Turkey Feeders at Bear Trace

Several years ago when a flock of wild turkeys showed up at the golf course one morning we were all really excited. An occasional single turkey had been seen on the golf course in the past but never a flock this size.

In an effort to try to entice them to stay and take up residency on the golf course we looked at our habitat and resources for them to thrive. The habitat of the golf course is very adequate for their survival with several movement corridors, native grass corridors, and plenty of trees to roost in for the night. The part we were missing was a good food source so we created some supplemental turkey feeders to provide them with shelled and cracked corn until we could install some food plots for them.

Urban Golf Courses Play Key Role in Managing Texas Wildlife

The Texas Park and Wildlife Department are a busy bunch. This video describes their efforts to create habitat in urban centers, including golf courses. The golf segment begins at 6 minutes in to the video, but it is all pretty interesting.

Christmas Bird Count Dec 14 - Jan 5

From December 14th through January 5th tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in Audubon's annual Christmas Bird Count. For 112 years "Citizen Scientists" have monitored local bird populations and submitted their findings to help in nation wide conservation efforts. To find the date of a Christmas Bird Count near you and/or to register for a count --> CBC Count Date Search. Your local count will occur sometime between December 14th and January 5th. If you have more than one local count, they will probably be conducted on different dates within the Christmas Bird Count season. You can pick the most convenient date, or participate in more than one count.

Want to learn more?

Learn how data from the CBC helps birds.
View results from this year's count or from previous years
Explore the CBC Photo Gallery of birds seen during counts.
Christmas Bird Count printable program overview (in PDF).
Audubon President's letter to CBC volunteers.

Fencing Out Predators in NZ

Imagine the experience of playing golf on a world class championship course, immersed in the natural beauty of a true New Zealand wildlife sanctuary. The ambitious project of the Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary has seen a $2 Million (NZ) ‘Xcluder’ fence installed and the entire course perimeter of five kilometers. The fence stands more than 2 meters tall and has been specially designed to keep out predators like rates, mice, stoats, weasels, hedgehogs, feral cats and possums.

Other initiatives include removal of blackberry and scrub from the course perimeter and the re-planting of around 25,000 native trees. Two hundred mixed color pheasant and a small herd of around 15 fallow deer and a stag are being reared on site, within a deer fenced area.

Discussions are also underway with conservation agencies regarding the eventual release of some endangered species - like kiwi and brown teal - on to the property.

NBC - Nullified Bird Calls?

You have to admire the guy who listens closely to ambient noises on golf telecasts. Is this a failed PR ploy to paint golf courses as wildlife sanctuaries? Sometimes trying to hard at the wrong thing will only hurt you.

Golf Dispute Resolution

Here at Turfhugger we like to bring to your attention other blogs that deal with the crossroads of golf course management, the environment and sustainability. One of these intersections that I rarely touch on myself is the legal aspect of allocation of resources, land disputes, environmental infractions, etc. Which is why it's a good time to introduce Turfhugger readers to Bob Harris and his insightful and amusing blog Golf Dispute Resolution. 


Rob Harris is an attorney who advises golf-related and other business clients on contractual matters and ways to minimize litigation risks. Rob’s practice includes issues pertaining to the rights and obligations that exist between owners, principals, contractors, suppliers and employees of privately held businesses. When disputes arise, Rob represents clients in litigation, arbitration and mediation proceedings. Rob also serves as an arbitrator and mediator of contractual, construction, employment and financing disputes.

Rob doesn't give legal advise through his blog, instead he reviews quirky disputes with a connection to golf. Some posts that I think Turfhuggers would like include:

• Golf Course Held Hostage
• Thar She Blows
• As The Wind Blows
• And I Thought Golf Was Bourgeois
• Not In My Backyard
• 18 Holes, River View
• Judge Rules In Battle Over Battlefield Golf Course
• Weeds Are Gone, But So Are The Trees

With Robs permission I've included here his post entitled "OK, I’ll Bite…Tell Me What Happened" from September 13th, 2011.

---

Occasionally, I have an opportunity to inform you about misfortune befalling wildlife at the hands of golfers. Today’s post brings you such news from upstate New York’s Fox Valley Club, an ironic name indeed, given the most recent animal story posted here. But I digress…

Imagine you find yourself in a tournament foursome with 69 year old Bob X, a club member. You are in the middle of the fairway assessing your upcoming approach shot, when you notice that Bob is over by the pond with what appears to be a sand wedge raised high. Since Bob is farthest from the hole, you wait for him to hit. He swings powerfully, once, twice. You come closer, just in time to see Bob lift by the tail the 22 pound snapping turtle he’s been pummelling, and swing the hapless creature against the side of the golf cart until dead.

You respond as follows (pick one):

• You ignore what happened, feeling honoured to be observing a secret club ritual.
• You assess Bob with a two stroke penalty for grounding his club in a hazard.
• When you see Bob loading the turtle meat into his trunk following the round, you call the cops.

If you guessed (3), you’re a winner. Fast forward…. The police arrived. The story is related. They are befuddled. With what, if anything, can they charge Bob? After all, the New York legislature has ordained a hunting season on snapping turtles that runs from July 15 to September 30. Unfortunately for Bob, however, he had no hunting license. And, while state law permits turtles to be killed with firearm or bow, a golf club is not a permitted weapon. So, confronted with an airtight case, Bob pleaded guilty to both charges and paid a fine. The turtle meat was taken from his freezer and was suspended from the club for thirty days.

Commenting on the event, a spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Conservation noted that the turtle’s death was “unusual and unfortunate” and “not something we see commonly.” I’ll bet.

Except for a bit of poetic license—we don’t know the specific play-by-play, or who ratted out Bob or why—this is the story as reported in the Buffalo News, and as related in this video from WIVB news.

DEC: man killed turtle with golf club: wivb.com

You can access Rob’s professional profile here and the Golf Dispute Resolution blog here.

Black Bear Education at Seymour GCC

I recently participated in a project (an effort of Jim McGarvey, Brandroom Creative, Huxtable Productions and myself) to create an environmental brochure with Seymour Golf and Country Club in Vancouver's North Shore, an urban area with a high population of Black Bears. As part of this outreach project, I contacted the NSBBS to get some bear encounter safety tips. I felt these would be good to share here on Turfhugger, thanks to Christine Miller of NSBBS.

The North Shore Black Bear Society aims to reduce human-bear encounters through education, cooperation and community support. 

The NSBBS asks that golfers remember these six steps to bear safety on the golf course:
1. Stay calm - Avoid sudden movements and loud noises.
2. Stand still - Do not run! Do not swing clubs or hit balls towards bears.
3. Speak calmly so the bear knows you are not a threat.
4. Slowly back away - Leave your clubs if they are near the bear.
5. Report the bear sighting to other golfers in the area and to the Course Marshall.
6. Report the bear sighting to the North Shore Black Bear Society at 604.990.BEAR(2327) or NorthShoreBears.com