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Photo: Young deer hunter befriended by a raccoon

By Howard B. Owens

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While hunting with her dad yesterday, Novalee Pocock, 14, from Bergen, had a close encounter of the raccoon kind. While in a wooded area, a raccoon came up to her and jumped in her lap. 

According to her mother, the raccoon cuddled right up to her to stay warm.

"She will never forget this encounter with the wildlife while hunting for deer with her dad," she said.

Submitted photo and information.

Le Roy bowhunter nabs first trophy buck

By Howard B. Owens

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Chris Merica, of Le Roy, shot this nine-pointer on the first day of the bowhunting season. His girlfriend, Jenna Read, who shared this photo, said, "He practiced so hard all summer for this exact deer! He’s been waiting quite some time for his trophy buck. I just wanted to give him a little shout-out, he earned this!"

Photo: Love birds

By Howard B. Owens

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Jason Smith shared this photo of a male cardinal feeding a female cardinal in the backyard of his Batavia home.

Photo: pigeon with a bracelet

By Howard B. Owens

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Angela Schlaggel spotted this white pigeon in the parking lot of The Salvation Army in Batavia and noticed it was wearing a bracelet. 

The pigeon had been at the location for the last two hours at the time Schlaggel sent us the picture this morning.

"It has a bracelet and isn't bothered by my presence at all so I think it may be someone's escaped pet," she said. 

Photo: A butterfly

By Howard B. Owens

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Anna Fenton shared these photos of a butterfly she found in her back yard.

Can any readers identify it?

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Photo: Pileated woodpecker in Bethany loves suet

By Howard B. Owens

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Chris Kuehl, of East Bethany, took this photo of a pileated woodpecker.

Her husband, Chuck, who submitted the photo, said and his wife have lived at their residence for 17 years and added, "We see pileated woodpeckers all the time but this is the first time one keeps coming to our suet and boy does he go through it. We live by a very large wooded area and get a very large variety of birds. Just love living here!!"

Photo: An oriole in the morning

By Howard B. Owens

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James Elmore shared this photo from Thursday morning of an oriole eating some jelly in his backyard.

Photo: Juvenile bald eagle in Stafford

By Howard B. Owens

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Judy Schildwaster submitted this photo of a juvenile bald eagle taken yesterday morning off of Route 33 in Stafford.

Photos: Happy Earth Day

By Howard B. Owens

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Photos submitted by Jason Smith, taken in his back yard in Batavia.

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Photo: Eagle in Pavilion

By Howard B. Owens

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Jeremy McClellan submitted this photo of an eagle he spotted off of Route 20 in Pavilion.

Photos: Eagles in Elba

By Howard B. Owens

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Josh Hawkins shared these photos he took earlier this week of eagles in Elba.

He wrote:

For three days in a row, multiple bald eagles fed on a roadkill deer in a field on Route 262 in Elba. These were some of the better images I was able to capture with my 300mm zoom lens. The pair in the photos are mature birds because of their bright white head and tail, but I did also observe a juvenile eagle (some white present on the head and tail, but not much) at one point and was unable to capture a photo. They likely came from Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, although I've heard that there is a nest on or near Norton Road in Elba.

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Photo: Eagle on Lockport Road

By Howard B. Owens

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Roxanne Noeth took this picture of an eagle in the area of Lockport Road, Oakfield.

Photo: Eagle in Elba

By Howard B. Owens

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Jazmyn Fredo captured this picture today of a bald eagle in Elba, off Pekin Road.

Submitted by Jessica Fredo.

Deer getting more aggressive, city resident says; City Council wants action to deal with problem

By Howard B. Owens

There's been enough talk about the deer problem in Batavia, Councilman John Canale said during Tuesday's Batavia City Council meeting after a local resident said he's been chased by a buck in his own yard during public comments.

"Forming another committee isn't going to do anything," Canale said. "We've done this before. We form a committee and the committee studies the issue and makes a recommendation and then there's no action."

It's time for action, he said.

Councilman Paul Viele's suggestion: A controlled kill. It's time, he said, to start thinning the herds that encroach on the city.

Russell Nephew, a Bank Street resident, said there's a large herd that hangs out at that end of town, in the farm fields between Genesee Community College and the city line and enter on residential property, destroying landscaping and leaving their droppings in local yards, and perhaps carrying tics that are a danger to dogs and humans.

"Those things are disheartening and I’ve put up with them but now I’ve got chased through my backyard by a deer," Nephew said. "It reared up and I got away from it luckily. A couple of days later, my 70-year-old neighbor got ran into her apartment from a parking lot. At any one time, there can be from six to 10 deer that run through there."

A resident from Avon spoke up during the council discussion and said that in Avon they've instituted a bait-and-shoot program that has rules, is regulated, and is helping reduce the herd size.

Council President Eugene Jankowski pointed out that any deer killed would have the meat from the animal donated to a food pantry in the region to help feed low-income residents.

He also blamed the growing herd sizes on fewer hunters in New York. He said more people are giving up hunting as a protest against New York's increasingly restrictive gun laws.

While council members seemed to favor some culling effort, no specific plan was approved at Tuesday's meeting.

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