Hello Kitty

Wow.......what else is there to say. A powerful photo captured by a hunter's game camera, which is, I'm sure, not what the hunter expected. This opportunistic feline either just happened upon this deer when it was at the feeder, or through past observations began to put two and two together and made a connection between that "big box" and food. The same way a bird connects with a birdfeeder, or a bear with a trash can. Cougars are ambush hunters and usually attack from the rear going for the throat. Once this is attained its powerful jaws hang on until the deer suffocates. In the beginning this photo was consider by many as a fake, but if you look at one of the other photos taken you'll see the drag marks in the sand. Will the big cat come back for more? It would be wise not to, because the next time it could find itself in the hunter's sights......gun sights that is.

While doing a little mining on the net I came across an extraordinary video of a cougar taking a white-tail deer. Be forewarned their is a bit of "colorful" language by the videographers.

Check out these cougar guides:

Puma ID Guide

Puma Field Guide

Puma Field Guide

If you're a big cat fan like I am the Cougar Network, a nonprofit research organization "dedicated to studying cougar-habitat relationships and the role of cougars in ecosystems" offers a free Puma Field Guide that "covers the Biological Considerations, General Life History, Identification, Assessment, and Management of Puma concolor." Go here to download it. They also offer a membership that includes a subscription to their tri-annual publication Wild Cat News, a CD containing the proceedings of all eight Mountain Lion Workshops, frequent "Breaking News" e-mail alerts to keep you in the loop on exciting developments as they occur, invitations to The Cougar Network speaking events in your area, and discounts on merchandise sold in their online store. Check it out!

Feral Hogs

I placed a remote camera in the Turkey Creek area of the Big Thicket in hopes of catching an elusive cougar, jaguarundi, ocelot, or maybe even a wolf, but all I got were feral hogs! These swine pests are not native to this country and it is believed were introduced here way back in the late 1600's by Spanish explorers as domesticated livestock. They eventually became free-ranging and feral which led to their eventual control over Texas lands. According to a Texas Cooperative Extension survey of 491 East Texas landowners back in 2004, the feral hog population has literally exploded over the last ten years. A conservative estimate was said to put their population in Texas at 1.5 million.

They have very destructive feeding habits and are opportunistic omnivores, which means they will eat just about anything they come across. They are very detrimental to Texas wildlife and lands in several ways:

1) They compete with other animals, such as white-tailed deer, turkeys, etc. for food sources.
2) Their "rooting" behaviour is destructive to agricultural crops and native plants.
3) They're predatory towards young calves, sheep, deer, and ground-nesting birds.
4) They can spread diseases such as swine brucellosis, tuberculosis, tularemia, trichinosis, just to name a few.
5) Their wallowing behaviour can erode the banks of ponds, sour the water and in turn cause oxygen depletion and fish kills.

So you see that they are nothing but trouble. Even though they can be hunted year round in Texas by whatever means the chances of totally getting rid of them are very slim, if not impossible.

To bad my camera can't be set to avoid wasting film on these unwanted porkers.....