Field Note: May 2001

          I’ve seen Deputy Charlie Fox handle a lot of live wild animals, including bear, beaver, bobcats, turkeys, skunks, coyotes and foxes.  However, one day this month he met his match.  We saw a grouse sitting alongside the road, and after stopping the vehicle, I told Charlie to get out and chase it off the road.  As Charlie approached the grouse it flew up at him, causing him to duck.  Charlie finally chased the grouse about ten yards off the road, but when he turned to come back to the vehicle the grouse was in hot pursuit.  Although we thought the grouse had young nearby, we were unable to see any.

          Food and Cover Foreman, Jerry Ross, was having problems with a family of woodchucks living under his shed.  He borrowed a live trap and was successful in moving the whole family.  Jerry was surprised to find that he had caught two woodchucks in the trap at the same time.

          This past month I received a complaint about a bear that had entered a home while the owner was away.   The bear ate a bag of potato chips and removed some food from a freezer; however, the bear did close the freezer door.  After leaving its calling card on the floor the bear left the property.   This bear must have seen that advertisement  on television where the raccoons moved into a home while the people were away and thought it was a good idea to try.  

          Recently, Deputy Fox and I answered a complaint about a beaver dam, where the property owner  wanted the beaver removed.  On answering the complaint, we saw the following: a bittern, wood ducks with young, mallard ducks with young, a muskrat, a deer, a trout and many types of songbirds.  The beaver is the only animal that I know of that works to change its environment to suit itself, and this points out how important the beaver is to other wildlife and how important it should be us humans.