Archive for the 'Animals' Category

Making it look very easy.

That bear showed real dexterity and quick movement.

F&S.

On Saturday, August 6, two hikers came face to face with a black bear in Jasper National Park, in eastern British Columbia. The bear was only 30 meters away from the hikers when they encountered it on the popular Overlander Trail. One of the hikers fired off their 20-gauge shotgun to try to haze the bear away, but the bruin didn’t retreat. The hiker fired again, this time hitting the bear, which rolled down a creek bank. The hikers immediately left the scene.

[ … ]

An official told the CBC that a hiker using a loaded firearm in self-defense in the national park was “unprecedented,” adding that the hiker was charged with “several counts” under the Canada National Parks Act. It’s not immediately clear what those charges are and what kind of punishment the hiker may face. Parks Canada typically recommends that people traveling in bear country carry bear spray and know how to use it.

Using a loaded firearm in self-defense in the national park was “unprecedented.”

First, the Canada National Park system has existed since 1885.  I don’t believe him.  I simply do not believe that self defense with a firearm has never occurred in a national park in Canada.

Second, he needs to do a bit of talking to Dean Weingarten if he thinks bear spray is as effective as a large bore handgun, rifle or a shotgun.

But failing that, or simply not caring because they worship the creation rather than the creator, this is what it looks like for a government to wish humans to perish in lieu of animals.

The men are made in God’s image.  The bear is not.  Case closed.

Via Ken, this report.

Don’t do this.  Bears are not usually your friend.

Oh, there may be exceptions like this one, but he’s a rare bird who cannot be emulated without a lifetime of work.

Via David Codrea, an awful report of animal cruelty.

Oxford, PA — In the study of psychology, there is a term for those who hurt animals for personal pleasure. It is called intentional animal torture and cruelty IATC, and the folks who carry it out are often the most depraved people in society. Psychologists have long studied the reasons behind why a person would intentionally harm an animal and the types of people associated with this behavior are often society’s worst. Shockingly enough, as frequent readers of the Free Thought Project understand, police officers are often the most common offenders when it comes to being deliberately cruel to animals.

While it is common knowledge that police officers kill dogs on a regularly basis, many folks don’t realize that cops also kill lots of  animals in sadistic ways as well. Case in point: a Pennsylvania state trooper is facing animal cruelty charges after he deliberately and repeatedly rammed his patrol car into a horse, causing it immense suffering and eventually death.

Over the weekend, Cpl. Michael Perillo was arrested and charged with felony and misdemeanor counts of aggravated animal cruelty, including torture and causing significant bodily injury to the horse.

The incident happened late last year but the investigation apparently took over 6 months to complete. According to officials, on December 28, 2021, police received a report of a horse in the area of U.S. Route 1 in Lower Oxford Township. The horse had reportedly gotten free from a nearby Amish farm.

When the trooper arrived, the horse was on the shoulder and though it had reportedly been hit by another car, it was still standing and not a danger to anyone. Instead of getting out and trying to lead the horse to safety, the trooper rammed it. As the Philly Voice reports:

A criminal complaint filed by the state police’s internal affairs division alleges that Perillo drove his patrol car into the horse multiple times, pinning the animal to the pavement. The second trooper then euthanized the horse, authorities said.

Troopers are permitted to use a firearm to kill a dangerous animal in self-defense, to defend another person or to end the suffering of an injured or sick animal if other means of doing so are not available. Troopers are required to document all actions taken in appropriate reports.

Making sure that no one would ever see the dashboard camera, the charges against Perillo were only announced after the legal window closed on the request for the dash cam footage. According to the AP, state law provides 60 days to submit a request for a copy of an officer’s audio or video recording. Requests must be made in writing by certified mail or hand-delivered, and rejections can be appealed to court.

“What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?”

God saw everything that happened.

Source.

Something tells me he did everything wrong.

This bear has become too familiar with humans.

The video was captured in Greenville County near Traveller’s Rest, S.C.

In a recent conversation, the discussion of rabbit hunting came up. The rabbits are thick this year in our area. The intent is “backyard” hunting for food on several acres. Why not eat the rabbits while teaching your children to forage and harvest what God makes readily available in addition to regular hunting, fishing, chickens, and a large garden?

Hunting in most areas here is legal, but the 22LR is too loud for the desired purpose. A lower profile with the neighbors is a better choice. Early in the investigation of options, any info or background readers might have would be very helpful. The readership here is much more intelligent than a web search.

Below is some preliminary info on “quiet 22,” subsonic, and .22 air rifles. Also, the option of suppression comes to mind, which brings up questions about the law.

CCI’s Quiet .22 load is designed to deliver about 68 decibels (Db) at the shooter’s ear. This is about half the noise generated by high-velocity .22 LR ammunition and only slightly more than normal conversation. Sounds can be painful at around 95 Db and sustained exposure to noise in the 125 Db range, or even one time exposure to levels of 140 Db or higher, can cause permanent damage to hearing. When I was growing up hearing protection was rarely used when shooting and the incessant ringing in my ears is a constant reminder of that mistake.

 

While subsonic .22 LR ammunition—ammo with a muzzle velocity of less than about 1,100 fps—has been available for a long time, it generally comes in the form of expensive match-grade ammo or target rounds that are only slightly below the speed of sound. This means you either pay more for each shot or the noise reduction is minimal so as not to sacrifice velocity.

The Best Quietest Air Rifles mentions not scaring prey away and avoiding alerting the neighbors.

Looking to hunt vermin, rodents, or squirrels in your backyard? Well, after spending dozens of hours on research, I found and shortlisted some of the quietest air rifles in the market right now. Let’s dive straight into it!

An air rifle in .22 could be a good fit.

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Source.

Early on July 6, 2021, Leah Lokan awoke to a 417-pound grizzly bear a few feet from her tent, so close that she heard when the bear “huffed” at her head.

“Bear! Bear!” Lokan yelled, prompting Joe and Kim Cole — two other cyclists camping in the small town of Ovando as they trekked across Montana — to spring from their nearby tent, armed with bear spray and clamoring as much as possible, according to a 26-page report addressed by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee’s executive body earlier this month.

The bear fled.

After scaring it off, Lokan, a 65-year-old visiting from Chico, Calif., moved food out of her tent to a nearby building. She armed herself with a can of bear spray. She declined an offer to stay in a hotel for the night. Then, she and the Coles returned to their respective tents.

Lokan’s extra precautionary measures weren’t enough. The bear returned about an hour after the first encounter and mauled her to death.

A year later, wildlife officials said the bear that killed her had developed a “predatory instinct.” Although they couldn’t determine exactly how such an instinct evolved, food and toiletries inside and near Lokan’s tent, as well as the lingering smell of cooked food from July Fourth picnic celebrations, likely played a role.

“While foraging under the cover of darkness in Ovando, perhaps due to a simple movement made by the sleeping victim, or a certain sound made by the victim, the bear reacted,” the committee’s board of review wrote in their Jan. 4 report, which was discussed earlier this month during the executive body’s summer meeting. The 11-member review board included officials from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and the U.S. Forest Service.

The bolded section highlights three bad decisions.  She should never have had food in her tent to begin with.  Next, bear spray isn’t enough.  Third, a hotel rather than a tent near city establishments would have been a better choice.

Getting rid of food is essential.  Protection is necessary.  A large bore handgun would have been the right medicine.

Via WRSA, On The CCP Role In The Ongoing COVID Con

This story is about a bear stalking somebody that moved into the woods, which the author, the target of the bear, uses as a metaphor for facing the Covid Vaccine damage. You’ll be interested in the Covid Vaccine data. The author indicates that CCP is at war with the U.S. but is missing a known piece of the puzzle; the illness started in a lab in the U.S., making the U.S. government a combatant against its people. You should read it; the vax data is excellent, assuming it’s accurate.

But the best part is about the bear encounter.

I sped indoors, locking the door. I grabbed a weapon out of the hall closet. In my haste, I grabbed the weapon that looked like a rifle, instead of the actual rifle, which was in a case. Thus I found myself locked in an upstairs bathroom, cowering, armed with a BB gun.

[…]

I looked under the bed: hiding there could not save me if the bear made it into the house. I realized I was holding a BB gun, and felt ridiculous. Even if I managed to shoot it, this would do nothing but enrage him. The thin bedroom doors that I had thought so rustic and charming, could be broken down by an angry animal of that size in no time.

My heart pounded as I realized that he was not leaving; he continued pacing and circling, no matter where I went.

I went back into the bathroom, and locked that door with its flimsy lock.

City folk are cute.

When I called back in spite of myself and begged the police for help, they told me to call again only if he managed to break into the house.

When seconds count, the police are a third phone call away.

F&S.

A new pill undergoing trials at Duke University may be the answer to poisonous snakebites. Currently, snakebite victims need specific antivenin for the species they were bit by, and that medicine needs to be administered intravenously at a hospital. The antivenin called varespladib-methy in pill form may change that, curing a broad spectrum of bites from different snakes.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 2.7 million people get bit by venomous snakes each year around the world. Venomous snakes kill between 81,000 and 138,000 people annually and leave three times that many people with disabilities. Many victims are struck in remote, rural areas with limited access to antivenin, making time one of the biggest factors in saving those bitten by snakes. But researchers hope that a pill-form antivenin would change that.

I’m not sure what “pretty long time” means, and I don’t like the sound of that.  But I do like the idea of something other than what we currently use.  I’ll communicate with the doctor and see if I can’t dig up some more facts.

For those of you who don’t currently know anything about how this all goes down, I do know a little something.  My dog Heidi always had a penchant for messing with snakes.  It was something pathological about her.  She started pawing at a Copperhead one night on a walk and got bitten in the paw.

It swelled up the size of a softball and I feared she would lose the leg, or part of it.  The emergency Vet I took her to gave her some anti-inflammatory medicine and antibiotics and sent her home.  I slept with her that night.  She was pitiful.  She recovered though.

When I asked the Vet about antivenin and studied it later, as it turns out each treatment of that stuff ranged up to $15,000 (at that time, several years ago).  It is biological material and degrades with time, and they don’t give it to animals.  I wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway.

They create antivenin by injecting cattle (usually in Mexico) with small amounts of snake venom and then extracting the blood products over time after the cattle have adapted to it.  For it to be viable, it has to be refrigerated.  This isn’t something every hospital has sitting around (sometimes it has to be delivered via a “life flight”), and even if most or all did, snakes bite at the most inopportune time, well away from hospitals.

If Heidi had gotten bitten by a Rattlesnake, she would have been dead within minutes or perhaps a couple of hours.  So would a human without treatment.  Oftentimes, humans lose arms, legs, or other body parts, when bitten by Rattlesnakes.  Water Moccasins (Cottonmouths) also kill with a neurotoxin.  Copperheads aren’t quite the deadly threat that Rattlesnakes or Water Moccasins are, but in order to keep from losing appendages, you have to seek treatment.

A tablet like they’re describing would go a long way towards reducing the cost of this treatment and expand its availability when most needed.

As I said, I’ll try to communicate with the doctor and find out more.  For those of us to bang around in the bush or work on farms or ranches, this is important stuff.

UPDATE: Related, a little boy in Colorado was killed by a Rattlesnake.