Archive for the 'Animals' Category

Here Kitty Kitty:

Wildlife officers on Wednesday were tracking a mountain lion that attacked a 7-year-old boy and prompted the closure of a sprawling Southern California park, authorities said.

The child and his father were walking up stairs at Pico Canyon Park near Santa Clarita around dusk on Monday when a cougar emerged from brush and bit the boy on the buttocks, said Capt. Patrick Foy with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

That’s a classic ambush. Walking up steps takes attention and wind; fleeing is also difficult. Smart kitty. The attack occurred at dusk; cats are crepuscular. Though they may hunt at other times they hunt at dawn and dusk almost daily.

Foy said the father, who was walking behind, heard his son cry out and charged toward the big cat. “The lion let go and retreated back into the brush,” he said.

The boy was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, Foy said.

“It was a pretty traumatic episode for him, but he’s expected to be fine,” he said.

Wildlife officials sampled the bite wound to confirm that a mountain lion was responsible and to obtain a DNA profile of the animal.

The father said the cougar didn’t appear to be wearing a GPS collar from the National Park Service, which tracks and studies big cats in Southern California. The park service said it doesn’t have a collared mountain lion in the area and the park is outside its research zone, according to Foy.

You knew it was coming: “rare.”

Mountain lion attacks on humans are rare. Around 20 confirmed attacks have occurred in California in 110 years of record-keeping, he said.

That number of 20 is a bald-faced lie. That’s the “official” “confirmed” by the “Fish and Wildlife authorities” number, is my guess. Note how it wasn’t ‘confirmed’ to be a lion until the saliva sample was analyzed, as though a 7-year-old and his father don’t know what a cat looks like.

Fish and Wildlife officers surveyed the area and set up baited boxes to try and trap the mountain lion at the park in foothills about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The park remained closed Wednesday.

Baited boxes? Wait, weren’t they “tracking” the mountain lion? They have no fool idea where the cat is, and neither does AP, the source of the story, know what words mean.

I still want to see one in the wild.

H/T Instapundit

These are normie web pages, and all of them seem to shy away from food slaughtering and processing specifics. A family I know is researching Kiko’s for food. FYI, goats and dogs don’t always get along; even herding breeds of dogs sometimes maul or kill goats. Does anybody raise goats?

This page isn’t great, but the two embedded videos are helpful.

Raising Goats – A Beginner’s Guide has tons of information. It’s probably a little more in-depth than only for beginners.

How To Shear Goats

1. Wash the goats and treat them for any parasite infestations a couple of weeks prior to shearing the herd.

2. Goats must always be clean and dry for shearing. A wet goat’s mohair or cashmere will get tangled in the shears causing the animal pain and the shearer to spend a lot more frustrating time attempting to get the task completed. Even light rain can cause the goat hair to become too damp for proper shearing. For best and painless results, do not shear a goat that has been wet at all during the past 24 hours.

3. Use an air compressor hose or hairdryer on the lowest heat setting to blow away as much debris and dirt as possible from the goat fleece before shearing. Never position the air straight downwards to the goat but angled at the side to prevent pushing tiny debris deeper into the mohair or cashmere. Blowing air downward or holding the pressurized air too close to the goat will cause the fine hair to tangle and cause problems and potential injury when shearing.

4. Start the shearing of a goat by trimming a single strip from along the backbone onward in the direction of the withers.

5. Now, shear down the other side of the goat along the backbone, as well. But, this time keep the blades on the shearing tool parallel to prevent them from cutting the skin of the goat as you do along the animal’s side.

6. Shear the shoulder area in an up and down motion instead of going from side to side to avoid nicking the thin flesh that surrounds the bones and runs between them.

7. Take special care when shearing the hind legs of the fiber goat to prevent hitting the tendon in the legs.

8. When shearing the underside of the goat, go slowly and pay close attention when trimming hear the testicles, penis, udders, and teats. Before starting to shear near these sensitive areas, make sure you have enough light and have positioned the goat high enough of a shearing – milking stand to ensure you have a complete view of the entire shearing area.

9. If any of the fiber goats possess wattles, use extra care when shearing around the animal’s neck and chest.

This article comes with a helpful video and many great tips, including:

Best Milk Goat Breeds:

• Nubian: This popular breed is a medium-large goat. They can produce up to 2 gallons of milk but average about 1 gallon each day. They have the highest milk fat content at about 5% fat. These goats are louder than other breeds, but their milk is ideal for soaps and cheeses. They can be milked all year long.

• Alpine: From the French Alps, they are very hardy to cold temperatures. These medium-sized goats average 1 gallon of milk a day. They are originally from France and are durable and steady. They have one of the longest lactation cycles. Their fat content is about 3.5% milkfat.

• Toggenburg: These bearded goats are good breeders. It produces about 3% milkfat. It is often bred with meat goats for dual purpose goats.

• Saanan: This is one of the largest milk goats. It produces a lot of milk, up to 3 gallons of milk each day. Average production is around 1.5 gallons a day. The Saanen milk fat content is about 2.5-3% so it isn’t as creamy as other dairy breeds. This breed is very calm and mild-mannered. These goats get to 200 pounds.

• Nigerian Dwarf: These goats are half the size of average goats. They are great for smaller lots. They produce about 2 pints of milk a day, but they have a high-fat content. Their fat content is 6.1% of the milk. They are wonderful breeders and will have many kids. They are also very mellow and often used as pets. They will even be walked on a leash.

• LaMancha: These funny-looking goats don’t have any ears! But, they are very hardy animals and very friendly. They can produce 1-2 gallons of milk a day. Their fat content is 4.2% of the milk.

• Oberhasli: Originally from Switzerland, these goats are well-suited for colder climates.  These goats don’t produce milk year round but will produce about 1 gallon of milk a day. Their milk fat is about 3.5%. They are small and ideal for smaller spaces.

Best Meat Goat Breeds:

• Boar: Native to South Africa. It has a fast growth rate and is very fertile. It has short horns. Boars come in red, red-white, or brown colors. They are disease resistant and used to hot dry areas. They are ready for slaughter as early as 90 days after birth and will grow to around 200-340 pounds for the bucks and 190-230 pounds for the does.

• Spanish Brough: This goat was imported to the New World by the Spaniards. They have been raised for meat for hundreds of years. They do very well in most climates. They also breed more often than annually. They are also called bush goats, briar goats, wood goats, and scrub goats.

• Kiko: This white goat is very hardy. It thrives in cold climates. It is fast-growing and can reach up to 300 pounds. It has spiral horns. The nannies are good mothers and low maintenance.

• Pygmy: These goats are fertile. They breed every 9-12 months, which allows for more batches of kids. They are often used as pets because they are smaller goats. They grow to between 50-75 pounds.

• Rangeland: The majority of the commercial goat meat comes from rangeland goats. They are generally low maintenance and thrive in dry conditions.

• Kalahari: This goat is from South Africa and does its best in dry hot conditions. The meat is more tender than other varieties. They are reddish-brown and can kid multiple times a year. They are also disease resistant and durable.

• Nubian: Good milk and meat goat. The males reach 175 pounds. They can be bred with boars for even larger offspring.

• Black Bangle: This goat is used for meat primarily in Bangladesh. It is easy to feed and care for. It can have kids multiple times a year and usually has 2-3 kids twice a year. They are ready for reproduction at 15 months old. They are dark with medium-sized horns.

• Verata: These goats are found mostly in Spain. They are durable, healthy goats. They do well in hot and cold climates. They are really good foragers and adapt easily. They are ready for meat at about 45 days. The does also provide a good amount of milk.

Mr. Weingarten explains several drills that can be used to prepare for a bear encounter.

AmmoLand:

Realistic bear defense drills can help prepare gun owners for actual situations.

The success of Eli Dicken in stopping a mass murder in the early stages, with excellent marksmanship at a claimed 40 yards, has engendered a plethora of people creating and executing some form of a “Dicken Drill” of ten shots at 40 yards.

There have been a number of “bear defense” exercises, usually arranged to simulate a worst-case scenario. I know of one such scenario, as it was related to me, by the inventor/trainer who ran it for a major agency.

The “bear” ran on a cart, as I recall, starting 10 yards away.  Speed was determined by the person who ran away from the shooting line, pulling the bear, which also moved up and down on the terrain, toward the trainee shooter.

I’ve seen a video of a drill similar to this.

The trainer prepped the trainee, to be tested, thus the trainee was armed with a pump shotgun with a sling. There were rounds in the magazine, but none allowed in the chamber. The shotgun had to be slung on the shoulder, with the safety on, and the bolt locked forward.  To engage the target, the trainee had to unsling the shotgun, disengage the bolt lock, work the action, disengage the safety, then shoot.  Alternatively, the trainee could unsling the shotgun, disengage the safety, dry fire the shotgun, which would disengage the bolt lock, work the action, and then shoot.

Once preparation to do the drill was ready, the trainer would engage the trainee with a question or small talk. When the trainee’s attention was off the “bear” the trainer would give the secret signal to start the bear charging at the trainee. Unsurprisingly, few trainees managed to get off a shot and hit the “bear”.

Trainers can create a drill to obtain the effect they want to establish.

A bear’s brain is reasonably close to the size and shape of a 12-ounce beverage can. To build confidence in shooters concerned about bear defense, I suggest these drills, taken from actual bear defense situations. The 12-ounce can should be oriented close to how it would be in a bear.

I have serious reservations about going for a headshot with a grizzly or even a black. Their skull is pretty thick. Large caliber hits at center mass seem like the best option. He explains The Ralph Fletcher Drill, The Dusel-Bacon Drill, The Cecil Rhodes Drill, and The Tanner Allen Drill.

Source:

A hunter was attacked by a brown bear Thursday morning [This happened at the end of August] near Ship Creek after he shot it but didn’t realize it was still alive, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game official said.

That’s a perilous situation. Any large animal and all predators can be dangerous when shot, and it can be hard to know if they are actually dead.

The hunter, treated at a hospital for injuries, was able to make his way out of the area without calling for rescue, said Cory Stantorf, an assistant wildlife biologist for the Anchorage area.

The man shot a large adult brown bear between about 9 and 10 a.m. in an area near Ship Creek and up the valley from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson land, Stantorf said. It is legal to hunt in the area, he said.

The man then approached the bear, which he thought was dead, and it got up and charged him, the biologist said.

The bear wounded him during the attack, according to Stantorf, although he said he could not provide additional details about the injuries or how severe they were.

Others in the hunting party shot at the bear, Stantorf said, and it stopped attacking and left. The hunters made it out of the area without further incident, he said.

It wasn’t clear by Friday morning if the bear had died from the gunshot wounds, Stantorf said. The hunting party was returning to the area to look for the bear, he said.

Grizz are tough critters.

There have been several other bear maulings in Anchorage this year. A soldier was killed and another was injured during a defensive attack involving a sow brown bear with cubs on a remote area of JBER in May.

A man was treated at the hospital last month after he surprised a sow brown bear with a cub in Eagle River. A woman was also injured last month when a black bear swatted at her on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail near Point Woronzof.

Stantorf said it’s important that anyone recreating outdoors in the backcountry or even in Anchorage is paying attention to their surroundings and looking for bears.

Source.

Police in a Massachusetts town said a dog had to euthanized after seven coyotes attacked it, just hours before a man was also attacked and bitten while walking his dogs.

Massachusetts is home to the Eastern Coyote, a medium-sized predator and opportunistic feeder, according to MassWildlife.

Reportedly, officials estimate there are around 11,500 coyotes in the state, as per 2021.

Cohasset, a town in Massachusetts, saw two different attacks in just one day on August 27, police told local media in a release. In just a few hours, two dogs were attacked outside a home by a group of seven coyotes while a man was also bitten during an attack on his two dogs.

In the first attack, police said the dogs were off leash when approached and attacked by the group of coyotes. The owner described it as “coordinated” when speaking to WCVB.

“It was almost a coordinated effort. It was absolutely incredible,” Jeff Pratt said. “Three came out one way, four came around the back way and attacked the second dog. I had seven coyotes in my driveway.”

Dog Bella sadly did not survive the attack as she was later euthanized due to the extensive injuries she suffered. Fellow pup Sadie was also left with serious injuries.

You better get yourself a gun and carry it boy.

Oh yea.  This is Massachusetts.  Never mind.  Talk to your “leaders” about the local cops who exist to “protect and serve.”  I guess they did that when they put your dog down.

I don’t know where this was.  I paused the video enough times to see that he was using a pistol.  I’m guessing that this was a sow with two cubs on the larger end of things and felt a bit threatened.

He did the right things as best as I can tell.

Bro almost became a victim 💀😭 pic.twitter.com/V5HER3AzGM

— Simba (@m0e_almighty) September 4, 2022

F&S.

A man in the ski town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado shot and killed a black bear that entered his home in the middle of the night. According to the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife (CPW), homeowner Ken Mauldin dispatched the bruin with a .40 caliber Glock handgun after it opened and walked through an exterior door.

“The door was unlocked, and it’s one of the older-style lever door handles. So, the bear pushed on that to get the door open,” CPW public information officer Rachel Gonzalez tells F&S. “[Mauldin] was alerted when his wife screamed. It was just after 2 a.m. when we received the incident notification.”

Three things pop into my mind.

First, this is yet another anecdote that justifies carry inside the home.

Second, this anecdote justifies closing and locking the door.

Third, that’s a lot of rounds.  Nine rounds to put this bear down.  This advocates for accuracy or high capacity, or preferably both.

We’ve got some big, bad boys back East too.  Be careful in the bush.  Carry a large bore gun with you when you venture out.  I take it the only thing that stopped this fight was the fact that they were too winded to carry on.

Dancing around a tree trying to swat a woman.

And then there’s this.

Making it look very easy.

That bear showed real dexterity and quick movement.