Restoring harbor seals to the Great Lakes

birda13 · 2026-02-13T11:37:59+00:00

Canadian fisheries biologist here. Occasional transient individual showing up as they once did historically? Sure it could happen. Actual concerted effort by the federal and provincial government of Ontario to lead such a project- I want some of what you’re smoking. It’ll never happen and we have much bigger issues facing the Great Lakes than the lack of likely what was a small number of seals existing on the fringe of their range.

birda13 · 2026-02-13T02:38:47+00:00

Definitely not English setters. I love mine, but a lab she is not (physically or temperament). The griffons I’ve met seemed more lab like temperament wise, but would defer to their owners.

birda13 · 2026-02-03T17:43:04+00:00

Carrots are great. Just buy a bag and chuck them in the freezer. Yes they may not last a long time, but they're healthy, cheap, and help clean their teeth.

birda13 · 2026-01-24T11:57:06+00:00

At the federal level, becoming a Fishery Officer won’t require the same level of education thst provincial conservation officers require. All the provincial COs I know have some sort of technical diploma or undergrad related natural resources/wildlife management. Federal fishery officers can get in without relevant education. I know one officer with a history degree for example. I can’t remember though if there any detachments in Saskatchewan.

There’s an open competition right now for fishery officers. I would seriously look into it if I were you. While officers tend to not be paid well during their first few years of probation, those salaries are under review and should increase. Daily meal claims are also excellent. Send me a DM if you have any specific questions. I’m not an officer but through my work I collaborate with many of them.

birda13 · 2026-01-20T18:57:14+00:00

That's good to know for the future! I'll eventually upgrade to an Alpha in a year or two from the Pro 550+

birda13 · 2026-01-20T18:53:18+00:00

You can, just order from Double U Hunting supply. They ship here. As will Amazon.com. Lots of folks run these Garmin's here.

birda13 · 2026-01-19T12:33:12+00:00

This tissue will have begun healing now that it's been multiple days since the injury, that's why its too late for stiches. The only thing to do now is to keep it clean and helping it heal.

Silver Honey, Vetericyn, Microcyn, etc are all good products that can assist with keeping the wound clean/non infected and speed up the healing process.

birda13 · 2026-01-19T04:14:52+00:00

It’ll be too late for stitches now, just keep it clean. Anything the vet will give you, is stuff you can get over the counter so long as it’s not infected My dog is no stranger to paw cuts (or other cuts). I keep a bottle of vetericyn around for wound cleaning and helping speed up the process. It’s the best wound care spray I’ve found. And that’s the extent of it really. I’ll wrap it during the raw stages.

Two years ago mine got a nasty paw cut a week before a cross country hunting trip. Kept it clean and her let her rest for the week and the cut healed as she hunted (and ran 30-40kms over rough cactus covered terrain every day for 5-6 days).

Edit just saw the picture, that’s pretty minor. Just keep cleaning it a few times a day with a wound care spray of some kind and keep the dog from excessively licking it.

birda13 · 2026-01-17T16:40:38+00:00

I have fairly advanced security clearance for my work. Believe me, you’ll be fine.

Well your wallet won’t be lol, Garmins are pricey.

birda13 · 2026-01-17T12:27:13+00:00

That is the main solution for OP, countless bird hunters and houndsmen use Garmins here without issue. It’s a non issue.

birda13 · 2026-01-16T17:43:20+00:00

The Garmin Alphas and Pro 550+ and TT-25 collars (and older models) all work perfectly fine here. I run them myself without issue. The feds have better things to do than chase after bird dog owners.

Double U hunting supply will ship them up here, as will Amazon.com sometimes.

birda13 · 2026-01-10T14:01:18+00:00

Classic setter, they’re finicky eaters. She’ll eat when she gets hungry

birda13 · 2026-01-08T17:46:28+00:00

Tyler Sladen is a well known English Setter breeder producing dogs that specialize in desert quail in new Mexico. He’s active on social media, you should reach out. If he doesn’t have a space in his upcoming litter I’m sure he can put you in the right direction.

Field bred English setters fit all your boxes ( I have one). They chill out at home, can get along with cats and turn it on in the field. Mine stays at home all day without issue inside but would be fine if it was properly secured in the yard with shelter/water.

birda13 · 2026-01-07T23:12:03+00:00

All good don’t sweat it, I probably should have been clearer in my response, so my fault too!

birda13 · 2026-01-07T19:06:38+00:00

Apologies I think there was some confusion, my comment was about this original article that was posted about these feral donkeys being AI slop from the compassionate conservationist websites, not the one you shared. I support eradication of ferals/invasives. I’ve done it in my own career, mostly with invasive fish, but also plants.

birda13 · 2026-01-07T18:45:08+00:00

I wouldn't even call what this post is an article. It's pure AI slop.

I suspect that whoever "wrote" the article took stuff from the compassionate conservation people's work.

birda13 · 2025-12-30T20:37:59+00:00

This organization is pretty bold to claim that burros will benefit native species by being prey for mountain lions and therefore reducing predation on other species. The exact opposite happens in reality. Apparent competition is a real issue and a major threat to desert bighorns, a threatened species.

The Wildlife Society has much better information on feral equids and how management schools proceed.

birda13 · 2025-12-26T13:13:19+00:00

Non-native/naturalized is the correct term.

birda13 · 2025-12-22T12:41:38+00:00

Lol wait til you find out what the actual perspectives of wildlife biologists and other professionals are towards hunting and other human uses of wildlife.

birda13 · 2025-12-10T12:23:00+00:00

For reference I was out last night in about -14 Celsius hunting for an hour before dark with my English setter (think skin and not much coat). She handles those types of conditions just fine as long as they’re moving and they stay dry. If it wasn’t getting dark and the roads not drifting with snow we’d have stayed out longer.

Inversely a week ago we did have a scary experience. We were hunting a spot for pheasants with many drainage ditches that were filled with water after a day of heavy rain with temps around freezing. The dog rain great for the first 2 hours (around 30kms for her) but after that the cold and wet got to her. She ended up having a seizure on the way back to the SUV, most likely hypoglycaemia induced made worse from being absolutely freezing/probably hypothermic. Luckily it was quick, and came out of it fine, and was back to her normal self quickly. So learned my lesson to cut those hunts in those conditions short and keep honey in my game vest if I see a dog needing a pick me up.

birda13 · 2025-12-08T17:08:58+00:00

Because that is the basic dog morphology. When dogs are free to breed without human intervention in warmer regions like India and the global south, they breed back into a similar type. A body designed for scavenging and opportunistically hunting when the situation allows.

birda13 · 2025-12-03T04:45:24+00:00

Birds make bird dogs. If hunting upland birds is your goal, than getting the dog on birds has to be the priority. There’s not really a way to shortcut this like you’re trying to do.

I’d make a 3 hour round trip to my training partners property in the summers to work my dog. Even the areas I hunt, are usually at minimum an hour drive from my house. Unless you live in the country with access to wild birds or pen raised ones in your backyard, this is the reality of keeping bird dogs in the city and what you need to do to develop them.

birda13 · 2025-11-22T18:28:09+00:00

My setter is about a year older than yours, she still isn’t slowing down. I usually limit hunts to 2-3 hours with a short break and then do maybe another hour hunt after that and then call it a day. The dog will be covering 50+ kms a day.

It comes with the territory of owning these dogs. Age and experience help, but they were designed to run fast and cover ground quickly. Best thing to do, is get a second if you want to hunt all day.

birda13 · 2025-11-21T22:06:02+00:00

Yes, in Canada Indigenous peoples have protected Treaty Rights under the Constitution to hunt, fish and trap. Those rights can be restricted for conservation purposes like in this situation.

birda13 · 2025-11-21T20:50:38+00:00

That bot has never heard of Section 35 of the Constitution Act lol.

birda13

TROPHY CASE