Small game explosion

[nybirdman]

We live in extreme upstate NY,on the Canadian border..I don't know what is going on this year but the numbers of small game...cotton-tail rabbits,fox,raccoon even wood-chucks are in record numbers this year.The only thing that is down are the turkeys..I am sure the coons and fox are the culprits there.
For example on the fox ,if we saw one once or twice in the summer that would be normal...we are seeing multiple fox almost daily.No one traps or hunts for fur anymore.The fox sightings are not just at home everyone in the township are seeing them.
My biggest concern is an outbreak of rabies.
On another note,there is also an out-break of Lyme disease in the area,couple young children in the area one adult ...our vet has over 60 cases of Lyme disease in dogs.A friend of mine lost a wirehair to kidney failure from lyme...poor fellow ..his replacement pup now has it and is very ill.If anyone has bird dogs ,there is a vaccine available,A vet from Cornell has been up here and claims the dark skinned dogs are more likely to get infected.??

 

[DocHeb]

I have seen more deer here in SE Michigan during the daytime than in the last 20 years. Dusk, & dawn in the past - now at noon walking by the side of the road. Must have been a mild winter for them.

 

[sweettractors]

More Turkey, Rabbits and fewer Deer Here in central Ky this year. I think the Coyotes are making a comeback, Ken Sweet

 

[Thomas]

Also seen small increase from mild winter,but the biggest increase of all are those darn nasty ticks.

 

[catskinner]

Deer herd in Jackson County, MI way up, in SE MI as stated their everywhere, around here hawks and turkeys rule.

 

[20 20]

.If anyone has bird dogs ,there is a vaccine available,A vet from Cornell has been up here and claims the dark skinned dogs are more likely to get infected.??

From my understanding the vaccine may or MAY NOT do a thing. I talked with my vet about it, quite a bit, and it seems to be one of those pharmaceutical money makers......fear people into it?????? I'm not against trying to protect or fury family friends but I do get mad as _____ when money is the bigger issue then a TRUE cure

 

[dave1949]

I think the grouse are doing okay this year. Couldn't have been many chicks lost to fowl (couldn't resist) weather this Spring.

We have tons of song birds this year. Ticks have gone down since Spring but the deer fly are thick as could be, worse than I have ever seen. I think that goes along with the mild weather. They came early and heavy.

Deer around but not many. Haven't seen a moose this year either. Sign here and there but not much.

Coyotes around but no more than usual.

Our weather pattern really hasn't changed since January when Winter just sort of quit. Hardly any snow or rain since and generally on the warm side of average.
Dave.

 

[zzvyb6]

I noticed an increase in small game (woodchucks) explosions this year when I switched from .223 to .22-250. No more plop, plot, fizz, fizz...

 

[mmurphy]

Here in Iowa it is getting out of hand. We do not have the trappers like we used to, and to many club bought land for the hunting buddies are helping cause explosion in the deer population. They need to open up a bit on hunting regulations.

 

[MarkV]

They are all running North to avoid the oil in the gulf. Didn't you guys hear about that?:confused2:

MarkV

 

[clemsonfor]

Have yall forgot your biology, or maybe you have not had wildlife biology. Rabbit and small game populations are cyclical and lag each other. Rabbit population increases one year and the next breeding time the foxes have more pups that survive, b/c there is more food. More pups mean more adults, this will increase till they start to decimate the rabbit population to a sustainible number, then what happens, the foxes start starving and cant feed and therfore wont have as many in a litter or as many surviving young. This is the preeditor prey relationship. After the p[reditor population crashes the prey (rabbits) increase and then the cycle repeats.

You may be at that peak point in the rabbit poulation as well as nearing the top of a preditor curve as well right before the population of prey crashes followed by preditors, the coon, possoms, and foxes.

-Nate

 

[mmurphy]

Have yall forgot your biology, or maybe you have not had wildlife biology. Rabbit and small game populations are cyclical and lag each other. Rabbit population increases one year and the next breeding time the foxes have more pups that survive, b/c there is more food. More pups mean more adults, this will increase till they start to decimate the rabbit population to a sustainible number, then what happens, the foxes start starving and cant feed and therfore wont have as many in a litter or as many surviving young. This is the preeditor prey relationship. After the p[reditor population crashes the prey (rabbits) increase and then the cycle repeats.

You may be at that peak point in the rabbit poulation as well as nearing the top of a preditor curve as well right before the population of prey crashes followed by preditors, the coon, possoms, and foxes.

-Nate

Sorry! I learned alot of things in school that was not true!!!! But then again some things I should have payed better attention to.

 

[nybirdman]

I have been here for forty years....never have seen it like this.Rabbits for sure up and down over the years but not the fox and raccoons to this extent.
Coyote numbers seem to be down ,I think this adds to the situation.Some one mentioned song birds,come to think of it they also are in great numbers.
Deer population has been on the upswing for some time;recent reports of black bear in the general area....we are the St. Lawrence river valley very unusual.....a long way from the Adriondacks.

 

[polo1665]

Rabbit population is definitely up in my corner of the world, but at the same time I've noticed that I haven't heard the familiar eerie calls of the Barred Owls in the woods.

Hmmmmmm...........less owls and more rabbits. I'll have to think on that and get back with you.

Mark

 

[dave1949]

Rabbit population is definitely up in my corner of the world, but at the same time I've noticed that I haven't heard the familiar eerie calls of the Barred Owls in the woods.

Hmmmmmm...........less owls and more rabbits. I'll have to think on that and get back with you.

Mark

My Mom, in BG, OH says she may as well take up rabbit ranching, they have munched down about all her flowers this year. I told her to get a CO2 pellet pistol Now that would make a great youtube video.
Dave.

 

[polo1665]

My Mom, in BG, OH says she may as well take up rabbit ranching, they have munched down about all her flowers this year. I told her to get a CO2 pellet pistol Now that would make a great youtube video.
Dave.

Just make sure you get her an Elmer Fudd hat to wear while she's hunting:laughing:
Waskily Wabbits

I had always heard that the red tail hawks control the rabbit population. Must not be completely true There is no shortage of red tails here, but there seems to be more rabbits every year, and boy oh boy they love them black eyed susans. Another pest on the rise are them darn turkeys, these things will turn a mulched flower bed into a nightmare over night. I believe I am going to have to start hunting them this year.

Mark

 

[12pack]

I have a new puppy dog, a Black mouthed cur and there are no more critters on my three acres. He has made sure that what he hasn't killed has moved on from being harrassed.
I still have one pesky groundhog he has not gotten yet and that I haven't gotten a bead on with my .22 caliber pellet gun.

 

[clemsonfor]

Another pest on the rise are them darn turkeys, these things will turn a mulched flower bed into a nightmare over night. I believe I am going to have to start hunting them this year.

Mark

As a turkey hunter i think your the only person i have ever heard complian about too many turkeys. You must live in a more suburban area where there is no hunting for miles. I have never been anywhere where they get close enough to a home to decimate landscaping. There pretty skiddish creatures.

 

[polo1665]

As a turkey hunter i think your the only person i have ever heard complian about too many turkeys. You must live in a more suburban area where there is no hunting for miles. I have never been anywhere where they get close enough to a home to decimate landscaping. There pretty skiddish creatures.

Come on over.......I'll show ya
We live in a rural area and it is hunted, for both deer and turkey. The young ones do not seem to be skittish at all and the hens have no problem with parading them through the backyard or down the driveway in front of your car. I have not personally hunted turkey on my property yet, but more than likely will start this fall, there are just too many.
The deer population is also very large. The deer hunters seem to be more plentiful, but also more interested in hunting for a trophy buck than anything else.

Mark