Fort Thomas debates deer hunt
May 21, 2008
FORT THOMAS – Fort Thomas City Council is still not sure exactly what the city’s deer hunt this year will be like.
At a meeting Monday, May 19, the council again discussed possible changes to the archery ordinance that was passed last December.
The council members agreed that eligible properties for discharging an arrow must be at least three acres and that the setback on both sides between the shooter and a neighboring property should be raised from 50 to 100 feet.
Everyone also agreed that the hunting should be limited from Nov. 1 to Nov. 21 and Jan. 1 until the end of the hunting season, which was Jan. 21 last year. This year’s end date is not yet determined.
The hunt will also be limited to the hours of 6 a.m. to noon.
“We have had people say they don’t feel safe walking, so if we limited the time, people will know when hunting is not going on,” said City Administrator Donald Martin.
Council also discussed posting a map of the eligible properties, which Martin said for the most part are on the outskirts of the city, on the city’s Web site and at the city building.
The council was split on whether it would be best to require property owners who are allowing hunting on their land to register with the city and whether adjoining property owners should be notified.
Martin said he worries that the more requirements like this that the ordinance includes, the less likely people will be to participate, which would make the program not work.
“With the restrictions of the property size, we have solved the biggest safety issues,” said councilman Eric Haas.
Councilwoman Barbara Thompson-Levine said she is in favor of the registration and notification because it adds an extra layer of safety to the ordinance.
Fort Thomas residents Patrick and Kathy Williams, who attended the meeting, said they are scared for children to be around their house, which is surrounded by eligible properties.
Children, Patrick Williams said, don’t know what no trespassing means.
“I grew up in Fort Thomas,” said Kathy Williams. “We used to go from one end of this city to the other through those woods.”
Kathy said she thinks the registration and notification are good ideas to give people more warning of when hunting may be going on.
The original ordinance allowed for hunting on private property with the owners consent from Dec. 27, 2007 to Jan. 21 of this year. Hunters, who weren’t required to report kills, reported 42 deers killed.
No injuries or accidents involving archery were reported during that time.
The council is revisiting the ordinance to give residents, many who spoke out against the hunt, peace of mind to help them feel safe in the city, said councilman Roger Peterman.
The council will continue to discuss the changes at a later meeting, which has not yet been set.
Martin said he expects to have a draft of the amended ordinance sometime in June.
Deer to be released after crashing through Lilly Hall window
May 20, 2008
A small male deer will be OK after crashing through a window at Purdue University this morning.
East Goshen to thin its deer population
May 18, 2008
Archers will conduct a hunt on four pieces of township-owned land beginning in September.
LAURENCE KESTERSON / Inquirer Staff Photographer
Deer run through a field in Chester County. Five groups have applied to thin the East Goshen deer population.
East Goshen Township has decided to thin its deer population and is bringing in groups of archers to carry out a hunt, starting in September.
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Connecticut Friends stock a river
May 17, 2008
WILTON — On a cold day last January, Dick Bell, president of the Connecticut River Salmon Association, arrived at Connecticut Friends School in Wilton with 200 Atlantic Salmon eggs. Part of the CRSA Salmon in Schools Program, it was the start of a four-month science-based service project in which the 2nd-4th grade students and teachers built a special tank to hold the salmon, raised and hatched the eggs, took daily temperature readings, and recorded daily observations and changes.The Connecticut River Salmon Association (CRSA) is a nonstock, nonprofit Connecticut corporation. Their mission is to support the effort to restore Atlantic salmon in the Connecticut River basin, a joint undertaking by the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut, together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the National Marine Fisheries Service (www.ctriversalmon.org). The CRSA has partnered with schools across the state of Connecticut to help return the Atlantic Salmon population to the Connecticut River.
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NWTF Preparing for Wild Turkey’s Future with Management Plan
May 16, 2008
EDGEFIELD, S.C. — Since 1973, the National Wild Turkey Federation and its dedicated volunteers have worked with wildlife agencies to help successfully restore wild turkey populations in nearly all suitable habitat in North America. As the need to trap and transfer wild turkeys becomes less necessary, it is critically important to look toward the future of North America’s greatest game birds and work to make sure that future is bright.
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Seven Wonders of Connecticut – Essex Steam Train
May 14, 2008
photo is from their website
by News Channel 8′s Tricia Taskey
Posted May 13, 2008
6:43 AM
Essex (WTNH) _ It’s a unique way to enjoy the beauty of the Connecticut River Valley, a one-of-a-kind journey that’s also a learning experience.
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Little dog nearly lunch for adaptable coyote Encounters become more common
May 13, 2008
Bentley, a 2-year old Chihuahua owned by Jessica Ganchou of Bethlehem, is luckly to be alive after he was mauled and nearly killed by a coyote earlier this year. (Jim Shannon / RA)
Bentley the longhaired Chihuahua has a second chance at life thanks to a 9-volt battery, a loving owner and two skilled veterinarians who put him back together after he was attacked by a coyote.
The lap dog with the golden coat and diminutive body was romping behind his owner’s Bethlehem house at dusk Jan. 19 when a coyote snatched him. The coyote’s teeth pierced the dog’s flesh and clamped down as it headed for the edge of the yard.
Technology intervened. Bentley, who was wearing a battery-powered collar tuned to an electric fence in the yard, got an electrical shock as the coyote stepped over the metal wire. The charge zapped the coyote, which dropped Bentley and skulked away.
The little dog was lucky. Wildlife experts and veterinarians across Connecticut say the number of coyote attacks on pets, particularly small dogs like Bentley that appear as prey, has increased in recent years. Suburban sprawl is considered the biggest factor; homes built near hills and streams are in natural coyote habitat. Few disagree coyotes, which resemble small German shepherds, have become more aggressive, and are losing their innate fear of humans, as evidenced by the 2006 attack on two Washington, Conn., residents.
“The bottom line is coyotes are expanding into populated areas and perhaps into areas where pet owners are totally unsuspecting,” said Chris Vann, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Environmental Protection. “They will protect their territories. If it can happen in the backyards of West Hartford and East Hartford, more populated areas, it can really happen anywhere.”
Bush Signs Bill That Will Protect Eightmile River
May 12, 2008
LYME — – Nathan Frohling stood next to the Eightmile River near the East Haddam-Lyme border and pointed to a shrubby clearing in the woods. “This was going to be a six-lot subdivision,” he said.
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Deer romps through home but does little damage
May 10, 2008
BURRELL TOWNSHIP – Across the yard, through the pond, onto the porch and through the open door – that’s the path a young deer took to get into the house of Carl and Dena Wendel on Monday evening.
Their temporary house guest entered through their front door which was propped open at their home in the Smith Plan behind Pizza Hut along Route 22. No one was in the house at the time.
Dena was at a meeting at Blairsville High School when her husband called to tell her to come home.
“My husband was on the front porch. It ran right past my husband,” she said. “He saw it, but it wasn’t registering. It was unbelievable.”
The deer, which the Wendels believe was a yearling, trotted through the family’s kitchen, computer room and laundry room. Aside from some knocked-over water jugs, displaced dog dishes, a hole or two in the pond liner and some stray deer hairs, nothing was damaged.
“Other than making a mess, we were really lucky,” Dena said. “We have a huge 125-gallon fish tank when you first walk in the door. He ran right past that. Thank God.”
A group of neighbors came over to help figure out how to get the deer out of the house. They pounded on walls of the house to scare it into the garage, which was connected to the laundry room. Eventually, the deer made it to the garage and exited the house.
Dena estimated the deer spent about 15 minutes in her home, which is in an area the family does not consider a rural area.
“When I called my insurance agent, I’ve never seen him speechless,” Dena said. “I was talking to him and he was like, ‘Are you kidding?’”
In addition to avoiding major damage, the Wendels also avoided having a messier catastrophe on their hands – they share the house with three dogs. But Carl locked the dogs up outside the sliding glass door where they watched. The dogs were jumping on the door, wanting their own piece of the action.
“I was thinking, please don’t let them break that door,” she said. “I’ll have three dogs and a deer chasing each other around the house – I’m moving into a hotel.”
Army’s Wounded Warriors Enjoy Special Turkey Hunt
May 9, 2008
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — The National Wild Turkey Federation’s Wheelin’ Sportsmen program will host wounded warriors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center during a weekend of turkey hunting and fellowship at the Letterkenny Army Depot May 9 to May 10.
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