Nature Photography (Formally Spring is in the Air)

[paleoferroequine]

As for the Armadillo, I've never seen one in the wild.  Me and the family are planning a vacation trip out west next summer, so I hope top finally stumble upon one.

   Well, I live in the middle of Missouri, so no need to go too far west. We have lots of them here. Lots.

[Viking Spawn]

As for the Armadillo, I've never seen one in the wild.  Me and the family are planning a vacation trip out west next summer, so I hope top finally stumble upon one.

   Well, I live in the middle of Missouri, so no need to go too far west. We have lots of them here. Lots.

Cool.  That's good to know and well within our destination routes!   

[Doug Watson]

As for the Armadillo, I've never seen one in the wild.  Me and the family are planning a vacation trip out west next summer, so I hope top finally stumble upon one.

   Well, I live in the middle of Missouri, so no need to go too far west. We have lots of them here. Lots.

Cool.  That's good to know and well within our destination routes!   

If you ever go to Disney World in Florida they come out at dusk and graze for bugs in the grass along the roads around the resorts. We saw dozens on our last trip doing just that plus two more that were living wild in the Animal Kingdom that were foraging right beside the footpath.

[Newt]

Armadillos are becoming increasingly common here in Tennessee too. They're abundant in the western and south-central parts of the state. They first got to my part of the state (north-central) in the late 90s; now they're fairly common here and have spread northward through Kentucky. I imagine they must be well into Illinois and Indiana by now. They're heading your way, Yankees and Canucks! Along with the fire ants and kudzu. You're welcome!

Speaking of adorable primitive mammals:



This half-grown opossum (whom my girlfriend has named "Petey") has made a habit of coming to clean up my cat's leftovers every evening. She (the cat, that is) doesn't seem to mind him (unlike raccoons or her fellow cats, both of which she hates).



One night I found Petey in Kitty Kitty's bed:



I didn't have the heart to roust him out. He looked so comfortable!

[Doug Watson]

Armadillos are becoming increasingly common here in Tennessee too. They're abundant in the western and south-central parts of the state. They first got to my part of the state (north-central) in the late 90s; now they're fairly common here and have spread northward through Kentucky. I imagine they must be well into Illinois and Indiana by now. They're heading your way, Yankees and Canucks! Along with the fire ants and kudzu. You're welcome!

The armadillos are probably fleeing the pythons. If they don't displace a native species I could probably live with them but you can keep the fire ants and kudzu!

[stargatedalek]

NS is a step ahead of you guys for once, we've had fire ants for a few years now, no kudzu as far as I know of but we've got knotweed to spare. Of all the invasives we've got coming our way or that are only just getting a foothold armadillo are easily the least worrisome, assuming they could take the temperature fluctuations. Not all of our invasives are harmful, pigeons for example are harmless environmentally, most of the really bad ones are aquatic.

[Gwangi]

I'll gladly welcome armadillos should they arrive. Organisms that expand their own range naturally don't really count as invasive in my book. Opossums (love Petey BTW) and coyotes are relative newcomers to NY and I'm glad we have them. Kind of waiting for American badgers to expand their range over my way but it doesn't look like it's happening. I would think they would fit into the local farmland ecology of Central NY quite well.

I have some autumn snake pictures I should probably share soon.

[stargatedalek]

I'd gladly give you all of our "coyotes" if you really want the risk, lost plenty enough people and cats to them.  Hopefully yours are "vanilla" coyotes and not hybrids.

I disagree about natural range expansion, here we have some very damaging invasives from very nearby, pickerel namely are a huge threat to local (including endangered) fish, and they extended their range naturally through their uncanny ability to travel through ridiculously swallow water.

[Gwangi]

I'd gladly give you all of our "coyotes" if you really want the risk, lost plenty enough people and cats to them.  Hopefully yours are "vanilla" coyotes and not hybrids.

New York coyotes are eastern coy-wolf hybrids. Same as yours. And honestly anyone who lets a pet outside the house is allowing it to enter the food chain, as predator OR prey. Especially if that pet is under 10 lbs. I have little sympathy for the loss of pets, far more wild animals are killed by cats than vise versa. My cats are indoor cats for a reason. As for humans, really? I can think of only one recent human death to coyotes which honestly is not a bad number considering how prevalent they are. They literally live in cities, and yet attacks are rare. Coyotes eat a tremendous amount of rodents, which is good for humans. They also control the deer population in areas where other large predators have been eradicated. Coyotes are fantastic and fascinating animals. I love them.

I disagree about natural range expansion, here we have some very damaging invasives from very nearby, pickerel namely are a huge threat to local (including endangered) fish, and they extended their range naturally through their uncanny ability to travel through ridiculously swallow water.

Well, that's nature. It doesn't operate by any set rules or patterns. Nature is best left to its own devices, come what may.

[stargatedalek]

Perhaps I have a bit of bias, living only a few miles from the only confirmed unprovoked coyote death (IIRC there were other provoked attacks that were fatal?). I've seen vanilla coyotes in California, tiny little animals, lightly built and fast like deer, the animals here just feel like feral dogs. They are also taking a huge toll on our red foxes, and even worse our shorebirds. I find coyotes fascinating, but I just can't bring myself to see coywolves as anything besides a man-made (even if unintentionally) threat to the environment. I'd chose the safety of endangered seabirds over a slight help keeping deer and rodent populations in check any day.

Pickerel incursions are far from natural, their native populations were increased by poorly run derby's and when those populations overflowed the spillage increased their range. And no-one thought anything of it, so they kept doing it. Pickerel also travel largely via drainage ditches, I wouldn't exactly call that nature. There are still people around here arguing we should be adding more breed stock of pickerel and bass on the basis they are native and good game fish, but native or not they are still overpopulated large predators very capable of out competing smaller fish. NS already has several species of endangered fresh water fish, and is the only place with live Atlantic whitefish.

I'm not at all in favour of allowing nature to run it's course when people offset that course. Coyote hybrids, pickerel spilling, bass overpopulation, seal overpopulation, and deer overpopulation are all problems started by people, and for the time being it's the responsibility of people to deal with them. When we remove a top predator Like the northern white shark population or the grey wolf, or remove a competitor like elk, it becomes our responsibility to take their place, not to step back and say "we've done enough time to wash our hands".

[Gwangi]

Perhaps I have a bit of bias, living only a few miles from the only confirmed unprovoked coyote death (IIRC there were other provoked attacks that were fatal?). I've seen vanilla coyotes in California, tiny little animals, lightly built and fast like deer, the animals here just feel like feral dogs. They are also taking a huge toll on our red foxes, and even worse our shorebirds. I find coyotes fascinating, but I just can't bring myself to see coywolves as anything besides a man-made (even if unintentionally) threat to the environment. I'd chose the safety of endangered seabirds over a slight help keeping deer and rodent populations in check any day.

Well you said it yourself "the only unprovoked coyote death". And coyote attacks are rare, I just read an FAQ on coyotes in NS, this is what it said...

"There are 3 records since 1995 of people bitten or attacked in Nova Scotia. Newspaper article records show that in Canada between 1998-2008, there were 24 coyote-human interactions resulting in injury (14.2% of all reported human-coyote incidents). There were no deaths or serious injuries. Incidents usually involved scratches or puncture wounds (Alexander & Quinn, University of Calgary)."
http://novascotia.ca/natr/wildlife/nuisance/coyotes-faq.asp

In your original post you said you've "lost plenty enough people". Doesn't look like it! This kind of fear mongering is the reason wolves, bear, big cats and all large predators are among the most threatened on the planet. A little bit of research goes a long way.

Red foxes have one of the largest distributions on the planet, I wouldn't worry too much about them. No one calls for the eradication of lions because they occasionally kill cheetahs.
As for the seabirds, a casual search yields nothing about the effects coyotes have on their populations. If it were a significant issue I feel that something about it would turn up. As usual, man-made problems such as habitat loss are the primary reason for the endangerment of your sea birds.
To say that the populations of deer and rodents don't need to be kept in check only shows a lack of knowledge in ecology on your part. It's fine, you're young but prey animal overpopulation is never good. They deplete vegetation that other species rely on for food and shelter. Rodents are no better and I'm sure they also eat their share of bird eggs, as do foxes as a matter of fact.

Coy-wolves are not man made, they're what happens when humans alter the planet but they are a response from nature. They're what's left of the eastern wolves that the colonial people on the east coast eliminated. They're a large predator occupying a void and filling a niche we created. If you like your nature manicured and managed and full of the plants and animals you like but not the ones you don't then perhaps you're not truly interested in nature at all. 

Pickerel incursions are far from natural, their native populations were increased by poorly run derby's and when those populations overflowed the spillage increased their range. And no-one thought anything of it, so they kept doing it. Pickerel also travel largely via drainage ditches, I wouldn't exactly call that nature. There are still people around here arguing we should be adding more breed stock of pickerel and bass on the basis they are native and good game fish, but native or not they are still overpopulated large predators very capable of out competing smaller fish. NS already has several species of endangered fresh water fish, and is the only place with live Atlantic whitefish.

Why are we talking about this then? I specified natural range expansion, not human introductions. It sounds like that's what has occurred with your pickerel.

Again I quote...

"The chain pickerel (Esox niger) is an introduced fish species to Nova Scotia, initially planted in three lakes in 1945, whose distribution has spread to 95 known locations over time (Figure 1). All of these introductions have been through additional
illegal movements of live fish and/or subsequent dispersal within watersheds following initial introductions, contingent on connectivity of adjoining or adjacent waterways"
https://novascotia.ca/fish/documents/special-management-areas-reports/impact-chain-pickerel.pdf

So again I stress research. If someone tells you something, fact check it. I know that there are a lot of locals around me who think they know what's going on with our wildlife and make blanket statements based on their own poor observations, biases or what people tell them. If this was not a topic I was interested in, or I didn't think critically about things, I would probably feel the same and parrot what they say. Since pickerel don't fall into what I'm discussing I'll consider this part of our discussion over.

I'm not at all in favour of allowing nature to run it's course when people offset that course. Coyote hybrids, pickerel spilling, bass overpopulation, seal overpopulation, and deer overpopulation are all problems started by people, and for the time being it's the responsibility of people to deal with them. When we remove a top predator Like the northern white shark population or the grey wolf, or remove a competitor like elk, it becomes our responsibility to take their place, not to step back and say "we've done enough time to wash our hands".

So did you get your hunting license this year? Are you doing your part to reduce the population of deer and seals and coyotes? And to what end do you want wildlife managed? Where do you draw your line? We live in an altered world, and we're but one species on it. We're not Gods, we're not all knowing. Wildlife management can only go so far, the overpopulation of deer is proof of that. Deer populations continue to climb while fewer people register to hunt them each year. Do we need to take on the role of apex predator in every habitat where we've wiped them out or do we let nature fill the void with other species, through a little process called evolution? In the end nature will sort out our mess and readjust as necessary. Some species might be lost, but that's how it has always been. To quote a movie relevant to this forum "if we can only step aside and trust in nature, life will find a way".

[Doug Watson]

Well you said it yourself "the only unprovoked coyote death". And coyote attacks are rare, I just read an FAQ on coyotes in NS, this is what it said...

"There are 3 records since 1995 of people bitten or attacked in Nova Scotia. Newspaper article records show that in Canada between 1998-2008, there were 24 coyote-human interactions resulting in injury (14.2% of all reported human-coyote incidents). There were no deaths or serious injuries. Incidents usually involved scratches or puncture wounds (Alexander & Quinn, University of Calgary)."
http://novascotia.ca/natr/wildlife/nuisance/coyotes-faq.asp

That web site is strangely out of date since it leaves out the highly highly publicized death of Taylor Josephine Stephanie Luciow who was killed by two coyotes while hiking in Cape Breton (part of N.S.) in 2009.   http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/coyotes-kill-toronto-singer-in-cape-breton-1.779304
They mention that their records are from 1998 to 2008 but they should have updated their site by now.

[stargatedalek]

Thank you Gwangi! Sorry if some of what I said sounded pretty misleading, I tend to overstate things pretty often. Some interesting reading, I must confess I've never put a lot of research into coyotes, most of what I know comes from bird studies. Namely piping plovers, as I seem to recall something about coyotes being able to enter the protective netting around the nest and that was one of the reasons for introducing a new netting structure a few years back (being a lot larger than the raccoons they were initially made to stop it only makes sense coyotes would be able to).

I would love to try hunting some day, but I'd need to find somewhere I could learn to use guns first, and hire a guide of course. I feel like wildlife management is a necessary evil, and should only be used in extremely risky situations (deer increasing motor vehicle collisions in a given area, or seal populations depleting fish stocks to rapidly, etc.).

That was indeed the case I was thinking of Doug, thank you.

[tyrantqueen]

Hunting is a lot of fun. When I was little, my dad took me on hunting trips when he went out ferreting. Lots of rabbits for the pot

[paleoferroequine]

   It's doubtful that any of you will see many armadillos in North East America. Not impossible, but unlikely. They don't hibernate and are sensitive to cold. In 2012-2013 we were overrun with them based on the amount of roadkill. But 2014 saw a fairly cold winter with temps going down to -10F (-23C). Probably lost a lot of them since the numbers on the road were low even this year.
   
   They can be a minor nuisance since they jump straight up when startled such as with an impending impact with cars and semis. The end up in the radiator!    Also they do dig up gardens and lawns. Or "aerate" if you prefer. For free.

[Halichoeres]

   It's doubtful that any of you will see many armadillos in North East America. Not impossible, but unlikely. They don't hibernate and are sensitive to cold. In 2012-2013 we were overrun with them based on the amount of roadkill. But 2014 saw a fairly cold winter with temps going down to -10F (-23C). Probably lost a lot of them since the numbers on the road were low even this year.
   
   They can be a minor nuisance since they jump straight up when startled such as with an impending impact with cars and semis. The end up in the radiator!    Also they do dig up gardens and lawns. Or "aerate" if you prefer. For free.

They might get a bit of a foothold in the coastal plains and the Lower Midwest this year, since the El Niño oscillation should make this winter unusually warm. I've only ever seen them dead myself, even though I lived in Texas for several years. Should be a good year for opossums too, which are already pretty common here in Chicago.

@Gwangi: I know you have training along these lines, so maybe you have some thoughts on it: the Northeastern US is undergoing something of a reforestation in the wake of declining agriculture, correct? There's still a lot of edge effects because of how spread out human habitations are, but do you think that the reexpansion of the maple/oak/linden forests has any chance of allowing wolves to recolonize the Northeast and eastern Canada? Is it possible that given 50 years wolves could offset the demonstrable decline in deer hunting by humans?

[Tyto_Theropod]

Loving the pictures everyone! I'd love to go to Florida one day, and seeing an armadillo would be a real blast for me! Doubt there's any chance of them suddenly arriving in Scotland, which is probably a good thing because they might displace something native, and Britain's ecosystem is messed up enough as it is. Can we please send all the mink and grey squirrels back across the pond? Also: RHODODENDRONS. GO. HOME.

I'm actually pretty interested in hunting myself. In enjoy shooting a rifle, but while I'm pretty good I still think I need more practice so I'm confident about dispatching an animal quickly and humanely. Falconry is another option I'm very interested in, and I actually took a course over the summer. The advantage there is that you're using an animal that's evolved to kill its prey quickly, so it's actually quite humane because the birds generally either hit or they miss completely, without causing any serious injury to the quarry. I'm pretty interested in using falconry for the purposes of conservation, having seen videos showing how good Harris hawks are at catching grey squirrels.

Anyway, I'll get some pictures on here when I next unload my camera's memory card

[Gwangi]

Well you said it yourself "the only unprovoked coyote death". And coyote attacks are rare, I just read an FAQ on coyotes in NS, this is what it said...

"There are 3 records since 1995 of people bitten or attacked in Nova Scotia. Newspaper article records show that in Canada between 1998-2008, there were 24 coyote-human interactions resulting in injury (14.2% of all reported human-coyote incidents). There were no deaths or serious injuries. Incidents usually involved scratches or puncture wounds (Alexander & Quinn, University of Calgary)."
http://novascotia.ca/natr/wildlife/nuisance/coyotes-faq.asp

That web site is strangely out of date since it leaves out the highly highly publicized death of Taylor Josephine Stephanie Luciow who was killed by two coyotes while hiking in Cape Breton (part of N.S.) in 2009.   http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/coyotes-kill-toronto-singer-in-cape-breton-1.779304
They mention that their records are from 1998 to 2008 but they should have updated their site by now.

They mention it under a separate question regarding fatalities...

"The attack in Cape Breton is the first case of this nature in Nova Scotia. There was a fatal case reported in the United States (California) in 1981 (Timm, Baker, Bennett and Coolahan 2004)."

[Gwangi]

Thank you Gwangi! Sorry if some of what I said sounded pretty misleading, I tend to overstate things pretty often. Some interesting reading, I must confess I've never put a lot of research into coyotes, most of what I know comes from bird studies. Namely piping plovers, as I seem to recall something about coyotes being able to enter the protective netting around the nest and that was one of the reasons for introducing a new netting structure a few years back (being a lot larger than the raccoons they were initially made to stop it only makes sense coyotes would be able to).

I would love to try hunting some day, but I'd need to find somewhere I could learn to use guns first, and hire a guide of course. I feel like wildlife management is a necessary evil, and should only be used in extremely risky situations (deer increasing motor vehicle collisions in a given area, or seal populations depleting fish stocks to rapidly, etc.).

That was indeed the case I was thinking of Doug, thank you.

No problem! And if I came off a bit too "passionate" I apologize. I am indeed passionate about ecology, wildlife education and management etc. etc.

@Gwangi: I know you have training along these lines, so maybe you have some thoughts on it: the Northeastern US is undergoing something of a reforestation in the wake of declining agriculture, correct? There's still a lot of edge effects because of how spread out human habitations are, but do you think that the reexpansion of the maple/oak/linden forests has any chance of allowing wolves to recolonize the Northeast and eastern Canada? Is it possible that given 50 years wolves could offset the demonstrable decline in deer hunting by humans?

You're correct about the reforestation in the northeast and with that reforestation a lot of animals once made scarce are making a comeback. It is entirely possible that wolves could return, and probably even more likely that mountain lions will. Occasionally you read a story about a wolf that wandered in from Canada and was shot by a hunter but these wolves don't mean there's a breeding population. There are obstacles in the way as well. Wolves would have to return via Canada but aside from man-made obstructions there is also the St. Lawrence river. There is an interesting theory that the eastern coyotes currently present are actually the "wolves" that lived here in colonial times since coyotes are also called brush wolves and the first Europeans probably didn't make a distinction between the two species. A good book to read on the subject would be "The Return of the Wolf: Reflections on the Future of Wolves in the Northeast". It's been a few years since I read it myself, might need to revisit it.

I'm actually pretty interested in hunting myself. In enjoy shooting a rifle, but while I'm pretty good I still think I need more practice so I'm confident about dispatching an animal quickly and humanely. Falconry is another option I'm very interested in, and I actually took a course over the summer. The advantage there is that you're using an animal that's evolved to kill its prey quickly, so it's actually quite humane because the birds generally either hit or they miss completely, without causing any serious injury to the quarry. I'm pretty interested in using falconry for the purposes of conservation, having seen videos showing how good Harris hawks are at catching grey squirrels.

Falconry is something I've also looked into but the amount of work and dedication required is beyond belief. I admire those who practice it greatly, even envy them but for those who do practice it it's more a lifestyle than a hobby. But they don't always kill prey quickly, as the video of a peregrine falcon dispatching a Canada goose on Youtube will show you. Or eagles used to hunt wolves. But those are much larger game than a squirrel and I can think of few predators as efficient as raptors.

[stargatedalek]

Falconry sounds like a very enjoyable pursuit, but not something I would probably be capable of. I've never seen it done in person but I imagine it requires a great deal of training with each animal. As opposed to ukai (mind you I've only seen ukai done with Anhinga, not with cormorants) which seems to be more about training the animal to the point where it hunts almost autonomously.