395 replies to this topic

[aastra]

 

Not only do feeders cause unnatural wildlife congregations...

 

Pay no attention to the mingling of invasive eastern squirrels, rabbits, peafowl, starlings, and urban deer on every boulevard.

[Victoria Watcher]

I knew it wouldn’t end well when the hawks realized it was an imposter. Execution by electrocution wasn’t on my bingo card though.



Gabriola Island eagle that shared nest with hawk found electrocuted

https://www.cheknews...ocuted-1064590/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 July 2022 - 09:00 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Two serval African wild cats on the loose north of Qualicum Beach are believed to have killed a domestic cat.

The B.C. SPCA says residents should be vigilant, keep pet cats indoors and ensure dogs are on leashes when outdoors.

https://www.timescol...m-beach-5915494

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 October 2022 - 03:01 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

West Shore RCMP officers were dispatched after a woman reported she was being followed by a cougar in Latoria Creek Park in Colwood.

Police received a call from the woman at approximately 5:40 p.m. Friday (Nov. 19).

The 911 call taker asked the woman to stay calm, speak to the cougar in a gentle voice, avoid turning her back on the cougar and walk to the nearest home.


https://www.vicnews....man-in-colwood/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 November 2022 - 11:25 AM.

[LJ]

Look what showed up to my golf game Friday...

 

 

[aastra]

Was that on Vancouver Island?

[aastra]

 

Look what showed up to my golf game...

 

You should have let him borrow your rangefinder. You know, so he could find his natural range. Because Vancouver Island ain't part of it.

[aastra]

On Van Isle you shouldn't be seeing any lynx on the links.

[aastra]

That cat could be the titleist for "most misplaced feline".

[Matt R.]

That bobcat needs some clubs to play the lynx.

[aastra]

Is that a bobcat* or a lynx? It would be helpful if you could provide a link.

*I'm not taking a dig at you. I'm serious.

[aastra]

The pic makes it look uniformly grey but I suppose the exposure could be misleading. There was a news story from a couple of years ago about a lynx sighting up island.
 

 

Vanessa Isnardy, WildSafeBC provincial co-ordinator notes both lynx and bobcats are not known to have populations on Vancouver Island and adds the sighting would need to be verified.

[aastra]

If it is indeed an out-of-place bobcat instead of an out-of-place lynx then I don't feel too bad about misidentifying it:

 

 

Is that a lynx or a bobcat?

Gooliaff and his supervisor, Dr. Karen Hodges, created an online survey to measure agreement among experts in classifying bobcats and lynx from camera images.

They uploaded 300 images of bobcats and lynx and sent them to 27 bobcat and lynx experts to see how much they agreed on the species’ classifications... The survey flashed each image on the screen, prompting the expert to choose if the animal in the image was a “bobcat”, “lynx” or “unknown.”

“It turns out agreement between the experts was far from perfect,” Gooliaff said. “Even experts have a difficult time telling the two species apart.”

Gooliaff said he was surprised by how many experts disagreed on the species classification as well as the frequent use of the “unknown” option.

‘There was far higher agreement during the winter,” he said, possibly because when lynx lose their winter fur, their more brownish coat more closely resembles a bobcat.

Another batch contained images with different landscapes, including forest, grassland and developed areas. “The thinking was people would partially base classifications on the background features rather than the animals themselves,” he said.

Gooliaff then tested the consistency of the individual experts. The first and last batches of the survey images, which occurred three months apart, were the same images, just rearranged. He compared what experts called each image between the two batches and found that no expert was completely consistent. “In plenty of cases, experts called an image a bobcat and then three months later called the same image a lynx,” he said.

[aastra]

Upon further review and without being able to get a better look at the hind feet, I'm going to stick with it being an out-of-place lynx that still has its non-winter coat.

 

But then there's the ear tufts to consider... This wildlife identification thing is tufter than it looks.

Edited by aastra, 19 November 2022 - 10:55 PM.

[aastra]

 

“Even experts have a difficult time telling the two species apart.”

 

If the experts have lousy scorecards then somebody green like myself shouldn't be too concerned about a sub-par performance.

[aastra]

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I could properly identify a tiger in the woods. But a lynx or a bobcat in the tee box? That's an entirely different animal.

[aastra]

Note to mods: is the "like this" button not working? I'm not saying I'm a master at wordplay, but some of my recent posts were taylor-made for getting likes. I was expecting a bucket full of them, so I'm a bit teed off about it.

[aastra]

It's rough, but I realize being a forumer on this board is all about the long game. It takes time to get in the club.

[aastra]

Until then, you'll be stuck on the fringe.

[aastra]

 

Look what showed up to my golf game Friday...

 

What's a lynx/bobcat's favourite brand of golf club grip?

Edited by aastra, 20 November 2022 - 02:40 PM.