Did You know - outdoor edition

[Old Greenhorn]

AW, that's just wrong, on so many levels. :D ;D :D ;D

[Tacotodd]

BUT, it's funny!

[Magicman]

And I can testify....


 
That it works as intended.  ;)  :D

[Texas Ranger]

MM is a heck of a man, double apron.  ;)

[Old saw fixer]

     Nearly every evening we have a tom turkey pecking around in the front of the house in the garden spot.  Once in a while there will be four to six hens working the same place.  I enjoy watching them and won't allow them to be hunted on my place.  The deer on the other hand are fair game, especially the does "when legal".  The population needs to be thinned out but it's hard to get cooperation, since the nephews seem to think horns make venison taste better.  

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know one technique Himba cattle herders in Namibia use to wean large calves that fail to naturally wean themselves promptly enough is the herder pokes a hole in the thin skin between the calf's nostrils and inserts a couple of small bristle like sticks in there? When the calf tries to nurse he pokes the cow in the udders and she kicks him away. I assume over time the sticks rot away or get hung in the brush while feeding and get pulled out.

[dogone]

   Most European countries have well managed game populations.This , along with a moderate climate and good cover makes for some excellent hunting.
   Sweden is about the size of my province, Saskatchewan , with about eleven million people. They take one hundred thousand moose and two hundred thousand deer each year. I doubt if there are that many moose taken in North America.
       We have a million people in Saskatchewan and maybe take five thousand moose.
     There is a case to be made for private ownership of game

[Will.K]

  Most European countries have well managed game populations.This , along with a moderate climate and good cover makes for some excellent hunting.
   Sweden is about the size of my province, Saskatchewan , with about eleven million people. They take one hundred thousand moose and two hundred thousand deer each year. I doubt if there are that many taken in North America.
       We have a million people in Saskatchewan and maybe take five thousand.
     There is a case to be made for private ownership of game

There are around 200,000 deer per year harvested in Ohio alone. Same goes for West Virginia and likely several other US states.

The total US annual harvest is 6 to 7 million

[WV Sawmiller]

  Yeah, and that may just be the ones we kill with our cars. :D I think WV has the highest vehicle to deer kill in the country and our insurance is priced accordingly. 

[dogone]

   I was just referring to moose harvest. I edited post to clarify.
  How many moose taken in Ohio?

[Will.K]

Ain't no meeses living in Ohio that I know of.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know the screw worm used to be the limiting factor for the number of deer in the state of Florida? Evidently, if I remember my Wildlife Biology classes correctly, Fla used to have about 10,000 deer. Any time a deer got a cut, scratch or other injury the screw flies laid eggs in it and the maggots drilled into the muscle infecting and weakening the animal till it died or predators killed it.

   The screw worm was eliminated in my lifetime by scientists taking advantage of its lifecycle. The female fly will only mate once but the male, lacking a leather apron ;), would mate many times. Scientists found they could irradiate adult flies and sterilize the males which were released in the area. The males flew around merrily spreading dead pollen to unsuspecting females who then set up housekeeping laying eggs everywhere that never hatched. After several cycles of this the density of viable flies in the area dropped so low the female flies could not find a mate and they died out.

[WV Sawmiller]

    Did you know the steering mechanism on a camel or yak is a stick through his nose with a rope tied to it? The rope is pulled left or right to make him go in that direction. I don't remember if you pull it down or up to stop him. As I remember the owner would find a stick with a fork and cut off both sections above the fork leaving a Y shape a couple of inches across, they poke a hole in the nose between the nostril and push the stick through till the Y stops it then the split the other end and spread it kind of like opening up a cotter key. They tie a rope around the stick and pass the end up to the rider. I never got to watch them training a new animal to steer so I don't know how long it takes the animal to learn. I do know a Mongolian yak is the smoothest ride I have ever been on - he just sort of glides along with almost no noticeable bumping up and down or side to side.

  I think they use this same system for a Filipino Cariboo or water buffalo they use as their draft animals.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know the worlds smallest antelopes are dik diks? These little antelopes are not as big as some of our rabbits or hares. Some stand about 10"-12" at the shoulder and can weigh 5-6 lbs. They are beautiful little animals with 2"-3" horns. They are mostly nocturnal with big limpid eyes and typically stay in heavy shaded brush. They are browsers eating the leaves off of various shrubs and such. Fortunately they are pretty adaptable and as best I remember they have pretty stable populations with good reproductive rates. 

[Old saw fixer]

     I used to eradicate possums until I learned that they eat ticks and are 98% immune to rabies.  They also help keep the carrion devoured.  I wouldn't eat one though! 

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have eaten many strange food around this old world but I can honestly say I never knowingly ate a possum. I have pulled too many out of old cow and mule carcasses and such to ever get that hungry. I have also heard that they are tick eating machines and if so, more power to them. I used to catch mother possums and bring them home for the kids to play with the babies. There are few things in life cuter than a baby possum.

[Tacotodd]

  Did you know the worlds smallest antelopes are dik diks? These little antelopes are not as big as some of our rabbits or hares. Some stand about 10"-12" at the shoulder and can weigh 5-6 lbs. They are beautiful little animals with 2"-3" horns. They are mostly nocturnal with big limpid eyes and typically stay in heavy shaded brush. They are browsers eating the leaves off of various shrubs and such. Fortunately they are pretty adaptable and as best I remember they have pretty stable populations with good reproductive rates.

I've also read that they are VERY tough to put down. That's according to some of the safari type readings that I've read in the past, although I'm fairly certain that I'll never be able to go on one. I also understand that most Africa game is the same way.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have never heard of the small to medium animals being particularly hard to put down with a well placed shot from most adequate modern firearms. I forget the name of the old hunter but I remember one who killed most of Africa's big game with a 30-06 up to and including elephants. He studied his prey carefully and used bullets designed to open at the desired rate, conducted careful stalks and placed his shots precisely to great effect. Most hunters tend to want to overkill their prey because they are legitimately scared of it. I'd be scared to face a cape buffalo on the ground with him too. Ted Bear killed an elephant with a bow as I remember. He had a special bamboo bow with something like 110 lb pull and 40 inch arrows. In all honesty I think after he made his shot with the bow his PH shot it again with a heavy caliber rifle round.

  If I were going to Africa to hunt I would love to take a good .22 rifle and shoot Fracolins (which always looked like a big bobwhite quail and made me drool every time I saw one) and Guineas and maybe a DikDik or two to eat. I have no desire to shoot the big game. I'm not a trophy hunter. Cape buffalo reminded me of a big herd of black angus cows - but I was riding through them and not threatening them.

  Local tribesmen do not understand our animal rights groups getting upset about people shooting lions and especially leopards which are bloodthirsty killers and will wipe out a whole flock of sheep or goats or such. I have no problem with people killing such in self defense or for protection of their flocks but for me to put a hide on the wall or rug or hang a set of horns in the corner is not for me.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know the largest, and probably the least dangerous, shark in the ocean is the giant whale shark? They have a huge, wide mouth they open to feed on plankton, small krill and such. The mouth on a whale shark looks a lot like the one on a big old flathead catfish.

   The only time I ever saw a whale shark was June 21, 2011 on a dive off the coast of Phuket Thailand. We were diving along some pinnacles admiring the coral and sea critters when my dive partner for the day, an Italian dive master name Francesco Ferrari, grabbed my left arm frantically pointed out to the open ocean so I followed him. Suddenly out of distance a huge shape appeared as a 30' female whale shark circled within 2' of me. I could have easily reached out and petted her. I spun in the water watching her swim away then looked behind and a second, smaller, male about 20' long followed her and passed by me also. It was truly an amazing sight to see.

  We continued our dive by the pinnacles till we had run out of time and air then when I got back to the boat and shed my tank and weight belt, Francesco told me "I have over 1,000 dives under my belt but this is the first time I have ever seen one of them. Not only that, this is not an area where they are known to frequent." I don't know who was happier to see them - me or Francesco.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that the water filters out the various colors of sunlight at a specific rate based on the wavelength of the light? The first color to go is Red which disappears in as little as 15-20 feet, then orange, yellow, green, etc light disappears as you go deeper. As a scuba diver we would encounter this phenomenon routinely. Many times when scuba diving and spear fishing in the Red Sea off the coast of Jeddah Saudi Arabia, I would dive down and shoot a blue and grey grouper at 50-60 feet deep only to return to the surface to find it was actually a bright red fish.

    Night diving with artificial lights and flash photography show the true colors and the difference is amazing. Many times my wife would take pictures of soft coral (Fire coral is a prime example) of something that looked grey or blue only to find it was vibrant yellow or red colors. 

[Tacotodd]

And MAN has evolved to the point of no longer seeing the UV effect on some plants and even what many laundry detergents have on clothing. Wild game can quite often detect these wavelengths and will "bust" you when hunting. Sight, scent and hearing are games primary means of staying alive. These are the reasons for being still, not making noise, and being as scent free as possible. It's just difficult for us humans to determine whether or not our laundry detergent has this "brightener" in it. There are some products out that do away with the fear of smell and UV effects, but noise is totally up to the individual.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I remember our camo classes back in USMC training. Factors that help you detect the enemy or game included movement, shape, color and shine but the first thing the eye picks out is movement. That will give you or a game animal or predator away faster than anything else. A person standing still in the middle of an open field will often not be noticed even but a chipmunk running in heavy leaves will quickly be spotted.

  One of the hardest animals to spot in Africa is the leopard. What gives away a leopard hiding in the trees is typically his swishing his tail like a big old housecat. He could lay on a limb all day and never be seen but when a game animal or something comes by he instinctively starts swishing that tail and gives away his presence.

 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know when diving where dangerous sharks are present you should always dive with a partner and be sure to carry a dive knife?

    If dangerous sharks appear and look to be threatening there are several schools of thought on how to use your dive knife effectively to repel them. Some divers will tell you to try to stab the shark in the eyes as his weakest point. Others will tell you to stab or pound on the shark's sensitive nose to chase him away. Still others will tell you to stab the shark in the belly and eviscerate him as he swims by.

   Since sharks have a very low sensitivity to and a high threshold for pain poking him in the eye and pounding on his nose does not really work very well. Also since sharks are very fast and aqile swimmers and have very tough skin it is very difficult to penetrate especially with a dive knife which are typically made of very poor quality steel and are generally very dull.

   The only tried and true method proven to work to protect yourself from an angry and aggressive shark with a dive knife is to stab your dive buddy in the leg and swim away from the feeding frenzy while the sharks are distracted.

[Old saw fixer]

     I have no desire to venture into the sharks' grocery store, so I won't need a dive knife.  A bayonet for my Garand, on the other hand...

[WV Sawmiller]

   I worked in Cameroon on a project where we built a 650 mile 30" diameter oil pipeline terminating in a Floating Storage Operation in the Atlantic Ocean. I asked my co-worker, a former sea captain, who was in charge of the shore to ship operations if he was a scuba diver. He replied "I have spent my whole life trying to stay on top of the ocean and I'm not about to change now."