Cougars

Feeding Wild Birds May Attract Unwanted Visitors to Your Home

Posted: by michael

By Rose Oliver, WWO North Cascades Field Coordinator

Don’t get me wrong, I love my wild birds. In fact, one of my favorite morning activities is sitting on my front porch with a cup of coffee and watching the towhees and grosbeaks have their morning conversation. I used to feed my birds year round when I lived in the city, but ever since I’ve moved to the country I’ve chosen to feed them only in the winter months when their normal food sources are lacking, usually November through March. This not only saves me a bunch of money on bird seed, but it also helps keep the wildlife that live near me truly wild.

Bears love bird seed and some studies have shown that over 80% of human-bear conflicts can be traced back to the bear’s first encounter with a bird feeder. Since bird seed is loaded with calories, especially the black oil sunflower seeds I feed my birds, bears can get a day’s worth of calories from just one feeder. And, once a bear discovers a bird feeder, they will often visit every home in the area looking for more. Bears that become accustomed to getting food from human sources can damage property and become aggressive in their pursuit of an easy food reward, which often leads to the demise of the “nuisance” bear at the hands of wildlife authorities responding to complaints about public safety. That is why the State of Washington recently enacted a new law making it unlawful to feed large carnivores, including bears, whether knowingly or unwittingly. Fines can be levied for violating this law.

Choosing to feed your wild birds only in the winter months while the bears are usually denning can help reduce the number of feeder-related bear incidents and help keep bears safe. However, bird feeders can bring in another critter all year round, the raccoon. And we all know how much of a nuisance raccoons can be, plus having raccoons visit your property often, whether you live in the city or the country, can attract another not so desirable visitor, the cougar.

In order to minimize that risk, I choose to feed my wild birds every other day or even every three days. That way, I make sure that the wild birds are cleaning up the feeding area thoroughly before I leave more food out for them. There are also other ways to help out your feathered friends by providing nest boxes and small shallow bird baths year round. In the summer months planting specific brightly- colored and trumpet-shaped flowers will attract the wild birds to your property, but not bears or raccoons. If you do choose to put bird seed out in the winter, you can suspend the feeder between two poles high enough off the ground that bears (and raccoons) cannot reach it, say seven feet or more. Pulley systems can help you access and fill the feeders. Clean up any spilled bird seed from the ground, and store the bird seed indoors. If we all do our part to avoid unnecessary wildlife attractants, we can keep Washington’s wildlife wild!

Cougar-Smart Efforts in British Columbia

Posted: by Darrell Smith

The town of Squamish in British Columbia, our neighbor to the north, has the highest number of conflicts between humans and cougars of any town in British Columbia. That doesn’t mean that people are threatened by cougars. It means that cougars are reported coming too close to where people live and recreate or where they keep their livestock and pets. Squamish already has a very active Bear Aware Program, which they are now expanding to included cougars and other wildlife.

On Friday, June 22, Meg Toom wrote in the The Chief, the Squamish home-town newspaper, “Those statistics highlight the importance of expanding our awareness to include additional wildlife such as cougars. By reducing the availability of attractants for cougars, we can create a safer community for both humans and wildlife.”

“If we leave attractants (i.e. pet food or bird seed) accessible outdoors, we could be attracting small rodents to feed, which attract small domestic pets which, in turn, attract larger predators like coyotes and cougars. We all need to think of the food chain that we create within our own backyards.”

The Grizzly Bear Outreach Project endorses these steps for reducing human/cougar conflicts. Cougars are present throughout many parts of Washington State where conflicts with cougars occur most often in areas where subdivisions have been spreading out into former prime cougar habitat. GBOP has also expanded educational outreach efforts to include information on cougar awareness and tips for co-existing with cougars. Click here to go to our Cougar Page
for more information on the adaptable and secretive cougar.

Cougar Story with a Happy Ending

Posted: by gmacd_admin

Cougars are an important part of our natural heritage. Sleek and graceful, cougars are solitary and secretive animals rarely seen in the wild. With neighborhoods encroaching into wildlife habitat, the number of cougar sightings may increase, but a cougar sighting does not mean that there are more in an area. The cougar’s ability to travel long distances occasionally brings these cats into seemingly inappropriate areas, even places densely settled by humans. Such appearances are almost always brief, with the animal moving along quickly in its search of a suitable permanent home.

Photo: Mark Mulligan / The Herald

The young cougar in this news article was safely trapped and removed from such a place. “She could be at an age where she’s learning to hunt on her own. Her mother likely ran her off to encourage her to establish her own territory.” Such inexperience gets some cougars into trouble, but in this case good practices in non-lethal wildlife control techniques by state wildlife agents may help assure that this cougar will have no interest in anything human. Karelian Bear Dogs, which work to deter and repel bears, are being used to conduct similar work with cougars. Read the article, look at the photo gallery, and find that even an officer many years in the field can still be deeply moved to appreciate a magnificent young cougar.

Click the link to read the HeraldNet news article:

 

Cougar prowling Arlington caught, released in wild

Signs of Wolves

Posted: by Darrell Smith

[toc class=”toc-right”]

Wolf Tracks

Wolf track
Wolf track

Track Comparison

Because wolves are elusive and are rarely seen, finding their tracks can be an exciting experience. The charts and information below illustrate some of the characteristics that distinguish wolf tracks from those of their close relatives, coyotes and domestic dogs. Each species has four symmetrical toes on the front and hind feet, with the front track slightly longer and broader than the hind. Claw marks are usually evident and the front of a wolf’s foot pad is single-lobed. The differences are not always clear so look for a combination of characteristics before coming to a conclusion.

Relative track size differences in wolves, domestic dogs, and coyotes:

Track size measurements (NOT including claw marks):

Wolves Compared to Coyotes

Adult wolf tracks are larger and more robust than adult coyote tracks. Young wolves’ feet grow large very quickly, and by the time they are about three months old (around July) even young wolves’ tracks are larger than most coyote tracks. Because wolves are much heavier animals than coyotes their tracks will show some spread in their toes, especially on the front track, more often than those of coyotes. In wolves, claws on the front feet are longer than the hind but generally register distinctly in both.

Wolves Compared to Domestic Dogs

Wolf tracks are larger than those of all but the largest breeds of domestic dogs, the genetic descendents of wolves. While many dog tracks can be easily distinguished from wolf tracks, some domestic dogs have tracks that are very similar to wolves, making them indistinguishable in some instances. Use the guidelines below to help in track identification. However, keep in mind that tracks alone cannot distinguish domestic dogs from wild canids with complete certainty.

Toes and Claws

Large dogs often spread their toes with all four toes radiating outward. Spread is less common in wolves and, if it exists, usually only the outer two toes spread. Wolves’ front claws are longer and more strongly apparent in tracks than the hind claws, but can appear distinctly in both. The appearance of claws in dog tracks is variable.

Track Size

The front feet of domestic dogs often have a round appearance with the length and width similar in size. Wolves’ front feet are often more rectangular in overall shape, longer than wide, unless the outer toes have spread. Track size of domestic dogs is highly variable but most dogs leave tracks that are less than 3.5 in. (9 cm) in length, where wolves’ tracks are 3.5 in. (9 cm) and above. Only a few breeds of dogs such as Great Danes, St. Bernard’s and Blood Hounds leave tracks longer than 4 inches. The tracks of German Shepherds, Malamutes, Retrievers and Setters are usually less than 4 inches long.

Wolves Compared to Cougars

Cougar tracks are often confused with wolf tracks. Distinguishing features of a mountain lion track are its roundness, the shape of the planter pad (main foot pad) and asymmetry of both the foot and the individual toes.

Because cats have retractable claws, mountain lion tracks do not usually show claw marks. This is not always true, however, as cougars sometimes use their claws to increase traction on steep or slippery terrain. Claw marks may also be present if the animal is traveling fast. If claw marks are visible, they will be directly joined to the toe, while the wolf track exhibits a 1/4-inch separation between claw and toe.

Appearance of nearby scats and proximity to people should be considered when large canid tracks are encountered. In some remote areas, large canid tracks may result from the practice of using hounds to hunt mountain lions.

Wolf Scats

Wolves produce scats, or droppings, which are usually composed of hair, bone fragments, and other signs of their carnivorous diet. Coyote scats, often smaller than wolf scats, typically contain small mammal remains, berries, or insects, but there can be some overlap in contents and appearance. Domestic dog scats are generally more uniform in texture and shape without noticeable hair or bone fragments. Never touch scats to avoid contracting parasites.

Wolf Scats

  • long and tubular – often strong in smell
  • range from 1 to 1.5 inches (2.45-4 cm) in diameter

Coyote Scats

  • twisted and irregular
  • range from .5 to 1.25 inches (1.5-3 cm) in diameter

Wolves often prey on large animals such as deer and elk. They have very powerful jaws so look for characteristic feeding signs of bone fragments and cracked bones near a carcass. Wolves as well as scavengers will eventually drag off parts of the carcass. Burying an entire carcass is a practice typical of cougars and occasionally bears, but NOT of wolves. If you find a carcass move away from it – bears may take control of a carcass and can be very aggressive.

Please report suspected wolf and wolf track sightings to the Washington Wolf Reporting Hotline at 1-888-584-9038.  
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Poaching Hotline 1-877-933-9847

Visit the Products page to see our Identifying Washington’s Wolves brochure.

First time “hard release” of a cougar in Washington

Posted: by Cathy Macchio

 

A 140-pound male cougar was too close for comfort, hanging around homes and a school near Enumclaw. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife trapped the animal and then “hard released” the cougar using  Karelian Bear Dogs and shooting  bean bags to scare the animal away so it won’t return to the neighborhood. Fish and Wildlife officers fitted the cougar with a radio collar which will monitor its whereabouts.

There are approximately 2,000 cougars in Washington State. To learn more about cougars and co-existing with them visit GBOP’s website