# All this and a paycheck too!



## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 11, 2018)

Went out with the biologists the other day and helped band doves. This was pretty cool to do. This is me releasing one after banding. I have a video but can't put it on here but here's a picture.

Reactions: Like 3 | Thank You! 1 | Way Cool 11


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## Wildthings (Aug 11, 2018)

That is totally cool Eric. Couple questions

How do they capture them?
Who's blood is that?


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 11, 2018)

Corn is put out every morning for a week in an area where we have permission and they get used to coming. We get there before daylight and put more corn out and spread a little out around. Set the traps on top of the corn. The trap has openings they can walk in but can't get back out. We set back a little ways and when we get several in the traps, we go up and throw blankets on top so they will get calm. Traps have an opening on top to reach in and get the dove. We band them, figure the stage of molt they are in, figure male/female and adult/juvenile and release. The blood is from where when we go up, they try to fly and catch a wing and causes a slight place on some of them, not many. Only had 2 of 16 do it. They are fine.

Reactions: Like 3 | Great Post 1 | Way Cool 2


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## Tony (Aug 11, 2018)

That's cool man! When I was growing up we raised quail, turkeys, ducks, all manner of animals. Glad to see you're taking care of them! Tony

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 11, 2018)

Our grouse population has decreased over the years significantly. I am starting to see more in certain areas but we have NO quail anymore. National Forest doesn't clear cut anymore and farmers plant right up to the woods. Not good for quail. No habitat anymore.

Reactions: Sincere 1


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## rocky1 (Aug 12, 2018)

Easiest way to post the video Eric is to load it to You-Tube and link it back here. Unless Marc has some magical means of fixing that otherwise on-site. I've never had any luck loading them to the website.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Lou Currier (Aug 12, 2018)

Darn fish cops have all the fun

Reactions: Funny 3


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 12, 2018)

It was the same.as.the picture except the dove flying off in the sunrise. No big deal

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## SENC (Aug 12, 2018)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> Our grouse population has decreased over the years significantly. I am starting to see more in certain areas but we have NO quail anymore. National Forest doesn't clear cut anymore and farmers plant right up to the woods. Not good for quail. No habitat anymore.


Went through the same in SE NC about 20 years ago. That plus people stopped burning their woods and an explosion of ferile cats. We're finally seeing populations begin to return as intentional management including controlled burns and feed plots are helping. Hopefully the trend will continue.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## woodtickgreg (Aug 12, 2018)

There's more pheasant in downtown Detroit now that there is out in the country. Vacant lots with uncut grass is great habitat for them. A shop I used to go to for work was surrounded by these city blocks of vacant land because all the homes where burned out, abandoned, and then bulldozed and then overgrown with grass. Great habitat for pheasant, you could hear them cackling all the time, see them run across the roads to get from one field to the next.

Reactions: Like 3


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## Lou Currier (Aug 12, 2018)

And they’re safe from hunting pressures

Reactions: Agree 2


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## barry richardson (Aug 13, 2018)

Very cool! looks different than the doves around here, is it a mourning dove? That's a cool job you got man, My brother just retired from the Missouri Conservation Dept. The last few years during deer season he has had to remove the livers and lymph nodes on thousands of deers as they were checked in to get data on CWD (chronic wasting disease) that has afflicted deer around there for the last few years. your job looks like a lot more fun. said he has seen so many deer guts that he can't stomach venison anymore lol....

Reactions: Sincere 2


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 13, 2018)

It is a juvenile mourning dove. We only have a couple of counties with CWD positive deer. Trying to keep it there but we check deer on a lot of counties. Sucks that there isn't a vaccine or cure for it.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 13, 2018)

The tan border on the tips is how you tell the juveniles mostly


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## CWS (Aug 13, 2018)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> It was the same.as.the picture except the dove flying off in the sunrise. No big deal


Have you ever been involved in tagging eaglets the one I helped with when I worked soil and water were kinda smelly same thing when tagging geese they are messy


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 13, 2018)

No I haven't. Had to catch a few eagles and hawks. I don't like geese. They are some nasty things. Our problem around here are black bears. The majority of problems are caused by people.


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## Lou Currier (Aug 13, 2018)

NOT PEOPLE  Say it isn’t so

Reactions: Funny 2


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## Lou Currier (Aug 13, 2018)




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## FLQuacker (Aug 14, 2018)

Hhmmm...thanks for the tip Eric. Dove hunting was a little off last year, we'll try corn, dang Milo was getn expensive any way


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 14, 2018)

We can't bait here to hunt over. We can feed up until August 31. Everything has to be up by then and then you can put it back out the first Sunday in January.


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## FLQuacker (Aug 14, 2018)

(Mental note to self)

Florida wildlife Officers and Virginia wildlife Officers, appear to have the same inclination to humor.

That's based on now having experienced both :)

Seriously though, you guys get opportunities to get involved in the coolest stuff. Our neighbor in N Fl, led archeologists all over the Waccissa river basin studying and mapping Indian sites...I mean the way old tribes, Prehistoric.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Wildthings (Aug 14, 2018)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> We can't bait here to hunt over. We can feed up until August 31. Everything has to be up by then and then you can put it back out the first Sunday in January.


Same here for doves - no baiting allowed but you can hunt over fields that have agriculture bait in it like sunflowers or has been harvested. I've seen people get busted hunting over bait unknowingly. They pay for a day hunt and are put out in a field by the guide. The area has been baited by the guide. The Game Wardens rush in and bust all the people hunting it. Is sucks and you have to prove your innocence to the judge.

During deer season hunting doves around the deer feeder is also illegal. DAMHIK

Reactions: Funny 1


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## ripjack13 (Aug 14, 2018)

Eric, if you upload your video to youtube you can then post that here...


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 14, 2018)

Heck I don't know how to do that. Plus it's just the picture I posted and then the dove flies off. It's only about 4 seconds. I'm technically challenged when it comes to that stuff. I used to be pretty good with computers but not anymore.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Eric Rorabaugh (Aug 17, 2018)

Got to do the coolest thing yet pertaining to my job yesterday. To give you the back story first. Back in May, a friend of mine runs a farm and has a barn that barn owls have raised in for the last 10 years. They had 4 little ones this year. One day, both parents just disappeared. We figure some guys on the neighboring farm shot them because they were seen with shotguns the day they disappeared. It's very unusual for both parents to disappear like that. Anyways, I took them to a rehabber and told her we wanted to release them back at the farm so maybe they could raise for another 10 years. I picked them up yesterday and released them last night.

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 3


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## Lou Currier (Aug 17, 2018)

That job must really suck

Reactions: Funny 1


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## woodtickgreg (Aug 17, 2018)

Very cool! The owl in flight pic is awesome.


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