Fish and Game Corner

Dead pigeons in Power County died from emaciation

Idaho Fish and Game’s Wildlife Health and Forensic Laboratory has completed its tests on some of the dead pigeons found in and near an unoccupied building in American Falls last month.

Samples taken from the birds were negative for pigeon paramyxovirus and Avian influenza, two diseases of concern. The necropsy investigations support the likely cause of deaths was due to emaciation (poor body condition).

On Oct. 25, an Idaho Fish and Game conservation officer responded to a call regarding a multitude of pigeons that were dying or already dead in and around a large vacant building in American Falls.  The officer discovered over 200 birds that were dead or having difficulty walking and flying. Several dead birds were immediately collected and submitted for disease testing.

Nonresident deer/elk tag calendar changed

Idaho Fish and Game is changing its sales date for 2025 nonresident deer and elk tags to Dec. 10. The change is intended to allow residents to conveniently buy licenses and permits in early December, ensure auto-renew transactions can be processed in a timely manner, and provide better customer service to all buyers. 

“We’ve heard from Idaho residents that it’s been a challenge to renew licenses on Dec. 1 and receive their licenses and tags in the mail before Jan. 1,” said Tara Reichert, Fish and Game’s License Operations Manager. “So, with Dec. 1 falling on a Sunday this year, and it being Thanksgiving weekend, we believe Dec. 10 will be more convenient for both our resident and nonresident customers.” 

Fish and Game will be reaching out to recent nonresident tag buyers who’ve provided email addresses to notify them that the sales date has changed to Dec. 10. The department will reach out to hunters through media and social media, and they also ask people to help spread the word of the changed dates. 

“If someone in your family, a friend, or your hunting buddies, plan to buy a nonresident tag for next year, please let them know,” Reichert said. “We want to make sure folks show up on the right day, especially if they’re traveling to Idaho to buy a tag.” 

Fish and Game sells nonresident tags for the upcoming year in December so hunters have time to buy tags and plan their hunts. Nonresident hunters are also advised that there will be new big game seasons set for 2025 in March, so hunts may not be the same in 2025 as they are in 2024. 

Wandering black bear cub relocated from Hailey to eastern Idaho

By Terry Thompson

Stories are often told about how far, and quickly, wildlife can travel. Some are almost too hard to believe. Fish and Game wildlife biologists in the Magic Valley Region now have another story to tell about the black bear cub that walked well over 120 miles in about 17 days.

This bear story starts in Carmen, Idaho, which is just north of Salmon, Idaho, where Salmon Region’s regional wildlife biologists have been dealing with a significant uptick in black bears in the area. Most of the bears have been finding attractants, such as unsecured residential garbage and pet food.

A particular black bear cub was becoming a repeat visitor to a residence where it was finding unsecured pet food, which can quickly lead to the bear becoming food conditioned. 

A food-conditioned bear is never a good thing – and can often lead to a bear being put down due to public safety concerns.

Because of its young age, local biologists determined it to be a good candidate for relocation. On Oct. 3, 2024, a regional wildlife biologist from Salmon darted and ear-tagged the cub and relocated it to Panther Creek in the Salmon National Forest.

Ear tags have a unique number that allows for future identification if biologists encounter the bear again, or a hunter harvests the bear. Knowing a bear’s history, even if it’s a small portion of its life, can be important information for wildlife biologists. 

What happened over the next 17 days is anyone’s guess. But what we do know is that the bear cub, with its small green ear tag in its right ear that was released on Oct. 3, was then observed by residents in Hailey, Idaho, the weekend of Oct. 19-20, 2024.

The distance from the release area to Hailey is estimated at over 120 miles air miles.

Throughout its trek, the bear cub had to encounter many large rivers and smaller streams, several mountain ranges, state highways and county roads and untold number of vehicles. 

The first report received by the Magic Valley Regional Office about the black bear cub came on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. Conservation officers were the first to respond to the reported sighting, finding the young bear in a residential backyard, eating apples.

Fruit trees, like unsecured garbage carts are a food attractant that can draw in and keep bears
in neighborhoods.

One local report came from a middle-school student who captured a picture of the small bear near the Wood River Middle School on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024.

Once on-scene, Fish and Game staff determined the young bear was in good physical condition and the probability of it being able to survive on its own were good, meaning it was a good candidate for relocation. 

While the young bear has shown a tendency to seek out human food sources, the hope is that it has not become fully food conditioned. 

Using a baited cage trap, staff were able to capture the yearling bear and transport it to the regional office in Jerome for relocation outside the area of the Wood River Valley, away from fruit and garbage attractants.

After being transported to the regional office in Jerome, wildlife staff were able to find a more suitable area for release in eastern Idaho. 

Wildlife biologists from the Southeast Region took possession of the bear on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, and then released the bear east of Pocatello in the Caribou National Forest.

The Magic Valley Region has been extremely busy with black bear calls coming in from the Wood River Valley. Since early August, the region has received well over 80 calls, which is merely a fraction of bear sightings over the last few months.

In 2024, Fish and Game has relocated two black bears to other areas of the state and transported one bear cub to a licensed bear rehabilitation center. No bears have been euthanized in the Wood River Valley since 2022.

Residents are reminded that to keep bears wild, all food attractants must be kept out of reach of black bears, meaning garbage secured in a garage or shed, pet food, BBQ grills, bird feeders and fruit picked from the tree or regularly picked up off the ground and disposed of properly.