Phone Applications For Black Bear Hunting Permit Begin Aug. 25 For Maryland
August 25, 2008
ANNAPOLIS - On August 25, 2008, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources will begin accepting phone-in applications from hunters wishing to participate in this year’s black bear hunting permit lottery. Applications will be accepted over the phone at 1-888-579-6768 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. from August 25 through August 29, 2008.
Harry Spiker, DNR Game Mammal Section Leader reminds that “hunters must apply each year to retain their preference points in the lottery. Preference points increase your odds of being selected in future lotteries. Beginning this year, hunters may opt to purchase a preference point only. This will allow those who cannot hunt in 2008, the opportunity to retain their preference points for use in future lotteries.”
Hunters may continue to apply online 24 hours a day through 6:00 p.m. on September 1, 2008 at http://blackbear.dnr.state.md.us
A $15 application fee must be submitted via credit card, check, or money order by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 and should be made payable to MDDNR Black Bear and mailed to MDDNR Black Bear, P.O. Box 30, Cumberland, MD 21501. Only one application per person will be accepted. Duplicate applications will result in disqualification and the loss of all fees.
In order to allow all interested parties an equal opportunity to participate, permits will be awarded by a random selection process which will be held on Thursday, September 4. A list of winning applicants will be available online at http://blackbear.dnr.state.md.us starting 5 p.m. on Friday, September 5, 2008. Maryland’s black bear hunting season begins October 20, 2008 in Garrett and Allegany Counties.
For more info, please visit: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/bbregs.asp.
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For the Fifth Straight Year, Chronic Wasting Disease Is Not Found in Delaware Deer Sampling
August 18, 2008
Nearly 600 brain and lymph node tissue samples from white-tailed deer in all three counties of Delaware showed no evidence of chronic wasting disease (CWD), the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife announced today. This brings the total number of Delaware deer tested since 2003 to more than 2,400.
During the October muzzleloader and November shotgun deer seasons last fall, 599 tissue samples were collected at meat processors across the state from deer harvested by hunters. The Division’s goal is to test and sample 200 deer within each county. Last year the Division met its goal in Kent and Sussex counties but came up a few samples short in New Castle County. The samples were submitted to the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center for testing. Final test results just received showed all the samples to be negative for the disease.
“Six hundred samples give us a 99 percent probability of detecting the disease if it existed in one percent or more of the deer population. The only way to be certain that every deer in Delaware is free of CWD would be to test every deer, and that would not be practical. While this doesn’t provide 100 percent assurance of no disease, we are encouraged by these results,” said Joe Rogerson, the Division’s Game Mammal Biologist.
CWD is a neurological condition found in deer and elk in which an abnormal protein material called a prion invades and gradually destroys the animal’s brain. It is thought to be 100 percent fatal and believed to be transmitted from close contact with infected deer. The disease wasn’t known until the 1960s. In the 1970s, CWD was identified as a transmittable neurological disease. Extensive research has found no evidence that the disease can be transmitted to humans.
CWD has been found in several western and mid-western states including Colorado, Wyoming, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and South Dakota, as well as the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. The most recent states to detect CWD are New York and West Virginia. Both states detected the disease in 2005.
Surveillance programs, like Delaware’s, have been established in all eastern states and monitoring will continue in future years. So far, all eastern herds seem to be disease free. DNREC will continue monitoring in Delaware for the disease with plans for more tissue sampling this fall.
Hunters should be aware that more news regarding CWD will likely be available in the near future. In the event a deer does test positive for CWD in Delaware, or a surrounding state (Maryland or Pennsylvania), the Division is in the process of finalizing a CWD Response Plan so that action can be taken immediately. Under the plan, regulations also may be created in an attempt to keep Delaware free of CWD.
Recently, the Division passed two regulations in an attempt to ensure that Delaware remains CWD free. The first regulation bans the importation of high risk parts such as the brain, spine and lymph nodes from deer harvested in areas where CWD has been detected. A second regulation requires mandatory notification to the Division by a hunter if a deer harvested out of state by a Delaware resident tests positive for CWD.
More information can be found in the new 2008-2009 Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide, on the Division’s website at www.fw.delaware.gov/Hunting/Pages/Wildlife.aspx under “More information for hunters,” or the CWD Alliance website, www.cwd-info.org/.
For more information about CWD issues in Delaware or any other deer related issue, please contact Wildlife Biologist Joe Rogerson, at 302-735-3600.
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AGFC, UALR Looking for Southeastern Shrew
June 4, 2008
LITTLE ROCK – Biologists from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and UALR’s College of Science and Math are asking for the public’s help to find and determine the status of the southeastern shrew in Arkansas.
One way to find shrews is to locate the roosts of barn owls, a major shrew predator. The biologists are hoping the public can tell them where the owls are roosting.
“One method to locate shrews is to look for shrew skulls in barn owl pellets,” said Blake Sasse, AGFC’s non-game mammal coordinator.
Southeastern shrews, tiny mouse-like animals the size of a human thumb, are common in the southeastern United States, but may be rare west of the Mississippi River. UALR graduate student Garrett Mikel and his advisor David Clark, an instructor of biology, are trying to determine how common the southeastern shrew is in Arkansas.
Arkansas’ shrews are mouse-like in appearance, but possess a longer and more pointed nose and the tips of their teeth are dark in color.
“Shrews are remarkable – very active predators that search through leaf litter for insects, spiders, and other prey sometimes much larger than themselves,” Clark said. “They have voracious appetites and an unusually high metabolism that requires them to eat nearly their body weight in food daily.”
Mikel said “barn owls can be distinguished from other owls by a tawny orange-brown plumage, lacking ear tufts and possessing a white heart-shaped face”.
“The public can help locate barn owls because they may roost in barn lofts, church steeples, trees, and large nest boxes”. “Their roosts can be identified by the presence of owl pellets, which consist of hair and bones that can not be digested by the owl,” Clark said.
Anyone knowing of any barn owl roost sites in Arkansas can contact Clark at (501) 569-3502 or e-mail Mikel at gamikel [at] ualr [dot] edu.
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