My Letter to Governor Brown asking for Veto of SB1221

 

Governor Jerry Brown

c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173

Sacramento, CA  95814

 

Dear Governor Brown:

 

Please Veto SB1221. This is a case of the majority taking freedom away from a minority.

 

There is no biological reason for elimination of hound hunting for black bears. On the other hand, there are many good reasons why hunting bears is a good thing. First of all, in areas where black bears are not hunted with hounds, bears are causing significant damage to homeowners. (Lake Tahoe for example.)

Hound hunting produces revenue that is beneficial to all wildlife management.

This is your chance to be a voice of reason.

Sincerely,

 Rich Fletcher

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Cats and Dogs

Sometimes dogs and cats get along, but only when they get to know each other at an early age. This fearless tom cat named Spike was friendly to my old hunting partner Valentine.

Dogs and cats were created to be different. Lola likes our two Siamese cats, but they hate her. She tries to play and all they want to do is run away or scratch her eyeballs out.

Lola thinks just about everything is her friend, but that doesn’t stop her from chasing it when he runs or retrieving it after its dead.

Here’s one that didn’t get away from Lola.

I’ve huned enough with Lola to know when something is up.

Last week we were hiking in familiar territory. We took a lesser-used ridge, with no trail, down a hill. It was only about 200 yards between trails, but as soon as we left the beaten path, Lola became animated. she put her nose to the ground and then jerked her head up as if expecting to see something, but nothing was there.

Not wanting her to get carried away, I gave her a soft comeon and she turned in the direction I was heading, but then she gained speed and before I knew it she was face to face with, and five yards from, a full-grown bobcat.

This cat was similar in size to the one Lola discovered.

The cat stood as tall as possible and Lola let out a sound that can only be described as hounddoggish. The cat tried to high-five Lola and they broke off. The cat jumped off a steep bank and my hollering stopped Lola from following.

For the rest of the hike, I could tell Lola was a bit off her game. I think she felt like a baseball player after taking a fat pitch. She’d liked to have had the opportunity over again.

No labs around this house.

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Every Dog Has its Quirks

Lola Dioji had her fourth birthday in January.

When Lola gets a nose full of scent, she's very animated.

She’s a very active dog in the field. Her energy level remains high for long periods of time. She’s so determined when after a swimming duck that I sometimes fear she’ll drown, but my fears are probably unfounded.

She also has one very strange quirk. She often sleeps on her back.

Lola asleep on her back with all four paws up in the air.

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Where have the Pigs Gone?

About twenty-five years ago, I shot my first pig. It was a surprise pig as I ran into it while hunting turkeys. The sow weighed about 200 pounds and I spined it with an arrow from about 30 yards. At the time, pigs were present in Alameda County, but not prevalent.

Ten years later we were in the middle of a pig population explosion. Pigs became very available on the best huntng ranches, including ours. I took up part-time guiding for pigs as a way to get outdoors and take advantage of the situation. I set up a lease arrangement with a nearby rancher and paid him $100 for each pig my customers took, along with an access fee to cover the cost of my impact to his operation.

Over a few year period, we killed quite a few pigs on his ranch. We generally found the pigs at first light as the left their nighttime feeding areas or around ponds during the heat of the day.

This isn’t a great photo, but there are 13 different pigs in the picture. I believe I took this photo on a foggy June morning in about 1995.

The photo below was taken later in the summer. Once again there are about a dozen pigs in the photos and they are displaying typical pig behavior.

On a  hunt on our ranch, I followed my friend Joe DiDonato as he tried to catch up with one of the pigs pictured in the pond photo above.

I don’t believe Joe ever caught up with the above pig, but he did bag the one in this photo on a different trip.

On a guided hunt with Gus and Casey Kerry. Casey followed this pig into a large thistle patch and we walked through the thistles until Casey was able to get a shot. It was a little exciting walking around in a thistle patch with a bunch of pigs.

Casey and his dad, Jeff came back again the next summer and Casey shot this good-sized sow.Here’s a really big boar taken on a different hunt. This big boar was one of the largest taken and was also very impressive looking.

As is often the case, the pig hunting was too good to last. Although sport hunting could control pig populations on hunted land, the large unhunted public tracts created a significant problem. Pig management became necessary in the form of paid professional pig hunters who used every legal means to reduce pig numbers.

Trapping was the most effective method of rapid pig population control.  A trap like the one shown could trap an entire herd of pigs – sometimes as many as 25 at a time. The pigs are attracted to the trap using grain as bait. After a few nights of baiting, the pigs return to the trap regularly. A trap door is placed at the entrance to the trap and when it is triggered, the pigs cannot escape. On some occcasions pigs  return more than once in a single night.

The pigs are shot in the trap and removed. Sometimes the meat is utilized, but that is often not a requirement. I have personally witnessed 25 squealing pigs being shot in one of these traps. It’s not something I’d like to view again – what a racket.

 Hounds are another effective method of removing pigs in large numbers. These catahula hounds have very sensitive noses and live to hunt pigs. They are mellow and friendly to people, but watch out pigs. Between traps and hounds, pig numbers have been greatly reduced over the last ten years.

However, there are probably other factors contributing to the current absence of pigs. A few years ago the DFG changed the regulations regarding pig depredation and landowners are allowed to shoot pigs on sight, leaving their carcases to rot. In addition, a hunter used to be limited to one pig per day. Now a hunter can take as many pigs as he has tags for. Since pigs often travel in small family groups or larger herds at times, one can take more than one when they are located.

Disease and loss of habitat are other contributing factors, but in the case of this game animal, the decline has been mostly orchestrated (by DFG and large public landholder who treat pigs as a nusance). Pigs are a feral animal with few supporters. These non-native animals are blamed for many things, such as a reduction in amphibian, reptile and ground-nesting bird species.

Combine that with the fact that ranchers often consider pigs a pest that competes with cattle for food, while others fear pig-borne diseases can be transfered to people via public water supplies, it appears to me that pig hunters are looking at a losing battle if they want to try to turn things around.

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Do Dogs Smile?

Yes they do.

Val, a Labrador retriever that now hunts in the happy hunting grounds, was a very happy dog. She had a smile on her face most of the time, until she got so old that everything ached.

My young lab, Lola, was very fond of Val. Val tolerated Lola and even warmed up to her after a while. Lola is all dog, she likes humans, but (I think) she prefers the company of dogs.

A morning ritual at my house was for Val to retrieve the newspaper. She was good at it and I’d give her a treat after she brought me the paper. Lola would just stand and watch. On occation, I attempted to get Lola to retrieve the paper while Val was alive. She wouldn’t do it. She’d just watch Val and beg for a treat of her own.

I worried a little about how Lola would react when Val was no longer around. Sometimes dogs react very negatively when the leader of the pack disappears.

After Val was gone, Lola was a little down, but after about a week she seemed to perk up.

When I awoke this morning, I laid in bed and actually thought about Lola’s attitude. For one thing, a happy dog is a better hunter and companion.  Now it’s been over two months since Val’s departure and I’ve been a little conerned about Lola’s attitude. She seems serious all the time and hasn’t been flashing her dog smile that is very charming.

On the other hand, she has started retrieving the morning paper, something she never did while Val was alive. This morning, I opened the gate and pointed her to the paper. She darted to it, picked it up and ran back to me – dropping it at my feet and flashing her dog smile.

I guess she’s doing OK.

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Working with Lola Dioji

Started a new program with Lola. We’re working on holding – called force fetching by the dog trainer. I pried open her jaws this morning and inserted a piece of plastic pipe….had her hold it for 30 seconds or so and then had her drop it.

After a while she seemed to relax and accept the program. Then I used one of the ducks I shot this weekend. She actually held it for a little bit. Then I tossed the bumper and she retrieved it. The first time I substituted the duck for the bumper, she did her old trick of licking the bird instead of retrieving, but on the second attempt she actually retrieved the bird.

I’m optimistic that this system will produce. She made pretty good progress today. Tomorrow we’ll be hunting.

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When Your Dog Doesn’t Retrieve

Duck hunting has been on the poor side this so far this season, but we know that it always seems to average out and that’s what seems to be taking place. This weekend was pretty good hunting and three of us bagged a dozen mallards and a honker on Saturday – and that was the afternoon shoot. We even shot a couple banded greenheads.

So things are looks up and we even knocked down a couple roosters on Sunday morning. Pheasants are scarce these days. A decline in habitat combined with terrible spring weather the last few years has reduced pheasant harvest dramatically.

But the big news this weekend was my lab pup’s failure to retrieve. I can’t figure it out, but she would rather lick ducks than retrieve them. She seems to have a thing for duck blood. If there’s any blood on a bird she immediately starts licking and unfortunately that’s usually the case.

I’ve started working with her at home, trying to get her to retrieve dead ducks, but she isn’t making great progress. She loves to retrieve ball, bumpers…you name it, but not ducks.

Frustrating, but I’ll just have to keep working. Hope I don’t have to find another dog. Two dogs is one too many as I learned over the last couple years, but it’s tough not having a reliable duck dog. Oh well.

Lola looking good, but not retrieving.

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Closing the Book on Val (Feb 14, 1994- Nov 25, 2008)

I stood facing away from the other patrons with Val’s leash and colar in my left hand and a receipt for $89 in my right. I tried to maintain some kind of dignity, but there was no way to stop the tears. I’m a cryer, but I thought I might be able to hold it together on Val’s last trip to the vet.

It hit me when the vet stepped into the room – the fact that this was the end for Val. Her official birthday  – February 14, 1994. I always suspected it was really only close to February 14th and the date was moved as a marketing gimmick. It really didn’t matter anyway, so we named her Valentine. (I also wondered if all the pups in that litter ended up with the same name.)

The Vet tried to talk to me, but I just kept repeating, “It’s time, yes it’s time.”

And, she went peacefully.

Val was high octane when it was time to play. She was one of those dogs that never quit – always putting something in your lap, or at your feet. It was annoying, that was just Val.

She was a very good retriever, not great, but she took hand signals well and I could get her to most birds – even if she didn’t see them go down.

She had watery eyes all the time and she hunted pheasants best if I gave her half a benadryl (?) tablet before hunting. I think she had cronic sinus problems, so she didn’t have a great nose.

Like all dogs, she was a loyal companion.

Val’s first retrieve was on opening day of duck season in 1994. Three of us knocked down eight widgeon from a large flock at a salt pond on SF bay. She took after after a couple swimmers and retrieved two of the eight. I think we retrieved seven of the eight, with one disappearing.

Val’s final retrieve took place at Mayberry Farms on the last day of the 2006/07 waterfowl seasson. The bird she brougt me was a double-banded greenhead with a $100 reward band.

Nice upgrade Val.

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Life With the Dogs

Our canine companions are wonderful company. Val, the 14-year old yellow lab has seen her better days as a duck retriever, but her loyalty has never been more endearing. Lola our 18-month old yellow lab has energy without bounds and never ceases to impress me with her enthusiasm.

 

Val has lost some of her senses, primarily hearing, but her general awareness has gone way downhill from her youth. In fact, she is nearly deaf, but does pretty well with hand signals.

 

Each morning she wakes us up at first light with a couple light woofs, which increase in volume until we open the bedroom door and then the back door to let her out. With increasing frequency, she has failed to reach the exterior door before relieving herself -the resulting dog bombs rolling on the carpet or tile floor waiting for us to dispose of.

 

Linda was first out of bed today and she made it to the back door before the inevitable poop. She fed Val and headed back to bed as I arrived to throw the ball to Val a few times before Lola’s release which always signals the end of Val’s opportunities to retrieve.

 

Exercise done, we headed indoors and I cooked a couple eggs. About the time I finished I noticed Val standing at the door – standing in dog poop. As I reached for the door handle, she stepped forward and back a couple times, grinding the brown mess into the small carpet by the door.

 

I let her out and, cleaning up the obvious mess, I routinely took the carpet out for a wash. Wash complete I finished my breakfast and settled in for a newspaper read. Linda arrived and we had a brief discussion. I briefed her on the Val action.

 

“Is Lola still in her kennel?” I asked.

 

“Yes,” Linda  replied.

 

Feeling a little uncomfortable about Lola being in her kennel at 7:30 AM, I made a suggestive comment, but didn’t raise a response from Linda.

 

After a few more minutes passed and Linda arose and headed towards the stairway.

 

“Did Val poop again?” asked Linda.

 

“I don’t know, I replied, rising from the chair and following my nose around the downstairs portion of the house.

 

Entering the living room near the base of the stairway, I could smell the distinct odor of dog poop. Looking up the stairs I thought, “Oh no.”

 

Quickly climbing the stairs, I detected increasing odor of dog poop or worse – diarrhea!

 

There stood Lola in a pile of her own excrement. What to do now? Should I pick her up? Carry her to the back door?

 

No, I opened the cage and out she ran leaving a trail of brown dog tracks across the light colored carpet all the way to the back door.

 

“So much for the morning plans,” I thought to myself.

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