"People should feel more entitled to go out and investigate things that scientists might say don't exist. The broader purpose of science is to find out what's going on in the world. What I'm saying is that the lay public can actually help science, and has a right, even a responsibility, to do so."
-Berkeley associate Professor of Philosophy Sherrilyn Roush.
Typically, I don't agree with much that comes out of Berkeley but I think Professor Roush is dead on with this statement.
What do you think?
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Footage of Extinct Imperial Woodpecker Released
Most people with even a passing interest in nature have heard of the plight of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The sad tale of how this magnificent bird became extinct, due mainly to loss of suitable habitat, is well known. What is not as well known is the story of an equally magnificent, and even bigger, woodpecker that once thrived in the Sierra Madre Occidental – a rugged mountain range stretching 900 miles, or so, south from the U.S.-Mexico border – and in the mountains of central Mexico.
The Imperial Woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis) was truly a magnificent bird. It was (is?) the biggest woodpecker in the world. Males could grow up to 24 inches long. They were strikingly colored. Males had a red-sided crest but were mostly black in color with the exception of inner primary feathers, secondary feathers, and a scapular stripe, which were white. Females were similarly colored but the crest was solid black and recurved at the top. It had obvious similarities to the more famous Ivory-billed Woodpecker and was actually sometimes called the “Mexican Ivory-bill.”
The Imperial Woodpecker was common up until the mid 1950’s when habitat loss began to take it’s toll. The last confirmed sighting of this species occurred in 1956. Amateur ornithologist William Rhein, now deceased, captured 85-seconds of film of an Imperial Woodpecker foraging for insects on old growth pine trees and flying from one spot to another. The footage, a bit jumpy due to the fact that Rhein was riding on a mule as he shot it, is considered to be 85 seconds of pure gold by the birding world. The film has now been made available to the public for the first time. You can view it here.
The film had been in the hands of the Rhein family for years before it was tracked down by Martjan Lammertink of Cornell University. Lammertink became aware of the existence of the footage only after he came across an old letter that mentioned the film in the University’s archives. He tracked down William Rhein 10 years ago at his home in Pennsylvania and was able to view the film. Rhein’s nephew donated the film to Cornell upon his Uncle’s death in 2006.
Living Bird magazine editor Tim Gallagher said, “ It’s amazing that the bird does so many different things in 85 seconds. It’s a gold mine of information about this bird.”
Lammertink, who authored a paper about the footage published in the November issue of The Auk said, “It is stunning to look back through time and see the magnificent Imperial Woodpecker moving through its old growth forest environment. It is heartbreaking to know that both the bird and the forest are gone."
Gallagher and Lammertink traveled to the spot where the film was shot just a year or so ago but, not surprisingly, found no trace of the bird. Nearly all of the old growth forest had been cleared and the area is now the territory of drug cartels.
“It’s a very dangerous place,” Gallagher said. “There were a lot of people with AK-47s.”
As I watched the footage of the Imperial Woodpecker I found myself overtaken with a powerful melancholy. To know that this most magnificent of all woodpeckers is likely gone forever is sickening. To view the Rhein footage is both an incredible gift, as we can see exactly how the bird moved, flew, and went about it’s daily business, and a terrible reminder of just how badly we humans have failed at being good stewards of the natural world. I hope that we learn our lesson soon.
There are no second chances.
Sources:
Cornell University. "Study analyzes only known footage of the largest woodpecker that ever lived." ScienceDaily, 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45064203/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/long-gone-woodpecker-lives-again-newfound-film/
The Imperial Woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis) was truly a magnificent bird. It was (is?) the biggest woodpecker in the world. Males could grow up to 24 inches long. They were strikingly colored. Males had a red-sided crest but were mostly black in color with the exception of inner primary feathers, secondary feathers, and a scapular stripe, which were white. Females were similarly colored but the crest was solid black and recurved at the top. It had obvious similarities to the more famous Ivory-billed Woodpecker and was actually sometimes called the “Mexican Ivory-bill.”
The Imperial Woodpecker was common up until the mid 1950’s when habitat loss began to take it’s toll. The last confirmed sighting of this species occurred in 1956. Amateur ornithologist William Rhein, now deceased, captured 85-seconds of film of an Imperial Woodpecker foraging for insects on old growth pine trees and flying from one spot to another. The footage, a bit jumpy due to the fact that Rhein was riding on a mule as he shot it, is considered to be 85 seconds of pure gold by the birding world. The film has now been made available to the public for the first time. You can view it here.
The film had been in the hands of the Rhein family for years before it was tracked down by Martjan Lammertink of Cornell University. Lammertink became aware of the existence of the footage only after he came across an old letter that mentioned the film in the University’s archives. He tracked down William Rhein 10 years ago at his home in Pennsylvania and was able to view the film. Rhein’s nephew donated the film to Cornell upon his Uncle’s death in 2006.
Living Bird magazine editor Tim Gallagher said, “ It’s amazing that the bird does so many different things in 85 seconds. It’s a gold mine of information about this bird.”
Lammertink, who authored a paper about the footage published in the November issue of The Auk said, “It is stunning to look back through time and see the magnificent Imperial Woodpecker moving through its old growth forest environment. It is heartbreaking to know that both the bird and the forest are gone."
Gallagher and Lammertink traveled to the spot where the film was shot just a year or so ago but, not surprisingly, found no trace of the bird. Nearly all of the old growth forest had been cleared and the area is now the territory of drug cartels.
“It’s a very dangerous place,” Gallagher said. “There were a lot of people with AK-47s.”
As I watched the footage of the Imperial Woodpecker I found myself overtaken with a powerful melancholy. To know that this most magnificent of all woodpeckers is likely gone forever is sickening. To view the Rhein footage is both an incredible gift, as we can see exactly how the bird moved, flew, and went about it’s daily business, and a terrible reminder of just how badly we humans have failed at being good stewards of the natural world. I hope that we learn our lesson soon.
There are no second chances.
Sources:
Cornell University. "Study analyzes only known footage of the largest woodpecker that ever lived." ScienceDaily, 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 7 Nov. 2011.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45064203/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/long-gone-woodpecker-lives-again-newfound-film/
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Giant Python Killed in Florida
It has been a while since I have discussed the threat that invasive species pose to North American ecosystems. In particular, I have a concern regarding the threat posed by large exotic snakes like pythons, boas, and anacondas to the bottom-lands and marshes of the American south. A recent news story brought my attention back to the issue just this week.
The Huffington Post is reporting that Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officials captured and killed a 16-foot long Burmese python in the Everglades that had just devoured an adult deer. The deer is estimated to have weighed 75 lbs. You can read the story and see some pretty amazing photos of this snake at the link above. The giant serpent weighed in at a whopping 215.4 pounds with the deer in its belly and 139.1 pounds without it. The snake’s stomach had stretched out to an astounding 44.1-inches to accommodate the deer carcass.
Scott Hardin, the exotic species coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, is reported to have said that workers found the snake last Thursday and it has turned out to be one of the largest exotic snakes ever found in South Florida. Hardin touted the killing of this enormous snake as an important victory in the efforts of wildlife officials to stop the spread of these giants northward.
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia but have become very popular as pets here in North America. The problem is that the snakes grow quickly and become too much for their owners to handle. A 20-inch baby python can grow to be 8-feet long in only one year. Owners often become overwhelmed and often release them into the wild where they can wreak havoc on native ecosystems. They are very comfortable in southern wetlands and are reproducing quickly. According to the University of Florida , no fewer than 418 Burmese pythons were found dead or killed in Everglades National Park between 2006 and 2007.
The marshes, swamps, bayous, and bottom-lands of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana are near perfect habitat for invasive tropical constrictors like anacondas, boas, and pythons. I particularly worry about the Big Thicket area of Texas. These invaders would do quite well there. Indeed, there is evidence that the invasion has already started.
So, the next time you hear a tale about a giant snake haunting some lonely swamp in the Lone Star State you might want to think twice before blowing it off. It could simply mean that the invaders have arrived.
The Huffington Post is reporting that Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officials captured and killed a 16-foot long Burmese python in the Everglades that had just devoured an adult deer. The deer is estimated to have weighed 75 lbs. You can read the story and see some pretty amazing photos of this snake at the link above. The giant serpent weighed in at a whopping 215.4 pounds with the deer in its belly and 139.1 pounds without it. The snake’s stomach had stretched out to an astounding 44.1-inches to accommodate the deer carcass.
Scott Hardin, the exotic species coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, is reported to have said that workers found the snake last Thursday and it has turned out to be one of the largest exotic snakes ever found in South Florida. Hardin touted the killing of this enormous snake as an important victory in the efforts of wildlife officials to stop the spread of these giants northward.
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia but have become very popular as pets here in North America. The problem is that the snakes grow quickly and become too much for their owners to handle. A 20-inch baby python can grow to be 8-feet long in only one year. Owners often become overwhelmed and often release them into the wild where they can wreak havoc on native ecosystems. They are very comfortable in southern wetlands and are reproducing quickly. According to the University of Florida , no fewer than 418 Burmese pythons were found dead or killed in Everglades National Park between 2006 and 2007.
The marshes, swamps, bayous, and bottom-lands of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana are near perfect habitat for invasive tropical constrictors like anacondas, boas, and pythons. I particularly worry about the Big Thicket area of Texas. These invaders would do quite well there. Indeed, there is evidence that the invasion has already started.
So, the next time you hear a tale about a giant snake haunting some lonely swamp in the Lone Star State you might want to think twice before blowing it off. It could simply mean that the invaders have arrived.
Monday, October 31, 2011
A Change of Strategy
I've decided, at least for the moment, to put all my eggs in one basket. I've taken all four of my digital game cameras and deployed them in the dry creek bed in NE Bell County where I've managed to get so many photos over the last month or so. The cameras have now been set up in a sort of picket-line covering roughly a quarter mile stretch of the creek that winds very close to the locations of a couple of recent horse-kills; the suspected work of a big cat or cats. In addition, there have been several credible sightings of a pair of mountain lions in the immediate area over the last couple of months. The sheer volume of photos of other animals walking this creek seems to indicate that it is being used as a travel route. I’m guessing that, if these big cats are still in the area, they will eventually make an appearance in this creek bed.
I spent the better part of the last week cleaning and checking my game cameras in the hopes of getting them all functional and ready for this deployment. As I mentioned above, I currently have four digital models: 2 Cuddeback Excites, 1 Wildgame Innovations IR2, and 1 Moultrie Game Spy M80 at my disposal but have had a few issues with two of them of late.
The two Cuddebacks are old veterans of the TBRC’s long-term camera project: Operation Forest Vigil. They were very high-end cameras 6-7 years ago but are beginning to show their age a bit now. One of these Cuddebacks was the camera that failed to capture any photos the last time around at the West Bell County location. The Compact Flash card seemed to be fine when I checked it but the camera gave me some trouble as I tried to program it this time around. I’m afraid this one may be on its last legs. The other Cuddeback keeps chugging right along, however, and continues to take some nice photos. It is the camera that has taken most of the photos of coyotes over the last few months in NE Bell County.
The IR2 is fairly new but is the lowest end camera I have. It cost me only about $60 at Academy. It was hurriedly purchased, on a tight budget, and placed in the field after I was contacted by a property owner who had lost a horse on her property to what they suspected was a big cat. I didn’t want to lose the chance to access this private property in an area where cougars were being sighted, and as my other cameras were already deployed, I ran and picked this one up. Ironically, despite its low cost, it has been the most productive of the bunch the last few months. Whether this is due to good performance or it having been placed in the best location remains to be seen. The IR2 is the camera that snapped the photos of the various animals walking the creek bed in NE Bell County (see my last post). It is pretty solid when it comes to snapping daytime pictures but has an extremely limited range at night as well as a slow trigger speed. There is one photo snapped by this camera, that I have not published, that may be of the mountain lion I’ve been seeking; however, the animal is on the extreme periphery of this camera’s nighttime range and I just can’t tell for sure. I’m pretty confident that if I’d had one of the higher end cameras up at this spot I would have captured a better photo that would likely have allowed me to positively identify this large mystery animal.
The Moultrie Game Spy M80 is probably the best camera I have right now. It is a solid mid-price range camera that cost me about $115. It has photo, video, and sound capabilities. It performed great for the first two sets I had it in NE Bell County but took no photos this last time after being out in the field for a month. After cleaning it up, I found that I had a bad SD card. I have replaced the card and the camera seemed to be functioning well during tests this week. I’m hopeful it was only the card that was causing the camera to fail this last time around. This being my best camera, assuming it functions properly, I have placed it in the location previously occupied by the IR2 camera that produced so many good photos. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this higher end camera functions properly and catches more photos than the lower end IR2 was able to get.
The Moultrie also takes high quality video. See the coyote footage below:
I’ll let the cameras “marinate” for a month or so and see what happens. I’ll likely be retrieving images around the Thanksgiving Holiday. I’ll let you all know what I find then.
I spent the better part of the last week cleaning and checking my game cameras in the hopes of getting them all functional and ready for this deployment. As I mentioned above, I currently have four digital models: 2 Cuddeback Excites, 1 Wildgame Innovations IR2, and 1 Moultrie Game Spy M80 at my disposal but have had a few issues with two of them of late.
The two Cuddebacks are old veterans of the TBRC’s long-term camera project: Operation Forest Vigil. They were very high-end cameras 6-7 years ago but are beginning to show their age a bit now. One of these Cuddebacks was the camera that failed to capture any photos the last time around at the West Bell County location. The Compact Flash card seemed to be fine when I checked it but the camera gave me some trouble as I tried to program it this time around. I’m afraid this one may be on its last legs. The other Cuddeback keeps chugging right along, however, and continues to take some nice photos. It is the camera that has taken most of the photos of coyotes over the last few months in NE Bell County.
The IR2 is fairly new but is the lowest end camera I have. It cost me only about $60 at Academy. It was hurriedly purchased, on a tight budget, and placed in the field after I was contacted by a property owner who had lost a horse on her property to what they suspected was a big cat. I didn’t want to lose the chance to access this private property in an area where cougars were being sighted, and as my other cameras were already deployed, I ran and picked this one up. Ironically, despite its low cost, it has been the most productive of the bunch the last few months. Whether this is due to good performance or it having been placed in the best location remains to be seen. The IR2 is the camera that snapped the photos of the various animals walking the creek bed in NE Bell County (see my last post). It is pretty solid when it comes to snapping daytime pictures but has an extremely limited range at night as well as a slow trigger speed. There is one photo snapped by this camera, that I have not published, that may be of the mountain lion I’ve been seeking; however, the animal is on the extreme periphery of this camera’s nighttime range and I just can’t tell for sure. I’m pretty confident that if I’d had one of the higher end cameras up at this spot I would have captured a better photo that would likely have allowed me to positively identify this large mystery animal.
The Moultrie Game Spy M80 is probably the best camera I have right now. It is a solid mid-price range camera that cost me about $115. It has photo, video, and sound capabilities. It performed great for the first two sets I had it in NE Bell County but took no photos this last time after being out in the field for a month. After cleaning it up, I found that I had a bad SD card. I have replaced the card and the camera seemed to be functioning well during tests this week. I’m hopeful it was only the card that was causing the camera to fail this last time around. This being my best camera, assuming it functions properly, I have placed it in the location previously occupied by the IR2 camera that produced so many good photos. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this higher end camera functions properly and catches more photos than the lower end IR2 was able to get.
The Moultrie also takes high quality video. See the coyote footage below:
I’ll let the cameras “marinate” for a month or so and see what happens. I’ll likely be retrieving images around the Thanksgiving Holiday. I’ll let you all know what I find then.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Chimp Escapes From Dallas Zoo
The Dallas Zoo continues to have issues keeping it's great apes in their enclosures. According to a report on the KWTX website, a large female chimp somehow escaped her enclosure and made a bid for freedom last Tuesday.
Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Sherri Jeffrey said officers were summoned to the zoo at approximately 10:20 a.m. Tuesday after zoo officials notified them that a large adult female chimpanzee had gotten loose.
Zoo and city officials quickly closed down the "Wilds of Africa" exhibit and moved visitors to other areas of the complex. Zoo officials were able to tranquilize the chimpanzee and recapture it. The zoo’s deputy director, Lynn Kramer, says that the chimp is fine and that she and her crew are trying to determine how she was able to escape her enclosure. No details on the dimensions or design of the chimpanzee enclosure were mentioned in the KWTX report.
As I alluded to in the opening paragraph, this is not the first time the Dallas Zoo has had a large primate escape. In 2004, a male gorilla managed to scale a 14-foot cement wall to escape his enclosure. Once out of his enclosure, the big male found himself right in the middle of zoo visitors and attacked three of them before police shot and killed him.
This situation could have been just as tragic. One need look no farther than this 2004 event or the tragic incident that recently occurred in Ohio to know what fate usually awaits any sort of escaped exotic animal. While zoo officials were quick to point out that, this time, their escaped primate never left an area that was closed to the public, this situation could have had a very unhappy ending for all involved.
Two great ape escapes in the last 7 years at the Dallas Zoo are simply unacceptable. For the sake of the public and the great apes being housed there, I hope the Dallas Zoo gets it's act together.
Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Sherri Jeffrey said officers were summoned to the zoo at approximately 10:20 a.m. Tuesday after zoo officials notified them that a large adult female chimpanzee had gotten loose.
Zoo and city officials quickly closed down the "Wilds of Africa" exhibit and moved visitors to other areas of the complex. Zoo officials were able to tranquilize the chimpanzee and recapture it. The zoo’s deputy director, Lynn Kramer, says that the chimp is fine and that she and her crew are trying to determine how she was able to escape her enclosure. No details on the dimensions or design of the chimpanzee enclosure were mentioned in the KWTX report.
As I alluded to in the opening paragraph, this is not the first time the Dallas Zoo has had a large primate escape. In 2004, a male gorilla managed to scale a 14-foot cement wall to escape his enclosure. Once out of his enclosure, the big male found himself right in the middle of zoo visitors and attacked three of them before police shot and killed him.
This situation could have been just as tragic. One need look no farther than this 2004 event or the tragic incident that recently occurred in Ohio to know what fate usually awaits any sort of escaped exotic animal. While zoo officials were quick to point out that, this time, their escaped primate never left an area that was closed to the public, this situation could have had a very unhappy ending for all involved.
Two great ape escapes in the last 7 years at the Dallas Zoo are simply unacceptable. For the sake of the public and the great apes being housed there, I hope the Dallas Zoo gets it's act together.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Bell County Camera Project Update
I thought I would update all of you on my ongoing camera project here in Bell County, Texas.
As regular readers of this site will recall, this project was a direct result of two horse kills that occurred in the NE portion of the County just outside of Temple, Texas. I was contacted by a reporter from the Temple Daily Telegram and asked for my opinion on whether or not a big cat might be responsible for the kills. The reporter then put me in touch with the landowner who gave me permission to put cameras up on the property in the hopes of getting a photo of the predator responsible. Within a couple of weeks I received two more requests from Bell County landowners, who were seeing and hearing some unusual things, to place cameras on their property. In short order, I had one camera up in West Bell County just South of Killeen, Texas where, according to a local television station, a mystery predator was killing small livestock, two cameras up on the property in the NE portion of the County where the horse kills took place, and one more camera up on property about a mile away from where the horses were taken. It turns out the owners of this property had lost a horse themselves about a month before the more well publicized killings.
While all of this was going on, multiple mountain lion sightings were reported in the vicinity. Several anecdotal reports filtered in to me, the Temple Daily Telegram, and the local Texas Parks & Wildlife Department office. Finally, a sighting of two mountain lions just North of the site of the horse kills, near Troy, Texas was reported and deemed credible by officials as the big cats left behind tracks. Not too long after the Troy sighting, a cougar was spotted in, ironically enough, Lions Park in South Temple. While likely a different cat, probably following the Leon River, this sighting put “Cougar Fever” into full gear in the area.
The camera in West Bell County, to this point, has not captured anything unusual. The last time I had it out, however, it malfunctioned and failed to take any photos at all. This is one of my older Cuddeback cameras that has been a workhorse for me. I have not really had time to tinker with it yet but am hoping it is nothing more than a bad card. In any case, in the two months prior to this failed third set I only managed to take pictures of cattle. I do want to try one more time as the property owners and I located a really promising looking area that even they had been unaware of previously. Here’s hoping I can get that camera functioning.
I have had two cameras out on the property where the horse kills took place. As I mentioned previously, there have been multiple sightings of a pair of mountain lions in the immediate vicinity which, in my mind, all but seals the deal that they were the culprits in the deaths of those two horses. The land is pretty much rough pasture only, however, and doesn’t provide much in the way of cover. There is a creek bed that runs through the property but it meanders really close to the owner’s residence. It is deep enough for something to pass through unseen but is choked with vegetation, debris, and old barbed wire. These factors don’t make it an especially attractive travel route, in my opinion. There are several washouts where gulleys have been formed by runoff. This is the spot where most of the coyote pictures have been taken and I’ve had the most luck; however, it is pretty open country. I’m guessing whatever attacked those horses was strictly passing through and took advantage of an opportunity. I don’t think the predator(s) have taken up residence on or near this property.
The third location, as I mentioned above, is only a mile or so from the location of the horse kills. It is a much more active location. There is a very wide and deep creek that wanders through the property. It is easily ten feet deep or more in most places with a rock bottom. There are several deep holes that have, despite the terrible drought we’ve been suffering, held water all summer long. This location, though the last I gained access to, seemed to hold the most promise. The creek bed really reminded me of a creek in the Sam Houston National Forest in which TBRC Field Operations Coordinator Daryl Colyer and I found barefoot humanoid tracks back in May of 2010. That creek, dubbed “Barefoot Branch” by TBRC members, has proven to be a sort of wildlife highway. My hope was that this creek bed in Central Texas would prove to be the same. I’ve not been disappointed. The location has easily been the most productive of the three and has yielded well over one hundred photos in the last six weeks. The creek actually runs under a major highway only a mile or so from the camera location. I’m guessing that any wildlife in the area that needs to move East or West and get across the highway is using this creek to do so. If those mountain lions are still in the area, I really think they’ll show up in this creek bed sooner or later.
The plan for now is to get all the cameras cleaned up and functioning properly and then deploy them all in this creek bed. I want to spread them out over roughly a quarter mile stretch of the creek and find out just exactly what is coming and going here. Again, if those big cats are still here then I feel like they will show up here sooner or later. I hope to get these cameras in place this coming weekend.
The pictures featured in this post are all from the Bell County project. I have many, many more photos but these are some of my favorites and are representative of what I'm seeing out there. I hope you enjoy checking them out as much as I’ve enjoyed getting them.
I’ll update again once I get the cameras placed.
As regular readers of this site will recall, this project was a direct result of two horse kills that occurred in the NE portion of the County just outside of Temple, Texas. I was contacted by a reporter from the Temple Daily Telegram and asked for my opinion on whether or not a big cat might be responsible for the kills. The reporter then put me in touch with the landowner who gave me permission to put cameras up on the property in the hopes of getting a photo of the predator responsible. Within a couple of weeks I received two more requests from Bell County landowners, who were seeing and hearing some unusual things, to place cameras on their property. In short order, I had one camera up in West Bell County just South of Killeen, Texas where, according to a local television station, a mystery predator was killing small livestock, two cameras up on the property in the NE portion of the County where the horse kills took place, and one more camera up on property about a mile away from where the horses were taken. It turns out the owners of this property had lost a horse themselves about a month before the more well publicized killings.
While all of this was going on, multiple mountain lion sightings were reported in the vicinity. Several anecdotal reports filtered in to me, the Temple Daily Telegram, and the local Texas Parks & Wildlife Department office. Finally, a sighting of two mountain lions just North of the site of the horse kills, near Troy, Texas was reported and deemed credible by officials as the big cats left behind tracks. Not too long after the Troy sighting, a cougar was spotted in, ironically enough, Lions Park in South Temple. While likely a different cat, probably following the Leon River, this sighting put “Cougar Fever” into full gear in the area.
The camera in West Bell County, to this point, has not captured anything unusual. The last time I had it out, however, it malfunctioned and failed to take any photos at all. This is one of my older Cuddeback cameras that has been a workhorse for me. I have not really had time to tinker with it yet but am hoping it is nothing more than a bad card. In any case, in the two months prior to this failed third set I only managed to take pictures of cattle. I do want to try one more time as the property owners and I located a really promising looking area that even they had been unaware of previously. Here’s hoping I can get that camera functioning.
I have had two cameras out on the property where the horse kills took place. As I mentioned previously, there have been multiple sightings of a pair of mountain lions in the immediate vicinity which, in my mind, all but seals the deal that they were the culprits in the deaths of those two horses. The land is pretty much rough pasture only, however, and doesn’t provide much in the way of cover. There is a creek bed that runs through the property but it meanders really close to the owner’s residence. It is deep enough for something to pass through unseen but is choked with vegetation, debris, and old barbed wire. These factors don’t make it an especially attractive travel route, in my opinion. There are several washouts where gulleys have been formed by runoff. This is the spot where most of the coyote pictures have been taken and I’ve had the most luck; however, it is pretty open country. I’m guessing whatever attacked those horses was strictly passing through and took advantage of an opportunity. I don’t think the predator(s) have taken up residence on or near this property.
The third location, as I mentioned above, is only a mile or so from the location of the horse kills. It is a much more active location. There is a very wide and deep creek that wanders through the property. It is easily ten feet deep or more in most places with a rock bottom. There are several deep holes that have, despite the terrible drought we’ve been suffering, held water all summer long. This location, though the last I gained access to, seemed to hold the most promise. The creek bed really reminded me of a creek in the Sam Houston National Forest in which TBRC Field Operations Coordinator Daryl Colyer and I found barefoot humanoid tracks back in May of 2010. That creek, dubbed “Barefoot Branch” by TBRC members, has proven to be a sort of wildlife highway. My hope was that this creek bed in Central Texas would prove to be the same. I’ve not been disappointed. The location has easily been the most productive of the three and has yielded well over one hundred photos in the last six weeks. The creek actually runs under a major highway only a mile or so from the camera location. I’m guessing that any wildlife in the area that needs to move East or West and get across the highway is using this creek to do so. If those mountain lions are still in the area, I really think they’ll show up in this creek bed sooner or later.
The plan for now is to get all the cameras cleaned up and functioning properly and then deploy them all in this creek bed. I want to spread them out over roughly a quarter mile stretch of the creek and find out just exactly what is coming and going here. Again, if those big cats are still here then I feel like they will show up here sooner or later. I hope to get these cameras in place this coming weekend.
The pictures featured in this post are all from the Bell County project. I have many, many more photos but these are some of my favorites and are representative of what I'm seeing out there. I hope you enjoy checking them out as much as I’ve enjoyed getting them.
I’ll update again once I get the cameras placed.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Reader Recounts Childhood Sighting of Two Black Panthers in Kerr County, Texas
I received a great email from a gentleman named Chuck detailing a sighting he and his father had back in the 1950's of two black panthers in the Texas Hill Country. Chuck's account is below:
"I was born in 1949 in Kerrville, Texas, as a boy in the 1950's my dad worked as a ranch hand at several ranches in central texas, also called the hill country. As a boy he hired on one year at a ranch just out of Hunt Texas. His job was taking care of a guest ranch. He did carpenter work on the guest cabins, fixed what ever needed fixing and took care of around a hundred horses.
Now towards the end of summer and the approach of fall and the up coming deer and turkey season the owners had him take two 50 pound sacks of corn by horseback to a certain area several miles into the cedar covered hills. At a certain spot we (I got to ride the second horse carrying corn) would leave the corn all layed out for several feet.
One day as we were putting out the corn, I had noticed a small well hid shack about a hundred yards from us. When I asked my dad about it, he said he had built it for the hunters that would be coming before long from the big cities to hunt deer and turkey. He said the owners guaranteed the hunters a deer. I told him that since we had been coming up with the corn for several weeks now the deer didn't even run from us any more and that shooting them would kind of be like shooting fish in a barrel and that at that range I could probably kill one with a rock. He just smiled and said, "Don't seem right, do it boy?" but like I said, they guarantee them big city boys a deer.
Now late one afternoon after we had dropped the corn off and was about half way back to the barn our horses started going crazy, snorting, crow hoping, and trying to turn back. My dad turned around to me and said, "Hold his head up and keep a tight reign, cause your getting ready to see something." It wasn't even a minute after he said that, when a pair of black panthers ran right onto the trail in front of us not 30 feet away. I can remember it like it was yesterday, the horses going nuts, and then staring at something I had only seen once before and that was at night. This was broad day light and up close. As I looked at them, I remember there neon bright yellow eyes first, then how they were hunkered real low to the ground. I would say the second thing I noticed was the size. They were pretty darn big, about the size of a small mountain lion, jet black with the long mountain lion like tail. They only stayed about 10 seconds at most, then was gone as fast as they came.
After we finally got the horses to settle down and I had time to ask my dad what the heck I had just seen he said, "That was a pair of yearling Black Panthers." Now my Dad was a real Texas cowboy, as was his, and his before him. He didn't talk a lot but when he did what he said was sure worth listening to, and I never knew him to lie are stretch the truth. Like I said, this was the second time I saw a black panther as a boy. So if you want to believe they're not there, well, I suppose that's your right, but as for me, I know better. This by the way is the same area I use to wander off for a bit while my dad was putting out the corn and play pushing sticks and leafs across a giant 3 toed foot print set in solid stone, only later in life did I come to know what I had been playing in.
P.S. Even to this day I could go straight to that spot. If you doubt what I'm saying, I now live in Oregon."
Of course, I have no way to verify this account. Chuck could be pulling my leg, I suppose, but he did leave his full name and email address which certainly adds to his credibility, in my eyes. I certainly find no reason to doubt his truthfulness based on what he wrote. I will be emailing him to see if there are any additional details regarding this, or other, sightings. I appreciate his taking the time to write out his account.
As always, I'd like to hear about any big cat sightings from the Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and/or Arkansas region from readers of this site. Even if the sightings occurred years ago, I'd like to hear about them. Just email me at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.
"I was born in 1949 in Kerrville, Texas, as a boy in the 1950's my dad worked as a ranch hand at several ranches in central texas, also called the hill country. As a boy he hired on one year at a ranch just out of Hunt Texas. His job was taking care of a guest ranch. He did carpenter work on the guest cabins, fixed what ever needed fixing and took care of around a hundred horses.
Now towards the end of summer and the approach of fall and the up coming deer and turkey season the owners had him take two 50 pound sacks of corn by horseback to a certain area several miles into the cedar covered hills. At a certain spot we (I got to ride the second horse carrying corn) would leave the corn all layed out for several feet.
One day as we were putting out the corn, I had noticed a small well hid shack about a hundred yards from us. When I asked my dad about it, he said he had built it for the hunters that would be coming before long from the big cities to hunt deer and turkey. He said the owners guaranteed the hunters a deer. I told him that since we had been coming up with the corn for several weeks now the deer didn't even run from us any more and that shooting them would kind of be like shooting fish in a barrel and that at that range I could probably kill one with a rock. He just smiled and said, "Don't seem right, do it boy?" but like I said, they guarantee them big city boys a deer.
Now late one afternoon after we had dropped the corn off and was about half way back to the barn our horses started going crazy, snorting, crow hoping, and trying to turn back. My dad turned around to me and said, "Hold his head up and keep a tight reign, cause your getting ready to see something." It wasn't even a minute after he said that, when a pair of black panthers ran right onto the trail in front of us not 30 feet away. I can remember it like it was yesterday, the horses going nuts, and then staring at something I had only seen once before and that was at night. This was broad day light and up close. As I looked at them, I remember there neon bright yellow eyes first, then how they were hunkered real low to the ground. I would say the second thing I noticed was the size. They were pretty darn big, about the size of a small mountain lion, jet black with the long mountain lion like tail. They only stayed about 10 seconds at most, then was gone as fast as they came.
After we finally got the horses to settle down and I had time to ask my dad what the heck I had just seen he said, "That was a pair of yearling Black Panthers." Now my Dad was a real Texas cowboy, as was his, and his before him. He didn't talk a lot but when he did what he said was sure worth listening to, and I never knew him to lie are stretch the truth. Like I said, this was the second time I saw a black panther as a boy. So if you want to believe they're not there, well, I suppose that's your right, but as for me, I know better. This by the way is the same area I use to wander off for a bit while my dad was putting out the corn and play pushing sticks and leafs across a giant 3 toed foot print set in solid stone, only later in life did I come to know what I had been playing in.
P.S. Even to this day I could go straight to that spot. If you doubt what I'm saying, I now live in Oregon."
Of course, I have no way to verify this account. Chuck could be pulling my leg, I suppose, but he did leave his full name and email address which certainly adds to his credibility, in my eyes. I certainly find no reason to doubt his truthfulness based on what he wrote. I will be emailing him to see if there are any additional details regarding this, or other, sightings. I appreciate his taking the time to write out his account.
As always, I'd like to hear about any big cat sightings from the Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and/or Arkansas region from readers of this site. Even if the sightings occurred years ago, I'd like to hear about them. Just email me at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.
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