WILDLIFE NEWS OF THE DAY - 040809

We soar with the eagles in the first wildlife story today, as new eaglets are popping up at a New Jersey estate equipped with a webcam; followed by a success story that is none too popular with residents of South Florida: the American Crocodile has bounced back from near-extinction with a vengeance. A new University of California, Davis, report on cougar behavior questions the wisdom of standing your ground versus running away; while retraining of police personnel in Santa Paula, California, has been ordered following an official report that shows police used excessive (i.e., lethal) force on a mountain lion cub. A North Carolina man clearing some debris was bitten by a coyote; but officials in a Pinellas County, Florida, town were unable to respond quickly to the report of an injured coyote. Due to budget cuts, it will be a little safer for coyotes in Utah for the foreseeable future; and a reader pontificates on wildlife trade-offs in New York state. In an example of cause and effect, the coyote population has been steadily increasing on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula since the wolves were eradicated there in the 1920's; something worth considering in Idaho, where a debate over a bill dealing with wildlife incursions has moved from the House to the Senate. The life cycle of a tick is presented in a Washington Post article that highlights the role of wildlife in spreading and feeding ticks. In two stories of fatal human/wildlife interaction, a doe had a very bad day in an Arkansas community; and, in another case of humans behaving badly, Wisconsin teens have been clubbing wildlife with baseball bats. A number of rabid animals have turned up in Texas, Virginia, and New Mexico, as the next three articles show. With depredation of hundreds of nuisance bears in Vancouver, British Columbia, a new black bear rehab center for orphaned cubs will be of benefit to the area; and as bears push further south in Wisconsin, wildlife officials are providing warnings and guidelines in regards to encounters. A Virginia man was using bait to attract bears in the Cascades Recreation Area, setting up the undesirable association bears make that people equal food. And finally, a pregnant raccoon turned out to be just a little too bloated to make it through the customary entrance to her nest - wildlife officials to the rescue!

UPDATE: Web cam witness to bald eagles hatching at Hillsborough's Duke estate

Make way, gators: Croc numbers surge in South Fla.

Mountain Lion! Stand or Run?

Report Indicates Officer Unjustified In Shooting Death Of Mountain Lion

Man Bit By Coyote In Lincoln County

Help with injured coyote in Seminole is slow to arrive

Utah wildlife agency budget cuts strip funding for coyote bounties, sportsmen's access program

Let's trade: coyotes for deer

Coyotes kick canines around town

Wolf controversy spurs a House bill that makes introducing non-native species a felony

Cases of Lyme Disease Soar in Region

Deer smashes through doors, 3 vehicles in Ark.

Teens accused of raccoon bashing

4 rabid skunks found in southeast, southwest Arlington

Rabid Animals Attack in Oakton, McLean

Rabid skunk found near Logan

Black bear rehab centre to open in North Vancouver

NEWS UPDATE: DNR reports early black bear sightings in southern Wisconsin

Man pleads guilty to baiting bears at Cascades

Rough day for trapped raccoon