New Bindernagel presentation on Alert Bay Vocalization

[MikeZimmer]

39 minutes ago, MikeZimmer said:

 

I will see if I can get more precise information on moose range from the internet.

 

 

See  http://web.uvic.ca/~reimlab/moose.pdf

 

I found this, a 2005 paper from our local university which suggests that there are moose in some portions of the coast and on some islands. However, at the time of writing of the paper, the map shown does not come down very close to Vancouver Island or surrounding islands.

 

Also, from a site with an annoying popup at http://www.all-about-moose.com/

Population in British Columbia

• Populations have expanded across the province and are found mostly in the boreal forested areas. They are almost entirely absent from all coastal regions and can be found in the mountains and valleys except for the driest of areas like the Thompson and Okanagan regions.
• Over 70 percent of the moose population lives in Northern BC, with a population of about 170,000 animals. The balance of the population are scattered in pockets throughout the southern sections.

 

I could PM BC Witness; his stomping grounds seem to be more to the east of the Coast Mountains, around Hope, Agassiz, Harrison, Merritt, Princeton.

 

I live on Vancouver Island, but don't get up to the North Island very often, and to get over to the mainland from there would take some extra money for transportation, but looking at the map has given me an itch to travel.
 

Edited March 22, 2017 by MikeZimmer

[norseman]

They certainly are present along the coasts of SE Alaska.

 

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/gmu1.pdf

[MikeZimmer]

2 hours ago, norseman said:

They certainly are present along the coasts of SE Alaska.

 

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/regulations/wildliferegulations/pdfs/gmu1.pdf

 

 

Yes, I think that the report from University of Victoria showed that as well. I am going to see if I can find any commercial hunting lodges or outfitters familiar with the mainland coast around the Broughton Archipelago. Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort resort is up there, but they do not advertise hunting. A relative by marriage worked there once. http://nimmobay.com/

 

[MikeZimmer]

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/moose.pdf

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by MikeZimmer

[norseman]

I guess we can safely say it's not normal for a Moose to be on the coastline that far south.

[Guest Cryptic Megafauna]

And my answer might be...

 

[MikeZimmer]

2 hours ago, Cryptic Megafauna said:

And my answer might be...

 

 

There is no shortage of black bear anywhere on Vancouver Island or the nearby islands.

 

It is always possible that a bear was recorded, and professional analysis of the sonogram might provide more information.

 

I don't hear the similarity that you do, nor I take it does Dr. Bindernagel. I suspect that he, as a wildlife biologist living pretty close to more than a few acres of bush, is reasonably well acquainted with black bears on Vancouver Island. I also image that the folks on Cormorant Island in Alert Bay are pretty familiar with the sounds of black bears. To me bear seems not so likely.

[Airdale]

4 hours ago, norseman said:

I guess we can safely say it's not normal for a Moose to be on the coastline that far south.

 

Consider how many places in the U.S. have regular sightings of animals, especially cougars, panthers, etc., that according to state wildlife departments don't exist there. John Mionczynski shed some light on that situation in his presentation at the 2016 Big Sky Bigfoot Conference. A few years ago he observed a Grizzly in an area of Wyoming that is considered outside their range (don't recall the location), and as a courtesy visited the regional office of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to give them the particulars. As he worked through the details of his observation, he noticed the officer he was speaking to wasn't taking any notes and he commented on it. He was told in reply that they didn't want to know of any Grizzly in the region because as a protected species it would require them to hire and provide office space for an additional employee to handle the details involved, and they didn't have the budget for it. I don't have any knowledge of Canadian wildlife management agencies or practices, but bureaucrats are bureaucrats and budgets make their world go 'round.

 

WRT black bear vocalizations, while they are definitely attention getting, none of them had the duration or pitch of John Bindernagel's recordings. The moose vocals in his recording also seemed too low in register, but while I've seen moose in the wild I've not heard them live so Norse is a much better source of knowledge.

[BobbyO]

18 hours ago, MikeZimmer said:

 

I imagine you are familiar with the occasional report of swimming Sasquatch.

 

Yes Sir, there's quite a few too.

[MikeZimmer]

17 hours ago, Airdale said:

I don't have any knowledge of Canadian wildlife management agencies or practices, but bureaucrats are bureaucrats and budgets make their world go 'round.

 

Having worked in a provincial bureaucracy for most of my working life, I agree on this.

 

With respect to Moose on the mainland across from Alert Bay, the odds are low, but the jury is still out.

 

Any sonogram experts in the house?

[PBeaton]

I've been to Alert a number of times, beautiful place, pretty isolated, most everythin' is located near the main street were the ferry docks. 

I don't think there are moose here on Vancouver Island. I was talkin to Fish & Game Warden couple years ago, bout a black bear down at the beach I'd seen here in Nanaimo. We talked about griz sightings at top of island, he mentioned they think there may be a small breedin' population of them up there...that aren't supposed ta be there.

 

I talked to John about the vocalization on Alert when it was goin' on, was on the news here, thought I could help, my brothers wife has a lot of kin there.  He had already been up there, was goin' back if I recall.

 

I think most on Alert would be familiar with the wildlife sounds of the local animals, they grew up there, it's mostly Native.   

 

Short list, but scroll down to bottom...last two animals !  

http://www.discover-vancouver-island.com/animals-in-the-wild.html

Edited March 23, 2017 by PBeaton

[Teegunn]

Not really much related to this topic, but on the note about Park Rangers/officials/etc being "wrong" about certain animals in certain habitats, many years ago in my youth on a trip with my parents, we drove to the highest point you could get to (by vehicle) of a well known mountain in the pacific NW.  We got up there and were listening to the Rangers talk about the mountain and mountains around the area.  Someone asked about bears, and the Ranger said they had not had bears or any report of bears in the area for many decades - there weren't bears in the area according to the Ranger.  We found that strange, but whatever, it made everyone feel safer maybe, I dunno.  We left, and not but a mile or two down the road from where the Ranger said there were absolutely no bears, lo and behold a black bear mother and two cubs walk right into the road in front of us.  I remember mom and dad talking about driving back up to inform the Park Ranger of their erroe, but they didn't.  We all still recall that story vividly to this day.  Just a funny anecdote i guess.

[MikeZimmer]

15 hours ago, PBeaton said:

 

Short list, but scroll down to bottom...last two animals !  

http://www.discover-vancouver-island.com/animals-in-the-wild.html

 

Cadborosaurus - This is Vancouver Island’s Loch Ness monster. And this one is real--over 200 sightings in the last few years. If you see it, you’ll have quite a story to tell after your vacation--when you get back to the office!

 

Cadborosaurus, named after Cadoboro Bay, just the other side of nearby Cattle Point from my house. I used to canoe over there. Could be such a creature, I have only an open mind on that one and no real opinion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadborosaurus

 

 

[MikeZimmer]

16 hours ago, PBeaton said:

I've been to Alert a number of times, beautiful place, pretty isolated, most everythin' is located near the main street were the ferry docks. 

 

I really want to go up there now, after this thread. Family responsibilities keep me tied to shorter trips right now. I went all the way up to San Josef Bay near  Cape Scott more than three decades ago around Easter, but have not repeated the journey. Big island, eh?

 

16 hours ago, PBeaton said:

I don't think there are moose here on Vancouver Island. I was talkin to Fish & Game Warden couple years ago, bout a black bear down at the beach I'd seen here in Nanaimo. We talked about griz sightings at top of island, he mentioned they think there may be a small breedin' population of them up there...that aren't supposed ta be there.

 

I heard nothing of Grizzlies on the island until recent years. Always there? Dunno. Reports that they are there now seem pretty solid.

 

When I measured distances between islands in the Broughton Archipelago, between the mainland and Vancouver Island, I was surprised to see that there were only a few short hops across the water between islands, less than a couple of miles each, through some admittedly cold and often turbulent water. There was nothing that would stop a swimming Grizzly, Moose, or if reports are true, a Sasquatch.

 

There are apparently no reports of Moose that close to the coast in that region, so they are probably not on the mainland at that point, not in any numbers anyway. I have never read a report of them on Vancouver Island, so I figure that is a pretty low percentage situation.

 

Black bears are another matter; they are all over the place, and I have seen a dozen or more just driving over the years. They come into the small towns pretty often, and we even had one in the greater Victoria area a few years back.

 

16 hours ago, PBeaton said:

 

I talked to John about the vocalization on Alert when it was goin' on, was on the news here, thought I could help, my brothers wife has a lot of kin there.  He had already been up there, was goin' back if I recall.

 

I think most on Alert would be familiar with the wildlife sounds of the local animals, they grew up there, it's mostly Native.   

 

Short list, but scroll down to bottom...last two animals !  

http://www.discover-vancouver-island.com/animals-in-the-wild.html

 

[TritonTr196]

22 hours ago, MikeZimmer said:

Any sonogram experts in the house?

 

 

Do you mean a "spectrogram" ? I can easily have a very thorough spectrogram analysis done of any sound you might have. Our group specializes in this procedure. Would help if sound wise they are decently recorded and clearly audible. Very far off faint sounds do not lend to a very good spectrogram analysis.