Longer Terms for Eagle Permits

The US Fish and Wildlife Service would like to extend the length of the permits they issue to wind energy operations and other activities that by their nature disturb or kill bald and golden eagles from a maximum of five years to 30 years.

It also wants to charge more for the permits, saying that the new charge will cover the true cost of the review. A 30-year permit will cost $15,600, a US Fish and Wildlife press release says. The release adds that those longer permits will only go to projects that make an effort to conserve the eagles.

Read the US Fish and Wildlife press release in its entirety, here. It includes many links, including more information about the rule, the rule-making process and instructions on how to submit your comments. Comments will be accepted until May 14, 2012.

There was no media coverage of the proposed change at the time this was written.

Bullfrog Imports Spread Fungus

bullfrogFactory-farmed bullfrogs carry the chytrid fungus, likely spreading the infection when they escape into the wild, says an article in the Bay Citizen. The frogs are shipped globally. Australia and the European Union mandate that the frogs must be killed and frozen before being imported. California laws say the bullfrogs must be killed when sold, but no law bans the import of the live frogs, which are also invasive in California.

And who knew that a one-pound bullfrog costs about $4 and serves two when cooked with rice and veggies?

Read the whole story, and see the slide show, in the Bay Citizen, here.

Clipboard Caused Copter Crash

The 2010  helicopter crash that killed Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists Larry Barrett and Danielle Schiff, and pilot Perry J. Krinitt was caused when an aluminum clipboard hit the helicopter’s tail rotor, the the National Transportation Safety Board announced in a report released last Thursday.

The biologists were counting salmon redds from the helicopter.

Read the Associated Press story in the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

Robots for Behavior Studies

RobosquirrelAt the University of California, Davis robots are being used to study the reaction of squirrels and rattlesnakes, the display behavior by anole lizards in the jungles and ecology,  the mating behavior of sage grouse, according to a press release from the university.

In the case of the squirrels, the researcher was curious whether the heating of the squirrel’s tail during an encounter with a rattlesnake played a role in the interaction. In real squirrels, the heating can’t be separated from the tail waving, so a robot squirrel was used.

An earlier study found that the snakes did respond to the heat in the squirrel’s tail, but the paper was published in a robotics journal.

Find out more about using robots to study wildlife behavior in the University of California, Davis press release.

There was also a short item from CNN.

The robosquirrel in action, screen shot, videography by Rulon Clark Lab/San Diego State University

New England Bunny Hop

New England cottontail in MaineLast autumn, nine New England cottontails bred in captivity at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island were released inside a predator-proof fence enclosing one acre of the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge, also in Rhode Island.

You can read all about the New England cottontail captive breeding program in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums blog wildexplorer.org. Find the article here.

In Massachusetts, MassWildlife has been collecting roadkilled cottontails and cottontail skulls since 2010 to figure out how many and where the two species of cottontails are in the state. Out of the 500 specimens received, about 10 percent have been New England cottontails and several new populations have been uncovered.

MassWildlife would like to have more samples from the western part of the state, and hopes to reach sportsmen, highway department workers, animal control officers, and other interested citizens with their plea.

More info about the program is available in the April 2012 edition of MassWildlife News, which was not on line at press time. But do check for it here.(Info from the program from last year is available here.)

New England cottontails look an awful lot like Eastern cottontails. Sometimes even the experts need a DNA test to tell them apart for sure. But New England cottontails are the only one of the pair native to New England, although the Eastern cottontail is taking over its territory.

New England cottontail numbers have plummeted, earning the species an Endangered Species Act listing as “warranted but precluded.”

True Wildlife Crime Saga: Grizzly Edition

Yellowstone grizzly

A grizzly in Yellowstone, but NOT the one in the Slate article

On Oct. 2, 2011 a grizzly bear known as the Wapiti sow was put to death for the crime of killing two humans in Yellowstone National Park. The decision to kill the grizzly sow did not come easily and was dependent on DNA evidence that put her at the scene of both deaths.

In this thoughtful, lengthy article in Slate, senior editor Jessica Grose looks at the entire process, from the humans’ deaths to the grizzly’s. It features US Fish and Wildlife Service  grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen and Yellowstone bear manager Kerry Gunther. It’s worth your time, especially if you’ve ever been the one to make the tough decision to kill an animal in the hope of keeping the public safe.

Read it here: A Death in Yellowstone.

Photo by Terry Tollefsbol, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

True Wildlife Crime Saga: Grizzly Edition

Yellowstone grizzly

A grizzly in Yellowstone, but NOT the one in the Slate article

On Oct. 2, 2011 a grizzly bear known as the Wapiti sow was put to death for the crime of killing two humans in Yellowstone National Park. The decision to kill the grizzly sow did not come easily and was dependent on DNA evidence that put her at the scene of both deaths.

In this thoughtful, lengthy article in Slate, senior editor Jessica Grose looks at the entire process, from the humans’ deaths to the grizzly’s. It features US Fish and Wildlife Service  grizzly bear recovery coordinator Chris Servheen and Yellowstone bear manager Kerry Gunther. It’s worth your time, especially if you’ve ever been the one to make the tough decision to kill an animal in the hope of keeping the public safe.

Read it here: A Death in Yellowstone.

Photo by Terry Tollefsbol, courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service

White Nose Syndrome in Missouri

little brown bat with white nose syndrome on cave wallWhite nose syndrome has been confirmed in three bats from two caves in Lincoln County, in northeast Missouri. Both caves are public, but their exact location has not been disclosed to prevent human disturbance of the remaining bats in the cave, the The Missouri Department of Conservation press release says.

The fungus that causes white nose syndrome was found in two locations in Missouri during the winter of 2009-2010, but did not cause bat mortality. The three bats in this most recent report are confirmed to have the disease caused by the fungus.

Read more:
Missouri Department of Conservation press release

So far news reports have not added to the information in the press release.

White Nose in Delaware

Fort Delaware

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced on Friday that white nose syndrome has been detected in bats at Fort Delaware State Park.

White nose fungus had been detected at maternity colonies of bats in Delaware in 2010, but this is the first time bats showing symptoms of the disease have been found. Because the bats were discovered in a popular state park with a Civil War fort and prison, the emphasis will be on educating visitors and limiting the spread of the disease when the park opens on May 1.

Read the DNREC press release, here.
Read the article in DelawareOnline.com, here.

Fort Delaware photo courtesy of Delaware State Parks