Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Marine Investigations Unit in training. (Photo by Texas Parks and Wildlife)
October 22, 2018
By G&F Online Staff
Wildlife officers face a myriad of incidents when in the field. These game warden stories range from the serious to the ridiculous.
Texas Poaching on Snapchat Two women who had allegedly posted video of themselves skinning a white-tailed doe on Snapchat seemed unfazed by the arrival of Texas game wardens in Angelina County.
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the women admitted to riding around and shooting the doe and a fawn the night before. The doe carcass was wasting away in the front yard. One of the suspects joked that she almost missed a shot.
The suspects also told wardens they didn’t know how to finish field-dressing the doe, so they left it in the yard.
Advertisement
Read more here
Sacking up Bull Reds Also in Texas,a Matagorda County game warden was notified just before dark Sept. 28, there were four individuals at the Matagorda jetties catching bull redfish, ousting them in garbage bags and laking them to an SUV parked nearby.
Seven oversized red drum were found — the smallest measuring 35 inches and the longest measuring 44 inches. Only three individuals had a fishing license. Citations for possession of oversized untagged red drum and no fishing license were issued, and civil restitution was filed.
Advertisement
Read more here
New Jersey Wildlife Officer of the Year Jordan Holmes. (Photo courtesy of New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife) New Jersey Top Officer Busted Illegal Deer Ring (From New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife) Conservation Police Officer (CPO) Jordan Holmes was recently honored with the “Wildlife Officer of the Year” Award from the Shikar-Safari Club International. Each year the club sponsors an award for the wildlife officer of the year in all 50 states, 10 Canadian provinces, and the territories of both nations.
One notable case: Holmes was essential to was the prosecution of a large investigation involving the commercialization of deer by a butcher shop. The settlement of the case resulted in a $1,000.00 fine, $4,000.00 in restitution for lab fees, 120 hours of community service, forfeiture of $20,268.40 in cash recovered at the business and the forfeiture of approximately 1,200 vacuum sealed packages of processed venison. The processed venison was valued at over $6,500.00 and was donated to a local food pantry.
Michigan has stocked more than 21 million fish this year. (Photo courtesy of Michigan DNR) Michigan Millions and Millions Stocked in 2018 (From Michigan DNR) Rainbow trout, chinook salmon, steelhead and seven other species and one hybrid were among the 21,116,476 fish -- weighing a combined 333 tons -- stocked in Michigan’s public waters so far this year.
DNR staff made 381 trips to nearly 800 stocking sites including Great Lakes, inland lakes and rivers. Eighteen specialized trucks traveled 103,618 miles and 2,619 hours to deliver the valuable cargo.
The number and type of fish stocked varies depending on stocking requests, hatchery rearing assignments, and the source and temperature of each facility’s rearing water. Michigan has six state hatcheries and two cooperative hatcheries that together produce the species, strain and size of fish requested by fisheries managers. These fish are delivered at a specific time and location to ensure their survival and success.
Northern Copperhead. (Photo courtesy of N.Y. Department of Environmental Conservation) New York Yep, That's a Copperhead Did you know there are three venomous snake species in New York?
A New York conservation officer and a Woodstock resident can vouch for one of them — a Northern Copperhead found in a rock pile near the back door
Officer Jason Smith, tasked with a duty he might not normally face, coaxed the snake into a bucket and released it elsewhere.
The two other poisonous New York snake: timber rattlesnake and massasauga. Read more here
