The New Hampshire Fish and Game Commission recently voted to release $200,000 from a dedicated habitat fund to fund a study of bobcats in the Granite State. Now there’s no doubt that this study will have some side benefits to other species, but to commit that kind of money to a species that has been off the table as a game animal for several years, to me could be a stretch. Or even misuse of funds that sportsmen-supported legislation for the creation of a dedicated habitat fund (extra five bucks per hunting license) became a reality.
For most of my long and wildlife-involved life, bobcats were considered a game animal. Well, let’s also put a spin on that. For much of my life bobcats were considered vermin, with a bounty of a healthy $25 put on their heads. That was an old fashioned but popular mistake, as bounties have been proven to be ineffective methods of animal control.
The sport of hunting bobcats, both by use of hounds or by snow tracking or just still-hunting, had been quite popular in earlier days. In nearby Nova Scotia, an annual International Bobcat Hunt Contest was held each year, drawing hound hunters from all over the country to compete. But changes in habitat and deer and hare quality wintering areas drove down the bobcat populations. And thence a closure of the bobcat hunting for the last several years.
Bobcats are not necessarily a northern animal. In fact some of the largest bobcat populations occur in the Deep South. Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and the Canadian Maritime Provinces are actually in the fringe of the bobcat’s northern range. So study after study isn’t going to improve bobcat populations to the point of them ever becoming a viable huntable animal. So we’re actually talking about a non-game or non-fur bearing species being the benefactor of a study that will cost two hundred grand of money donated (not really — but supported) by sportsmen. Don’t you think that money could have been better spent in the pursuit of supporting a game or fur bearing animal that was being utilized by the hunters and trappers that supported the habitat fund?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for a healthy bobcat population. But we also think that this funding should come from non-game or non-fur bearing sources. As in the do-gooders! (Which we will reluctantly reveal that we are a party, too.) There’s been a tremendous increase in Canada lynx populations here in the northeastern states and the Canadian Maritimes. They are the glamour species of the non-hunting and non-trapping crowd. There’s always been a movement afoot to declare the Canada lynx as an endangered species. But the lynx’s obvious recovery has the anti-crowd really stretching for reasons for listing this species.
They’ve used the Canada lynx as a reason to ban much of the fur trapping or snaring efforts in the north, failing on most of their efforts but winning a compromise that has limited the methods of trapping in the lynx’s normal habitat areas. This has had a very dramatic effect in the coyote trapping and control efforts. To the extent that the Maine officials bowed to this pressure and discontinued their effective program of trapping coyotes in trouble-areas such as deeryards with no credible evidence of even one Canada lynx killed by the trappers coyote reduction programs.
The populations of both bobcats and Canada lynx are dependent on their prey, primarily snowshoe hare and occasionally whitetail deer. These big rabbits as well as deer are also dependent on the proper habitat and suitable softwood cover for survival. Grouse (partridge to most of us northerners) are also part of the bobcat and lynx regular diets. Grouse populations vary according to their habitat but also on spring nesting and brooding weather conditions. Deer populations also vary with their habitat and weather conditions and especially snow levels.
So there’s an interdependency of all of these species. But all the studies in the world are not going to bring either bobcats or lynx back to the hunter or trappers’ bags. Mostly because of the love affair between these cats and the anti-hunter/trapping crowd.
New Hampshire Fish and Game once had a 30-year-long study of our ruffed grouse, a beloved gamebird here. The results of all those years of study and several thousand dollars spent were fundamentally this: grouse poop more when they eat more!
We rest our case.
Drop us an email at DoDuckInn@aol.com and get out there and enjoy fall’s bounty.
A boost for Earl Mabie
Word from friend Tom Hanley of our shared friend Earl Mabie’s failing health has a lot of the state’s longtime waterfowlers hoping and praying for Earl’s recovery. Mabie is one of those unsung heroes that was at the forefront of much of New Hampshire’s waterfowl conservation movement for many years and spearheaded the coming of such noteworthy organizations such as Ducks Unlimited and the New Hampshire Waterfowler’s Association. Mabie loves to hunt, but he also shares the love of the outdoors and especially waterfowl with many of like-minded people. A note to Earl at 60 Sherwood Drive in Hooksett, NH 03106 may be just the ticket to get our friend back on track. Just do it.
Dick Pinney’s Guide Lines column appears weekly in the New Hampshire Sunday News.
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