Game Warden Uses Deer as Sled
How did a Deputy Game Warden end up riding a road-killed deer down a snowy/icy mountain glen? To give you a short background of how this field note occurred, I need to go back to the time when our virgin forests were being lumbered off and the forest floor had become a brush pile, making an ideal habitat for the bobcat. The bobcat population flourished, and the bobcat was classified as a predator due to its habit of killing game animals. The commission placed a bounty on the bobcat in an effort to reduce the bobcat population. As the forests regenerated this ideal habitat disappeared, and the state’s bobcat population declined. In 1937, the commission removed the bounty from the bobcat; however, the hunting and trapping seasons remained in effect. The bobcat population continued to decline. Then, in 1970, the commission decided to give complete protection to the bobcat, hoping the population would increase.
Since the bobcat population did not increase during the 1970’s and 1980‘s, the commission began an intense study on the bobcat, hoping to learn what could be done to increase the population. One plan was to have trappers that accidently caught a bobcat report the incident to the commission. A PGC biologist would be sent to tranquilize the cat; collect data and tag before setting the cat free. The trapper would receive a nominal fee for his or her effort.
Although this program was working, not enough data was being collected. The commission then decided to appoint a few officers to trap bobcats for the study program. Deputy Charles Fox and I became two of these trappers. Most of this bobcat trapping was done during the winter and spring months. To locate a cat during the winter, we simply placed a road-killed deer in areas that appeared as bobcat habitat. We would frequently check the deer carcass to see if a bobcat had discovered the deer. If a bobcat is unable to consume the carcass at one feeding, the cat covers the food with leaves and twigs to feed upon it later. If we found the deer carcass covered with leaves and twigs, we knew that a cat had been eating. We then placed traps near the carcass, and if lucky we trapped a cat. This system worked, and the commission collected much data on the bobcat. Today there is a healthy population of bobcats in Pennsylvania.
And here is the original field note:
The town of Troy is at the base of Armenia Mountain, with Fallbrook Road leading to the mountain top. Throughout the years, Fallbrook road has changed several times, and when the leaves have fallen from the trees, there are some points where sections of the old road could be seen. This old road is where Deputy Fox and I wanted to place a road-killed deer to attract a bobcat. After maneuvering the deer carcass close to the edge of the glen, we decided to push the deer over the edge, hoping it would slide down the glen and land on the abandoned road. The carcass only went about one fourth of the way down the snowy side before being caught on brush. Charlie volunteered to climb down and give the carcass a push. As Charlie approached the deer, he lost his footing and fell on top of the deer. Both Charlie and the deer slid down the glen to the old road. After finding out that Charlie was okay, I began laughing, being fairly sure that I had another funny field note.
This is just one of the many humorous incidents that occurred in my 35 years as a Game Warden. After I retired in 2002, Deputy Charles Fox went on to be the President of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. His commission was over In April of 2021 after Charlie spent over 55 years volunteering for the PA Game Commission.