The Neebish Island News

If you are planning new plantings or landscaping this season please consider native plants in order to preserve the natural Neebish Island florae and the fauna that depend on them.

See:
AbMI - Consider Planting Michigan Native Plants

LTC - Attracting Butterflies with Native Michigan Plants

Invasive Plant Species in Northern Michigan

Labels: gardening, invasive species, wildlife

Even though I heard a story in the late 80's of a grazing moose spotted in one of Neebish Island's shallow bays I was quite surprised when I found moose tracks last year. I searched for more over Memorial Day weekend but only found tracks on the beach from a single coyote (sorry, didn't have a camera with me).

The New York Times reports on the return of the moose to the Adirondacks - Moose Gain Ground but Keep a Low Profile

And as exciting as seeing moose is, imagine the return of bison!
Bison can thrive again, study says

Labels: wildlife

Watching wolves, moose and heat on Michigan island

Labels: wildlife

FreeP - Cougar country: tracks hint at presence in Delta County

It is only a matter of time until cougars journey into the Neebish Island area. Via the Cheboygan Daily Tribune - DNR gives advice if cougar spotted

- Stop, stand tall and do not run. Pick up small children. Do not run. A cougar's instinct is to chase.

- Do not approach the animal.

- Try to appear larger than the cougar. Never take your eyes off the animal or turn your back. Do not crouch down or try to hide.

- If the animal displays aggressive behavior, shout, wave your arms and throw rocks. The idea is to convince the cougar that you are not prey, but a potential danger.

- If the cougar attacks, fight back aggressively and try to stay on your feet. Cougars have been driven away by people who have fought back.

Savethecougar.org has the cougar track pictures from Delta County: http://www.savethecougar.org/Michigan-cougar-tracks-3-12-2008/

Labels: cougar, wildlife

IHT - In aid of a bird, some inconveniences for people

I have not been able to confirm it yet, but I think I have seen Piping Plovers on Neebish Island. My goal for next year is to get a picture of one. Just another reason to keep your ATV off the shoreline.

US Fish and Wildlife Piping Plover Fact Sheet

Labels: birds, wildlife

Fascinating story at the NY Times today - Off Endangered List, but What Animal Is It Now?

...the wolf boomed in population to 4,000 in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin today, up from just several hundred in northern Minnesota in 1974.

But the victory celebration was premature, according to two evolutionary biologists, Jennifer A. Leonard of Uppsala University in Sweden and Robert K. Wayne of the University of California, Los Angeles. The historic Great Lakes wolf did not return intact from the edge of oblivion. Instead, the scientists report in the online edition of the journal Biology Letters, it hybridized with gray wolves moving in from Canada, coyotes from the south and west and the hybrids born of that mixing.
...
“What’s new in this paper,” he said, “is that they found no evidence of hybridization with coyotes in the historic samples — and no pure historic wolves in the current samples.”

Labels: history, wildlife, wolves

Outlook is good for small-game hunters

The Neebish Island region has always been a popular hunting area. Looks like the upcoming season is promising.

Labels: hunting, wildlife

Just south of Neebish Island, across Munuscong Bay, lies Gogomain Swamp. An area that harks back to how the eastern U.P. used to be.

Perfect cougar habitat.

View Larger Map
The Soo Evening News had the first report. Mystery cat prowls Gogomain Swamp

I e-mailed the editor asking to be sent the photographic evidence but never got a reply.

This is what a trail-cam picture might look like:

This is NOT the Gogomain Swamp cougar trail-cam photograph. Rather, this is a supposed trail cam picture from near Grand Rapids, MN However, in a forum posting here the directory the image was uploaded to is 2004-5; so this may be a hoax.

Getting back to our neck of the woods... Unfortunately, in the original Soo Evening News article Mr. Inglis, the gentleman who got the trail-cam picture, makes the uninformed comment that he'd rather see a cougar than a wolf "out there". This is an uninformed comment because a cougar is a much more dangerous animal than a wolf. Although some people are prone to repeating the myth that there's never been a case of a healthy wolf attacking a human in North America; it happens, although it is extremely rare - so rare in fact that it is big news when it occurs -Wolf attack a tragic, cautionary tale

On the other hand, cougars are known to attack, kill, and eat people.

For example, [in California since 1986] there has been an average of one attack on a hiker, jogger, or camper a year -- some fatal.

You're much safer if you run into a wolf in the Neebish Island woods rather than a cougar (or a mama bear or a moose with a calf). Out of those four animals your best chance of getting away uninjured is a wolf encounter.

Turns out however that the cat in Gogomain Swamp is just an odd looking bobcat - Mystery cat identified: Captured image is that of a bobcat, not a mountain lion

In other news, I can verify that there is a moose on Neebish Island. I've heard rumors like this before but in August was able to take pictures of Moose tracks (not the ice cream) on the beach.


Favorite foods of moose include birch, willow, and aspen trees. Ironically the low water levels mean more of these trees are sprouting up and this may be drawing moose.

Labels: wildlife