This groundhog showed up at the bird feeding station a few days agoHad to open the back door to use the Savage 17 HRM & that spooked him. He ran under the neighbor's storage shed. Next morning he was under the apple tree eating granny's apples. I had difficulty seeing the crosshairs on it with him in the shade but shot anyway. Missed & he ran to the storage shed again. :cens: Later I looked out the window & he was eating the sunflower seeds again only 40 feet from the door. Eased the door open a bit & waited for him to move away from the birdhouse post. I didn't miss that time. Dead instantly in it's tracks. Couldn't find an exit wound. I still don't like the 17 HRM. ......The pictures are lousy. Might have been sun on the lens. .....Paul H

Those durn things try and take over every year, but they fail. Those and feral cats.

RJ

Wish we had them around here. No 'varmints' per se to shoot in AK. Even the montane species of marmot we have up here, the hoary marmot (Marmota caligata), is pretty small (five pounds would be a big one). Plus, they are only found above the treeline and are few and far between. We do have arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii) but again, they are fairly small - full grown 2 lbs max - and compared to the ground squirrel varieties in more southern climes, they are fairly scarce. In other words you don't sit in one place and shoot more than 3 or 4, and that pretty much wipes the species out for that area. Finally, it's illegal to shoot either hoary marmots or arctic ground squirrels unless you either use the meat or hide. I have no problem with that.

Sure wish we had whistle pigs up here OR I lived somewhere they were abundant.

Paul

Groundhogs used to be thicker than fleas around here but in the late 50's to late 70's my brother just about wiped them out. Now we have coyotes doing that. It wasn't uncommon for my brother & I to kill 30 or 40 in one day. We have killed as many as 60 in one day. Kept me busy reloading for the Hi Wall Winchester chambered for the 225 Win. & my brothers 88 Rem. chambered for the 22/250. Those were the glory days of our varmint hunting. You could hunt this area for a week now & not kill more than half a dozen whistle pigs. Longest kill I ever made on any animal was 425 measured yards when I killed a groundhog with the old 225 single shot. I still have the gun. My eyes are so bad now I have to re-adjust the focus on a scope every few weeks. ......Paul H

Just re read my last post & noticed I said my brothers 88 Rem. It should read 788 Rem. Don't know what happened to the 7 when I posted. ......Paul H

Very interesting creatures you guys have in the US.

We are restricted to rabbits, feral cats, wild dogs (not sure they qualify as varmints), hares and foxes when it comes to varmints. Everything else is protected.

In my opinion, as "strong" as Australia is on birds, so is it "weak" on mammals. OZ has some very cool ones - koalas, kangaroos, platypus, echidna - but not too much for variety until you get 'down into the small marsupials. AND... most of OZ's mammals are scarce. At least as I saw it and read about it. The only ones that are abundant are the 'exotics'. Many of which are 'undesirable'.

North America once had birds like Australia, but we killed a bunch into extinction, and darn near did that to several others. For the most part, what are left better be good to eat/hunt or not need much space. Otherwise their long-term existence is in question for sure, and you will find them only in national parks or otherwise federally protected. Dam shame (and shameful) really.

Paul

Mr. Hoskins, 7's have a way of sneaking off the page . . . . . . . .

I hear about "losing habitat" for critters all the time. GIMME A BREAK!!!

Coyotes are more plentiful than ever, the greater sage grouse is on the rise even though the greenies don't want to admit it, ground dwelling rodents go through cycles with "the plague" every 5 to 6 years, rock chucks are a RPITA if left to their own devices.

We are our own worst enemy when it comes to re-introduction of "non-native" species like, oh , lemme think . . . OH YEAH, THE CANADIAN GRAY WOLF!!! Those "things" half multiplied like rabbits and have decmated the elk population in MOntana and Idaho and are moving out in all directions . .  .and NOW the soda heads are wanting to "re-introduce" the MEXICAN gray wolf . . . . . . AND protect the sage hens/grouse at the same time. What are the Mexicans going to eat . . FISH??? NO!!! sage hens!!!

Our governor Hinkenpooper FINALLY has made an intelligent decision and is FIGHTING the greenie soda heads on the Mexican gray wolf. I hope he wins.

RJ

I'm not going to get in a spitting contest over "habitat loss" with a miner any more than I would with a tree hugger. Both refuse to acknowledge reality. However, I find it difficult to imagine that any reasonable person would argue that the buffalo's habitat is NOT gone. Or that the passenger pigeon or Carolina parakeet are still extant. Their being extinct is a FACT independent of political opinion. So is the FACT that most ducks, pronghorned antelope, desert bighorn sheep, whooping cranes and a HOST of other species were driven to the very brink of extinction before drastic measures were introduced to save them from COMPLETE EXTINCTION. (That's precisely WHY we have federal duck stamps.) That the habitat of the sage grouse is so far gone that the bird is approaching extinction as a whole species, and over MOST of its original distribution, IT IS EXTINCT.

Habitat loss isn't due - except in small part - to mining, regardless of what the tree-huggers say, BUT that doesn't mean that "habitat" isn't being chewed up in the THOUSANDS OF ACRES PER DAY due to 'urban sprawl' - which is the PRIMARY cause of habitat loss along with farming.

Reintroduction of species eradicated to localized extinction (like wolves) has NOTHING to do with habitat loss. You can't reintroduce a species that has be eradicated to some place when there is  no "habitat" for it. You can't reintroduce desert bighorn sheep to downtown Denver. Habitat loss is - as a general rule - "forever". Chernobyl "habitat" is being reclaimed. Other than that, there are damed few places on earth that have been 'reclaimed' by animals after eradication by humans. Humans are 'covering' the earth with THEIR "habitat". Much in the same way as beavers change their habitat to suit their needs. There are only a few species of animals that have greater numbers than humans - krill (and the Japanese are working on eradicating them), and a couple of insects. You'll note that the only animals that have numbers close to ours are tiny, AND DON'T COMPETE WITH US FOR FOOD OR SPACE. Those that do, DIE. We either kill them, or eliminate their habitat, or both.

"It" is never as "bad" as the tree-huggers say it is, AND JUST AS TRULY, it is never as "good" as the developers say it is. I'm neither a tree-hugger or a "preservationist". Neither do I lie to myself about reality.

Paul

Well said!

I will not argue either then, but I will end with this.

https://www.coloradomining.org/2015/11/colorado-mines-lead-the-way-in-environmental-protection-why-is-obama-trying-to-shut-them-down/

And on the rest, I with much respect agree to disagree.

RJ

Paul, you hit the nail on the head.  We create our own problems every day. We bring "foreign" species into the country hoping to improve something but wind up making it worse. For example, house sparrows to get rid of boll wevils. Then starlings to get rid of the sparrows, nutria to help get rid of something & on & on. Snakes in the Everglades is the big thing now along with zebra mussels. Nature takes care of itself & everything goes thru cycles. .....Paul H

My personal 'favorite' "exotic" to hate is the European starling. In fact, it is a pretty bird, that was once a game-bird in France. It is the "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" of the poem "Old King Cole". However, it does NOT belong in the US (or Australia for that matter, where it was also "introduced"). Anyway, the reason I dislike starlings so much, (besides the legitimate reasons of destroying bluebird populations and crop damage), is because they were "introduced" by an idiot in New York that thought that the US should have every animal that exists in Shakespeare's plays! To add insult to injury, the first SEVENTEEN TIMES he tried to get them "started", FAILED! I kill EVERY starling I find in the US. EVERY ONE OF THEM. That is ALSO how the English sparrow got introduced to the US. Another very nifty bird IN ITS ORIGINAL RANGE. And an evil pest where it has been introduced BY MAN.

I have spent my professional life fighting "introductions". You would be amazed, I was, to find out that professional biologists - those with at least a bachelor's degree in some form of biology INCLUDING "management" - are STILL advocating "introducing" species where they NEVER WERE and don't belong. I have had some pretty serious professional fights over "introductions" WITH TRAINED SCIENTISTS! I LOST EVERY ONE.  (This was part of the learning I got about fish and game management that proved that it has NOTHING to do with science, and is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT POLITICS.)

Anyway, I could rant on about 'introduced' species, but I finally learned what the inevitable outcome of spitting into the wind is.

Paul

PS - There is only one introduced species that I am aware of that hasn't harmed the local populations where it has been introduced - the "pheasant" (mostly "ring-necked", but also several other species of "Chinese" pheasants).

Paul

Introduced species? Hungarian Partridges, YUMMY AND they are harder to hunt/hit that quail or chukkars.

And those ring necked doves are taking over. They don't like my house any more tho.

RJ

Around 40 years ago my homeowners insurance company sent a small leaflet with my bill once that listed several odd "facts." Only a couple I can remember. One was that in rural settings, starlings & sparrows caused more fires in buildings than any other cause by carrying lighted cigarette butts into the nest. I know starlings & sparrows prefer a building to nest in & nesting material makes perfect tinder for starting a fire. Regardless, I despise starlings with a passion. They kill every baby bird they find & eat the eggs of other birds. House sparrows torment my bluebirds & tree swallows & try to take over the bird houses. However the  sparrows are the only birds I ever saw that eat  Japanese beetles. Small compensation for  their existence.  Only one other odd "fact" they listed I can remember was trucks made up 3% of traffic but were "responsible" for 73% of accidents. .......Paul H /B]