Ohio man faces multiple charges for allegedly violating Ohio's exotic animal law

A Canal Winchester man is facing charges for allegedly owning an unlicensed exotic serval cat which had escaped, attacked and injured a pet dog on October 13th.

The cat was then killed by a Fairfield County Sheriff Department deputy after the animal appeared to get ready to attack the law enforcement official.

Bringing nine charges against Stacy Elliott, a.k.a. Stacy El-Muhammad, was the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which is the state-designated agency for regulating the keeping and licensing of exotic animals.

Ohio adopted this law in 2014, and currently there are fewer than 40 such permits in existence.

“The number of permits have been on the decline,” said David Hunt, the chief of enforcement for the Agriculture Department. “Owners were grandfathered in but once the animals die the permit goes, too, and new ones are not being issued. The exception is for venomous and constrictor snakes.”

The Agriculture Department-led charges filed against El-Muhammad include:

• Failure to notify of dangerous wild animal (DWA) escape.
• Falsification.
• Obstruction of official business.
• Allowing DWA to escape.
• Failure to notify law enforcement of DWA escape.
• Failure to have DWA signage at property entrance.
• Possession of a DWA.
• Failure to obtain DWA permit.
• Failure to have DWA signage on cage.

Of these, eight charges are first-degree misdemeanors. A first-degree misdemeanor carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail, a $1000 fine, or both. The falsification charge is a second degree misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $750, up to 90 days in jail, or both.

El-Muhammad – who also is the father of Dallas Cowboys running back and former player with The Ohio State University football team, Ezekiel Elliott - may face other charges, possibly brought by other agencies involved, says Hunt.

Working in conjunction with the Agriculture Department and the Fairfield County Sheriff Department were the Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Wildlife, the Fairfield Area Humane Society and the Fairfield County Dog Warden, said Shelby Croft with the Agricultural Department.

Investigators with the Agriculture Department and the Fairfield County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at the property as part of the investigation.

Croft said investigators spoke with El-Muhammad, who allegedly claimed he was keeping the serval cat, but wasn’t its owner.

“The charges are related to the fact he did not have a permit and did not house the properly,” Croft said.“We have a permitting process in place for this.”

Investigators were able to use the animal’s microchip to trace its ownership, alleging it was sold to El-Muhammad, who does not hold the required permit to own a serval in Ohio, Croft said.

“The investigation was relatively short but there were postings on Instagram and that took us a while to obtain information from,” Hunt said as well. “Consequently, this is still an on-going investigation.”

The serval cats is the only member of the genus Leptailurus. It is a slender-bodied feline, that stands up to 24 inches at the shoulder and can weigh 30 to 40 pounds; or about the size of a bobcat.

The Canadian-based International Society for Endangered Cats says the serval cat’s coat “is pale yellow, with black markings consisting either of large spots that tend to merge into longitudinal stripes on the neck and back, or numerous small spots which give the animal a ‘speckled’ appearance.”

Likewise, the serval has the longest legs of any cat relative to its body size, and is purportedly capable of jumping between six and ten feet in order to pounce on its intended prey.

Native to Africa, the sevral cat is found in 38 countries on that continent, particularly in its central and southern regions, the Society says also.

Serval cats are officially listed by international agreement as a “Species of Least Concern,” owing to its stable population.

The cats are available commercially, but can cost upwards of $9,000 to $10,000, based on an Internet selling-buying activity search. They cannot be brought into Ohio, owing to the requirements of the 2014 law.

Similar to serval cats are so-called hybrid “Savannah cats,” which still cost several thousand dollars for a kitten, and which do contain both serval cat and domesticated cat DNA.

- Jeffrey L. Frischorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@Gmail.com

UPDATED/Ohio gun deer hunting kill totals may reflect switch to archery season

A mediocre jump of just 2,741 deer killed during Ohio’s just-concluded seven-day firearms deer hunting from its 2018 counterpart is telling as much by what the numbers do not say than what they do acknowledge.

In all, the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s preliminary figures for the December 2nd through 8th general firearms deer-hunting season was 63,493 animals killed-harvested. The comparable 2018 figure was 60,752 deer, while the 2017 figure was 72,814 animals, and the 2016 figure was 66,759 deer.

“I think the real story, though is the harvest to-date, which is about 147,000 deer harvested compared to 132,000 deer (to-date) harvested last year,” said Mike Tonkovich, the Wildlife Division’s deer management administrator.

Still, the 2019 gun deer season harvest is still five-percent below the three-year average for the gun season, “and I’m not sure we’re ever going to see it come back to what it once was,” said Tonkovich also, who noted that at one time the general firearms deer-hunting season accounted for fully 91 percent of the state’s entire deer kill-harvest.

“But that was before we had the youth firearms season, the two-day (bonus) season and the muzzle-loader season,” Tonkovich said.

Tonkovich said as well how such numbers are owed in more than a little measure to changing deer hunter habitats; the general firearms season no longer is the rooster in the barnyard. That job is increasingly being taken over by archery hunters using crossbows and longbows.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see this year or next year that the archery deer harvest will exceed 50-percent for all deer taken,” Tonkovich said.

In effect, anymore it appears the gun season is a way for archery hunters to remain in the field rather than the archery season allowing for an extension of opportunity by gun hunters.

“I guess that’s one way of looking at it,” Tonkovich said.

Tonkovich also questions the reluctance by some hunter-observers to believe the state has an abundance of deer.

“We have more deer on the landscape now (and) over the last couple of years because of conservative regulations,” Tonkovich said.

What hunters who are not killing deer – or even seeing deer – may be doing wrong, Tonkovich surmises, is that they possibly are hunting where they always did; thus, not where the deer are today.

Hunters also are shying away from conducting drives or by still hunting, preferring to sit tight on a stump or in a tree stand. Such stationary tactics may lead to fewer deer being seen, let alone taken, Tonkovich says.

Importantly, says Tonkovich, is any pressing of the panic button so as to try and assign deer-management strategies similarities between one county where regulations are restrictive - and the kill-harvest numbers have grown - to counties with more liberal bag limits and where kill-harvest numbers have plateaued or even shrunk.

“I’d be reluctant to draw conclusions on what we are doing in one county and which should be applied to another county,” Tonkovich said.

During the seven-day season the state saw two non-fatal hunting-related accidents, called "incidents," in Wildlife Division lingo. One occurred December 3rd in Vinton County and the other happened December 7th in Washington County, said agency spokesman Brian Plasters..

The Vinton County incident reportedly involved a self-inflected wound to a leg and caused by a handgun. The Washington County incident allegedly involved a rifle with the injury also to a leg. That one was not self-infected, Plasters said.

"Both incidents are undergoing investigations," Plasters also said.

Here are the preliminary county-by-county deer kill-harvest numbers with their respective 2018 figuress in parentheses: Adams: 935 (960); Allen: 361 (250); Ashland: 1,272 (1,124); Ashtabula: 1,901 (2,028); Athens: 1,265 (1,326); Auglaize: 341 (269); Belmont: 1,196 (1,085); Brown: 797 (739); Butler: 294 (250); Carroll: 1,473 (1,454); Champaign: 376 (337); Clark: 182 (177); Clermont: 558 (554); Clinton: 257 (185); Columbiana: 1,173 (1,133); Coshocton: 2,322 (2,180); Crawford: 562 (497); Cuyahoga: 49 (39); Darke: 248 (215); Defiance: 768 (583); Delaware: 388 (352); Erie: 208 (224); Fairfield: 599 (620); Fayette: 139 (91); Franklin: 115 (143); Fulton: 308 (292); Gallia: 980 (1,150); Geauga: 526 (585); Greene: 232 (196); Guernsey: 1,734 (1,732); Hamilton: 136 (147); Hancock: 487 (405); Hardin: 554 (382); Harrison: 1,408 (1,290); Henry: 380 (258); Highland: 843 (803); Hocking: 1,196 (1,117); Holmes: 1,465 (1,290); Huron: 980 (865); Jackson: 987 (1,087); Jefferson: 786 (700); Knox: 1,771 (1,513); Lake: 149 (181); Lawrence: 685 (817); Licking: 1,514 (1,423); Logan: 699 (614); Lorain: 566 (628); Lucas: 115 (117); Madison: 165 (146); Mahoning: 493 (616); Marion: 384 (336); Medina: 568 (606); Meigs: 1,076 (1,238); Mercer: 302 (228); Miami: 217 (172); Monroe: 1,059 (1,103); Montgomery: 137 (122); Morgan: 1,244 (1,205); Morrow: 558 (551); Muskingum: 1,972 (1,924); Noble: 1,167 (1,264); Ottawa: 122 (113); Paulding: 480 (333); Perry: 1,016 (1,044); Pickaway: 306 (244); Pike: 631 (691); Portage: 584 (559); Preble: 284 (253); Putnam: 306 (232); Richland: 1,179 (1,142); Ross: 994 (940); Sandusky: 246 (216); Scioto: 667 (781); Seneca: 814 (736); Shelby: 388 (283); Stark: 813 (810); Summit: 146 (153); Trumbull: 1,116 (1,123); Tuscarawas: 2,127 (1,996); Union: 298 (281); Van Wert: 230 (175); Vinton: 900 (943); Warren: 286 (264); Washington: 1,464 (1,411); Wayne: 801 (696); Williams: 624 (546); Wood: 333 (273); Wyandot: 716 (596). 2019 total: 63,493; 2018 total: (60,752).

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com

As Ohio gun deer season openers go, the 2019 model was okay

In parts of Ohio the dismal weather for the state’s opening round of the 2019 seven-day general firearms deer-hunting season came close to mirroring that seen for its 2018 counterpart.

Even so, the 2019 first day deer kill-harvest showed gains in the majority of Ohio 88 counties. Of those 88 counties only 22 failed to meet or exceed their respective 2018 opening day deer kill-harvest numbers.

The preliminary 2019 opening day deer kill-harvest figure was 15,501 animals; up from the 13,651 deer taken during the first day of the 2018 season.

And the 2019 opening day saw a couple of other noteworthy bits of information, too: The Ohio Division of Wildlife reports the state did not register any deer hunting accidents, called “incidents” in official agency lingo.

Meanwhile, though Ohio’s hunting fees saw any number of increases they do not appear to have impacted overall deer-hunting tag sales. Through December 1^st – day before the 2019 gun deer season began - the Wildlife Division issued 329,108 deer tags. For the corresponding period ending November 25^th 2018 that number was 326,873 tags, said agency spokesman Brian Plasters.

“That speaks volumes in the interest in deer hunting in Ohio,” also said Clint McCoy, the Wildlife Division’s chief deer biologist.

McCoy did say the 2018 opening day deer kill-harvest “wasn’t what it could have been” but was not too bad, either, even though the weather was hardly pleasant across much of Ohio.

“And if you recall, the weather for the 2018 deer opener was much, much worse,” McCoy said. “So given that we were up a little shouldn’t be too surprising: there were a lot more four-legged critters out there that were carried over from 2018, for one thing.”

The statistics also reveal a couple of initial “huh” moments. Among them is the drop in the opening day deer kill-harvest for the adjoining counties of Scioto, Jackson, Lawrence, and Gallia counties.

On the reverse side of that coin were the gains seen in a number of western Ohio counties. Among them being Allen, Henry, and Butler counties.

“Each either doubled or nearly did their opening day harvests,” McCoy said. “Even if their total numbers are not huge, certainly, herd growth in them has to be part of the conversation.”

Asked about what he anticipates the entire Ohio general firearms deer-hunting season will yield in the way of kill-harvest, McCoy thinks a take of 65,000 to 75,000 animals is a fair and reasonable expectation.

“We’ll see how the rest of the week plays out but it should be better than last year,” McCoy said.

Here are the county-by-county opening day deer kill-harvest figures with the 2018 numbers in parentheses: Adams: 206 (188); Allen: 86 (45); Ashland: 350 (277); Ashtabula: 601 (489); Athens: 314 (283); Auglaize: 74 (61); Belmont: 283 (217); Brown: 180 (153); Butler: 61 (26); Carroll: 377 (340); Champaign: 94 (64); Clark: 23 (38); Clermont: 112 (64); Clinton: 55 (43); Columbiana: 326 (269); Coshocton: 663 (587); Crawford: 121 (112); Cuyahoga: 10 (11); Darke: 54 (50); Defiance: 216 (146); Delaware: 99 (72); Erie: 53 (42); Fairfield: 124 (126); Fayette: 23 (13); Franklin: 24 (29); Fulton: 94 (78); Gallia: 215 (237); Geauga: 103 (113); Greene: 41 (34); Guernsey: 426 (402); Hamilton: 17 (20); Hancock: 91 (80); Hardin: 138 (91); Harrison: 385 (285); Henry: 117 (59); Highland: 195 (183); Hocking: 309 (252); Holmes: 423 (387); Huron: 268 (208); Jackson: 211 (241); Jefferson: 198 (153); Knox: 544 (425); Lake: 27 (35); Lawrence: 113 (153); Licking: 399 (396); Logan: 158 (137); Lorain: 123 (130); Lucas: 20 (24); Madison: 32 (22); Mahoning: 128 (144); Marion: 93 (86); Medina: 113 (109); Meigs: 242 (230); Mercer: 75 (55); Miami: 31 (35); Monroe: 228 (221); Montgomery: 33 (19); Morgan: 311 (276); Morrow: 122 (120); Muskingum: 511 (489); Noble: 246 (283); Ottawa: 25 (15); Paulding: 140 (87); Perry: 233 (244); Pickaway: 77 (51); Pike: 127 (122); Portage: 117 (104); Preble: 43 (41); Putnam: 73 (61); Richland: 302 (261); Ross: 206 (186); Sandusky: 44 (48); Scioto: 103 (126); Seneca: 181 (141); Shelby: 77 (65); Stark: 168 (184); Summit: 17 (23); Trumbull: 344 (284); Tuscarawas: 557 (512); Union: 57 (56); Van Wert: 42 (43); Vinton: 208 (170); Warren: 48 (38); Washington: 362 (321); Wayne: 178 (184); Williams: 210 (150); Wood: 68 (43); Wyandot: 185 (134). 2019 total: 15,501 (13,651).

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio posts a so-so 2019 fall wild turkey-hunting season

Ohio’s fall wild turkey hunters’ rather mediocre 2019 season was perhaps less a reflection of any possible declining bird numbers as perhaps a continuation of a falling number of participants.

For the 2019 Ohio fall wild turkey hunting season – which ran October 12 through December 1 - hunters in Ohio killed 1,054 birds. In 2018 that figure stood at 1,131 birds.

And the 2019 kill-harvest was also below the five-year mean of 1,388 birds, and less than one-half the 2016 kill-harvest of 2,168 turkeys of both sexes, said Mark Wiley, the Ohio Division of Wildlife biologist who oversees the management of the species on a day-to-day basis.

To some degree, reproductive success in the months prior to the fall season seems to influence fall harvest totals, Wiley said.

“We typically see spikes in the fall harvest in years with very high reproductive indices of poults per hen. As an example, the 2016 reproductive index was well above average, as was the fall harvest that year,” Wiley said.

Unfortunately, Wiley says, Ohio’s “reproductive indices in 2017, 2018, and 2019 have all been below average, as were their respective fall harvest totals in those years.”

Wiley says as well that Ohio’s fall turkey harvest total is not a reliable indicator of turkey population status or trend. Variables such as hunter effort likely influence the fall harvest total as much or more than turkey abundance, Wiley said.

“Unlike the spring season when hunters are afield solely in pursuit of turkey, many seem to hunt turkey opportunistically in the fall.” Wiley said.

Citing as an example, Wiley said an avid deer archer might not pursue a turkey specifically in the fall, but might be prepared to take a bird if it wanders within range during a deer hunt.

“This is a plausible explanation for why 40- to 50-percent of turkeys harvested in the fall are taken by archery methods, compared to just two- to three-percent in the spring,” Wiley said.

Another possible – even, likely - wrinkle regarding the on-going slide in the kill-harvest during Ohio’s fall wild turkey-hunting season is the topic of hunter effort, Wiley says also.

“It is worth noting that the total number of fall turkey permits issued in Ohio has declined consistently for more than five years. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued 9,441 fall permits in 2019, which was a four-percent decline from the 9,825 permits issued in 2018, and also below the 5-year average of 10,792, permits,” Wiley said.

Annually, between 2015 and 2017 the Wildlife Division issued more than 11,500 fall permits for each season, Wiley said as well.

Here are the county-by-county numbers for Ohio’s 2019 fall wild turkey-hunting season with their respective 2018 figures in parentheses: Adams: 11 (11); Allen: 10 (8); Ashland: 15 (14); Ashtabula: 27 (39); Athens: 9 (20); Belmont: 19 (29); Brown: 11 (11); Butler: 16 (7); Carroll: 31 (22); Champaign: 7 (2); Clermont: 35 (13); Columbiana: 42 (17); Coshocton: 44 (52); Crawford: 7 (2); Cuyahoga: 0 (6); Defiance: 15 (14); Delaware: 11 (9); Erie: 8 (6); Fairfield: 7 (12); Franklin: 1 (4); Fulton: 10 (10); Gallia: 17 (32); Geauga: 24 (34); Guernsey: 31 (42); Hamilton: 9 (11); Hancock: 6 (4); Hardin: 7 (2); Harrison: 16 (35); Henry: 2 (3); Highland: 24 (26); Hocking: 15 (20); Holmes: 24 (32); Huron: 9 (12); Jackson: 14 (21); Jefferson: 24 (8); Knox: 26 (18); Lake: 7 (9); Lawrence: 6 (19); Licking: 22 (25); Logan: 7 (11); Lorain: 13 (5); Lucas: 11 (12); Mahoning: 17 (11); Medina: 13 (13); Meigs: 20 (19); Monroe: 15 (29); Morgan: 18 (28); Morrow: 9 (6); Muskingum: 16 (25); Noble: 22 (30); Paulding: 8 (3); Perry: 16 (18); Pike: 6 (18); Portage: 12 (18); Preble: 6 (9); Putnam: 3 (5); Richland: 21 (19); Ross: 17 (17); Scioto: 18 (25); Seneca: 8 (2); Stark: 19 (16); Summit: 13 (9); Trumbull: 26 (21); Tuscarawas: 40 (40); Vinton: 13 (11); Warren: 5 (4); Washington: 14 (19); Wayne: 6 (9); Williams: 21 (14); Wyandot: 2 (4). Total: 1,054 (1,131).

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFRischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com