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Where We Left Off:
The cat detectives wrapped up 2025, which felt like it lasted 20 years, with a positive note as they discovered that Silver St. Cloud is pregnant.
The Guilty:
Oliver Winchester had a little something wrong for the last week of 2025. He went to the vet for some medicine and was feeling much better by the next day.
For the first case of 2026, I felt like there was pressure to present something fantastically intriguing. Something that would have readers on the edge of their seats wondering how the mystery was concluded. The thing is, it’s been a traumatic year as far as our local wildlife is concerned. We’ve seen some heartbreaking deaths at the Winchester-Nabu estate.
This case file will show some transparency on how I might have unintentionally contributed to those deaths.
What Have I Done?
In 2025, I made 71 reports to the State of New Jersey for wildlife sightings. I was pretty proud of this effort. It takes time to gather the photos and videos and fill out the online forms.
- Big Brown Bats – 3
- Black Bears – 20
- Bobcats – 29
- Coyotes – 7
- Foxes – 12
There were definitely more sightings of bats and foxes, but I couldn’t keep up with all that reporting, especially since bats are a nightly occurrence during their season.
Bears
When annual bear hunting season started, it crushed my soul. Not only were there 2 weeks of bear hunting, the season was extended because the DEP decided not enough bears were killed. The final 2025 toal was 466 bears killed.
While I could go on and on about how I disagree with killing animals instead of restoring their habitats, I thought of something else. I had a lightbulb moment. An epiphany.
What if my reports were somehow responsible for more bear deaths?
The NJ Fish & Wildlife personnel check iNaturalist for data besides acquiring reports through their own website. I learned this when I was flattered that they contacted me about my bobcat entries. If they were checking for endangered and threatened species, they were probably checking for others too. I want people to learn from uploads. I also want to learn from the community when I can’t positively ID something I’ve spotted.
If the state thinks this area has “too many” black bears because people like me are logging the sightings, that makes me part of the reason Fish and Game thinks there are enough to be hunted. Only 11 of my bear sightings for 2025 were posted to iNaturalist. I’m not going to submit my bear sightings to them anymore and I’ll only submit bear tracks and scat to iNaturalist.
It sucks because I’ve grown to like what iNaturalist has to offer for the community. I even considered becoming an ambassador for them. It would be pretty cool if Gus and I could do that together. I just don’t think I know enough to be an expert at anything and make presentations about it. I guess I could also take the opportunity and use it my advantage by subtly asking people to upload on threatened or endangered species or ones they are completely unsure about. I don’t even know where Gus and I could give presentations. That’s a discussion for another time.
Back from that sidetracking, the issue is our bears and keeping them safe.
As soon as Oliver felt better, we convened a staff meeting. I told him and Gus about my hypothesis regarding my own impact on the bear hunting (the state calls it “comprehensive bear management”). Being cats, they didn’t mind blaming me. They don’t make me feel worse though. They’re skilled at comforting the humans here.
Coyotes and Foxes
I knew it was legal to kill coyotes and foxes if they’re a threat to farm animals. I completely forgot to check the regulations about a standard hunting season for them.
The annual NJ hunting season for coyote and fox begins the 4th Saturday prior to the last Friday in October and ends the following March 15.
Within that time frame, there are actually THREE different hunting seasons.
There are three (3) seasons for hunting coyote and fox:
1. Bow & Arrow Only Season from the 4th Saturday prior to the last Friday in October through the Friday following Election Day in November.
2. Firearm or Bow Season from the Saturday after Election Day in November through March 15.
3. Special Permit Coyote / Fox Season from January 1 (or Jan. 2 if Jan. 1 is a Sunday) through March 15.
There are all kinds of complicated regulations within the code to address how you can legally hunt a coyote or fox if, for example, you’re also out hunting for water fowl or something else. There are times when using a hunting is allowed and times when it isn’t.
Until now, I’ve felt fine uploading my sightings of coyotes and foxes. Now, I don’t know what to do. I thought contributing was a good thing. I thought if the state saw how many animals they allow to be displaced because of habitat loss, that people like me who submit data would make a difference in changing the land development laws, not allowing more wildlife to be killed by hunting.
We live within an hour of places that have beavers and otters, but I’ve never seen any for myself. Supposedly there are minks and muskrats right around here too.
Bird Species
Like certain fish, there are game birds that are raised and stocked specifically for the hunting zones. I was only aware of pheasants, but there are more on the list: Pheasants, quails (bobwhite quails and ruffed grouse), Chukar partridge, Hungarian partridge, mallards (on a restricted basis), crows, and woodcocks.
Other than the birding hotspot of Cape May, New Jersey, the other places to possibly find an American woodcock are Rutgers (where the sightings appear to be living birds) or Newark (where the sightings appear to be dead or injured birds).
The migratory bird hunting regulations also include mallards. I have no idea why. I’ve only submitted reports when I spot them at the South Branch of the Raritan River in Clinton. I typically don’t see them anywhere else. Hunting is allowed for coots (scaups) and Canada geese (brants).
Wild turkeys have their own chapters in the regulations too.
Other Small Game
A lot of our wildlife friends at the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency estate are living with targets on their backs too. There are a lot of animals that are allowed to be hunted: gray squirrels, raccoons, opossums, woodchucks (groundhogs), rabbits, hares, jackrabbits. Coyotes and foxes are considered small game. I don’t know if you’ve seen a coyote, but I wouldn’t call them small. They’re not elks or moose, but they’re a pretty good sized canine.
Deer
I’m not going to address deer hunting, because that’s a huge case study all on its own. Suffice it to say, yes, there are seasons for antlered and antlerless deer.
Case Summary:
Ollie and Gus agreed that it wasn’t necessary to submit reports to the NJDEP except for threatened, concerned, or endangered species. I’ll stop submitting bear and fox sightings to iNaturalist except for bones, tracks, and scat. Coyote sightings are more rare. Submitting them to iNaturalist might be safe for now.
Case Status: Closed
