Print this articleThe striking yellow eyes of a jaguar glared at me through the tall, thick grass.
Locking with mine they conveyed instinct and wildness, stirring the deepest parts of my soul. As a young boy, I dreamed of such an encounter and was now living it in hyper reality.
Although it felt so, we were not in a remote corner of the Amazon or the highland deserts of Mexico but the Exotic Cat and Wildlife Refuge in Kirbyville, TX. For two ears I volunteered there and had the incredible opportunity to get firsthand experience with jaguars, including "Tasha", described above.
To speak of an animal’s intelligence is to risk personification, but it was easy to tell something more than contemplating her next meal was going on behind Tasha’s eyes. Jaguars are arguably the world's most intelligent cats and they are the most misunderstood. While the habits of lions and tigers are part of the public consciousness, jaguars remain enshrouded in mystery as deep as their jungle homes.
The author with "Tasha" circa 1996.
Jaguars are known for escorting men out of their territory. Keeping a safe distance but letting people know they are watching, the big cats follow people until they leave their range.
"I've spent a lot of time in the wilds of Belize and have heard numerous stories of jaguars following people out of the jungle almost as if to make sure they leave. There the cat is feared but also highly respected," said Phillip Samuels, a globe-trotting fish guide.
Samuels recounted a mountain hiking excursion in Belize's interior when he came across a cattle depredation believed to be the work of a jaguar.
"There was a man standing over this huge, bloody, dead bull waving us away. He was saying a jaguar had made the kill and was somewhere nearby. Let's just say I didn't waste any time going back from where I came."
Hunting is one of many areas that separate jaguars from the other big cats. Lions hunt in prides while tigers use brute force and seem to show little discrimination in their killing. Leopards, the smallest of the big cats, rely on lighting speed to survive amongst lions, hyenas and other competition. The jaguar however is methodical.
"One thing I have learned all these years of working with jaguars is they never forget anything. They file everything they experience, which makes them far more intelligent than most people realize," said Monique Woodard curator of the Exotic Cat and Wildlife Refuge.
As detailed in John James Audubon’s The Quadrupeds of North America, jaguars actually go fishing. No, not just hunting down fish in shallow streams, but luring them on purpose.
“The jaguar is reported to stand in the water out of the stream and drop its saliva, which, floating on the surface, draws the fish after it within reach, when it seizes them with the paw, and throws them ashore for food,” Audubon wrote.
The Arizona Fish and Game Department says they are a patient hunter of fish. Their researchers have gathered reports of jaguars waiting by the edge of the water and hitting the surface with their tail to lure fish within range of their claws.
The first settlers of Texas thought the jaguar to be very dangerous and said they would come in to small military outposts at night but would first observe the group from a distance by the light campfire. They alleged the cat would take out the leader first as he slept and then take out the rest of the group. The truth of this is highly debatable, but it goes to show people have noted the intelligence of these cats long before the modern era of zoology.
Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
While there have been verified attacks of jaguars on humans, they are extremely rare in comparison to lions, leopards and tigers.
"Jaguars are smart enough to know man poses problems, which is why there are very few instances of them preying on humans," Woodard said.
This trait might just be what is allowing them to cross into the United States relatively undetected and without incident.
Since 1996, there have been numerous confirmed eyewitness reports and game camera photos of jaguars collected by researchers in New Mexico and Arizona. Researchers hypothesize while most thought jaguars had been eliminated from northern Mexico, they either seem to be coming back to the region or have always been there and are increasing in numbers. The jaguars captured on film in Arizona and New Mexico seem to be males, which can travel as far as 500 miles looking for a mate, however some of the photos are not clear enough to establish sex.
In Texas, there is debate over when the last “verified” jaguar sighting occurred, but there are several sightings worth noting.
The official strategy paper of the multi-agency Jaguar Conservation Team detailed that, “a newspaper report of a female killed and her 2 kittens captured in the Chiricahua Mountains in 1906 Texas, but they had become extremely rare.”
It also quoted researcher Robert as saying, “An established population once occurred in the dense thickets along the lower Nueces River and northeast to the Guadalupe River. He suggested that jaguars probably continued to wander from Mexico into the brush country of the southernmost part of the state. However, brush clearing and urbanization along the Texas/Mexico border has probably reduced chances for reestablishment of the species in Texas.”
But has it?
While it is true, the Rio Grande Valley is not conducive for wildlife migration due to agriculture, the Trans Pecos is not much different than it was when Spanish explorers came to Texas more than 500 years ago. If jaguars are showing up in Arizona and New Mexico, there is no reason they could not live in the highly remote areas of the Trans Pecos region. Of all of the border areas in the United States, that one is the wildest and could easily house a small population of jaguars.
In reality, scientists knows little about jaguars and their mysterious habits although it is certain they have a large home range and are moving northward.
In recent years, black bears have reestablished populations in the Trans Pecos and East Texas. Gray wolves have migrated from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as far south as Missouri and the ivory-billed woodpecker once thought extinct is proven to be alive in Arkansas and under study. Finding out that jaguars inhabit the badlands along the Rio Grande corridor would not surprise me at all.
There could be one on Texas soil right now, blending into the brush, taking in all it sees and eluding man as jaguars do.
***
Jaguar Factoids
#Throughout much of its range, the jaguar is called “el tigre” or “the tiger” for it is the closest thing settlers of the new world could compare to the tiger, which had been known around the world since Roman conquerors brought them back to Europe as gifts for their rulers.
#Jaguars are the largest cats in the western hemisphere with the heaviest on record topping out at 347 pounds and specimens in some regions averaging well over 200 pounds.
#The “black panthers” seen on television and in zoos are actually black jaguars or leopards. Both species produce "melanistic" or black offspring on occasion. There is actually no separate species as a “black panther”.
#Jaguars regularly feed on tapirs (a large pig-like creature in the Amazon region) and wild boars. They are the only cat species known to kill prey by actually biting through the skull and piercing the brain and kill animals as large as a ton. One jaguar reportedly killed an 800-pound horse and dragged it for more than half a mile before stopping to enjoy its meal.
#The agile cats prey on alligators and are equally at home in the water as they are on land. Researchers have observed them swimming large stretches of the Amazon River to islands and reportedly like to not only hunt in the water but play there as well.
By Chester Moore, Jr.
Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
However with most kids getting their wildlife education from television programs that humanize animals and a growing proportion of our population being raised in the city the potential for a fatality is growing daily.
"We are at a crossroads with duck populations in America due to a variety of factors," said writer and Texas Fish & Game magazine executive editor Chester Moore. "If we as the waterfowl hunting community do not make a hard-line stance on these issues now, we will pay the price in the not-so-distant future."
The top issue at hand is the Farm Bill renewal and continuation of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which is attached to the mammoth piece of legislation. It subsidizes setting aside acreage for wildlife habitat instead of going under the plow.
People get all nervous over the word 'subsidy,' but that is how farming is done in America in 2008," Moore said. "We can either have subsidies that work to benefit wildlife and farmers or we can subsidize things that will cause irreparable harm."
Moore's specific concerns center on the government subsidized push to create "biofuel" to ease alleged human caused "global warming."
Chester Moore believes the future of waterfowl in North America is in the hands of those with a genuine interest in conservation, not appeasing the politicos in the environmental movement. Photo by Gerald Burleigh
"We have been covering this push for biofuel in Texas Fish & Game magazine, and well over a year ago predicted exactly what is happening right now," he said. "Land that would have been in CRP is now going to corn crops to the tune of hundreds of thousands of acres because the demand has increased. That has, in turn, resulted in many former CRP plots and other native grasslands going under the plow, which will translate to way fewer ducks in the sky.
"Even worse, it has driven up all food prices from beef to wheat due to corn's inflated price and the lack of other crops being grown. Even more unconscionable is that politicians are trying to appease the extreme fringe of the environmental movement with this biofuel issue, and as a result, we are literally starving people in the Third World, as many can no longer afford corn-based products that are their staples."
Moore said now is the time for concerned waterfowlers to tell their elected officials to not only get the farm bill pushed through with strong CRP provisions, but to end the subsidies for biofuel, which are driving the market.
"Many of the so-called 'sportsman-friendly' politicians are of conservative persuasion, and have been sucked into all of this due to trying to appease the environmental groups," Moore said. "The dirty little secret is the people who vote along those lines will never vote for those politicians, so in terms of political capital, it gains nothing and stabs in the back the hunters who do a big part to help put those politicians in office."
Another issue that will need political help at the federal level is acquiring national wildlife refuge land in the Pothole region.
"Most of the refuge acquisition has been in the wintering grounds, which certainly serves a purpose, but it is pointless to conserve habitat where the ducks migrate in the winter if there are no ducks to migrate," Moore said. "There needs to be a fundamental change at the federal level on this issue, which is something I point out in Texas Waterfowl."
Moore is donating a portion of the proceeds from his book to Ducks Unlimited (DU) to aid in conserving nesting grounds in the Prairie Pothole region, and hopes people will support conservation groups at this critical time. He said the current crisis has strengthened his long-standing relationship with DU: "If there's a group out there fighting for waterfowl habitat, now is the time to support it. It's okay if you disagree with certain things about a group, but the bottom line is that they all need our help to help the ducks. I support both DU and Delta Waterfowl, and say hunters can bicker about the small things when we get over this hump. Right now, its time to keep our eyes on the ball and hit a home run for conservation.
"And the truth is, we better do just that because the future of the rich tradition of waterfowling hangs in the balance."
<:od>The article appeared here last September and took first place for "Best Original Internet Story".
<:od>"It's truly an honor to be honored by TOWA especially for writing about a subject that is no near and dear to my heart like Asiatic elephants. I would like to thank Joey Ratliff and everyone at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans for giving me an up close and personal glimpse at these amazing animals. Without Joey I would never had had the inspiration for the article," Moore said.
<:od>Moore picked up nine more awards including a first place in “Special Outdoors Projects” for “Operation: Broodstock,” a joint conservation effort with the Texas Fish & Game magazine, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA).
<:od>“We are very proud of our conservation work because it is actual participation in conservation not just lip service,” Moore said. “Operation: Broodstock involves catching southern flounder and speckled trout broodstock for TPWD/CCA hatcheries, to help with stocking programs. It is a true honor to be recognized for something we love doing and feel is so important.”
<:od>Moore also placed in the wildlife photography, nature photography, news reporting, magazine, opinion writing, newspaper feature and book (Texas Waterfowl).
<:od>
Note to readers: This articles marks the beginning of my "100 Stories for the Ducks" series detailing problems and solutions dealing with waterfowl conservation. I have pledged to write 100 articles over the course of the next five years appearing in publications ranging from Texas Fish & Game to the local newspapers (Port Arthur News and Orange Leader) that I write for.---Chester Moore
"Conservation" by definition means, “the careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion.”
For that cause, hunters have been at the forefront, contributing billions toward habitat management, research and law enforcement. We have done so not only to ensure populations of the game we pursue are at levels high enough to justify hunting, but also for it to be at equilibrium with its habitat.
Much of this funding comes from license fees, permits and excise taxes on sporting goods voluntarily accepted by the sport hunting community to give wildlife a fighting chance in the face of modern man’s expansion and innovations. Billions more come from voluntary donations along with millions of volunteer hours committed to raise those funds, restore habitat and promote interest in the sport.
In regards to this, I have on more than one occasion been asked, “Why Waterfowl?”
What these people really mean is, “Why do you do so much for ducks and geese when there are so many other game species like deer, turkey, elk, quail, sheep, pheasant and bear?” This is not a simple question to answer, but the reasons are clear, concise and convincing to anyone willing to listen with an open mind.
Out of all game pursued in North America, waterfowl are among the most vulnerable. They are highly migratory, traveling through multiple states with some species visiting multiple countries, and this poses a number of issues. Pintails, for example, are a species well below their long-term population average and they are being hit on both ends.
Photo Copyright 2007 Chester Moore
Changes in agriculture in Canada have greatly decreased nesting success, while the loss of rice in Texas may be contributing to the late migration of birds back north and their overall poor health. Turkeys, by comparison, are territorial-- meaning they are born and die in the same general area they are born, and are at their highest levels in most states in recorded history. Due to their widespread range and adaptability, the future of wild turkeys is fairly secure.
Amazing groups like the National Wild Turkey Federation are making sure of that. Waterfowl species are not as secure since the vast majority nest in the prairie pothole and boreal forest regions of the U.S. and Canada. Their breeding numbers are concentrated in these areas and a drought that affects one species will affect them all. Ditto for changes in land usage.
Waterfowl are not very adaptable, whereas species like whitetail deer can literally live and breed successfully in large metropolitan areas. Ducks in particular need native grasslands and other highly specialized habitat to survive. Deer can live in the shadow of the largest cities in the face of change, while ducks are highly susceptible to man’s environmental tinkering.
Perhaps more importantly, the conservation of waterfowl equals the conservation of many species. Water is the source of life and it is the key element in duck production. Take away water, you have no ducks or roseate spoonbills, or bald eagles, muskrats, otters, mink or hundreds of other organisms.
While conservation efforts directed toward many species are specific to them, efforts to conserver waterfowl are kind of like a shotgun approach. What benefits the mallard also benefits dozens of other species ranging from birds to reptiles, amphibians and mammals as well. Dollars spent conserving ducks conserve just about everything in need of clean water, healthy marshes, sprawling grasslands and mature forests.
A final reason for waterfowl conservation is the public. Deer and elk hunting prices have skyrocketed in recent years, and species like sheep have been out of the reach of the average hunter for decades. No one owns the sky and therefore waterfowl are still truly a public resource that is within reach of hunters from the low to the high end of the income scale. There are millions of acres of public waterways and marsh available to hunt for a nominal fee and many times, they are totally free, contributing to a waterfowl-hunting renaissance.
This has been proven in my home state of Texas where waterfowl hunter numbers increased from 60,000 in 1990 to more than 130,000 by 2000, at the same time deer hunter numbers tapered off a bit.
By keeping duck and goose populations healthy, the tradition of hunting can be passed from one generation to another even as the cost of the sport skyrockets. Yes, waterfowl hunting is more expensive now too, but in comparison to other species, it is still by far the most affordable and accessible.
I wholeheartedly support groups like the Safari Club International, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep as they do a magnificent job safeguarding their chosen game and have done so with great passion and resourcefulness. They are to be more than commended.
However, as a hunter who pursues many species, I have chosen to dedicate the bulk of my personal game conservation efforts toward waterfowl and working with groups like Ducks Unlimited. For the reasons listed above, I find it to be the most crucial avenue of resource protection in North America and that which benefits not only the most species and habitat, but also those who care the most: the hunters.
There is also the personal element, as I must admit to fantasies of hearing the whistling wings of blue-winged teal and watching mallards circle a set of decoys and then come in with wings up and feet outstretched.
Yes, those are the things my hunting dreams are made of... but to make them continue to be a reality, much work needs to be done. We are now at a point where we can ensure the rich tradition of waterfowl hunting for future generations or allow it to pass by the wayside, and along with it crucial elements of our natural environment. We have the opportunity to either seize the day and take our conservation efforts to a new level or simply turn our backs.
I’ve already my choice. Have you?
(Chester Moore is Executive Editor of Texas Fish & Game and author of the newly released Texas Waterfowl, available by ordering direct at 281-227-3001, at Academy Sports and Outdoors stores and on Amazon.com online. Twenty percent of the author’s proceeds will go to Ducks Unlimited projects in Texas and the nesting grounds. To learn more about Chester's latest project, the Texas Duck Tour, go to http://www.myspace.com/texasducktour)
I would like to apologise for a lack of blogs since December. My outdoor writing career and several conservation projects have kept me on the road nonstop. In fact I am about to leave again. You will be seeing much more on this site beginning today and although the several times weekly updates will not begin until March you will start seeing content again. I do this out of a love for wildlife conservation with no $$ reward so other things have to take precedence. The good thing is those other things are aiming toward the same goal.
A new day, a new level,
Chester Moore
Genesis 1:1
Some of you may know, some of you may not but Project: Zoo Quest is more than a blog. It is also a nonprofit charity. I am in the process of setting up my first big fundraiser and I want to do something for Asiatic elephants.
There are only around 30,000 left in the wild scattered over more than a dozen countries and their numbers are falling fast. In comparison there are more than 600,000 elephants left in Africa and the media acts like they are about to disappear. Asia's elephants need help.
I have a goal of raising $5,000 over a 90-day period beginning Jan. 15 through a project I am calling "E-Bay for Elephants". I will do a three month auction of all kinds of items to raise those funds which will go to a couple of different projects directly for Asiatic elephants.
So, I am soliciting donations of quality good (can be inexpensive to HUGE) to kick off the auctions. I will take anything from rare baseball cards to guided fishing trips. It doesn't matter! And the best part is all donations are tax deductible. We are also accepting cash donations and would love to greatly exceed our $5000 goal by the way.
I would greatly appreciate your help in making this first fundraiser a success and doing a small part to help Asia's beleaguered elephants. If you have any questions e-mail me back or call 409-920-2062 .
You can send donations to:
Project: Zoo Quest
c/o Chester Moore
101 Broad Street
Orange, TX 77630
Thanks everyone! I know you will come through.
God bless,
Chester Moore
PS: Please feel free to forward this around.
This is good news from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It's little steps like this that end up making a big difference in the end.
Check it out....
In a world where many animals are under siege, the Amur tiger, popularly known in the West as the Siberian tiger offers an encouraging message: the population of the huge cat is showing signs of recovery.
During the past 100 years, the Amur tiger population of the Russian Far East was decimated by forest destruction and poaching for tiger body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine. By the 1940s the number surviving had dwindled to an estimated 50.
Thanks in part to $611,131 in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants that, combined with partner donations and in-kind contributions, push the total to more than $1 million, the big, distinctive cats appear to be rebounding in Russia. Recent surveys indicate that between 331 and 370 adult tigers and 100 young, about 450 tigers in all, are living in the Russian Far East, home to 95 percent of all Amur tigers in the world. Service wildlife biologist Fred Bagley, long associated with Amur tiger conservation efforts, said a spike in tiger poaching in the early 1990s was subsequently met by a Russian government crackdown, and the intensified anti-poaching efforts have paid off.
The Amur tigers is one of five tiger subspecies in the world; of eight that once roamed the earth, three became extinct in the 20th century. While the majority of Amur tigers live today in the Russian Far East, a much smaller number are known to inhabit China, and a few may occur in North Korea. Some estimates place the global tiger population in the 3,900 to 5,100 range, down from perhaps 100,000 more than 100 years ago.
Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The demand for tiger parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine has played a major role in the decline of the Amur tiger population. Despite medical evidence to the contrary, belief persists that tiger parts can curb ailments ranging from impotence to arthritis, skin disease, fever, and more. And during the last period of heightened poaching, Russian conservation workers estimated that as many as 60 tigers were killed each year.
But the tigers' situation has shown marked improvement: local government in the Russian Far East, said Bagley, is firmly committed to helping rescue the tigers, and the Service has remained a firm partner in the effort. Service grants have helped pay for vehicles, uniforms, fuel and even salaries for Russian game wardens who have had success in deterring poachers. It's a relationship that has had positive results.
"It's hard to find another place in the world where tigers are doing as well," Bagley said.
Left alone in the wild, the tigers do well, indeed. Amur tigers breed easily, and even though the number of young in the current decade has given cause for some concern, the number of cubs born to each litter has increased slightly, granting some stability to the gradual population increase.
Amur tigers, which can weigh up to 600 pounds at maturity, are loners that travel enormous distances in search of prey, such as elk and wild boar. While some of the tigers have been known to attack humans, they usually prefer to avoid people. The tigers have been known to kill wolves that venture into their territory.
Another threat to the tiger is Russia's own healthy economy. Wildlife law enforcement jobs in the Russian Far East don't pay well, and even the most dedicated Russian game wardens are often easily lured elsewhere by better pay, making it difficult to keep trained personnel on the job.
"In the scheme of international grants, the amount of money we've contributed to this effort has been relatively modest," Bagley said.
"But there is no doubt that we've had an impact. This is one of those times when you can point to something and say, yes, we're making a real difference. Applied research, habitat protection, effective law enforcement and the support of local people made possible through conservation education, are advancing the survival of this tiger."
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You can check it out by clicking here.
The article tackles some of the daunting tasks involved with the conservation of elephants in Asia and offers some solutions to current problems.
The truly surprising element of this tragic story however was not that Irwin died on camera while filming an episode of his popular show but that a stingray killed him.
On a daily basis he dealt with huge man-eating crocodiles, super-sized constrictors, savage shark species and the most poisonous snakes in existence, but it was a creature not known for its deadly actions that killed this (fatally) risk-taking legend.
Once the story broke and the media frenzy hit, I was inundated with e-mails and phone calls from readers, friends and relatives wanting to know how dangerous stingrays were. One newspaper headline read, “Killer Stingrays on Your Beach!” and several online blogs spoke of a conspiracy to hide the danger of these seemingly insidious creatures by fish and game departments.
So, what’s the truth? Are stingrays really THAT dangerous?
Obviously, interactions with stingrays can be potentially fatal but for that to happen is a super rare thing. The best estimates show there have been around 30 fatal stingray/human interactions in the last 100 years. It’s not an exact number, but it is the one the least scientists disagree with. The reason is that stingrays are typically docile creatures with no designs on attacking humans. Irwin’s death was due to him swimming over the creature and the ray feeling cornered hitting him with its barb directly in the chest causing him to bleed to death almost instantly.
It is very difficult for that to happen.
Take for example, “Stingray City”, a shallow area on the edge of a deep reef on the island of Grand Cayman that for many years has been popular due to charter operators selling stingray encounters. The rays are attracted by food offered by the boats and come in to swim around snorkelers and divers freely. My parents who are both very inexperienced in the water around marine creatures went there while on a cruise and said they had the time of their life and felt completely safe while dozens of huge rays swam right up to them.
Although there have been no major incidents there, business at “Stingray City” has went down dramatically since Irwin’s death. And while that served as a lightning rod over stingray concerns, visitors should be more much fearful of receiving a non-fatal stingray wound in the leg, foot or ankle. Annually around 1,500 anglers and swimmers get hit by rays and deal with the severe pain that ensues.
To start with, contrary to popular opinion, a stingray’s toxin is contained in a barb located (depending on the species) at the base of the body where the tail begins or in the mid tail area, not at the tip of the tail.
“The stinger (usually one, but some species have up to four) is a modified fin spine located at the base of the ray's tail. The spine has rows of incredibly sharp one-way barbs resembling the serrated blade of a knife. The spine is bone-hard, has a pointed end, and can be up to fourteen inches long. When stepped on, the stingray flips its tail forward or sometimes side-to-side when reflexively stinging. This produces the typical injury pattern on the top of the foot or in the lower leg,” said officials with the ReefQuest Center for Shark Research.
“The second cause of injury occurs as a result of evenomation from the stingray. The entire spine or stinger is covered with a sheath, which discharges venom when ruptured. The venom or toxin is a heat-labile (degraded by heating) protein for which no antivenom exists.”
A hit by a ray causes severe problems that can linger for a long, long time. If you don’t believe me, ask Houston's James Andreatos. A couple of years ago I did a story about his stingray saga and to this day he still has reminders of exactly what a ray is possible of doing. While wade-fishing in West Galveston Bay (Texas) near North Deer Island 4 July 2003 with his friend Chris Monk of Austin, stingray safety was actually on his mind.
"I was shuffling my feet and me and my friend were talking," Andreatos said. "I told him it would really stink if one of us stepped on ray because we couldn't see in the water below us. There were all of these potholes we kept slipping into, and while shuffling along I slipped into one and right onto a ray."
Andreatos said the ray did not just hit him. It hit him and stayed hooked onto him.
"My whole leg was jerking back and forth and the ray was trying to get loose and finally it popped. Judging from the size of the hole, we figured the ray was about 40 pounds."
Andreatos said at first he was in shock, and then when the toxin started taking effect, it felt like someone had hold of his muscles wringing them like a wet towel.
"The pain was going up through the leg and worked its way into my buttocks and lower back."
The duo was in knee-deep water and he had to crawl more than 100 yards through the mud to get into the boat and eventually to a hospital.
"I'm worried that I might get hit by another one and I'm sweeping the water in front of me,” he said.
By the time they were able to reach a hospital, a couple of hours had passed and the pain was severe: "I was losing muscle function. My arms were shaking real bad and trying to convulse."
When Andreatos got to the hospital, he found that they were not quite prepared for the task.
"I wear a size 16 shoe, and they bring out a pail of hot water barely big enough for me to put my little toe in."
The ray had hit on the ankle, right behind the bone and into the joint cavity. Andreatos was in unbearable pain and his friend had to go find a trash can, line it with plastic bags, and fill it with hot water to try to keep down the swelling.
"They had the nurse boiling pots of coffee without coffee in it. By the time she had made 40 or so pots, I was starting to feel a lot less pain," Andreatos said.
After getting x-rays and a shot of Demerol, the doctor gave him some antibiotics and painkillers and sent him home.
"They said I should be fine," Andreatos said.
Four days later, his leg had swelled to twice its normal size from his thigh down to his toes, and it kept turning colors. He got stronger antibiotics, but the infection kept getting worse. By this time, there was a chance of gangrene settling in, so he sought the help of Dr. Soepher, an infectious disease specialist.
"They had to cut from my calf to the ankle all the way down past the heel. He had to cut 60 percent of the muscle out, and then when he tried to suture the hole, and it wouldn't close back up," Andreatos said.
After multiple skin grafts and more treatment he was eventually, able to get back to walking around normally and back to wade-fishing. These days however, he never goes in the water without protective gear.
"I will not go in the water without stingray boots. I know a lot of guys who will not wear them because they say they are too cumbersome, but if they went through what I went through, they would not go without them,” he said.
Stingrays are coming along the Gulf Coast, throughout the Caribbean and as far north as New Jersey. The most common species is the southern stingray which can grow up to six feet long without the tail. The cownose ray is another common species and they are known for jumping out of the water and “flying” like a manta ray for short distances. If you have ever been wadefishing within their range you have been near stingrays whether you realized it or not.
There is no use having great fear of them, but caution is certainly advised in their domain along with respect for their abilities. Shuffling your feet while wadefishing or playing at the beach is probably the most practical way of avoiding a hit. Yes, its monotonous and tiring, but I know from experience it works.
During my first ever trip to the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Biloxi, Miss., I was wading back to the boat that was positioned in three feet of water. I remember thinking that shuffling my feet was getting really old and literally as I was about to step (yes, step) toward the ladder of the boat, I bumped a big ray with my foot as I shuffled and it scooted out of the way. If I had stepped on the ray, I would have most likely felt its wrath, but by bumping it with a shuffling foot, it just moved out of the way.
Since then I have been an avid wadefishing shuffler and so far there have been no stingray attacks to report. In addition, I did buy some stingray boots too after talking with Andreatos the first time and learning of his grueling ordeal.
When it comes to having a serrated barb loaded with toxins possibly lodged into my legs, I tend to get a little cautious.
*This article originally appeared in the Sept. 2007 issue of TIDE magazine.
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"Sudan's 22-year north-south civil war — Africa's longest and bloodiest conflict, killed some two million people. It also drove out large numbers of animals."
"Now after two years of relative peace, they're dramatically back. Wildlife services estimate 7,000 elephants have returned, along with some 1,500 giraffes and about 500 oryx antelopes, both thought to have left Sudan forever. Lions, leopards and a wide variety of gazelles, some of them unique to Sudan, are being spotted, too."
"In a February aerial survey, the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society estimated herds of antelope and gazelle numbered 1.3 million."
"It could well be the largest mammal migration on Earth," said Paul Elkan, the society's south Sudan country director."
What really amazed me was the following section of the story.
"The wardens insist that only the area's native herds have returned. They say there is no threat of violence chasing the elephants out of neighboring Uganda or Kenya; they just want to come home."
Think about that for a second. Elephants are reclaiming ground they were forced out of due to war. These animals never cease to amaze me.
To read the rest of the story click here.
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I have personally been gathering big cat reports in the region (mainly Texas and Louisiana) since 1992 and roughly 30 percent of the reports fall into this category.
There are a couple of problems associated with this phenomenon and one of them is there is no such species as a “black panther”.
All of the black cats you see on television in circuses and zoos are either black leopards or jaguars. Both species frequently throw melanistic or black offspring. Of the two species, jaguars are native to Texas while leopards are a cat of the Old World.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, the jaguar’s coat color ranges from pale yellow to reddish brown, with a much paler (often white) underbelly.
“It has spots on the neck, body and limbs that form rosettes, which contain black markings within them. On the head and under parts, the spots are simple black dots. Black jaguars are not uncommon, and even they possess darker rosette markings that are visible in bright light. Compared to a leopard, the jaguar is stocky and more powerfully built. The square jaw and prominent cheeks, along with robust, muscular limbs give evidence of immense strength.”
The author stares down a black jaguar at the Texas Zoo in Victoria. Photo by Lisa Moore
As the Cat Haven group notes in their profile of the jaguar, "The term 'Black Panther' is commonly use for those cats because their coat appear to look black but this is not the correct terminology for two reasons. First, both the jaguar and the leopard can appear to look black but the coat is actually dark brown and has black rosettes (spots) like the yellow version."
If you see a black jaguar (or leopard) in person, the spots are easily visible at a close range, especially in good light. However, at a distance the animal appears solid black.
Could the reports of “black panthers” be the result of jaguars?
While native to my home state of Texas there is verified population here although there probably are some crossing into Texas along the Mexican border in the Trans Pecos region. Both New Mexico and Arizona wildlife and border officials have captured photos of jaguars entering their states in recent years. None of them however was black.
I do not totally rule out some of these sightings as being black jaguars as in nature pretty much anything can happen but there are other candidates for the sightings.
The jaguarundi although not widely known by the public, is a prime candidate for spawning "black panther" reports.
They are a medium-sized cat with a mean body size of 102 centimeters for females and 114 for males according to Mexican researcher Arturo Caso. Other sources list them as ranging from 100 to 120 centimeters with the tail making up the greatest part of the length.
Most specimens are about 20 centimeters tall and sport a dark gray color while others are chocolate brown or blonde.
A large jaguarundi crossing a road in front of a motorist or appearing before an unsuspecting hunter could easily be labeled a "black panther". Since very few people are aware of jaguarundis, it is highly unlikely they would report seeing one. The term "black panther" is quick and easy to report to others.
Everyone can relate to a "black panther".
Jaguarundis are known to range from South America to the Mexican borders of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. The key word here is "known". That means scientists have observed or captured the species within those areas, however they are reported to range much farther north in the Lone Star State and perhaps elsewhere.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) officials solicited information from the public and received numerous reports of the species in the 1960s, including several sightings from central and east Texas. Additional sightings were reported from as far away as Florida, Oklahoma, and Colorado
In a study conducted in 1984, TPWD biologists noted a string of unconfirmed jaguarundi sightings in Brazoria County, which corners the hugely populated areas of both Houston and Galveston. Brazoria County is more than 200 miles north of the counties of Cameron and Willacy, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has, designated as being the only confirmed areas of Texas that houses jaguarundis.
Another possibility for these sightings is cougars. While there has never been a confirmed case of a black cougar in the history of all of the ones kept in zoos, wildlife sanctuaries and taken by hunters it is possible melanistic specimens exist.
It is also possible dark brown colored cougars seen in low light conditions could account for some of these reports. Cougars are present throughout Texas and have been verified via game camera photos in many states once thought devoid of the species.
Other possibilities for “black panther” sightings are cases of mistaken identity with dogs at great distances and even bobcats, which have been verified to spawn black specimens from time to time. In fact, there is a mounted specimen on display at the Gander Mountain store in Beaumont near the gun section.Still though there are some reports that are just too detailed and that come from very reliable sources that cannot be ignored. People are seeing large dark-colored cats out there but the question is what are they?
I hope that the presence of game cameras in the woods will give us an answer soon.
(If you have game camera photos of any cat species you cannot identify, cougars, jaguarundi or jaguars e-mail them to cmoore@fishgame.com along with general location (county) and anything else you would like to share.)
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Amur leopards are a critically endangered subspecies numbering at less than 50 in the wild. The Audubon Zoo has had several successful breedings of these beautiful cats. Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
White Bengal tigers are the symbol of the Audubon Zoo and are very popular among guests. The pair on display are brothers. Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
Besides thrilling zoo visitors, the Asiatic elephants on display here play other valuable roles. They helped to clean the zoo after Hurricane Katrina and help to thin out unwanted weeds with their voracious appetite. Elephants can eat up to 600 pounds of food a day! Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
Although they would win no beauty contest, the babirousa, pictured here, is one of the most unique animals at the Audubon Zoo and are actually mild mannered according to the zookeepers. Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
Although not part of the official "Asian Domain" of the zoo, the orangutans, an Asian species are the starts of the primate section with their often humorous antics and strikingly human gestures. Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
For more information on the Audubon Zoo, go to http://www.audubonzoo.org.
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Last week, I had a speaking engagement in Orlando and took the time beforehand to visit Disney's Animal Kingdom. I heard they had a great gorilla display (which they did) and found it to be an amazing photo opportunity. These shots are from my trip. Enjoy.
Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
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New statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture show the amount of grassland being converted to cropland in North Dakota and Montana is 6,000 acres higher this year than it was in 2006 according to DU officials. Landowners in the two states plowed up 30,000 acres of native prairie in 2007. More than 20,000 of those acres were in the Prairie Pothole Region.
Loss figures this high for these two states are not a good sign when we haven’t yet seen South Dakota’s data,” said Scott Stephens, DU’s director of conservation planning for the Great Plains Region. In recent years, South Dakota has shown the largest annual losses.
The Prairie Pothole Region includes the eastern Dakotas as well as portions of Montana, Minnesota and Iowa. Abundant with wetlands and grassland, the region is widely known as North America’s “duck factory.” Most ducks nest in grass so a significant loss of grass will mean fewer ducks produced in the spring. Converting grassland to cropland also threatens small wetlands on the land.
“Research shows for every one percent loss of grassland, we can expect 25,000 fewer ducks in the fall flight,” Stephens said. “If we lose just two percent a year, half of the grasslands will be gone in 35 years.”
According to DU Executive Vice President Don Young, this significant loss in nesting habitat is further evidence of the need for a strong Sodsaver provision in the 2007 Farm Bill. The Sodsaver provision will remove federal farm payments from converted native prairie where there is no previous cropping history.
“It’s clear native prairie loss is continuing. This is bad news for duck production,” Young said. “Some current farm programs, like crop insurance, only encourage more cultivation on land not well-suited for crops. Sodsaver will fix this problem and focus government incentives on our best farmland to help keep farming and ranching viable. It will help us fulfill the idea of ‘Farm the best, conserve the rest’.”
Some might say DU is self-serving because their interest in ducks is based in hunting but the bottom line is without their efforts the amount of wetlands in the US would be down by millions more than it already is. Their efforts to conserve these areas benefits everything from shorebirds to amphibians.
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Photo Courtesy Glen Jones/Dreamstime
Last Thursday I went out to my deer lease just north of Deweyville to do some scouting and move one of my bow stands within shooting distance of a fresh deer trail I found about 100 yards behind it.
The pin oaks are starting to shed their acorns like crazy and the deer are responding by changing their feeding habits and travel routes. If there is one thing I have learned about early season bowhunting, it is that hunting natural food sources is the key.
When I came upon one of the gates on the lease, I got off my four-wheeler, dug out my keys and proceeded to push it open. All the while, I am hearing the sound of a dog barking out in the brush.
It did not surprise me because people are always dumping off dogs in this area and occasionally hog hunters will lose their dogs and they end up wandering the roads. However, these barks didn’t sound too friendly.
After locking the gate behind me, I slowly started down the road, when I heard intense barking and growling and then the site of a brown and white pit bull charging from the brush in front of me.
The animal was about 60 yards away but I could tell from its demeanor, the animal meant business with its ears peeled back and body language telling me something bad was about to happen.
Luckily, I had my permitted concealed handgun, a .45, on me, drew it and shouted at the dog to no avail. At this point, the dog had closed the gap to about 40 yards so I fired off a round in the dirt in front of it. I knew my gun was not accurate at that range so there was no point in trying to make a killing shot.
The dog stopped and then calmly walked back into the bushes where it came from.
I stood there for a second not quite believing what had just happened and then I realized that my gun had jammed. If I had needed to fire a second round to defend myself, I would have been in serious trouble.
I turned around, went back through the gate and used an alternate route to get where I was going after unjamming the gun.
The dog was thin and obviously hungry but I had no plans on becoming its next meal. There is no doubt someone dropped off that dog which had no collar and looked quite unhealthy despite its attempted attack on me.
The presence of feral dogs in the wild lands of America is becoming an increasingly large problem with numerous deaths attribute to them in recent years. Back in the 1970s, my father Chester Moore, Sr. and his friend Vick Blum, both of Orange were chased by a pack of wild dogs in the marsh near the Port of Orange.
“They were gaining on us and I picked up a stick and threw it at the lead dog. When I hit it, the dog stopped and they turned around and left us alone. I just think someone was watching out for us that day,” Moore, Sr. said.
Geooutdors.com has a great article on dealing with feral dogs that includes the following chilling information.
• Feral dogs differ markedly from domestic dogs in their behavior toward people and may actually attack without provocation. Further, these dogs have been known to eat their victims unlike domestic dogs.
• Feral dogs usually do not have a fear of humans, and many will display highly aggressive behavior during encounters with people.
• They often travel in packs and, like wolves, may have rendezvous sites and dens. Travel routes to and from these sites may be well defined and tempting for you to use as an access trail to a work area.
• They are usually adept predators since their very existence demands the ability to feed themselves.
Texas Fish & Game editor and American Man-Killers author Don Zaidle said that dogs are statistically speaking the most dangerous animals in the world.
“There are plenty of instances of people’s pets turning on them but feral dogs are particularly dangerous and people traveling in areas where they are common should take precautions. They are a truly dangerous animal to encounter,” Zaidle said.
Some people dump off dogs because they think they are doing them a favor instead of bringing them to the pound, but in most instances, the dogs die of starvation or heartworms in short order. The ones that survive make packs and pose a threat to not only man but also livestock and wildlife.
And with the sick sport of dog fighting more popular than ever, I have noticed more pit bulls and other aggressive breeds running stray. I assume those are likely dogs that didn’t make the cut and were turned loose instead of given the Michael Vick treatment or maybe some of them are just escaped pets.
When that animal gets into the wild and becomes feral it is a legitimate threat to the public and those owners proven to let these dogs loose should be held accountable for their actions.
There is no greater lover of dogs than me, but even I must admit they are not all man’s best friend.
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Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.
Here's some great news from China via the AFP news Service.
"A rare South China tiger has been spotted in the wild for the first time in decades, surprising researchers who feared the subspecies was extinct outside of captivity, state media said Friday."
"Experts have confirmed a photograph taken on October 3 by a farmer in Shaanxi province was of a young wild South China tiger, the most critically endangered of all tiger subspecies, Xinhua news agency said."
"Experts have said no more than 20 to 30 of the tigers were believed to remain in the wild, but none have been spotted in decades, with many fearing that a small number of captive-born tigers were all that remained."
"The population of the South China tiger, the smallest tiger subspecies, was believed to number 4,000 in the early 1950s. But numbers were greatly reduced after Communist leader Mao Zedong labelled the elusive felines "pests" and ordered an extermination campaign. The last wild South China tiger sighting was recorded in 1964."
China is currently involved in a controversial "rewilding" project to reintroduce captive South Chinese tigers into the wild. Look for an article on this subject in the next couple of weeks. I've been doing lots of research and find the program quite fascinating.
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According to an article in the Associated Pres, the manatee may no longer be classified as an "endangered" animal.
"The US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) says it's considering changing the classification to 'threatened'. An internal memo obtained by the Washington Post says Florida manatees are showing positive growth and adult survival rates, and no longer meet the definition of an endangered species."
"The animals would still remain protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, making it illegal to harass, poach or kill them," they reported.
Manatees, also known as "sea cows" in some areas are a gentle, mysterious species.
Photo courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Service officials say, "No one knows exactly how many manatees there are now or how many there were at any time in history. The Florida manatee population is divided into four sub-populations: the Upper St. Johns River (4% of the population); Atlantic Coast (46%); Southwest Florida (38%); and Northwest Florida (12%)."
"Based on published data for the survival rates, reproduction, and population growth, the Upper St. Johns River and Northwest Florida sub-populations are growing rapidly and doing very well. The Atlantic Coast sub-population is probably stable."
I find it absurd to downgrade an animal from endangered to threatened if there is no population estimate as Service officials admit. The bald eagle was recently downgraded to threatened and there are fair to good population estimates and an obvious recovery of our national symbol.
Manatees face a much different situation and until a legitimate population estimate can be obtained the species should stay on the endangered list.
Since we're in the midst of the Halloween season, I thought it would be fun to check out some of the animals you would least want to encounter on a cool, autumn night when the wind is howling and the moonlight barely illuminates your surroundings.
Polar Bear---Most bear species kill people out of territorial instincts or to protect their young but polar bears do so for dining purposes. Yes, polar bears are maneaters. There aren't many easy meals in their icy habitat so any human showing up is fair game. Arcticwebsite.com has a great article called "How to Survive a Bear Attack" and it does a great job summing up why the polar bear is so scary.
"The polar bear is the most deadly of all. While his normal food is seal, they have been known, for centuries, to attack humans. Until the introduction of firearms, the native people of the north have lived in fear of them. Many early explorers have told horror stories of polar bear attacks. These bears are known to stalk and hunt humans. If you are in polar bear country carry a firearm or avoid the area."
Cape Buffalo---Any animal that routinely beats down lions and charges vehicles, hunters and anything else it feels like is scary. These truly bad-ass bovines will actually lie in wait for the hunters who have shot them and according to some professional guides, they have an uncanny ability to pick the shooter out of a group. I once had a run-in with a cape at a 40,000-acre game ranch in Central Texas. My wife and I were driving out of the ranch and spotted a herd of zebra feeding in a meadow, so I grabbed my camera and tried to sneak up for a closer shot. When I came up to a patch of cedar trees, I heard something moving through the brush toward me. I was hoping it would be a zebra so I could get a point blank shot, but as it turned out, the animal was a Cape Buffalo! I had no idea they had any on the ranch, but I was looking at one at a distance of 10 feet and the car was about 75 yards away. I'm here to tell the story, so I obviously made it out safely but the buffalo followed me toward the car and made me question my mortality. Scary, indeed!
King Cobra---The king cobra is the world's longest poisonous snake, reaching lengths of up to 18 feet and can inject enough of its deadly venom to kill an elephant within three hours it strikes it in the trunk. On top of that when coiled up in a strike position, a maximum size specimen can look a grown man in the eye. If that's not enough to scare you, consider that snake experts consider it the most intelligent of snakes that can recognize their caregivers and according to legend send out distress calls for other cobras to help it in moments of danger. True or not, that is the stuff nightmares are made of.
Candiru Fish---Ever heard the stories of the tiny catfish that can swim up a stream of urine into the bladder? Did you think that was a myth? Well, it's at least partially true. There have been a number of documented cases of this tiny parasitic fish entering both men and women through openings in the body. They can't swim up a stream of urine but they can and do get into people's bodies. The good news is they can't survive long there.
On second thought, that isn't much of a consolation, is it?