Free Republic

Donkeys hate coyotes, so much so that they sometimes go postal on intruding 'yotes like this donkey did. South Carolina landowner Steve Hipps has a grass pasture in his backyard that's guarded by a donkey named Buck. Buck used to share the pasture with a female donkey, but when she had babies, Hipps decided to let Buck have it all to himself. "I just wanted something in there to keep the grass eaten down, and I've always loved donkeys," Hipps told Georgia Outdoor News. But Hipps got more than a grass muncher; he got a coyote killing machine. Read the...

Talking about fur—the pelts of animals used for clothing such as coats, hats, and mittens—makes many understandably squeamish. There’s no denying the material’s origins: Fur was once the skin of a living creature. So it stands to reason that some people can't abide its use, just as some abstain from meat, milk, or any other animal by-products. Its detractors are passionate, and good at sharing photos, videos, and reports that highlight the ugliest aspects of the industry.

Savage Arms went big at the 2015 SHOT Show by going small. In the process, the monolithic rifle manufacturer may have solved one of the trickier problems plaguing firearms design. With the introduction of the A17 .17 HMR, the Massachusetts-based subsidiary of ATK looks to have produced a viable semiautomatic magnum rimfire. This is a feat other companies have attempted, but have fallen short.Of course, cracking what has proven to be a tricky nut required some out-of-the-box thinking on Savage’s part. Where the company particularly broke with tradition is jettisoning the straight blowback action so common in rimfires for a delayed blowback system.The company...

West Harlem residents say a posse of raccoons has taken over their neighborhoods and in some cases even broken into their homes. “These things think they live here and they actually walk in if you leave an opening,” said resident Lauren Flanigan. Pictures from residents showed a raccoon making itself comfortable on the patio of a West Harlem home, and even coming up to the door. And that raccoon was not alone, residents said. “They came in the kitchen, and they’re not that friendly, and they also pushed the window screens in,” Flanigan told CBS2’s Tracee Carrasco. “They climb over...

SYDNEY – When the enemy reached Australia's largest state last year, the Kimberley Toad Busters knew the battle was on. But they didn't expect that officialdom might strip them of their most effective weapon. The enemy? The cane toad. The weapon? Plastic bags full of carbon dioxide — long considered the animal-friendly alternative to whacking the creatures with golf clubs or cricket bats. But Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation isn't so sure that euthanizing Bufo marinus with carbon dioxide is the kindest way to go, and says further tests are needed...

The tiny mouse that became a hotly disputed symbol of wasteful spending in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill has returned to pester House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Obama administration revealed last week that as much as $16.1 million from the stimulus program is going to save the San Francisco Bay Area habitat of, among other things, the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse. That has revived Republican criticism that the pet project was an "invisible earmark" in the massive spending bill for Mrs. Pelosi, whose San Francisco district abuts the Bay, and epitomizes what Republicans say is the failure of...

HAZLET, N.J. (AP) - The owner of a New Jersey pest control company has been charged with animal cruelty after a squirrel was found dead in a rooftop trap. Chief Buddy Amato says a professional complex hired Critter Ridder to help get rid of the squirrel. He says a trap was set Wednesday for the animal, and no one returned to check on it. Amato says the squirrel was found "cooked to death on the hot roof" Thursday afternoon. Buck faces four counts of animal cruelty, including one that cites her for not providing the squirrel with adequate food, water...

Cost of efforts could top $380,000. Boulder officials have finalized plans to relocate hundreds of prairie dogs inhabiting four city-owned sites, and to euthanize hundreds more. The plans call for spending as much as $388,400 on removing the rodents, capturing and euthanizing others, fumigating those left behind in their burrows and installing metal barriers so they don’t return. According to the 19-page document on the issue, prepared by interim City Manager Stephanie Grainger, about 500 prairie dogs need to be relocated ... “I’m not sure how we’ll end up doing it,” said Bev Johnson, a city planner familiar with the...

GREEN RIVER -- The prairie dog rises above its burrow on the high plains of southern Wyoming and takes a casual look around. Seconds later, the animal disappears in an explosion of blood and dirt. The self-described "shortgrass sniper" dressed in camouflage and orange chuckles for the camera and gets ready to fire again. With thousands of hits on YouTube, this popular prairie dog video by Colorado hunter Jim Bowman advises hunters to get ready for the upcoming prairie dog killing contest in southern Wyoming's Carbon County. The controversial, fifth annual, three-day "There Goes the Neighborhood" prairie dog killing contest...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican presidential hopeful John McCain taunted rival Mitt Romney on immigration Monday, saying Romney should "get out his small-varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his lawn." Romney's campaign responded that McCain "is having a very difficult time" defending his support of a sweeping immigration bill, which Romney opposes....Monday, McCain made fun of Romney's evolving positions on other issues... "In the case of Gov. Romney, you know, maybe I should wait a couple of weeks and see if it changes, because it's changed in less than a year from his position before," McCain said. "And maybe his...

  based on the following news story: Romney aims again to explain hunting (including 'varmints')This cartoon/graphic is free for noncommercial use in emails, blogs, and forums.  IowaPresidentialWatch.com

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey has warned squirrel hunters near a toxic waste dump about consuming the critters because they could be contaminated with lead. It is the first time the state has cautioned Ringwood residents - many who are members of the Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe who hunt and fish in the area - about their squirrel intake, said Tom Slater, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Senior Services. A lead-contaminated squirrel was found in the area two months ago, prompting the agency, along with the state Department of Environmental Protection, to send out letters advising...

Explosive devices can be used to kill prairie dogs, the Colorado Wildlife Commission decided Thursday - giving farmers one more tool to get rid of the burrowing animals. "I'm tickled pink," said Matt Fickes, a Sterling farmer who has sought to use the devices. "I've got prairie dogs so thick I can't see straight. "Ever see that Star Trek episode, 'The Trouble With Tribbles'? It's like that," he said. "They are born pregnant." Landowners have been allowed to shoot, vacuum, poison and drown prairie dogs - but not blow them up. Now they'll be permitted to use hand-held devices, such...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Conservation groups served notice Thursday they intended to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for refusing to study whether to give federal protection to prairie dogs known for their ability to warn one another of danger in explicit detail. One expert, Con Slobodchikoff, a biology professor at Northern Arizona University, said the Gunnison's prairie dog has the most sophisticated communications yet documented among non-humans. They can whistle different alarm calls for different predators that signal particular manners of escape, his studies have found. The alarm calls also describe the general size, color and speed...

The dispute between dominant species over shared habitat in the West is escalating. The proposal emphasizes continued protections for endangered species, and it states that such measures "shall be directed at the offending animal" while not jeopardizing the "viability of predator populations." The "offending animal" is the one perceived as a threat to people and livestock. There now are more than 1,000 wolves in the Northern Rockies region. In Idaho alone, the offspring of 35 Canadian wolves now number more than 500. Their main prey are...deer and elk. But they have attacked domestic animals as well...through 2005...( at least )...

A worker at a Downtown steam plant who brought a pellet rifle to work to shoot pigeons was mistaken for a sniper Wednesday afternoon, prompting police to shut down part of the city for about two hours. Richard Wills, of Dawson, Fayette County, a maintenance worker in the Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal building, brought the weapon to work to chase pigeons away from broken windows on the building's roof, said PACT President Robert Fazio. Someone apparently spotted him - and his rifle - when he stepped out onto the roof for a few seconds, Fazio said. At least three witnesses...

It seemed like a good idea. Let a lone rat loose on a rodent-free island and then figure out how to kill it. That way, when other islands are invaded by rats, you'll know what to do. Scientists figured they'd trap this foot-long varmint in no time. Eighteen weeks later, they finally trapped it with some fresh penguin bait. On another island. Rodents are a problem just about everywhere. In New Zealand, at least 11 islands have been invaded by Norway rats since 1980, in each case after rats from earlier invasions had been eradicated. The invaders disrupt local ecosystems....

HAMISH ROBERTSON: Well staying in the United States, Anti-gun campaigners are concerned about a worrying trend in which charity groups and fundraisers are using guns as prizes in raffles. A volunteer fire brigade has set a new benchmark with its raffle, giving away a gun every day for the entire year. It says it needs the cash to continue operating, but many are wondering whether America, a nation already saturated with guns, needs anymore. Lisa Millar compiled this report. (sound of cars passing by) LISA MILLAR: A few hours drive west of Washington DC lies Emmitsburg, Maryland, which gets its...

<p>Fearrington Village homeowners are expected to vote Tuesday night on a controversial plan to curb deer populations.</p> <p>Deer overpopulation in Fearrington has caused controversy among residents.</p> <p>The proposal would allow certified bowmen to hunt deer at specific times. The meat would be donated to food shelters.</p>

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Saskatchewan is offering cash prizes to the top guns in its 2002 gopher-hunting derby, but the plan to rid the Prairie farming region of a plague of the cute, crop-eating rodents is drawing flak from animal rights activists. "It's a killing derby basically and there's other ways of dealing with wildlife," said Sinikka Crosland, a Canadian nurse who has spearheaded an international letter-writing blitz. "We're going to have people out there with their firearms blasting away at the gophers," she said. The 2002 Ken Turcott Memorial Gopher Derby began this week in...