ESPN  

Charleston man pays huge penalties for importing deer into S.C.
James Schaffer of Charleston has paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars after he pleaded guilty to illegally importing 54 deer in to South Carolina back in 2005.

Our state prohibits the importation of deer largely out of fear of disease transmission, particularly Chronic Wasting Disease.
Read complete story from The Digital

Smith & Wesson Q3 profit beats Street view
U.S. firearms maker Smith & Wesson Holdings Corp reported a higher-than-expected third-quarter profit, helped by a double-digit growth in the sales of handguns and tactical rifles, sending its shares up 10 percent.
Read complete story from Reuters

Sea lion euthanized at Oregon's Bonneville Dam
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says a sea lion trapped below Bonneville Dam is the first to die in a campaign to protect the salmon the animals feed on.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

7M pounds of debris collected in world's waterways
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Nearly seven million pounds of debris was collected from waterways and shorelines around the world during a single day last year, illustrating that careless people are discarding trash just about everywhere, with much of it eventually finding an aquatic home, according to a report released Tuesday.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Finger was nothing to man whose dog was choking
Robert Larsen is no tough guy, his son said. But when his choking dog bit off part of his finger, he didn't stop. He just rushed the dog to the first veterinarian he could find.
Read complete story from the Omaha World-Herald

Winning snapper breaks tournament record
Northland men have taken first, second and third prize at this year's Lion Red Snapper Classic. Rama Waipouri of Hikurangi won the five-day tournament with a 9.57kg snapper caught in a metre of water near Waipapakauri ramp on Thursday.
Read complete story from Northern News

Diver grapples with 12-foot tiger shark
Craig Clasen went head to head with the aggressive predator, shooting it seven times with a spear gun, when it was about to attack another fisherman.
Read complete story from the Telegraph.co.uk

Man calls police to report moose on roof
MINOT, N.D. — It may have looked like Christmas outside, but Ward Nostdahl says it wasn't reindeer he heard clomping on his roof. Nostdahl called police to report a moose on the roof of his hillside home northwest of Minot.
Read complete story from the Herald News Online

Wild horses tame prison inmates
CANON CITY, Colo. — It takes convict John Peterson four months of hard work to turn a wild, aggressive mustang into a saddle-trained horse. Mustangs have returned the favor for Peterson, who's serving time for burglary at a Colorado state prison outside Canon City.
Read complete story from the Oakland Tribune

House defeats wilderness bill
The House Wednesday defeated a bill to set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness. Majority Democrats agreed to amend the bill to clarify that it wouldn't impose new restrictions on hunting, fishing or trapping on federal land. The amendment was sought by the National Rifle Association.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Citations for illegal fishing rise
As police tell it, waterman Dan Dierker was out on the Eastern Shore's Chester River before dawn, illegally trying to catch rockfish. When a Maryland Natural Resources officer boarded his boat that December morning, he cut loose an illegal gill net, police said.
Read complete story from the Washington Post

Deer-saving couple continue to get visits
JONES, Mich. — As the owner-operators of an animal rescue shelter, George Nolan Sr. and his wife, Kathleen, have seen a number of deer come and go. Never, however, have they seen one like Baby.
Read complete story from the Chicago Tribune

Boy charged with murder was avid hunter
WAMPUM, Pa. — Hunting is a way of life in the rural area where 11-year-old Jordan Brown regularly practiced target shooting with his 20-gauge, youth model shotgun.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Belligerant chimp proves animals make plans
STOCKHOLM — A canny chimpanzee who calmly collected a stash of rocks and then hurled them at zoo visitors in fits of rage has confirmed that apes can plan ahead just like humans, a Swedish study said Monday. Santino the chimpanzee's anti-social behavior stunned both visitors and keepers at the Furuvik Zoo but fascinated researchers because it was so carefully prepared.
Read complete story from the PressDemocrat.com

Three accused of robbery by hotdog
Three Somerset County men were arrested for taking eight firearms from a Bridgewater home during a burglary, guns they were able to steal by using hotdogs to distract the resident's pet, authorities said today.
Read complete story from nj.com

Game Board allows bear snares
The Alaska Board of Game has approved new tactics — including the use of snares for trapping and helicopters for access — to catch and kill bears as part of the state's politically charged predator control program.
Read complete story from the Anchorage Daily News

Colo. interstate shuts to shoo animals
EAGLE, Colo. — A seven-mile stretch of a busy mountain interstate in Colorado was closed for more than an hour so wayward elk and deer could be herded off the highway median.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

New species of bamboo coral identified off Hawaii
HONOLULU — Scientists have identified seven new species of bamboo coral discovered thousands of feet below the ocean's surface, officials said Thursday.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Lake record spotted bass caught from Lake Purdy
Bo Crawford of Alabaster, Ala. holds the new lake record after catching a 4 pound, 14-ounce spotted bass from Lake Purdy near Birmingham. The fish, weighed on certified scales, was verified by Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) Fisheries Biologist Graves Lovell. It measured over 21 inches in length, with a girth of nearly 14 inches.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Feds OK gray wolves' removal from endangered list
BILLINGS, Mont. — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday he was upholding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to remove gray wolves from the federal endangered list in the Northern Rockies and the western Great Lakes.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Judge faults gov't plan to save Pacific NW salmon
PORTLAND, Ore. — The federal agency in charge of saving salmon in the Columbia River Basin from extinction should have a plan in place to remove dams on the lower Snake River if necessary, a federal judge said Friday.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Gun rights and voting rights clash in DC
WASHINGTON — The nation's capital city faces a dilemma: To obtain long-denied voting rights in Congress, the District of Columbia may have to accept looser gun laws that city officials say will make the streets more dangerous.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Massive mako shark put up quite a fight
It was around 7 o'clock Mardi Gras night when Eric Newman, 30 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico with his Blue Runner Fishing Team, had one of those "Jaws" moments.
Read complete story from The Times-Picayune

Man faces poaching, drug charges
Thanks to a poaching tip, a 35-year-old Rowan County man could face 24 years behind bars and $48,000 in fines if found guilty of the illegal killing of 48 deer.
Read complete story from the Morehead News

Horses first domesticated 5,000 years ago
WASHINGTON — Medieval knights, the warriors of Saladin, Roy Rogers and fans lining racetracks around the world all owe a debt to the Botai culture, residents of Central Asia who domesticated horses more than 5,000 years ago.
Read complete story from the Associated Press