Another Mouse, Bobcats, Wolves etc

As you may notice in My Blog List, I follow a number of other nature bloggers that I have stumbled across from time to time.  I thought this post was interesting given that I have recently been having bobcat sightings at my place.  Julie Zickefoose Bobcat  And here's a late addition - her second post on the bobcats Julie 2nd Post on Bobcats

And then I saw this article from Utah. Mr. Murderbritches

In other wildlife news, I saw this article on a wolf.  Huffington Post on Beloved Wolf "Spitfire"  Wolf and grizzly management are about as divisive an issue as exists in the Montana, Wyoming, Idaho area.  It's pretty obvious which side of the issue that Huffington Post is on.  I recently read this book about the reintroduction of the wolves in Yellowstone and I thought that it was a worthwhile and fairly balanced account.  Decade of the Wolf  It had some interesting stuff like each wolf kills about 1.8 elk per month, wolf mortality is much higher in the packs that specialize on bison, wolf kill success rates vary by season (low success in fall when prey is fit and strong, high success in late winter while weak), deep snow favors the wolves who walk on top versus elk and bison that sink in and lots of other interesting stuff.  There is a lot of reporting on wolves that has turned them into Disneyesque personalities that are saving the planet by re-establishing balance to ecosystems.  Makes them loveable and cuddly personalities.  Decade of the Wolf seems like a more accurate description of an apex predator doing its natural business (killing, competing and mating) and occasionally conflicting with human society.

This is a pretty depressing report on the state of wildlife in the world.  WWF Report on Wildlife  We humans are leaving our mark on the planet.  And the more of us there are, the more significant the impact.

On that high note, here's another report on my own personal human-wildlife interaction. I had more success with marshmallows on the last morning at the farm.