Reason for low ungulate populations

[Ourea]

[Linksman313]

Those are the best pockets sometimes.....is there many livestock around that private land....wouldnt want to imagine trying to raise cattle with a predator on slot like that

Very good question scotty , have thought the same and have been approaching Farmers and Horse folk for years trying to convince them the predator issue is growing and am willing and able to help them. Still the same stonewall response.

[Rhyno]

That first grizz looks like a tank! Good photo from the t cam.

[Ourea]

Pretty much everyone knows habitat is the key driver for wildlife.
Logging increases grass and forb production, that is also a given.
Good for ungulates and bears from a forage perspective.

Cougars, coyotes and wolves don't order off the same menu as ungulates however.
So, with the declining deer, moose and elk populations (some elk herds) why the perceived/purported increase in cats and dogs?
Flies in the face of logic...at least from our train of thinking.

The extensive changes we have made on the landscape, from resource extraction and development, has to be a major factor in the big shift in pred/prey relationships and numbers.


This is yet another reason why I am a huge supporter of the wildlife funding model that has been tabled and continues to be championed.
Science needs to be used more and more so a greater understanding of the accelerating changes in wildlife dynamics are better understood and can be addressed.
That will never happen without funding.

Back to Chilcotin Hillbilly, great pics chief.

[GoatGuy]

What are chances a cat will come back on its own trail to a pred call? Would it be better to circle and set-up with the wind maybe?
Have tried twice on a fresh track in fresh snow, and never felt I was getting closer, until the stride length changed to getting-out-of-trouble length, then I quit. Better for follow further?

Have q buddy who has treed a couple by following tracks.

[wideopenthrottle]

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-n...ion-with-video
you guys saw this right...two cougars strolling through the skytrain station at 415 am a few weeks ago...the new one by the turnoff to anmore...a few years ago i spotted a good sized bl bear down on the tracks as we were driving...

[mpotzold]

Read that 1 cougar may kill up to 50 deer(probably 1/2 of that on the average) a year & can live for 12+ years in the wild. So do the math.

More on cougar-the stealthy, fast, strong & efficient hunter.

http://mountainlion.org/CAL_ch4.asp

[tigrr]

I have seen 7 cougars since 1990. lots of grizzly bears at Hudson's Hope dump. One issue around here is the wolves killing off the black bears right in the den. One valley went from 30 black bears to 5 in 2 years. 7 wolves were reduced to 2 by trappers. Year long hunters are shooting the ungulates now.
Enjoy it while it lasts.

[HarryToolips]

I don't think hunter kills come close to pred kills...Road kill probably do a fair number....but if you look at all the meat eaters out there (human not included) now take that number and poundage of meat they eat ALL year long....i don't think hunters numbers would even compair

Exactly...and considering that most ungulates harvested (non FN) by hunters are male, and ratios don't dip below MOE objectives, can't even compare the two since preds harvest all classes of ungulates, but especially the young which greatly impacts that species recruitment..

[HarryToolips]

As you know I'm one that has suggested in the EK ungulate populations are low. No doubt about it. I was talking to a friend who is responsible for the airborn removal of wolves and he suggested, based in collar data and their observations the wolf population is starting to crash.

God I hope so!