We typically think of bear attacks in backcountry locations when we hear news about a hunter being mauled in the wild. However, a Georgia hunter recently discovered that a vicious attack can happen anywhere and at anytime. And it’s not always the bears and big cats on the attack. In this case, it was a pack of dogs doing the damage.
The 61-year-old Georgia hunter requested to be known simply as, “Scott B.” He was attempting to relocate a treestand when the attack by 3 dogs occurred.
A trip to the deer woods to move a treestand turned ugly for this Georgia hunter, Scott B.
The man was removing straps from his ladder stand when he saw the dogs approaching.
“One of them came in and attacked me. When it did, the other two joined in. They were attacking me from three sides. It…
During a recent broadcast on Russian state-run TV, a pundit discussed the possibility of Russia using a nuclearSarmat missileto strike a volcano in Yellowstone National Park.
Russian PresidentVladimir Putinon Thursday said during an address that his country “will pay increased attention to strengthening” its nuclear missiles based on land, sea and in the air, according toReuters. He also reportedly said RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic…
But whether this will happen is not clear-cut, Bill Browder, once the largest foreign investor inRussiaand now an outspoken Kremlin critic, told Sky News.
MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin said he plans to deploy Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, as part of an effort to modernize the country’s nuclear forces.
The announcement, aimed in part at showcasing Russia’s nuclear arsenal, came two days after Mr. Putin said that Russia will pull back from the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the U.S. It comes on the eve of the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a conflict that has exposed serious shortcomings of capabilities of the Russian military, which has struggled to advance on the battlefield in Ukraine in recent months.
By Mark Heinz, Outdoors Reporter Mark@CowboyStateDaily.com
Regardless of whether thelatest effort to delist grizzly bearssucceeds, there’s no doubt about the overwhelming demand for grizzly hunting tags, veteran bear hunter Guy Eastman of Powell said.
“Absolutely,” he told Cowboy State Daily when asked if he intends to put in for one of the coveted hunting tags, should grizzlies be delisted.
“Me and probably 10,000 of my other friends,” he added with a chuckle.
He’s the editor-in-chief of Eastmans’ Publishing Inc., a Powell-based media company that specializes in stories and videos about fair chase Western big game trophy hunting. He’s been on several grizzly hunts in Alaska and Canada, and said it’s no easy endeavor because grizzlies are among the most intelligent animals…
Cougars and their challenges have been in the news lately with the death of Los Angeles’ celebrity mountain lion, P-22. L.A.’s beloved cougar lived in a 9-square mile patch of habitat in the midst of the city, confined by freeways to a relatively small range. His was a high-profile story that perfectly illustrates a terrible predicament for cougars and many other species. As habitat fragmentation continues to create increasingly smaller and unconnected areas, many species are impacted—especially low-density, wide-ranging species like cougars.
While the Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula may be characterized by its wilderness rather than its urban sprawl, cougars there face similar constraints. The peninsula is surrounded by water in three directions, as well as the teeming Interstate Highway 5 (I-5) corridor. The authors of a new study from Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization and partner tribal nations, note that in the Pacific Northwest, “current habitat fragmentation characteristic of the Anthropocene may threaten Cougar metapopulation connectivity important to maintaining genetic health of the species.”
Stuck on a piece of land surrounded by water sounds pretty constrictive for an animal like a male cougar, which may dominate a home range of 50 to 150 square miles. But what if cougars could swim?
Until now, anecdotal and scientific evidence for swimming cougars has been lean, leading scientists to wonder about large bodies of water serving as a barrier to cougar movement. However, the new research from Panthera reveals that cougars can swim surprisingly long distances, “challenging current thinking about the extent and connectivity of the cougar range,” according to a press release for the research.
What’s the difference between cougars, mountain lions, and pumas? Nothing! They are one in same: Puma concolor. To further confuse things, the Flordia panther is also a member of the puma genus, making them not a panther but a subspecies of cougar.
As part of Panthera’s Olympic Cougar Project, a research initiative on the Peninsula, a mother cougar and her 1½-year-old son, known as M161, were outfitted with GPS collars to track their movement. The press release explains what happened next:
“To scientists’ astonishment, M161 spent several months on land after his collaring before swimming 1.1 km [.68 miles] from the eastern edge of the Peninsula to Puget Sound’s Squaxin Island. Based on this journey, scientists estimate that at least 3,808 of the Salish Sea’s 6,153 islands could be accessible to ‘island hopping’ cougars.”
Dr. Mark Elbroch, Puma Program Director for Panthera and co-author of the study, told Treehugger in an email that “M161 could have made another few short swims to pass undetected below I-5 in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge—a route we’d never considered before.”
The Olympic Peninsula is bordered to the north and east by the Salish Sea, a cold and deep body of water between Washington and British Columbia. M61’s swim was recorded in the Puget Sound, an inlet of the Salish Sea.
“These water bodies are dotted with many islands of all sizes, creating a complex mosaic of land and sea that Cougars and other species may be able to navigate using a series of swims or ‘hops,’” write the study authors.
M61’s swim from the eastern Olympic Peninsula to Squaxin Island allowed the researchers to predict the total number of islands in the Salish Sea that may be accessible to cougars by means of swimming. They used M61’s travel as a potential upper threshold distance and used cougar sighting records from islands in the Salish Sea to confirm or refute their results.
They estimated that 3808 of 6153 islands in the study area could be accessible to cougars with one or more 1.1-kilometer swims. They then confirmed the presence of cougars on 18 of those islands. Amazingly, four islands with confirmed cougar sightings would have required swims closer to 2 kilometers (1.24 miles).
With that in mind, they increased the threshold distance to 2 kilometers, yielding an additional 775 islands potentially accessible by island hopping.
The findings are particularly significant because of cougars’ genetic isolation in the area, thanks to the barriers previously mentioned. The roads are especially concerning. Highways are, in effect, turning the Olympic Peninsula into an island of its own. The I-5 corridor south of Seattle is one of the “fastest developing regions on the west coast and is increasingly severing wildlife connectivity in western Washington,” according to Panthera’s Olympic Cougar Project.
“I-5 is a daunting barrier for wildlife, with daily traffic counts along the stretch of land connecting the Olympic Peninsula to mainland Washington ranging from 50,000 in the south to 100,000 as you approach Olympia,” Dr. Elbroch told us. “Yet, this cougar reminded us of the ingenuity of nature—that cougars facing what appear to be insurmountable obstacles, may still find a way to connect with far-off populations.”
The findings aren’t just important for cougar conservation. Cougars are keystone species, and protecting them indirectly protects numerous other species in their ecological community. A 2022 Panthera study, for example, revealed that cougars maintain relationships with an astounding 485 other species.
While the idea of cougars learning to swim to escape the challenges of the natural and built environment is a win for Team Cougar, the Pacific Northwest cougars still have a rough road ahead. Not only are there habitat constraints, but also, cougar hunting is legal in Washington state. Which appears to be the depressing fate of our intrepid M161, who was shot and killed on Squaxin Island. (Meanwhile, the USDA’s Wildlife Services program killed 200 cougars in western states in 2021, the last year for which there is data.)
But as Dr. Elbroch pointed out, M161 “opened our eyes to new possibilities.” And with Panthera’s work to protect cougars, and especially to work with the state to ensure I-5 is modified to aid wildlife on the Olympic Peninsula, perhaps people will begin to rethink humankind’s relationship with species like cougars—much like they did in Los Angeles. And if all else fails, at least we now know that cougars can take to the sea and swim off to new horizons.
Public health officials are urging governments to prepare for possible avian flu spillover to humans. The disease is now spreading between mammals including foxes, otters, sea lions and bears. And while human cases remain extremely rare and the risk to the human population is low, health officials warn the situation — and risk level — could change at any moment.
While evidence points to earlier outbreaks of avian influenza in humans — including the 1918 flu — the first recent case occurred in 1997. An outbreak in chickens in Hong Kong led to 18 human cases — six of which were ultimately fatal. More widespread outbreaks in 2003 led to new infections and since then — more than 860 human cases of the H5N1 strain have been diagnosed globally.
Every Case of Bird Flu in Humans
According to the World Health Organization, there have been 240 documented human infections of H5N1 since 2003 in the Western Pacific region: Cambodia, China, Laos and Vietnam. Of the 240 cases, 135 were fatal — a mortality rate of 56 percent.
Other strains of avian flu have also been reported in humans over the years. Since 2014, 83 infections of H5N6 have led to 33 deaths. China has been the site of many human infections, including the country’s first case of H7N9 in 2013, leading to more than 1,500 cases and numerous deaths, according to the World Health Organization. China reported one case of H7N4 in 2018 and in November 2022, saw 80 cases of H9N2. Two were found in Cambodia.
In addition, two cases of H3N8 have been found in Western Pacific nations and two H10N3 cases have been detected globally.
‘Constant Vigilance and Ongoing Surveillance’
At this time, avian flu presents little danger of widespread infection in humans, but the level of risk may not remain the same, warned the World Health Organization on February 8. “[W]e must prepare for any change in the status quo,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the WHO.
For now, the agency expects “sporadic human cases” — typically caused by direct contact with animals — and potentially “small clusters” of human infections.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seems to agree, considering the highly virulent H5N1 strain “primarily an animal health issue.” Both agencies, though, are closely following the situation and recommend that governments around the world do the same. “[C]onstant vigilance and ongoing surveillance for novel influenza viruses worldwide is needed in people and animals — especially in poultry and pigs,” writes the CDC.
Resurgence of Avian Flu
While the majority of the world’s identified cases have occurred in the Western Pacific region decades ago, sporadic cases have surfaced in recent years as farmed and wild bird populations experience unprecedented outbreaks.
In Laos, a one-year-old infant was hospitalized in October of 2020. Infected with H5N1, the young patient experienced fever and difficulty breathing, among other symptoms.
On January 6, 2022, the first human case of H5N1 in the U.K. was reported by England, found in an individual who was asymptomatic and considered to not be infectious. Marking another first, China confirmed its first case of H3N8 on April 27, 2022 — a four-year-old child with close contact to birds at home.
Just one day later, on April 28, the U.S. confirmed its first human infection with H5N1, discovered in an individual who had been working in the culling of farmed birds exposed to avian flu. Until that time, there had been just 4 cases of avian flu reported by the U.S., all in the form of less pathogenic strain H7N2.
Highly pathogenic bird flu is thought to have first emerged in U.S. poultry in 1924, which “caused severe losses in live bird markets in New York City,” according to the Centers for Disease Control. While there has been no documented human-to-human spread of avian flu anywhere around the world, there is some debate as to the origins of the deadly 1918 flu pandemic that killed 20-40 million people globally. The CDC writes that the influenza responsible did have “genes of avian origin,” as did a 1957 pandemic that killed 1.1 million people worldwide.
The world’s most recent reported case of H5N1 occurred in China. A 38-year-old woman was hospitalized on September 22, 2022 and died not long after, on October 18.
Health Officials Are on Alert
There are multiple health threats facing the public this winter — from seasonal flu to RSV to a resurgence of norovirus. As a result, U.S. health officials say we cannot let our guards down and assume that avian flu will not become a bigger threat.
Health officials are keeping an eye out for signs that might change their risk assessment. The Centers for Disease Control is monitoring for multiple confirmed cases of avian flu spreading from birds to humans, for example, as well as the identified transmission of the virus from one infected human to another.
CDC officials recommend a number of preventative measures, like avoiding direct contact with birds, either wild or farmed. Another important precaution is to get your seasonal flu shot. While the current flu shot does not prevent against avian flu, agency officials say it can help reduce the risk of getting sick with seasonal and avian flu at the same time, which is an important risk reduction measure.
This piece has been updated at the top to clarify that the first human case of avian flu was not in 1997. Multiple sources suggest the 1918 flu, among others, were avian in origin. The 1918 and 1957 pandemics were already included but an earlier version used the wording “first case” in reference to the 1997 outbreak.
Raptors. like bald eagles, often come into contact with birds as prey animals or carrion, exposing them to avian flu. Rick Spitzer/For the Vail Daily
Does it seem like there are fewer birds in your neighborhood? Though your observations may be personal accounts rather than facts or research, they are common. The amount of birdseed consumed at my feeders is considerably less than in previous years. Is it pollution? Is it climate change? Is avian influenza responsible? Should you not put out bird feeders?
Avian influenza is caused by a virus that infects birds. It is most common in waterfowl and shorebirds. These birds can carry the virus without showing any signs of disease. Infected birds shed the bird flu virus through their saliva, mucous and feces.
Now that minks are getting sick, experts are watching for two signals to indicate whether avian influenza could jump into the human population. But underfunding makes their job harder.
An assistant manager carries a hen at Maust’s California Poultry in January 2023.
The biggestbird flu outbreakever recorded couldn’t have come at a worse time for a country still battered by Covid-19, as conservative lawmakers move torestrictthe research that helps us understand such viruses. H5N1, which was first identified in 1996, has been moving among North American birds since December 2021, with devastating consequences for poultry farmers who have had to cull millions of birds. Consumers, too, have taken a hit as the culls contribute tosoaring egg prices, though that may be due in part toopportunismfrom egg suppliers. Now, there’s evidence that avian influenza is also spreading…
MINNEAPOLIS — Most snare traps will be banned from Northeastern Minnesota to prevent accidental taking of the endangered and federally protected Canada lynx, following a federal judge’s order Tuesday.
The ruling marks the culmination of a case brought by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2020, although the actual legal battle dates back to 2006. It restricts the use of wire strangulation traps north and east of U.S. Highway 53, reflecting a compromise, as Canada lynx habitat also extends to the west side of the highway in northern Minnesota, according to Colette Adkins, senior attorney and carnivore conservation director for the center.
Nevertheless, Adkins said she is pleased with the outcome.
Exposing the Big Game 
