Page 5 - SDWF Out of Doors

Out of Doors 5 May - July 2023
and methods to put more land under protection.
“Everyone that has an interest in wildlife or any natural resources, we
need to remember that it’s ours and we need to protect it,” she said. “For
the federation, we personally take it as a responsibility to protect the
natural resources because they are a public trust.”
Mountain lions, and the hunt, hot topics in S.D.
Mountain lions have a long and storied history in South Dakota, and the
hunting season remains a controversial program for many.
The mountain lion population was strong in the 1800s but rapidly
declined amid unregulated hunting in the early 1900s to the point where
the animal was listed as a state threatened and protected species from
1978 to 2003. A hunting season was approved in 2005 and has been in
place since.
Due to difficulty of pursuit and sometimes challenging weather (light
snow is best for tracking and sighting), hunters have had a hard time
reaching the state’s annual quota of 60 total lions or 40 females killed.
The Black Hills season runs from December to April, and prairie hunting
is allowed year-round. Hunters are allowed to use dogs in the hunt in
Custer State Park and on some other public lands.
Big male mountain lion topped 150 pounds
About 3,000 to 4,000 lion licenses are sold each year, and 2011-2012
was the last time the quota was reached, with 73 animals taken in the
Black Hills and Custer State Park.
In recent years, the kill total has ranged from a low of 21 in 2018-2019 to
a recent high of 51 total in 2019-2020. So far in 2023, 44 lions have been
killed, the largest a 153-pound male estimated to be 7½ years old taken
in January in Pennington County.
A 2021 proposal to expand use of hounds to hunt on some public lands
outside Custer State Park was opposed by numerous residents who wrote
to the GFP before the commission voted in favor. Their comments shone
a light on the emotions surrounding the lion hunt overall in South Dakota.
Some argued that the rules could decimate the state’s population of
roughly 300 lions, while others decried the lion hunt as existing only to
provide hunters with a trophy.
“I am very opposed to a pointless mountain lion season,” Katie Gilmore
of Harrisburg wrote. “Shooting animals for food serves a purpose, trophy
hunting does not.”
Others were opposed to the use of dogs in lion hunting, which often
culminates in a lion being flushed up a tree where it can be shot.
“It is bad enough we have a hunting season on mountain lions when there
is no need for one, but to allow the use of hounds is truly despicable,”
wrote Teresa Hicks of Rapid City. “This isn’t hunting. It’s cruel and
unsportsmanlike.”
But the GFP and some wildlife groups support the hunt as an important
way to manage the state’s lion population. The season continues “as
a management tool to manage mountain lion populations at a desired
level,” according to the GFP website.
Deer population may influence interactions
In addition to habitat loss, the declining deer population in the Black
Hills may be another reason mountain lions are migrating into residential
areas, according to Mayes with the South Dakota Wildlife Federation,
who has become an animal behavior expert.
Deer populations — a primary food source for mountain lions — have
declined slightly due to animal losses caused by the emergence of
chronic wasting disease and epizootic hemorrhagic disease, a viral
illness spread by midge flies, Mayes said.
One metric of deer population is the annual harvest by hunters, which
reached a low of roughly 20,000 per year in the late 1970s, rebounded to
nearly 100,000 a year in 2010 and recently has hovered closer to 50,000
annually.
Along with population changes, more deer have taken up full-time
residence in South Dakota cities. That has caused more than 300 car-
deer crashes and $1 million in property damage a year in Rapid City, said
Mayes, who serves on the Rapid City wildlife management board.
In recent years, Mayes said, more deer have become part of established
herds that are born, live and die entirely inside city limits. That not only
dramatically increases the likelihood of animal interactions with humans
but theoretically could attract more lions into buffer lands in and outside
the urban area.
The high population of deer in Rapid City has led to six years of an
annual culling by city sharpshooters, who removed 237 deer in January
and February 2023, according to city records.
A devastating loss of family’s fowl
Hansen, the Spearfish area resident, said the bear that tore up her yard
and killed her fowl entered her property sometime during the daylight
hours of Mother’s Day while she and her sons were off fishing.
She keeps animal feed and garbage in metal containers with strong lids
to reduce enticements for wild animal visits, but she has experienced a
mountain lion on her deck and other close calls with coyotes and other
critters.
The bear climbed a wood pile and broke through a fence before clawing
and tearing up her animal houses, killing numerous farm fowl but also a
“silly turkey” that followed her around, pecked at windows to get attention
and had become somewhat of a pet.
“I walked out there, and it was pretty devastating. There were dead
animals and animal parts everywhere,” she said. “The bear had torn off a
panel attached with deck screws, and he tore off wood and wire.”
The bear scat found on her property contained corn and egg shells,
which Hansen said likely came from attacks the bear reportedly made on
her neighbors’ properties.
Seeking greater information sharing
Hansen said the bear attack and recent mountain lion sightings around
Spearfish have heightened her concerns to where she tries not to do
chores after dark and traverse her property with a dog or other person
present.
“I’ve seen more and more mountain lions in the past year and more and
more coyotes,” she said. “They say there’s never been a mountain lion
attack in South Dakota. But there’s also never been a bear killing this many
animals, so maybe anything is possible, and it’s just a matter of time.”
Hansen said she has shared her bear story with neighbors so they are
aware. She added that she felt like GFP officials have not done enough
to inform the public about wild animal encounters on her property and in
other areas of South Dakota. “I think we need to know so people can be
prepared,” she said.
Risk can be mitigated, not eliminated
Mayes, who has seen mountain lion tracks at his home about a mile from
Monument Hospital in Rapid City, said wild animals will adapt to their
surroundings fairly quickly and do what they must to survive, even if it
means traipsing into areas populated by humans.
“They’re adaptable, they know where the food is, and with them it’s all
about survival,” he said.
Mayes said that regardless of the species, people need to realize that
animal encounters are always possible, and that some basic precautions
can reduce the risk of a negative interaction.
He urged people not to feed wildlife, to keep animal feed and household
garbage safely secured, and to drive slower and be more aware of
potential animal movement at dusk, overnight and dawn.
“We have to make peace with the fact that we’re going to interact. And
we have to know that you can do things to mitigate that, but you can’t
eliminate it,” he said.