Anyone seen this nifty little feature?

Ram has came out with a new line of pickup trucks called the Outdoorsman, and they are specifically targeting the hunters and shooters amongst us with their new Mopar Rambox Holster:  it can hold two shotguns or rifles in a lockable, watertight compartment on either side of the truck bed.

Pretty cool, if you ask me.  Oh, and fishing rods will fit in there, too!

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If you’re a Michigan hunter who has taken the opportunity to hunt pigs in one of Michigan’s local hunting preserves, hopefully you enjoyed the opportunity.  And if you’re a person who already has pork in the freezer after frequenting one of these hunting preserves – you better really enjoy that pork – because opportunities to hunt pigs within a Michigan preserve could be a thing of the past.

State wildlife biologists are on the verge of listing feral swine as an “invasive species”.  If that happens, those deer and elk ranches – which sometimes provide pig hunts as well – will not be able to do so anymore.

The NRC will be gathering information about this topic this month, but it will not be acted on again until sometime in September.  That should give everyone a few months to ponder how they feel about having wild pigs in Michigan:  By listing them are we losing an opportunity to hunt a different species?  Or are we helping out the entire Michigan ecosystem?

Now…..listing them will not ban all opportunities for a hunter to put some pork in his freezer.  They still have the possibility of running into a feral porker, and as long as they possess any valid hunting license, they can legally shoot them on site; only hunting pigs on hunting preserves would be affected.

Why are they being so hard on the hunting preserves?

Apparently because they see a direct correlation between the areas where these hunting preserves exist, and the locations where hunters have legally killed feral swine.  In a nutshell, the biologists believe that most of Michigan’s feral swine are escaping from the hunting preserves.  As Russ Mason, the state’s wildlife chief put it:

“Where we find the pigs running wild we find (a hunting preserve) nearby. There is one chance in a thousand that there is no relationship between the two.”

How do I feel about all this?

I’m very torn.  On one side I would love to have the same opportunities that Phillip, Rex, and Jeff have – but, on the other side, I can see the pig problem getting completely out of control if it’s not properly handled now; and as much as I would love to have a chance to bag a few porkers, I would hate to see the pigs decimate the landscape so much that it starts to effect Michigan’s whitetail habitat.

I’m sure both sides of the issue are getting taped up and ready to put on the gloves.  We’ll just have to wait to see what the NRC decides.

Note: Want to read more on this particular subject?  You can do so here!

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Unfortunately, Michigan has its very own oil spill.  Apparently, a pipeline that carries oil from Indiana to Ontario malfunctioned and pumped 840,000 gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek, which runs directly into the Kalamazoo river – a prominent river in the southern portion of the state – and local residents now not only get to witness the after effects of such an environmental disaster, but also get to smell the pungent odor on a daily basis.

The leak originated south of Marshall, Michigan, but has started to make its way towards the Kalamazoo area.  Officials have assured the public that they will be able to contain the spill within Morrow Lake, a dam pond east of Kalamazoo, but we all know how that can go.  I’m hoping for the best, but trying to prepare for the worst, because if the spill cannot be contained in such a location, there is the possibility it could reach Lake Michigan; that gives me chills just thinking about it.

Obama has already pledged a swift response to the spill, and local legislators are speaking out against Enbridge, the company responsible for the pipeline.  I’m holding my breath, though, and hoping that this spill is contained and cleaned up in a timely manner.  If history is any indication, though, I have fears that this will take much longer than anticipated to get under control, and who knows what longing affects it will have on the local wildlife population.

Right now, heavy rain is inhibiting the clean up duties, as well as a lack of trained personnel to help with wildlife clean up and rehabilitation.  I’ve already read and heard stories of people who were willing to help, but who have been turned away because they don’t have the proper training.

The river in question is only about 25 miles south of my hometown, and though I haven’t seen the devastation first hand, we will be in the area for a wedding this weekend.  There is a part of me that really doesn’t want to see, and to say I feel pretty damn helpless is an understatement.

Let’s all hope that everyone works together, and gets this thing cleaned up as soon as possible with as little environmental impact as possible.

It’s all just very depressing.  It literally makes me sick to my stomach.

Update: After working through my helpless feeling, and after thinking to myself “How can I help?”, considering there is no way I’m trying to pick up a ornery goose covered in oil, I did manage to find a few ways that us simple and untrained people can help:

If you want to volunteer your time to help animals in need or oil cleanup, try one of the following options:

— Call the official assistance number, 1-800-306-6837.

— Call Pam Decuypere with the Circle D Wildlife Refuge, 269-778-9181 or 269-365-5349.

— Visit the Circle D location at 13500 East U Ave. in Vicksburg. Bring donations of money, buckets, vegetable oil, dish soap and rags.

— Call Matt Davis at 967-3321 or e-mail him at biggfoot18@aol.com.

— Join the Facebook Group Kalamazoo River Oil Spill.

— Drop off items such as non-fitted sheets and soft towels, cardboard boxes, small white boards, duck tape and firewood at Crossroads Church and Ministries, 717 N. Old 27, Marshall.

We are going to do our part and drop off some much needed supplies at the church listed, which is close to my wife’s work.  If they need duct tape and cardboard boxes, I am more than willing to oblige.

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I’m fine with the whole concept of having cougars in Michigan.  After all the hype about them for the last couple of years, it was good to finally see some proof  that vindicated many people’s claims, and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they knew what they were talking about.  I know they can be hard on livestock – and people – but I think having a population in the state is pretty cool.

Having Asian Carp in the Great Lakes, though?  I’m not okay with that.   I’ve wrote a post about exactly where I stood on the whole issue, and now the situation is much more dire.

Yesterday, an Asian Carp was discovered in Lake Calumet, on Chicago’s South Side, only six miles from Lake Michigan.  I’m very concerned, and I think John Rogner, Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources said it best with this quote:

“The threat to the Great Lakes depends on how many have access to the lakes, which depends on how many are in the Chicago waterway right now.”

I completely agree, but the problem is we don’t know how many are in the Chicago Waterway right now.

At first, everyone assured us they hadn’t made it past the electric barrier put in place to keep them at bay.  Then they found Asian Carp DNA beyond the barrier.  Then they told all of us that just because there was DNA didn’t mean any actual fish made it past the barrier.  Oh, but wait, because now, after all the reassurances and testing, they find a live carp beyond the barrier and in an area that was poisoned in order to kill off any carp that might be present.

Interesting!  Is anyone, like me, starting to not trust all the speculations and promises?

I’m starting to lose a little faith here, and I’m starting to wonder if Michigan, and the surrounding Great Lake States, is on the verge of  a complete ecological disaster.

And no one is doing anything to stop it.

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I’m swamped at work, and in the middle of a huge new floor project at home……so the posts have been few and far between this week, and that might continue for a few more days.

In the meantime, though, check out this trailcam picture – it’s proof that cougars do exist in Michigan, although our DNRE will not confirm that we have any breeding pairs.  Regardless, though, especially if you’re in the Upper Peninsula (this picture was taken May 26th near Wallace, in Menominee County) you definitely need to be on the lookout for these four-legged creatures.

I’m sure there are plenty of people who love seeing this picture.  It definitely proves what many of them have been saying for quite awhile now.

If you’d like to read the entire press release from the DNRE, you can do so here.

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