Turtle’s appearance in Nebraska Panhandle leaves experts scratching their heads - via Herp Digest

By David Hendee / World-Herald staff writer

GERING, Neb. Jun 23, 2017 The discovery in Scotts Bluff County of a species of turtle whose western range was thought to be limited to the Nebraska Sand Hills has the state’s turtle world a bit abuzz.

Dr. Dennis Ferraro, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln specialist in the world’s amphibians, turtles and reptiles, plans to travel to Gering sometime next week to take samples of the turtle’s toenails for testing to determine the region where it has been living during the last year or two.

The clippings will be analyzed for their stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes, which will help Ferraro match the turtle to bodies of water where it had been living and feeding. Rainwater has different chemical characteristics across Nebraska.

“This will help us learn if the turtle was transported to Scotts Bluff County or slowly moved away and has been living there,’’ Ferraro said.

Blanding’s turtles are found in Keith County, at least 100 miles down the North Platte River from where it was found in Scotts Bluff County. It would be the first of its species known to exist in the state’s Panhandle, Ferraro said.

“It’s three counties west of where it’s been found before,’’ he said.

The mature Blanding’s turtle was found by Patrick Closson of Gering and his son Max, 17, alongside Nebraska Highway 26 between Scottsbluff and Mitchell last week. The area is near irrigation canals and the North Platte River.

The Clossons stopped and picked up the turtle to prevent it from becoming roadkill and took it home.

Mary Ann Closson, who is accustomed to her husband and sons showing up with critters they find on fishing trips or other outings — she once hosted a large snapping turtle in the bottom of a 55-gallon barrel — said she had never seen a turtle like the hitchhiker that appeared at her door.

The turtle’s shell is a high dome surrounded by yellow spots.

“This turtle isn’t from here,’’ Closson said.

She took to the Internet and identified her guest as a Blanding’s turtle, and she learned that it is considered endangered throughout much of its range east and west of the Great Lakes and in Canada. It is common to abundant in the Sand Hills but still listed as a Tier 1 species, meaning it has the highest state protection.

Closson contacted Amanda Filipi, an outdoor education specialist at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s Wildcat Hills Nature Center south of Gering. Filipi took in the turtle Monday and contacted her former mentor, Ferraro.

Filipi said the turtle appears to be always smiling. She introduced the turtle to Nebraska Game and Parks commissioners meeting in Gering and at the nature center this week.

Ferraro said it would be a big deal if studies show that the species’ range is moving west.

“If it’s just one that wanders, it doesn’t tell us much,’’ he said.

Ferraro said if the laboratory analysis indicates the turtle has been in Scotts Bluff County for a long time, researchers would scour the county’s wetlands for others.

“If we can find out where it’s from, we’ll get it back there,’’ he said.

Otherwise, the turtle could become an animal ambassador at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center.

Ferraro said it’s a “too common’’ occurrence to hear reports of people picking up a turtle from Nebraska Highway 2 in the Sand Hills and taking it home to their yard somewhere far away, only to have it wander off to be “discovered’’ by someone who contacts him.

“If that’s what happened here, it’s not a big deal,’’ he said. “It’s a mystery.’’

Bionic dog can walk again after being fitted with prosthetics

By Jimmy Nsubuga

A dog can walk again after he was fitted with prosthetics following frost bite injuries that cost him his paws. 

Naki’o, from Nebraska, US, also lost part of his tail when he was abandoned in a cellar as a puppy. 

The mixed-breed had grown up unable to play with other dogs and could only move by shuffling on his belly. 

But now Naki’o is able to run, swim and jump on his prosthetic limbs, which were fitted thanks to the help of his owner, veterinarian assistant Christie Pace. 

‘I have a soft spot for rescue animals in general. I was looking for something different, unique,’ she said. 

‘I wanted to make more of a difference than a regular dog. I knew I could help him out.’ 

Pace put together a fundraiser for the dog, which initially raised enough money for two back leg prosthetics that cost between £600 and £2000. 

Cotninued: http://metro.co.uk/2013/04/27/dog-made-to-walk-again-after-he-is-fitted-with-prosthetics-3668933/

Dog gets around with four bionic paws

Naki'o is the world's first dog to be fitted with a complete set of bionic paws. They work naturally to allow him to run, jump and play like any other dog. Naki'o lost his paws to frostbite as a puppy after he was abandoned in the Nebraska winter by his owners. He was adopted by vet technician Christie Tomlinson. As he grew, Naki'o had difficulty getting around on his stubs, resorting to crawling on his stomach. So last year Tomlinson decided to get him prosthetics. Denver's Orthopets created two for the dog, and after seeing how well he did with them, made another two for free. It's really amazing to see how he jumps and moves around with his new feet!






http://www.dogheirs.com/elleng/posts/892-dog-gets-around-with-four-bionic-paws

Big cats roam through Nebraska (via Paul Cropper)

David Hendee
Sports
Big cats roam through the state
752 words
18 April 2010
Omaha World-Herald
Iowa;Nebraska;Sunrise
07C
English
© 2010 Omaha World-Herald. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Nine of the 12 confirmed observations of mountain lions in Nebraska since about Thanksgiving were where wildlife biologists expected to see them -- in the rocky canyons and hills of the Pine Ridge. Where the three others popped up didn't surprise Sam Wilson, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's mountain lion expert.

The trio of observations came from Custer, Dawson, Buffalo and Thomas counties in central Nebraska.
Wilson said the December observations of big cat tracks in Custer, Dawson and Buffalo counties possibly were of the same animal. The tracks were discovered on consecutive days and about 18 miles apart, within the distance a cougar can cover in that time period.

"We know we have a mountain lion population in the Pine Ridge, but people can see one anywhere,'' Wilson said. "It's complicated.'' A recent World-Herald story featuring a trail camera photograph by Tyler Hunter of Chadron of two cougar kittens near Rushville reinforced the evidence that Nebraska has a resident population of mountain lions for the first time since the late 1800s.

Wilson said it's important for people to understand that 79 of the state's 99 confirmed observations of cougars since 1991 -- a few others were pending laboratory tests of scat and hair last week -- were from the Pine Ridge and Wildcat Hills areas of western Nebraska. Sightings outside this area are likely young males passing through to points unknown.

Radio collars on mountain lions from South Dakota's Black Hills indicate how far a footloose cougar can roam. One Black Hills cat was killed by a train in Oklahoma. Another was shot in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
"There's some good chance that the mountain lion you see across the road at your farm in eastern Nebraska is a young male,'' Wilson said. "A month later it could be in Missouri or Arkansas or anywhere. They're able to cover that much land.''

Dave Kaslon of Ord set out a motion-sensitive trail camera after discovering possible mountain lion tracks on the gravel road near his central Nebraska house just south of town two weeks ago. Kaslon said his wife, Diane, returned from a walk about 5 p.m. April 3 and mentioned big tracks in the roadside gravel. The couple took a pickup truck to their north gate and then walked 50 yards north toward Ord, which is about a quarter-mile away.
That's where tracks came out of a ditch and continued about a half-mile south into the hills and canyons overlooking the town and the North Loup River.

The couple called Ord police officers, who measured the deep track impressions and made photos.
Cougar tracks are 3 to 4 1/4 inches long and 3 1/4 to 4 3/4 inches wide. They are significantly larger than bobcat tracks and distinctly different than coyote or domestic dog tracks. A cougar's heel pad, relative to the size of the entire track, is large. "It's a little concerning to people, but I think these cats have been around a while,'' Kaslon said.

Last spring, he said, his horses stayed close to the barn for three weeks while the grass was turning green. Kaslon suspects the horses knew a cougar was nearby. He said a neighbor five miles away saw the mountain lion that killed about 40 chickens on a farm last fall. Ord police officers chased about a dozen deer from the courthouse lawn early one morning nearly three weeks ago. Kaslon said he wonders if the deer were spooked into town by a cougar.

The Game and Parks standard for confirming a cougar sighting is straightforward. If there is evidence of a mountain lion, it is confirmed. When there is not tangible evidence, there is no confirmation. Evidence includes hair, tracks, scat, a deer carcass with mountain lion markings, blood tested for DNA, a cat carcass or a photo.
As a wildlife biologist, Wilson said, it's rewarding to see a native species return to Nebraska, but he understands the cats walk a fine line.

"These big predators,'' he said, "they're here only by the grace of people accepting them.''

Contact the writer:
444-1127, david.hendee@owh.com
B&W Photo/1 Seventy-nine of the state's 99 confirmed observations of cougars since 1991 -- a few others were pending lab tests of scat and hair last week -- were from the Pine Ridge and Wildcat Hills areas.
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