--Chad Love

Field & Stream’s Wild Chef extraordinaire, David Draper, has blogged about some pretty non-mainstream fare in the past, but might we soon be seeing him top that by whipping up a home-state batch of...cougar steaks? Maybe, if the state of Nebraska decides to open a mountain lion season. Mmmmm, tasty cougar...
 

From this story on omaha.com: 

Nebraska’s wildlife agency wants its ducks in a row in case it needs to declare open season on mountain lions. A bill introduced Tuesday in the Nebraska Legislature would allow the Game and Parks Commission to set a season and sell permits to hunt the state’s largest wild predator.

--Chad Love

Hot on the heels of New jersey's contentious, litigious and largely successful bear season comes the Garden State's first special nighttime coyote hunt.

From this story on newjerseynewsroom.com:

First it was the black bears, now it’s coyotes. Beginning next Monday, New Jersey will permit hunters to shoot the wolves on the spot for a special hunting season. The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife estimates more than five thousand coyotes are running wild around in the Garden State. Biologist Andrew Burnett says they usually prey on rodents and rabbits, but can easily attack small pets, alarming many residents and pet owners.

--Chad Love

Here's one from the "Shoulda Stuck With The Jackalope" files. A Miami, Florida man is accused of illegally smuggling animal parts from all over the globe so he could fashion them into taxidermy "art."

From this story in Palm Beach Sun-Sentinel:

Miami Beach sculptor Enrique Gomez De Molina fashions bird beaks, antelope hooves and other wildlife parts into fanciful animals and calls it art. Federal prosecutors call it a felony. De Molina has been charged with wildlife smuggling for allegedly importing a vast range of protected animal parts from China, Indonesia, Bali, Thailand and the Philippines into the United States for a highly profitable art business.