Do you need to buy a gun, come to Florida and you can buy one off a road side vendor. Only in Florida do you see this type of thing. I just had to share this with you.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Trio of whooping cranes shot dead in Georgia
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources are investigating the suspicious deaths of three whooping cranes in southern Georgia.
The cranes were found and reported by hunters in Calhoun County, just west of Albany, Ga., on Dec 30. The landowner reported the cranes had been in the area for a few weeks before they found them dead just before New Year’s Eve.
The cranes are part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership effort to reintroduce whooping cranes into the eastern United States. These three cranes were released in October 2010 with seven other first-year birds in Wisconsin as part of the Direct Autumn Release program. They generally follow other older whooping cranes and sometime sandhill cranes during the fall migration to find suitable wintering habitat. They were banded and equipped with transmitters and were part of the ultralight aircraft-led migration effort.
Wildlife scientists determined three whooping cranes found dead in southern Georgia in December were shot and killed.
Preliminary testing shows the cranes sustained injuries consistent with gunshot wounds, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service news release.
Source
The cranes are part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership effort to reintroduce whooping cranes into the eastern United States. These three cranes were released in October 2010 with seven other first-year birds in Wisconsin as part of the Direct Autumn Release program. They generally follow other older whooping cranes and sometime sandhill cranes during the fall migration to find suitable wintering habitat. They were banded and equipped with transmitters and were part of the ultralight aircraft-led migration effort.
Wildlife scientists determined three whooping cranes found dead in southern Georgia in December were shot and killed.
Preliminary testing shows the cranes sustained injuries consistent with gunshot wounds, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service news release.
Source
Whooping Cranes are back in Florida 2011
Shortly before 10:30 a.m. Friday, a hush came over the crowd of hundreds gathered at the Dunnellon airport to witness what some call a magical moment in nature.
The quietness, however, was soon replaced by the drone of ultra light aircraft engines flying some 500 feet overhead.
Operation Migration pilots Joe Duff and Richard van Heuvelen, along with a support crew on the ground, began their day some 70 miles north of Dunnellon in Gilchrist County. They were determined to lead five endangered Whooping Cranes ever closer to their destination off the Citrus County coastline in the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge.
The yearling birds flew for the first time with the aircraft Friday after nearly a month of down time, resting in Gilchrist County.
The unpredictability of the weather, mainly the wind, has been keeping the birds on the ground, according to those at the event.
Ivan Vincent, visitor services specialist for the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, said, “The biggest challenge this year has been the wind. In previous years we’ve had fog to contend with, but not this year. The wind has either been blowing in the wrong direction or too hard for them to fly.”
The last two attempts at a flight were Dec. 16 and 17. Both tries were scrubbed due to high winds.
Vincent described Friday’s weather as “nearly perfect” for flying.
Read more of the story
The quietness, however, was soon replaced by the drone of ultra light aircraft engines flying some 500 feet overhead.
Operation Migration pilots Joe Duff and Richard van Heuvelen, along with a support crew on the ground, began their day some 70 miles north of Dunnellon in Gilchrist County. They were determined to lead five endangered Whooping Cranes ever closer to their destination off the Citrus County coastline in the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge.
The yearling birds flew for the first time with the aircraft Friday after nearly a month of down time, resting in Gilchrist County.
The unpredictability of the weather, mainly the wind, has been keeping the birds on the ground, according to those at the event.
Ivan Vincent, visitor services specialist for the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, said, “The biggest challenge this year has been the wind. In previous years we’ve had fog to contend with, but not this year. The wind has either been blowing in the wrong direction or too hard for them to fly.”
The last two attempts at a flight were Dec. 16 and 17. Both tries were scrubbed due to high winds.
Vincent described Friday’s weather as “nearly perfect” for flying.
Read more of the story
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