Outdoors
The BDN outdoors section brings readers into the woods, waters and wild places of Maine. It features stories on hunting, fishing, wildlife, conservation and recreation, told by people who live these experiences. This section emphasizes hands-on knowledge, field reports, issues, trends and the traditions that define life outside in Maine. Read more Outdoors stories here.
Here is a two-part quiz: What is a bucket biologist? And what is a kennel biologist?
A bucket biologist, sometimes called a bucket stocker, is a person who surreptitiously introduces a non-native, or invasive, species of fish into a Maine body of water.
A kennel biologist, on the other hand, is a person who surreptitiously introduces an unwanted or non-native mammal species into the Maine woods.
Although both undertakings are illegal, unethical and have the potential to wreak havoc on either precious native trout waters or moose and deer populations, bucket stockers have, over the years, drawn far more public attention than kennel biologists.
Maine authorities have never caught or successfully prosecuted an illegal bucket stocker, according to Greg Sirpis, chairman of Operation Game Thief. Last year, OGT offered a $3,000 reward for any anonymous tip regarding the illegal introduction of largemouth bass into West Musquash Lake.
The reward generated no tips and the trail has “gone cold,” Sirpis said. He added that without witnesses, identifying and eventually prosecuting bucket stockers is a long-shot proposition. Sirpis also noted that because of court backlogs, too many cases brought by game wardens end up being dismissed or resolved through plea agreements. The takeaway is that even if a bucket stocker were brought to court, a successful prosecution under the current circumstances would be unlikely.
And what about so-called kennel biologists, or wolf advocates, who have purportedly introduced gray wolves illegally into the Maine woods?
Five of the eight gray wolves examined in the Northeast over the past quarter-century have been positively identified as domesticated wolves, according to Gerry Lavigne, a field biologist for the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine. Those wolves were illegally released, most likely by wolf reintroduction advocates, Lavigne said.
Scientists can use carbon isotope analysis to distinguish a truly wild wolf from one that was fed commercial dog food in captivity, Lavigne said. Maine’s two wolves from 1993 and 1937 were both what Lavigne calls “kibble wolves.” The hunter who shot the 1993 wolf was, ironically, federally prosecuted for killing a captive wolf that had to have been illegally introduced into the wild.
Lavigne raises a good question: Why did the feds not expend some effort trying to apprehend and prosecute the amateur kennel biologists who released the kibble wolves in the first place?
A thriving wolf population could literally extirpate white-tailed deer in Maine’s North Woods, according to Lavigne, a former deer biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
By any name, bucket biologists and kennel biologists both represent a serious threat to the integrity of Maine’s fish and game management process.