August 21, 2015: The gray wolf returns to California

[xoxoxoBruce]

They're a minority, so we try to get them on welfare, and keep them out of sight, so they don't get uppity.

[Gravdigr]

Pennsylvania has mule deer, then.

How? I mean, I assume re-introduction?

I swear to God, the longer this day gets the more confused I become. I'm about to quit.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I always keep a couple in the fridge. They were transplanted like the Elk, very small number.

[Gravdigr]

So...

The state that runs over 115,000 deer/year, in it's infinite wisdom, sat down, had a meeting, and said "We don't have enough deer. Let's bring some more in from out of state. Yep, more deer, that'll do it.". Not only more, but, bigger, deer, on top of that.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I would assume they had a reason, probably dietary or disease resistance, like they did for Elk. Deer are browsers and Elk are grazers, so if you want to knock down grass, and let seedling trees survive, Elk is more gooder. Not much has come of it but they do succumd to our apex preditor now and then.

[Gravdigr]

Thanks for the info, btw, Bruce.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The car insurance companies will shit when the Meeses arrive, they've made their way into southern Connecticut already..

[Griff]

Aren't the moose susceptible to that brain worm the whitetails spread? As long as we are way overpopulated with white tails we won't get many moose. Which brings us back to wolves, bring 'em on.

[BigV]

Do not fuck with moose.

When I had regular business dealings with my friends in Alaska, it was common for a moose/vehicle collision to leave the vehicle in worse condition than the moose. Hell, I've heard more than one story where a moose totaled an F-150. That is a *lot* of mass on each side of the collision. Moose dies, truck's a wreck and the driver is lucky if he doesn't go to the hospital.

[Gravdigr]

I think I've mentioned this:

Once upon a time, Mom&Popdigr vacated in the north-east. When they got up closer to Maine, they started seeing these signs at almost every county line: "[xx number] People Killed In Moose/Car Collisions since Jan. 1st". They even saw more than one store with signs at the door like: "This Store Has Lost [xx number] of Employees To Moose/Car Collisions".

[Snakeadelic]

Some (hopefully) interesting factoids on deer and other critters...

Freight trains in moose habitat attach huge chevron-shaped steel pieces to the front of the lead locomotive, because a bull moose in breeding season is aggressive enough to stay on the tracks with its head down and wait for the "challenger" to come to him. No, he won't survive...but he can derail the train in the process if it doesn't have a 'moose kicker' on the front.

Recent molecular DNA research shows that the mule deer may be a hybrid between whitetails and the Sitka and Columbia black-tailed deer. Some research also suggests that the majority of this hybridization took place as recently as 8,000 years ago.

In some eastern seaboard areas where hunting is strictly forbidden and the forest isn't stocked with nutritious plants, deer overpopulation has led to worse things than vehicle hits and garden destruction. Some areas are so short of trace minerals and other crucial nutrients that deer will gnaw fresh roadkill and have been filmed eating live songbirds!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQOQdBLHrLk It follows a fallen baby that's too young to fly, ignoring its parents' mobbing and then just randomly grabbing and eating the grounded bird.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q91dUtDYkU (dead ones, too)

I've only seen still shots of adult and subadult whitetails gnawing on large roadkill, and I'm not doing an image search for that because I'm sure there's a relevant watchlist I don't want to land on! The solution isn't supplementary feeding or further protection from hunting, but the eastern US seems to have a serious concentration of people who think the value of a wild animal is measured in how cute it is. I've got a strong enough stomach to watch the documentary series Infested, and what a colony of (legally protected from all harm save natural predation and provable accidents) squirrels can do to a home and the family living in it is both disgusting and terrifying.

[xoxoxoBruce]

but the eastern US seems to have a serious concentration of people who think the value of a wild animal is measured in how cute it is.

That's true, plus they're allied with the anti-gun nuts, the don't kill any of god's creatures even mosquitos nuts, and the just give the deer birth control nuts. Add them up and you have a large vocal front which attract the duh OK nuts.

Another problem with Meeses, is when the snow is deep the easiest path is a road or railroad tracks, we thoughtfully plow for them. Even if they don't want to challenge the train, if the snow is eight feet high on both sides they ponder too long. It takes a long time for a train to stop.

[BigV]

Any train that stops for a moose is a stupid train.