LOST:

DOG: Husky/Akita-mix lost from Algodones July 30. "Akeela" is a loveable 2-1/2 year old female who loves to play with other dogs. (See photo: above) #3641

CAT: Tabby cat, female lost from Ranchos de Placitas on July 31. "Tora" is a brown, grey & black tabby lost from near Juniper Rd & Cholla Lane.  (See photo: above) #3643

DOG: Great Dane lost from just west of the Village of Placitas (east of the Overlook) on August 17. Male, blue, about 2 years old, 130 lbs. #3653

FOUND:

CAT: White kitten, 3-4 months old found off Tunnel Springs Rd in Placitas on July 24. Sweet cat. #3640

DOG: Chihuahua, white, brown & dark brown found near the end of Camino de las Huertas (about 3 miles north of the Village of Placitas) on August 5. Female. #3647.

DOG: Blue Heeler, female, found off the north frontage road of I-25 in far west Placitas area on August 5. #3648

DOG: Heeler, small male found off Tunnel Springs Rd in Placitas (Quail Meadow Rd) on August 15. No collar or tags. #3652

SEEN:

—“Zeke” by Jess Kozel

—“I’m a Bride,” by Mary Carter

—“Chaco,” by Cheri Koinis

—“The Door is Locked!” by Gary Priester

Vyga Biskis of La Mesa in Placitas followed the progress of the nesting and hatching of two roadrunner chicks in a juniper next to their driveway.

Honey, they stole the bees!

–Barb Belknap

On August 3, three large bee hives, teeming with bees and loaded with honey, were stolen from the owner’s property at Williams and Lassiter in Estancia. The owner’s daughter, Ashely, and her husband, Pete, had been taking care of the bees for Ashley’s father, who was away from his home.

“We had been bringing the bees sugar water to help them until the flowers really got blooming and found that they were gone,” Ashley told the Signpost. “The thieves must have come in the middle of the night because that’s the only time you can transport bees (while they’re “sleeping”).

The entire bee colony resided in the three hives: a white stack with four boxes, a white stack with two boxes, and a brown stack with two boxes. A one-hundred-dollar reward is being offered for return of the bees, no questions asked: 505-720-0765 or 505-610-0426.

People’s forum on public lands trapping

—Wendy Keefover

On Sept 14 from 5:30 to 8:30 at the Wool Warehouse, 516 First Street, the People’s Forum on Trapping is an opportunity for the entire New Mexican public to add their voice to the debate over public lands trapping in New Mexico. The event will feature a citizen panel, which will listen to the broad public, and educational materials from TrapFreeNM.org. Film crews will record this public hearing.

This summer, New Mexicans generated over 12,000 comments to the Department of Game and Fish that requested a trap ban on public lands. Yet, the New Mexico Game Commission ignored this appeal. On July 21, it expanded trapping across New Mexico, and even lifted the trapping closure in the range of the Mexican wolf.

Since 2002, fifteen Mexican wolves have been caught in non-governmental traps. Two have died. Five more sustained injuries, while three required amputation surgeries (two wolves had entire limbs removed). In the wild, lobos number less than sixty individuals. Yet, over twenty percent of that number have been trapped.

In the last decade, New Mexico supplied over 23,000 bobcat pelts to the world’s fur markets and unknown numbers of foxes, weasels, and other species because they go uncounted by Game and Fish.

Traps can be placed as close as 25 yards from any trail with no warnings in New Mexico. As a result, many people and pets have had negative injurious encounters. Dogs have lost limbs from trap injuries, and people have been injured while helping their dogs.

People, pets, and wildlife were shut out from Game Commission’s recent decision to expand trapping.

Permits now available to shoot Sandhill cranes

The Department of Game and Fish is accepting applications for youth waterfowl hunts in the Bernardo Waterfowl Area, south of Belen, and for Sandhill Crane hunts in various areas around the state.

More than two hundred hunts at Bernardo are available to youths under eighteen years of age who have successfully completed an approved hunter education course. Hundreds of special Sandhill Crane permits are available to hunters of all ages.

Applications can be made online at www.wildlife.state.nm.us or by regular mail, using Form 2011. Online applications must be received by 5:00 p.m., September 14. Paper applications must be postmarked on, or before, September 14.

The Department also is accepting applications for light goose hunts at Bernardo and for pheasant hunts at the Casa Colorada, Seven Rivers, and W.S. Huey wildlife areas. Application deadline is November 2 for those hunts.

For more information about waterfowl and small game hunting in New Mexico, see the small-game rules and information booklet, available online at www.wildlife.state.nm.us and also at licensed vendors and department offices statewide.