WILDLIFE NEWS OF THE DAY - 100309

First up in wildlife news today, a trio of stories in which law enforcement officials ran afoul of deer in the road: a Texas policeman on his way to assist another had some delay getting there due to a trio of deer in the road; a sheriff's deputy had a fatal encounter with a deer elsewhere in that state; and a Massachusetts state trooper was injured in yet another deer-auto collision. Deer management in Kentucky is a hot topic in that state right now; while a donkey being used by a South Carolina farmer to keep wild dogs away from his livestock was mistakenly shot by a hunter who thought it was a deer. The exploits of a baby llama on Pikes Peak, Colorado, makes for a good read with a happy ending. A coyote wandering through a Texas shopping center put shoppers on edge; but a Florida sheep rancher recounts the losses of 15 sheep to coyotes in the next item. A news video from British Columbia, Canada, underscores the tension in a community whose pet numbers have been decimated by coyote incursions. A controversial plan to land helicopters in wild land areas of Idaho as part of a wolf-collaring exercise is being proposed once again; while the next article takes a look at Oregon's planned expansion of a cougar hunting program that has resulted in over 100 cougar deaths out of a population of approximately 6,000 animals. A Native American court is going to take over the case of a man who shot a bald eagle for a religious ceremony in 2005; but shoppers at a Wal-Mart in Alexandria, Minnesota, were startled by a raccoon seen wandering around the parking lot in the daylight. Bear problems in Aspen, Colorado, where there were 275 encounters in August alone, are covered in the next article; while fewer salmon, trash that is better secured, and better-educated citizens are cited as reasons for a reduction in human-bear encounters in Anchorage, Alaska, this year. A Florida homeowner, expecting to interrupt a raccoon raiding his trash, instead was confronted by an aggressive black bear! A destructive ursine home invader has reignited the debate over the spring bear hunt in Northern Ontario, Canada. Pennsylvania wildlife officials caught up with a nuisance bear that apparently originally came from New Jersey; but elsewhere in that state, game officials are trying to track down someone who illegally killed a 600 pounder. And finally, a polar bear cub shows that sometimes you feel like walkin', and sometimes you just feel like ridin'!

Deer Create Unexpected Delay in Cops Routine

Burnet deputy dies in morning wreck

MA trooper injured in crash with deer

Deer zone designations a matter of concentration

Donkey killed after SC hunter mistakes it for deer

Rescuers capture 'Homer' the lonely llama on Pikes Peak

Coyote Sightings Making Grapevine Shoppers Nervous

Rancher loses sheep to coyotes, but law limits him fighting back

Pet predators

Idaho again wants to land choppers in wilderness

Oregon proposes expanding its cougar hunts

Tribal Courts To Take Over Eagle-religion Case

Raccoon Causes Commotion at Alexandria Wal-Mart

In Aspen, it's the year of the bear

Anchorage bears quiet after last year’s maulings

Black bear attacks Heathrow man outside home

Bear wanders into family home

Bear caught, tagged, shipped off

State investigates illegal killing of black bear in Wayne County

Polar bear cub hitches a ride