Post by ridge on Feb 2, 2022 23:30:02 GMT -5
Bobcat sightings are increasing in the southern Lower Peninsula, and state officials say their populations are now stable enough to expand hunting and trapping to that area.
The wild cats with bobbed tails, which are about twice the size of house cats, disappeared from the Lower Peninsula after the logging boom in the late 1880s. Now, as forestlands have slowly returned, the bobcats have bounced back as well.
“We’ve documented bobcats in every county in Michigan,” said Adam Bump, the bear and furbearer specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “Over the last decade, we have seen an increase in people reporting sightings of bobcats in the Lower Peninsula. That’s very suggestive of a healthy, resilient population.
The proposal comes as some states, including Illinois and Colorado, have considered legislation to ban hunting and trapping bobcats. California prohibited hunts outright in 2019, and Iowa last year dropped plans to expand hunting due to resident opposition.
Native to wooded areas throughout the United States, bobcats were endangered in some Midwestern states until the past 15 years. But changes in farming practices and a return of wooded areas led U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services researchers in 2010 to conclude that “populations are much higher than previously suggested.”
Opposition to hunts is fueled because the cats are hunted for their pelts and mostly stick to themselves, eating squirrels and avoiding humans.
Proponents counter that they’re so hard to hunt and trap, any expansion won’t hurt their population. Bobcats are stealthy, nocturnal and notoriously elusive: One Michigan survey found that only 365 of 2,810 people who hunted bobcats in northern Michigan bagged one.
Bump said the DNR has not gotten pushback but the agency only surveyed trappers.
“There are some (people) that just, in general, are not supportive or are wary of increases and harvest of any species,” Bump said.
DNR’s proposed bobcat hunting and trapping changes
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission meets at 9 a.m. Feb. 10 to consider changes to the bobcat season in Michigan. The meeting is at the Lansing Community College West Campus Room 119.
Proposed changes include:
An 11-day hunting season from Dec. 10 to Dec. 20 and a trapping season from Jan. 1, 2023, to Jan. 11, 2023, with a one-bobcat per season bag limit, in the following southern Lower Peninsula counties: Muskegon, Montcalm, Gratiot, Saginaw, Ottawa, Kent, Ionia, Clinton and Shiawassee.
The northern Lower Peninsula would have a trapping season from Dec. 10 to Dec. 29 and a hunting season from Jan. 1, 2023, to Jan. 20, 2023. The bag limit would be one per season.
The Upper Peninsula would have a trapping season from Dec. 1 to Feb. 1, 2023, and a hunting season from Jan.y 1, 2023, to March 1, 2023. The bag limit is one per season unless the hunter or trapper receives a second license to catch another bobcat on private property.
The Department of Natural Resources proposes expanding the current 11-day hunting and trapping season in the northern Lower Peninsula to 20 days with two full weekends — and creating an 11-day season in the nine southern counties: Muskegon, Montcalm, Gratiot, Saginaw, Ottawa, Kent, Ionia, Clinton and Shiawassee.
The limit would be one bobcat per hunter or trapper in the Lower Peninsula. Hunters and trappers can kill two bobcats in the Upper Peninsula so long as one is caught on private property.
“With a new expansion, we try to be very conservative with season length and harvest until we look at the impacts of the season in that area,” Bump said.
The Natural Resources Commission, the agency that considers regulations for the DNR, will consider the proposal and take public comment at its Feb. 10 meeting in Lansing.
February 1, 2022
Zahra Ahmad
Michigan Environment Watch
Rural Michigan, Upper Peninsula
Bridge-Michigan
The wild cats with bobbed tails, which are about twice the size of house cats, disappeared from the Lower Peninsula after the logging boom in the late 1880s. Now, as forestlands have slowly returned, the bobcats have bounced back as well.
“We’ve documented bobcats in every county in Michigan,” said Adam Bump, the bear and furbearer specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “Over the last decade, we have seen an increase in people reporting sightings of bobcats in the Lower Peninsula. That’s very suggestive of a healthy, resilient population.
The proposal comes as some states, including Illinois and Colorado, have considered legislation to ban hunting and trapping bobcats. California prohibited hunts outright in 2019, and Iowa last year dropped plans to expand hunting due to resident opposition.
Native to wooded areas throughout the United States, bobcats were endangered in some Midwestern states until the past 15 years. But changes in farming practices and a return of wooded areas led U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services researchers in 2010 to conclude that “populations are much higher than previously suggested.”
Opposition to hunts is fueled because the cats are hunted for their pelts and mostly stick to themselves, eating squirrels and avoiding humans.
Proponents counter that they’re so hard to hunt and trap, any expansion won’t hurt their population. Bobcats are stealthy, nocturnal and notoriously elusive: One Michigan survey found that only 365 of 2,810 people who hunted bobcats in northern Michigan bagged one.
Bump said the DNR has not gotten pushback but the agency only surveyed trappers.
“There are some (people) that just, in general, are not supportive or are wary of increases and harvest of any species,” Bump said.
DNR’s proposed bobcat hunting and trapping changes
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission meets at 9 a.m. Feb. 10 to consider changes to the bobcat season in Michigan. The meeting is at the Lansing Community College West Campus Room 119.
Proposed changes include:
An 11-day hunting season from Dec. 10 to Dec. 20 and a trapping season from Jan. 1, 2023, to Jan. 11, 2023, with a one-bobcat per season bag limit, in the following southern Lower Peninsula counties: Muskegon, Montcalm, Gratiot, Saginaw, Ottawa, Kent, Ionia, Clinton and Shiawassee.
The northern Lower Peninsula would have a trapping season from Dec. 10 to Dec. 29 and a hunting season from Jan. 1, 2023, to Jan. 20, 2023. The bag limit would be one per season.
The Upper Peninsula would have a trapping season from Dec. 1 to Feb. 1, 2023, and a hunting season from Jan.y 1, 2023, to March 1, 2023. The bag limit is one per season unless the hunter or trapper receives a second license to catch another bobcat on private property.
The Department of Natural Resources proposes expanding the current 11-day hunting and trapping season in the northern Lower Peninsula to 20 days with two full weekends — and creating an 11-day season in the nine southern counties: Muskegon, Montcalm, Gratiot, Saginaw, Ottawa, Kent, Ionia, Clinton and Shiawassee.
The limit would be one bobcat per hunter or trapper in the Lower Peninsula. Hunters and trappers can kill two bobcats in the Upper Peninsula so long as one is caught on private property.
“With a new expansion, we try to be very conservative with season length and harvest until we look at the impacts of the season in that area,” Bump said.
The Natural Resources Commission, the agency that considers regulations for the DNR, will consider the proposal and take public comment at its Feb. 10 meeting in Lansing.
February 1, 2022
Zahra Ahmad
Michigan Environment Watch
Rural Michigan, Upper Peninsula
Bridge-Michigan