Monthly Archives: July 2012

Wildlife Disease and Human Health

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Last Sunday the New York Times published an opinion piece on the unheralded impacts of wildlife disease on human health. It does not contain any information that will be news to the average state wildlife biologist, but it is rare that this sort of information is communicated to the general public in a calm, reasoned way.

The piece is by Simon Anthony, a molecular virologist at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and is occasioned by a study by the International Livestock Research Institute.

The great quote: “Disease, it turns out, is largely an environmental issue.”

Read it, here.

Mark Ellingwood Named N.H. Division Chief

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Mark Ellingwood, who, for the past 13 years, has served as the Wildlife Programs Administrator for the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, has been named the department’s Wildlife Division Chief. He is been with NH Fish and Game for a total of 18 years and was also a regional wildlife supervisor.

According to the NH Fish and Game press release announcing his selection, Ellingwood holds a B.S. in Natural Resources Conservation from the University of Connecticut and an M.S. in Wildlife Management from West Virginia University.  Prior to working for N.H. Fish and Game, Ellingwood served for nine years as a deer biologist and project leader for the Connecticut Wildlife Bureau, and five years as a deer research associate with the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York State.

Read the entire press release, here.

Photo courtesy of NH Fish and Game Department

Unsolved Mystery: Frog Abnormalities

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On an August day 17 years ago, eight Minnesota junior high school students on a field trip caught 22 frogs in a farm pond. At least half of the frogs had some abnormality, mostly in their hind legs. The conscientious teacher reported the group’s finding to the state. Dutiful state scientists surveyed wetlands across Minnesota and found at least one hotspot of frog abnormality in every county in the state.

What have we learned about frog abnormalities in the last 17 years? Quite a bit, actually. There appear to be several causes, and sometimes the causes pile up to create a high rate of abnormalities. The causes also seem to vary by region.

Here’s a comprehensive overview of the situation in Minnesota from Minnesota Public Radio. You can read or listen, here.

Vermont also experienced a high rate of frog abnormalities back in 1995, but the interpretation there is a bit different than it is in Minnesota.

Read this article from The Outside Story, a syndicated nature column, about frog abnormalities in Vermont, which includes a nod to the lack of abnormalities in New Hampshire. Read it here.

Are you finding abnormal frogs? A fantastic resource for state biologists evaluating frog abnormalities is the Field Guide to Malformations of Frogs and Toads (with Radiographic Interpretations) by Carol Meteyer of the US Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center.

Find the 20-page PDF here, including lots of photos and x-rays (aka radiographs).

Photo: Frog with abnormality, by David Hoppe, courtesy of US Geological Survey

Urban Coyotes Don’t Fool Around

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Coyote pairs appear to be faithful to one another. A mated pair will stick together for years, raising their offspring together. But genetic studies of other creatures, particularly birds, has shown that there are some animals that maintain a social pair-bond while occasionally breeding with others.

A paper in the most recent issue of the Journal of Mammalogy shows that the genetics of pair-bonded coyotes in the Chicago area support the coyote pairs’ faithfulness. The offspring of the breeding male and female coyotes that shared a territory were genetically related to both parents.

Because there’s lots of food around and because other coyote territories are nearby, urban coyotes might be more tempted to, um, stray than other coyotes.

This study has implications for coyote management, particularly because a previous study showed that coyote pairs will stick together even one is surgically sterilized.

Read the paper here. (Requires subscription or fee.)

Photo by Steve Thompson, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife

Dickcissels and Restored Grasslands

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There are more dickcissels (Spiza americana) on grasslands restored with native grasses and they nest more frequently than on grasslands with exotic grasses, a study reported in the most recent issue of The Southwestern Naturalist found, but the rate of nesting success on the restored grasslands was not significantly higher.

Dickcissels are in steep decline, particularly in the heart of their range. Restoring grasslands with native species seems like a good way to slow their population decline. This paper suggests that other factors may be as important as whether the grasses in the grassland are native or exotic, such as the size of the grassland and the height of the grasses, but that overall, dickcissel nesting is more productive at restored sites .

Read the paper here (subscription or fee required to read the full text).
A little digging found that this paper is based on a master’s thesis. Read it here.

Photo: Dickcissel by Steve Maslowski, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Bumblebee Blip in Utah

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A mild winter means more bumblebees in Utah, a researcher says. Particularly, one rare species that previously only had 129 bees has been seen by the dozens in one Utah city alone. This news is hopeful because, generally, bumblebees have been in decline nationwide.

Read the story in the Deseret News, here.

The story on the Utah bumblebee boom has created a lot of buzz itself, but not a single story identifies which species of bumblebee has experienced the spring population bump. I contacted the researcher, but he did not respond.

If your state also experienced a mild winter, this may be the year to search for rare bumblebee species.

Photo: bumblebee by Laura Perlick, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife

This Year Is Just Ducky

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The north-central United States, south-central and northern Canada, and Alaska are known as America’s duck factory. In the past year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service reports, duck populations in these regions are up, in spite of a decline in breeding habitat conditions.

The USFWS press release announces the availability of the 26-page long 2012 Trends in Duck Breeding Report.

According to the report, the decline in breeding conditions is due primarily to a mild winter (which means less snow, therefore less snowmelt), a dry spring and warmer than typical spring temperatures.

The shocking statistic was a 49 percent decrease in ponds from last year. The report says that the number of ponds this year was similar to the average, so it appears that last year’s wet weather had as much to do with the pond decline as this year’s dry weather.

The least shocking statistic is that mallard numbers are way up.

Read the press release here.
Download the report (a big PDF), here.

Photo: Mallard drake by Erwin and Peggy Bauer, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

New Bat Rule In NH

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Bats in the barn? A new rule in New Hampshire says that they can’t be removed between May 15 and August 15, when bats are typically raising their young. If a bat has tested positive for rabies, then special permission to exclude the bats will be given.

The rule only applies to unoccupied structures.

“This rule helps protect our remaining bat populations during the time when they are raising young,” said New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program biologist Emily Brunkhurst in a department press release. “While this measure is certainly helpful, we strongly urge people to avoid evicting bats from any structure, occupied or otherwise, during the summer months. Our bats are in big trouble, and, this is something concrete you can do to help them survive.”

The problem, of course, is white nose syndrome, which has reduced the populations of five out of New Hampshire’s eight bat species. Little brown bat populations have declined 99 percent, the release says.

The press release also notes that white nose syndrome has been detected in Rockingham County, in the southeastern corner of the state, near Boston, Mass.

The press release includes many interesting details about white nose syndrome in NH, and is worth reading just for that. Read it here.

Photo: Long-eared bats have been hit hard by WNS in New Hampshire. Courtesy New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.