Here’s what’s worth reading today, Thursday, May 30, 2019:
Kayaker killed by boat in Port Aransas; boat operator hasn’t come forward: According to the Aransas Pass police chief, the victim is 31-year-old Trace Richardson. His body was found just north of the Redfish Bay Causeway between Aransas Pass and Port Aransas, a high-traffic area for kayakers with the Lighthouse Lakes Paddling Trail nearby. According to police it’s likely the operator of that boat didn’t even know they had collided with that kayak. A fundraiser has been set up to help Richardson’s family. He had a wife and daughter, with another child on the way.
Alabama dad dies days after reaction to copperhead snake bite: ‘His organs just couldn’t recover’ A 52-year-old father of two in Alabama died Monday, just three days after he was bitten by a copperhead snake while walking the family’s new puppy at a lake house. According to a Facebook post by his brother, Oliver “Chum” Baker fell unconscious within two minutes of the bite and was immediately given CPR and medical attention.
Massive bighorn sheep killed by tribal member snubbed for Idaho state record over hunting dispute: The Idaho Department of Fish and Game will not recognize a bighorn sheep killed by a Nez Perce Tribe member as a state record because the agency said the ram was shot in violation of state hunting regulations, even though those regulations don’t apply to tribe members hunting on ancestral lands.
Wildlife biologist advocates hunting to control deer at Harvard: Bob Douglas opened last Thursday’s public meeting about deer hunting on conservation lands by asking the two dozen attendees to keep discussion calm and civil. Douglas chairs the Conservation Commission’s Deer Management Subcommittee. People at the meeting aired a range of opinions, but honored Douglas’ request for civility. Yet the idea of hunting on Harvard’s conservation lands clearly has the potential to spark conflict, as indicated by reactions at the two meetings held thus far and by the many comments on Nextdoor.
Texas game wardens wrap up busy Memorial Day weekend boating safety effort: Between Friday and Monday, game wardens conducted boating safety checks on more than 11,000 vessels across the state. In addition to issuing 1,279 citations and 1,339 warnings for various boating safety law violations, wardens arrested 39 individuals for Boating While Intoxicated and filed another 10 charges for Driving While Intoxicated.
African country with the most elephants ends hunting ban: Botswana is overturning a ban, implemented in 2014, meant to protect elephants from hunters and poachers. The move has conservationists pushing back as officials from Botswana move forward.
Fishing and the single mom: For kids who are lucky enough to have two loving parents in their lives, Father’s Day — coming up June 16 — is a great time for them to spend a day with their Dads on the water, making some memories. But what about children who no longer have their fathers? For them, Mom has to fill both parental roles.
Twice as many fishing vessels are chasing fewer fish on the world’s oceans: In 1950, about 1.7 million fishing vessels of all shapes and sizes plied the world’s oceans, but just 20 percent of them had motors, limiting their range and the amount of fish they could collect. Now, 65 years later, the number of boats has jumped to 3.7 million fishing vessels, 68 percent of which are motorized in some form, an increase that is putting more and more pressure on the world’s oceans, according to a new study published in the journal PNAS.
Chronic wasting disease is delivering agonizing death to Minnesota’s deer: In February, out in Crow Wing County, state wildlife officials found an emaciated female deer near Trophy Woods Ranch — a pay-to-hunt operation. A test of the doe’s remains confirmed their fears: The deer had been sickened by chronic wasting disease, and had very likely spent its final days wobbling around, drooling, and becoming a skeletal husk of its former self.
Vaccine may prevent deadly deer disease: University of Florida scientists are working with deer farmers to test a new vaccine that could help prevent epizootic hemorrhagic disease, a deadly disease in deer. EHD does not affect humans but is the number-one cause of herd loss on deer farms, said Samantha Wisely, associate professor of wildlife ecology and conservation with the University of Florida Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences.
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