Posts Tagged ‘Bobcats’

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Paul Smith’s College winter sports season roundup

It was a winter to remember for the athletic department at Paul Smith’s College, and thankfully not for reasons pertaining to COVID-19.

When the pandemic erupted two years ago, the initial moves across the country were to cancel sports events and keep athletes safe. This carried over, to a lesser degree, to the winter of 2021-2022.

In reviewing the past six months, PSC Bobcat teams got back to the basics of trying to win games and competitions with the specter of COVID still present.

PSC was led in this endeavor by the Nordic ski team which won four national team titles and two individual crowns in the United States Collegiate Ski Association’s recent championships in Lake Placid. Prior to this, it had been nearly 60 years since a PSC team won a national championship.

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Paul Smith’s College makes school history at USCSA Championships in Lake Placid

Bobcats win 4 national titles; Aidan Ripp claims 2 individual championships

Until early March, Paul Smith’s College (PSC) had gone nearly 60 years without winning a national championship. Its 1963 golf team stood alone in school annals – until the recent 2022 U.S. Collegiate Ski Association National Championships in Lake Placid. Not only was the golf team’s achievement finally matched, it was exceeded in spades. Over the course of a week at Mount Van Hoevenberg, Bobcat Nordic skiers accumulated four national championships, three individual national championships, nine podium finishes as a team, 16 All-Americans, and seven Academic All-Americans.

After winning NJCAA championships in skiing, these were the Adirondack school’s first as members of the USCSA.

“It was a complete team performance on the national stage,” said PSC Athletic Director Jim Tucker.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, January 13, 2020

Adirondack Bobcats, Wildlife In Deep Snow

bobcat in winterSnow day! The announcement draws squeals of joy from students throughout the school district and groans from parents who must scramble to provide care for their kids and face a treacherous commute. But fourth-graders with overdue homework and harried parents aren’t the only ones whose fortunes hang in the balance when new snow blankets the region.

A snowfall can bring salvation or suffering to wild critters as well. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, August 1, 2019

Viewpoint: Respect Adirondack Wildlife

2013 at Limekiln Lake paddlers disturb nesting loonsI have been fortunate to see a moose on four different occasions since I’ve moved to the Adirondacks. I’ve only seen one bald eagle. My family jokes that I’m a bald eagle repellent as they seem to see bald eagles as frequently as I see squirrels.  That said, if my children tell me there is a bald eagle over the nearby river, if possible, I am in my car hoping to catch a glimpse. I’m in awe of the wildlife experiences I have and am grateful for each one.

I bring my camera everywhere and certainly appreciate anyone else who wants to witness one of the many wonderful wildlife residents of the Adirondack Park. I don’t appreciate when people start treating Adirondack wildlife as if they were zoo animals. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, October 23, 2016

Changes for Fisher, Marten, and Bobcat Seasons

DEC LogoFurbearer trapping will begin soon in many parts of New York State, following changes to fisher and marten trapping seasons, as well as changes to some general trapping regulations and expanded hunting for bobcat.

While coyote hunting season began October 1 in much the state, hunting seasons for other furbearers such as bobcat, raccoon, and fox begins October 25. Trappers should be aware of changes to trapping regulations for fisher beginning this fall, including: » Continue Reading.


Saturday, August 8, 2015

Bobcats: Elusive, Powerful, and Beautiful

TOS_bobcat_hidingThe distinctively feline tracks through the snow in our woods last winter intrigued me. They would follow the narrow ski trail a ways, then meander into the trees or, sometimes, seem to disappear altogether.

There was no way, I thought, a house kitty was so far from home in the deep of winter, and besides, these tracks were a bit large for your average cat.

Then it hit me: these were bobcat tracks! » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Tracking Wildlife: Where Do Bobcats Cross The Road?

M2E1L2-17R350B300Nature Conservancy field technicians this winter are doing wildlife detective work in New York’s Southern Lake Champlain Valley. This in-between zone characterized by farms and forests and crisscrossed with roads may provide a vital “land bridge” for bobcats and other critters to travel to and from large forest blocks in the Adirondacks and Vermont.

Outdoor guide and writer Elizabeth Lee, of Westport, and University of Vermont graduate student Gus Goodwin are working with the Conservancy’s Alissa Rafferty, who is based in Keene Valley. They are collecting records of animal activity that would be impossible to witness in real time. Good old-fashioned tracking skills—finding animal prints left in the snow, measuring their size, assessing the critter’s gait, and piecing together other clues—help them determine if a print belongs to a bobcat or a coyote, a fisher or a fox, a moose or a deer. They also use trail cameras to supplement these records, helping to confirm animal identification, and snapping photos 24/7 no matter the snow conditions. » Continue Reading.


Friday, November 22, 2013

Singing The Bobcat Blues

ed_kanze_bobcatFeeling blue one morning, I headed into the woods and found my thoughts full of bobcats. Listen to what the cats had to teach me in this week’s edition of All Things Natural with Ed Kanze.

The podcast is produced by Mountain Lake PBS’s Josh Clement. “All Things Natural” has been published continuously since 1987 and approaches its one-millionth published word. It currently appears in the Bedford, NY Record-Review. Listen to past episodes by visiting Mountain Lake PBS’s Borderless North webpage at mountainlake.org/bn.


Thursday, June 13, 2013

DEC Expands Bobcat Hunting and Trapping

bobcatBobcat hunting and trapping seasons have been expanded under a new set of regulations adopted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

According to a DEC press release: “After careful consideration of the public comments received, DEC adopted rules affecting bobcat hunting and trapping in New York to implement certain aspects of the state’s Five-Year Bobcat Management Plan.” The Bobcat Management Plan drew fire last year and public comments received by the department were overwhelming against the expanded season. » Continue Reading.


Friday, March 23, 2012

Phil Brown: Bobcat Plan Stirs Public Ire

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has received about 1,200 letters, e-mails, and online comments from people who object to a plan to permit more hunting and trapping of bobcats. Only about 300 people wrote to support the plan.

That works out to 80 percent in opposition, 20 percent in favor.

If this were an election, it would be a landslide. But when it comes to public policy, the majority does not always win. DEC will review the comments and may make some changes, but I doubt it will abandon the plan altogether, despite the pleas of animal-rights advocates. The department is expected to finalize the plan later this spring or in the summer. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, January 26, 2012

Phil Brown: DEC Proposes Killing More Bobcats

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has proposed a five-year plan for managing bobcats that aims to “provide sustainable use and enjoyment of bobcat by the public.”

How would the department achieve this goal? By allowing the public to kill more bobcats.

I suspect that many people do not agree that the best way to enjoy bobcats is to shoot or trap them.

Maybe DEC suspects this, too. In a press release this week, the department buries the news. After boilerplate quotes from DEC officials and a list of the plan’s goals, the press release states: “The plan includes proposals to greatly simplify hunting and trapping season dates by making them consistent throughout much of the state as well as establishing new hunting and trapping opportunities in central and western New York.” » Continue Reading.


Monday, February 15, 2010

Phil Brown: My Big Cat Sighting

I saw it on Route 28 just west of McKeever. It was definitely feline. You could tell by the way it crouched next to the guardrail, looking like it wanted to spring across the road. And it was big.

“A cougar!” I shouted.

By the time my passenger looked, the cat had retreated to the other side of the guardrail and was ambling away from the road.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) says wild cougars (also known as mountain lions, panthers, and pumas) have not lived in the Adirondacks since the nineteenth century. The agency concedes that cougars are spotted on occasion, but it insists that they are released pets. Last week, DEC denounced as a hoax a rumor that a cougar had been struck and killed by a vehicle in Black Brook. » Continue Reading.



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