Free Republic

Wildlife lovers clamoring to bring gray wolves to Colorado may want to pay attention to those wooden outhouse-style structures in rural Catron County, New Mexico. They’re called “kid cages,” and they’re built to protect children waiting at school bus stops–from wolves. “The wolf issue is an example, especially with the kid cages, about how you’re putting the interest of wildlife over the interests of human beings,” said filmmaker David Spady. “Every American should be concerned about seeing kids in cages and wolves out wandering around freely.” Spady’s remarks came during a Tuesday screening of his film, “Wolves in Government Clothing,”...

In his 63 years ranging cattle at Pine Butte Ranch in Wycliffe, Ray Van Steinburg has never had grizzly bears take down a cow. That is, until earlier this month, when he and other ranch workers found the carcasses of two cows about 100 feet apart on the 15,000 hectare property. The cows weigh about 1,400 pounds each. They set up a motion-detected camera at the site of one of the kills and caught amazing footage of not one but two grizzlies approaching the kill, feeding on it, and even wrestling with each other. Van Steinburg said that while his...

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho -- A southeastern Idaho ranch lost 176 sheep as the animals ran in fear from two wolves that chased through a herd of about 2,400 animals south of Victor....

American taxpayers will be tremendously relieved to know that the U.S. government is hard at work trying to get official endangered status for ... the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse and the feds want to designate it a critical habitat protected under the Endangered Species Act, the 1973 law signed by President Richard Nixon to protect species from extinction as a “consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation.” The federal government’s list of more than 1,300 threatened or endangered species ... The Service is proposing to designate around 14,561 acres of critical habitat along streams...

Shining Rock, Graveyard Fields closed for first time in 5 years HENDERSONVILLE, NC - Shining Rock Wilderness and Graveyard Fields were closed Wednesday to camping for the first time in at least five years after seven bear encounters with humans were reported to the U.S. Forest Service. The latest incident occurred Monday night when a bear damaged a tent and a food bag. There were people inside the tent, but no one was injured. Pisgah National Forest Recreation Manager Jeff Owenby has been in the area for five years and said the two areas haven’t been closed to camping in...

A mountain lion cornered in a downtown Santa Monica courtyard bolted after being shot with a tranquilizer dart, prompting authorities to use lethal force Tuesday morning, according to the California Department of Fish and Game. "We were able to get a dart in the lion. At that point, the lion was making its way out into the street and then we really have to be concerned about public safety at that point," ... The male, 3-year-old mountain lion -- estimated to weigh 80 pounds -- apparently jumped over an eight-foot fence to enter the courtyard area

The animal had been preying on domestic goats, residents and authorities said. A mountain lion that took a heavy toll on the animals in an Oak Glen petting zoo was killed on Christmas night when it returned to a sheep carcass to feed. The 7-year-old female lion had been raiding the petting zoo at Riley’s at Los Rios Rancho apple orchards. In all, 13 goats and sheep died, said Devon Riley, who owns the business in the mountains east of Yucaipa. When the goats and sheep started to disappear in late November, California Department of Fish and Game officials investigated...

A Los Alamos family is mourning the loss of their pet dog after a mountain lion attacked and killed it in their backyard on Christmas Eve. Police Capt. Randy Foster said that when Hari Viswanathan heard the family dog, named Gwennie, barking outside and found a mountain lion trying to pull it through wooden slats in the fence, he frantically tried to get the big can to let go and even hit it over the head with a shovel. Even after four officers responded and the dog was dead, the mountain lion wouldn't let her go,

Coyotes lurking in the woods in Massachusetts have been known to attack dogs, chickens, cats, and even, in rare instances, people. But a buffalo ?... A pack of coyotes entered a pen where his 14 buffalos grazed. When they were done, one was missing...“All that was left was skin and bone,” said Kimball, who was keeping watch over the pen today as the herd huddled together and grazed on grass. ... After the coyote attack, he vowed to be vigilant in protecting the animals – armed, if necessary. “I’m going to come out here with my gun, and if I...

An 18-month-old boy attacked by a cougar in Pacific Rim National Park Monday was in serious condition in B.C. Children's Hospital Tuesday. Julien Sylvester's mother, Sarah Hagar, was at the hospital in Vancouver with her injured son. "The patient is in serious condition, which means he is being monitored closely," ... The family had packed up and was leaving the beach. Julien was walking three metres in front of his grandfather and an unidentified adult when the cougar leaped on the boy from a forest at the edge of the beach, Armstrong said. The cougar was momentarily daunted by Julien's...

LEADVILLE, Colo. -- A black bear went into a tent in a central-Colorado campground and bit or scratched a sleeping teenage boy's arm. State wildlife officials say the boy was camping out with his family in the mountains near Leadville when the bear grabbed him early Friday. Colorado Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton tells KMGH-TV the boy needed medical care, but his wounds didn't appear to be life-threatening.

List of Social Security Numbers & Issuing States http://www.einvestigator.com/links/social_security_numbers.htm List of Social Security Numbers for Each State Follow is a list of social security numbers for each state. The listing is organized in ascending order based on the SSN prefix, with the corresponding issuing state listed. Notice Connecticut Numbers are from: 040-049……..The first three digits of Obama’s SSN are 042 Obama “never” lived in CT

Federal wildlife officials say they will take more than 1,300 gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list within 60 days. It marks the first time Congress has taken a species off the endangered list. Idaho and Montana plan public wolf hunts this fall. Hunts last year were canceled after a judge ruled the predators remained at risk.

Attacks by wolves on livestock and hunting dogs rose sharply in 2010 from recent years, according to a new report by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Wolf depredation to livestock occurred on 47 farms in 2010, compared to 28 farms in 2009, and topped the previous record of 32 farms in 2008, DNR said in a just-released 16-page study, which can be read in its entirety HERE DNR estimates there are nearly 700 wolves in the state currently, a number that has grown in recent years including 2005 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relisted wolves to endangered...

Wildlife officials have dropped their appeal of a court ruling that forces the government to revise its flawed plan to protect critical habitat for Canada lynx. The move means the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will have to reconsider areas in Colorado, Montana and Idaho for critical habitat designation... A second plan in 2009 designated 39,000 square miles in Maine, Minnesota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington as critical habitat. But U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy last year faulted wildlife officials for excluding Colorado, where lynx are making a strong comeback, and some national forests in Montana and Idaho. Some Colorado...

Environmentalists said Tuesday they intend to sue the Obama administration to force it to restore gray wolves across the lower 48 states — even as Republicans in Congress sought unsuccessfully to strip the animals of protection. The Center for Biological Diversity said in a formal notice to the Interior Department that it will sue the agency in 60 days unless the government crafts a plan to bring back wolves ...

An elusive little stream creature is threatening again to force changes in a big Triangle highway project. The dwarf wedge mussel, brown-shelled and thumb-sized, enjoys powerful legal protection because it is listed by the federal government as an endangered species. Concern about its well-being is pushing the N.C. Turnpike Authority to choose between two routes for a planned extension... A corridor favored by the state and protected from development since the mid-1990s that runs south of Garner and Lake Benson, where it crosses Swift Creek and tributaries that are home to small numbers of dwarf wedge mussels. Known these days...

Wolves "losing a fear of humans" have people in Anchorage, Alaska, fearfully asking officials for action, authorities say. Although many people are lured to Alaska for its wilderness and many choose to reside either in a wilderness setting or close to it, when the wild things come into their back yards, they get jittery as one resident became when a pet beagle was allegedly dragged into the woods by wolves, the Anchorage Daily News reported. "I really hope that an action plan to eliminate this problem will be acted upon before another pet -- or God forbid, a child --...

Noah Mitchell faces animal cruelty charges for body slamming petA Key Largo man is in jail after he allegedly beat his dog nearly to death after it tried to run from him and then stole his steak. "Bubba," a black Labrador, is in seriously bad shape after his owner, Noah Mitchell, performed a knee drop on the dog and dragged it around by the neck after getting mad at his pet over the weekend. According to a police report quoting an eyewitness, Mitchell first got angry after the dog tried to run from him outside on Oct. 3. Once dragged...

Officials in Idaho County want Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter to declare an ongoing disaster that will allow wolves to be shot on sight, citing attacks on livestock and wildlife. County commissioners declared a local disaster Thursday. The governor's office was aware of the county's move but had not seen it and couldn't immediately comment, said Otter spokesman Jon Hanian.