ACOPatrick 1214357952|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / General Discussion » Live Posting FromThe NACA Conference/
So how was the conference?
Recent Forum Posts
ACOPatrick 1214357952|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / General Discussion » Live Posting FromThe NACA Conference/
ACOPatrick 1212800003|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / General Discussion » Live Posting FromThe NACA Conference/
have fun out there for me and the rest of clark county animal control We are too poor to attend!
Animal 40 1212673047|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / General Discussion » Live Posting FromThe NACA Conference/
The Hotel is huge and parking is, well, kinda crazy, to say the least. I wonder how many out of state folks are here for the conference?
ACOPatrick 1212205697|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / General Discussion » Funny Story
In case any of you think about catching a deer with a rope or control stick or other means, this story is a good warning as to the effect that can have on a person. This did not happen to me, but I have tried to rope a deer once, and am glad i was unsuccessful.
As I sit here behind this laptop, I now realize that this definitely wasn’t the brightest idea I have ever had. I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it.
The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.
I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope.
The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it.
After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up — 3 of them. I picked out.. ..a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw.. ..my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me.
I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold. The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation.
I took a step towards it…took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope and then received an education.
The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.
That deer EXPLODED.
The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity.
A deer– no chance.
That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined.
The only upside is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.
A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head. At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature
off the end of that rope.
I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere.
At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer. At that moment, I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual.
Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer’s momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in, so I didn’t want the deer to have it suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before hand…kind of like a squeeze chute.
I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.
Did you know that deer bite? They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist.
Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head –almost like a pit bull. They bite HARD and it hurts.
The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective.
It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds.
I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now) tricked it.
While I kept it busy tearing the bejesus out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose. That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day.
Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp.
I learned a long time ago that, when an animal — like a horse — strikes at you with their hooves and you can’t get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape.
This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy.
I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run.
The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head.
Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down.
Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head.
I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away.
So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope so that they can be somewhat equal to the prey.
Animal 40 1209757055|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Upcoming Events » Safe Capture Class
Safe Capture callled and they are moving the dates forward, the class will be Wednesday and Thursday November 19 and 20 instead of Tuesday and Wednesday.
ACOPatrick 1209675802|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Upcoming Events » Safe Capture Class
I have updated the Training Opportunities Page with the class information.
Animal 40 1209665690|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Upcoming Events » Safe Capture Class
The dates for the class are November 18th and 19th, here in Port Townsend at Fort Worden state Park.
Animal 40 1209596539|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / General Discussion » Animal Hoarding
There's also a wealth of information about the problem on the Tufts University website.
http://www.tufts.edu/vet/cfa/hoarding/
We had one in 2006 it involved dogs, horses, sheep, cats (a gazillion at first, but coyote predation took down the population by the time we intervened with the warrant), chickens, rabbits, geese and ducks.
They claimed that they were a rescue and only they were capable of caring for these animals.
We attempted to work with them and finally, the Prosecutor had us write a "Compliance Agreement" wherein they would give up most of the animals. They refused and we got a seizure warrant. They were charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty as well as felony cruelty.
Ultimately the plead guilty to Animal Cruelty 2nd and we got all the surviving animals adopted out.
Animal 40 1209595825|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Upcoming Events » Safe Capture Class
Jefferson County Animal Services will be hosting a class in October or November, to be held at Fort Worden State PArk.
We will begin advertising as soon as we get a firm date from the folks at Safe Capture.
You can get more information on the class and what it entails on their webiste: www.safecapture.com
ACOPatrick 1209180374|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Upcoming Events » 17th Annual Walk/Run for the Animals
The Southwest Washington Humane Society, my agencies preferred provider of animal sheltering, is holding it's annual walk and run event. It's at Ester Short Park in downtown Vancouver on May 3rd. They have lots of fun events. I'll be in Vegas, but you should go.
Link for more:
http://southwesthumane.org/index.php?pr=Special_Events
ACOPatrick 1209179376|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / General Discussion » Animal Hoarding
It never ceases to amaze me how many people out there try to care for way too many animals. Our agency has dealt with several in the last year. Horses, cats, dogs, rabbits, an alligator snapping turtle; the amount of resources taken up by these cases are staggering.
What are your stories and strategies for handling these situations?
Interesting Links about it:
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/54031
http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/oct02/021015a.asp
ACOPatrick 1209178683|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Questions » Welcome to the forum
Forgot to add that you can edit the "Training Opportunities" page with upcoming training events. I can definitely see where we may need a category for events too. Things like shelter fund raisers, adoptathons, etc. Thank you very much for the input.
ACOPatrick 1209178277|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Questions » Welcome to the forum
Sounds good, will do.
Animal 40 1209166100|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Questions » Welcome to the forum
How about adding a General Discussion category and an Upcoming Events category?
ACOPatrick 1208414148|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Legislation » Tethering legislation
The debate on tethering/ chaining as a method of containment has reached the state legislature.
Many issues are involved.
Tethered animals behave much differently that fenced animals.
Many people cannot contain their animals otherwise.
What do you see as issues?
How would a possible ban effect your job?
ACOPatrick 1208413734|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / In the news » Chicago Cougar
What do you think?
I can see two sides.
Tranquilizing a potentially dangerous wild animal takes too long. The officers on scene did the best they could to protect the public safety.
It was a failure of policy that allowed the cougar to be killed. Plans should be in place to allow the humane capture of wildlife in instances like this.
Discuss?
ACOPatrick 1207948440|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
in discussion Discussion / Questions » Welcome to the forum
let me know it there are any categories of discussion you would like added to the forum!
ACOPatrick
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