fish (lets just use it as our antagonist) that literally worries the life out of the smaller one. The smaller fish hides in its home only zipping out from time to time to eat but eventually this wears on the little fish. He really has nowhere to go because the fish tank has boundaries. When the beta finds his hideout he moves to another spot to hide again. This could go on and on until the fish dies or the owner seeing the behavior puts the more aggressive fish in another tank, feeds to the cat, or flushes down the toilet. This is a matter of limited space under duress. My thoughts on this is there is not enough time or space between prey-predator interactions where the prey isn't constantly being threatened. There is no real area of relief to move to. If the moose are moving to the sides of roads or to towns this might be a consideration.

I also thought in terms of a haunted house. If you are a very skittish individual when the ghoulies jump out you will mow down anyone in your path or climb over their head racing for the exit.

Again, think of the person who is stalked by an overzealous lover with no place to run.

Enter the Big Bad Wolf and the Bear In the Bush.

If the wolf is out on the trails eventually the wolf will come looking for the moose unless it finds another food source. When I read the predators were moving in town following the moose (I assume- which I should never do) that would indicate to me that there might be a problem with the environment they live in providing for them sufficiently.  I am not discounting the fact stress induced predation isn't a reason for the migration out of normal habitat. I want to consider other options. I have read conflicts on different bear species squatting on other bears turf which forces them out to other places. This could cause an altercation to fight over food or area. Whoever the loser is has to take a hike.

I read that habitat was not a limiting factor but if you don't keep up with the area of the habitat, and the quality of the habitat to the ratio of the volume of animals living off of it then the habitat itself will not be able to sustain a certain quality or number of wildlife. If the habitat is not being monitored and utilized with the best interest of the quality of the soil, the water, the foliage, and the air in addition to the animals/fish but taking into consideration the needs for each species during rotation of seasons. This is going to be a problem especially if Mother Nature is being extremely cruel at times. Supplemental habitat initiatives should be considered. Its like building a house. Your foundation sucks the house is going to eventually fall to wrack and ruin or turn into a money pit.

I wanted to say to some degree this was a management of resources problem but I have known incidences where you can have two different management practices that seem to work but the one that you would think is the better choice fails miserably. My other thought was the numbers seemed to lie but if you have invasion of X amount of animals from a place they inhabit to a place of human inhabitance that is not their normal area of occupation I would wonder why? If the moose moves does every other predator follow? If so why? Is moose the only food source? If that is so what has happened to the small game animals or the medium sized ungulates? Where is the desperation coming from or going to? Or are the moose under limited habitat being unintentionally domesticated?

I would wonder if this is the natural tendency for moose to move from areas of high predation to low but when they move this becomes an issue of lack of good quality habitat because human populations have taken up that area. I am also considering predation at all times. I pondered on earlier readings of the lack of moose in Minnesota and how there seem to be a migration up into North Dakota. It could be possible Moose just moved on to 'better pastures and quieter times'. I considered the geography of Kenai especially in the area of Soldotna or even across this area to the pass that links the land mass to the bigger area someways from Anchorage.

Certainly by the comments at the bottom where the bears are noted to invade school areas people are of course not interested in sharing that space with them because you can't really control a bear. We could reference the article previously posted on my google page about the bear in Switzerland that was removed by death because it wasn't migrating back over to Italy fast enough to find a mate and bother people. Even as the article states in the beginning that the moose is dwindling and the predators are thriving the ultimate outcome is the predators will die eventually from lack of food unless they start snagging farm animals or people. Let's face it Kenai, Alaska is a limited area after that everything moves outward. If you sat down with a map of this place and figured out how much actual acreage you could use for food sources to animals, terrain that is for passage without food on the ground, and human habitation, how much space could the wildlife actually live on? Something to consider but we know that its the constant movement from place to place as the distribution and diversity matter. To many in one spot could trim it down like a herd of goats.

I looked over on this website under management:

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Wildlife_profiles/profile_moose.htm, as quoted, "Areas that provide large amounts of nutritious browse benefit moose. Forest fires induce significantly more nutritious re-growth than that produced by a chain saw. In the absence of fire, clear-cuts provide browse in abundance. Large clear cuts (more than 100 acres) don't benefit moose as much as smaller, dispersed cuts. Islands of uncut softwood and hardwood within large clear-cuts are utilized by moose in the winter. Moose use clear-cuts until the plants grow beyond their reach, in 10-30 years. They avoid dense re-growth that restricts their movement and visibility. Beaver flowages are used frequently by moose. Aspen or willow in a range of successional stages is valuable. A mosaic of upland mature mixed wood (primarily hardwoods with a softwood component), regenerating clear-cuts or burned areas, and wetlands offers good moose habitat."

Let's take into the consideration of habitat or even the landscape of the Kenai Peninsula.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/kenai-peninsula-landscape-radically-altered-typhoon-storms

It has been seven months since a typhoon which in this article 'radically-altered' the landscape of the Kenai peninsula. Could this be a factor in the food sources of the moose? I would think if foliage was damaged or destroyed this would be a consideration or at least something to consider. I live in a Hurricane Alley of sorts that goes up to Nags Head which frequently gets hit over and over ad nauseum. People generally tend to forget about such things and believe their lives go back to normal because their way of life continues but is it the same for wildlife? You have soil erosion, foliage and tree damage, water pollution, dead animals, debris, flooding etc. I would think time better served would have been toward the fact that if there was existing data on life on the Kenai before the typhoon then what is it like seven months later. Is it getting better, sustaining, or is there something terribly wrong that no one thought could happen. Are the people of Kenai in some way suffering still from a natural disaster? Can this be a consideration for the present state of the wildlife? In this article there is more concern with property damage than the long sustaining damage to the land. Natural disasters destroy a lot of the ecosystem variables or to a relative degree greatly displace them. This could be altering pollination patterns, destruction of wildlife food resources, wildlife death, and other factors to be considered.

 
What else in the way of environmental factors could be going on? Animals have a way of knowing weather conditions. Think Japan here. I found this:

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2013/01/05/massive-earthquake-m-7-7-struck-near-alaska-tsunami-warning-in-effect-for-alaska-and-british-columbia-coasts/

I then thought what about that prescribed burning? I love refuges. Always have. Always will.

I found this:

http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=74525

This wildlife refuge is noted to be 1.92 million acres.

In the bottom right hand corner it is displayed as taken from the website, " Refuge management programs on Wilderness lands are generally  limited to wildlife surveys, censuses, and monitoring. Non-wilderness areas have seen more active management, primarily through the use of prescribed fire and mechanical vegetation crushing to encourage the growth of more desirable browse for moose. The refuge is also actively involved in wildlife census and survey work through telemetry. Wolves, lynx, caribou and brown bear are species which are captured and radio-collared in order to track migration patterns, reveal locations of important food sources, and monitor to evaluate the potential impacts of human activities throughout the Kenai Peninsula, both on and off refuge lands. Refuge staff are also studying the vegetation history of the area in order to better understand the effects of both man-caused and natural impacts, including human development, natural fires and insect infestations. Perhaps the greatest challenge is management of human activities and their associated impacts in order to minimize disturbances to wildlife and their habitats." 

I wanted to know about its geography so I went here:

http://www.borough.kenai.ak.us/our-geography

I looked at the bottom map. There is two national parks, one wildlife refuge, and a state park.

Look long and hard at this land mass. Learn about it.

I leave that for your own curiosity and spirit of exploration into what is going on in them there hills?

Other links you might be interested in are:

http://www.alaska.gov/

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=589

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=595

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntingmaps.main

 

Conversation One: Discussion between a Man and a Woman.

Hunter Bob: You can't wait to see these moose, you have to go find them, they are more prolific than one might imagine.

February 22 at 10:47pm

Huntress: I was sitting here debating whether this is not really an albino or its like a grey variation (like grey horses that look white) or its some weird trick of DNA where in the womb its information is misread like a hiccup but filled in to make it patchy or everything was really white or grey if it crawled out the sea?

February 22 at 10:49pm

Huntress : I have moose overload right now. :)

February 22 at 10:50pm

Hunter Bob: These animals are not true albinos (if they were they would never survive in the wild) and they occur in many different forms. Often times referred to as "piebalds" there are variations of this anomaly in most game animals.

February 22 at 10:52pm

Hunter Bob: But no matter what you call them, they are gorgeous and a real delight to see when you least expect it.

February 22 at 10:53pm

Huntress: I can tell by this picture the skin is grey looking underneath. We have a lot of pied deer her and they tell them to kill them before the others. BTW, howse the moose population in Alaska these days?

February 22 at 10:53pm

Hunter Bob: Depends on where you are. On the Kenai Peninsula it sucks because wildfires are continually suppressed (the most important aspect to moose proliferation in this environment) and the fact that bears are eating well over 50% of calf production and wolves are eating the adults with unchecked abandon. And then there is he moose-vehicle collisions that account for nearly as many as the predators.

February 22 at 11:13pm

Hunter Bob: Funny that they want to kill those deer. Here types of moose here are basically considered inviolate.

February 22 at 11:14pm

Huntress: I was reading a paper on moose calves dying but I want to say it was back in 2010? It was from peritonitis.

February 22 at 11:32pm

Huntress: Oops...I did see read the part about predators, drowning, and the female moose abandoning the calves after being scared off by the biologist.

February 22 at 11:33pm

Hunter Bob: That was frankly, an unnecessary study. Everyone already knew what the results would say and in the process a bunch of calves were killed that should not have been. The problem with science is they refuse to believe the "lying eyes" of people who are actually out there and have a clue what the fuck is really going on.

February 22 at 11:36pm

Huntress: It was done as stated because of a mass die off. Lying eyes can't tell you straight off what causes peritonitis Steve but then again I doubt they would start dosing them with meds. lmao. What did they decide to do about that then? Shoot the predators to thin them out or what?

February 22 at 11:38pm

Huntress: What is your theory on the Missouri Moose disappearing? lmao.

February 22 at 11:39pm

Hunter Bob: There was no mass die off and no peritonitis, not sue where you are seeing that but if it is reference the Kenai Peninsula its bullshit.

February 22 at 11:40pm

Hunter Bob: It is not just a matter of killing predators. That would help some but the reality is, because there has been little in the way of wildfires the carrying capacity is so low it probably doesn't make any difference.

February 22 at 11:42pm

Huntress: Hold on one second. I didn't say it was in Kenai. But I was looking at a scientific paper done on behalf of Alaska Fish and Game but hold on I copy pasted it. Let me go look.

February 22 at 11:43pm

Huntress: Aye Dios. I didn't copy that one but it was under Moose Calf Mortality in Alaska.

February 22 at 11:46pm

Hunter Bob: Okay, as to the Missouri moose I have not looked at that. I have enough trouble keeping up with Alaska stuff. But my fist guess would be with the deer. They carry a brain parasite that does not effect them but will infect moose populations in close proximity and can cause die-offs. This is one reason why the two do not do well together.

February 22 at 11:57pm

Huntress: brainworm...lmao.

February 22 at 11:58pm


When you consider all of these things there might be something a little more involved in the problem than killing off the predators. Consider more than one option, parameter or Sherlockian clue. Truly asking why creatures are acting a certain way and really investigating the problem might be time well spent. You could be suffering from a previous event?  

If its for a hunting season for tourism all I can say is its your area. Suffer the consequences. If it turns out that killing off predators is going to get you a short term solution you better be figuring a long term one out while you're pulling the trigger. 

If the goal is to completely irradicate the predators and supplant humans in their wake to decide who lives and dies in a herd as a surrogate for the natural cycles of the world I am sure we can fall back on the idea that now we can clone an extinct frog. No biggie. If you are willing and able to live with being the Hatchet Man more power to you but regret is a hard thing to live with.

On the idea of women hunters, do not undervalue them or disrespect them. It may come back to bite you in the ass.

As always in the spirt of the hunt but also investigation.


~Courtesy of the AOFH~