WILDLIFE NEWS OF THE DAY - 050909

We lead off with a story about flooding in Brazil that produced a situation where alligators were swimming through city streets, while scorpions, snakes, and legless lizards were trying to occupy the same high ground as people (fun!) The epic battle of wits between a resident of Central California and a raccoon intruder is chronicled in the next item; followed by the story of a Wisconsin outdoorsman and his encounters with some new furry neighbors. A black bear prowling around South Dakota has demonstrated its ingenuity in getting into places residents would rather it hadn't; while Virginians are warned about bear incursions as spring and summer draw out the hungry bruins; and two bears who decided to sample Reno, Nevada's, charms were returned to the wild. An update on the story of the dog and cougar that tangled in a Southern California wilderness park is provided; a list of cougar sightings in New England accompany this tale of the hunt for what might be a cougar in a Massachusetts community; concluding with a happy ending for a cougar cub who was trapped in a window well in Colorado. The continuing saga of the hunt for Canadian coyotes in Sarnia, Ontario is up next; and an article from Florida discusses the growing practice of hunting nuisance coyotes. A close-up of the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program's New Mexico operations is detailed in an article. Pembroke Pines, Florida, is supporting a pair of eagles nesting on city land in the hopes of increasing the population, which has been absent from Broward County since the early 1970's; but a raptor recovery organization in Nebraska is struggling to pay the bills with a record nine eagles to treat. It's skippy in the crosshairs, again, as Australia's government begins culling an overabundance of kangaroos on an army base in order to protect endangered species; and law enforcement in upstate New York is on the lookout for a wily escapee: a wallaroo! Just in time for Mother's Day, right whales are experiencing a small population boom! A sad ending to yesterday's story of a small deer trapped on a dam in Iowa. Minnesota residents were warned about the danger of deer ticks with Lyme disease in a segment from National Public Radio; as are folks in Upstate New York. In a turnabout, Australian environmentalists are asking for a culling program to be imposed on sambar deer, while hunters are resisting that course of action! Wisdom in dealing with deer comes to us from Birmingham, Alabama; followed by a story about how the reflexes of a school bus driver in Vermont were severely tested as a white tailed deer tried to climb aboard (wonder if they sell one of those yellow diamond-shaped signs that says 'Deer On Board'?) Deer migrating through Bend, Oregon, have a bypass they can use to avoid traffic (something many of us wish we had at rush hour!) And finally, a family in Lincoln, Nebraska, had a confused deer come visit - right through their windows!

Brazilians flee flooding, stay in cow pens

Tony Hicks: It's me vs. nature, and nature's winning

New neighbors in southern Wisconsin: bears, wolves

Bear Seen In South Dakota Near Minnesota Border

Handling the Growing Bear Population

2 bears head back to wild

Man recounts encounter with mountain lion

Elusive quarry

Mountain lion goes to new home after getting stuck in window well

No magic answer for coyotes

Ex-cop ready to take aim at coyotes

Wolves get a little help from their two-legged friends

Eagles' nest may get roots

Neb. group struggles to pay for hurt eagles' care

Australia to shoot 6,000 kangaroos

Wallaroo on the loose in New York

Nice going, mom! Right whales break birth record

Deer shot after being stuck by dam

Study: large number of deer ticks carry Lyme disease

Rise in deer ticks puts pets at risk

Fight for deer life as greens take on hunters

Learning to live near deer

Deer tries to board school bus

Ore. deer can avoid deadly highway using tunnels

Deer jumps in one window, out another