Monthly Archives: February 2013

White Nose in New Locations

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cumberland gap wns batA scientist says that he’s “99 percent sure” that a bat found on Prince Edward Island, in Canada, was killed by white nose syndrome, reports CBC News. The article notes that bats typically don’t over-winter on Prince Edward Island and that this one may have blown in from New Brunswick.

Read the CBC News article here.

Bats in yet another national park, Cumblerland Gap National Historical Park, have been stricken by white nose syndrome, the National Park Service reports. For those of you keeping score, that brings the number to 10 parks where white nose syndrome has struck.

Three bats tested positive for the disease, the press release says, and two had visible signs. At least one of the bats was an eastern pipistrelle. The park contains more than 30 caves.

The park press release has the most information. Read it here. (PDF)
General information about WNS in national parks is in this press release.
An article in the Marietta Daily Journal summarizes the press release. Read it here.

Photo: An eastern pipistrelle bat found at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park shows visible signs of white-nose syndrome. Courtesy of the National Park Service.

Why Deer Die

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Wisconsin deer trap“Hunter harvest continues to be the greatest cause of death of both adult and yearling bucks, while predation was the leading cause of fawn mortality, with most predations occurring within the first four to six weeks following birth,” said Jared Duquette, research scientist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and lead researcher for a five-year study of causes of adult deer mortality and a three-year study of fawn mortality in an item in department’s weekly news bulletin.

According to the weekly news summary:

Capture of adults will continue through the 2012-13 and 2013-14 winters. Fawns were live-captured in May and June in 2011 and 2012 and will be captured again in 2013. A number of captured adults and fawns are fitted with radio collars. All are fitted with ear tags. Additional metrics are collected including body weight and size, blood samples, sex, presence of external parasites and age. Does are also examined for pregnancy. Deer are followed by radio signal until death, at which time researchers study the mortality to determine cause.

More details on the two studies are available in the department’s news report. Wisconsin is also conducting some other interesting deer studies. You can see the list here. I’d be interested to know the results of “An evaluation of the usefulness of deer-vehicle collision data as indices to deer population abundance.”

Read the weekly news item detailing the two deer studies here.

Photo: Closed box trap with deer feeding around it, courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Interior Secretary Nominee

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The economic value of outdoor recreation and the ability to extract oil and gas while remaining a good steward of the land are two themes that keep coming up in discussions of the nominee for Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, who is now CEO of outdoor outfitter REI.

Lots of media coverage:
Here’s a story in the Washington Post.
The New York Times’ story is here.
The Los Angeles Times’ is here.And the Associated Press report is here.

Great Gray Owl Study in Wyoming

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great gray owlIt seems to be Wyoming week here at State Wildlife News. I hope you’ll forgive one more Wyoming story: The Wyoming Game and Fish Department are partnering with Craighead Beringia South, a non-profit research institute (yeah, them again) to study great gray owls in the Teton/Jackson Hole region, an article in the Jackson Hole News and Guide says.

“Great grays are probably the least-studied species of raptor in North America,” says Bryan Bedrosian, a researcher with Craighead Beringia South, in the article.

Up to 12 owls will be fitted with GPS backpacks for the study, which will evaluate a US Forest Service project that will clear brush and remove dead trees in the region.

Read the Jackson Hole News and Guide article here (on the Craighead Beringia South website).

Photo: Great gray owl in Oregon, by Don Virgovic, courtesy US Forest Service

Wyoming Bighorn Down and Up

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Big Horn SheepA bacteria that often signals a pneumonia outbreak in bighorn sheep was found in 10 of the 14 bighorn sheep tested, says an article in the Jackson Hole News and Guide. The sheep were tested, the article says, because of a high mortality rate in bighorn sheep in the region. Scientists couldn’t test the dead sheep, the article notes.

The Jackson Hole bighorn sheep herd was struck by pneumonia in 2002, the article says, and dropped to just half its number.

There are lots of details in the Jackson Hole News and Guide article, here.

Just to the east, in Dubois, Wyoming, the news for bighorn sheep is better. According to County 10, Greg Anderson, wildlife biologist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department reported that the local bighorn herd’s numbers are stable and there was good lamb survival this year. The report was part of an annual meeting at the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretative Center.

Read the County 10 article here.

Photo: Bighorn in Montana. by Ryan Hagerty, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Nevada Wildlife Director Gone — Again

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAKen Mayer, director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, resigned “abruptly” last week, at the governor’s request. It was the second time he has left the position as the state’s wildlife director in the last three years. In 2010 he was dismissed by a departing governor, only to be reinstated by the incoming governor, Brian Sandoval, the same governor who asked for his resignation this time.

It’s clear that the true conflict is with the Nevada Wildlife Commission. An Associated Press article in the Reno Gazette-Journal suggests that the commission supports outdated wildlife management techniques, such as using predator control to boost game populations.

Is it a simple case of science versus politics, or are there other issues? Unless someone in the Nevada media chooses to dig in to the matter, it’s unlikely that we’ll know the full story.

Read the Reno Gazette-Journal article here.

There’s another article in the Reno Gazette-Journal that talks about the implications of Mayer’s departure for the conservation of sage grouse, but it is a little confusing because at first, it talks about listing the sage grouse as a federally endangered species as a goal harmed by Mayer’s departure, without mentioning — until the second page of the article — that the states have been working hard to enact conservation methods to keep sage grouse off the federal endangered species list. Whew. You can read that second Reno Gazette-Journal article here.

Photo: Ken Mayer, courtesy Nevada Dept. of Wildlife

Two Golden Eagles Killed; One Was In Study

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golden eagle usfwsThree golden eagles were recently caught in snare traps in Montana. Two of the eagles were killed, and one of the dead eagles was part of a research project by Craighead Beringia South, a wildlife research and education institute based in Kelly, Wyoming.

The Jackson Hole Daily reports that the dead eagle was one of six golden eagles wearing a GPS backpack since 2010 in a project designed to study golden eagle migration corridors.

An article in the Ravalli Republic says that one of the golden eagles was found dead, the other had to be euthanized and the third is being rehabilitated. The article also notes that golden eagles have been in sharp decline in the region.

Read the Jackson Hole Daily article here.
Read the Ravalli Republic article here.

Photo: Golden eagle in Alaska, by Donna Dewhurst, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Two Golden Eagles Killed; One Was In Study

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golden eagle usfwsThree golden eagles were recently caught in snare traps in Montana. Two of the eagles were killed, and one of the dead eagles was part of a research project by Craighead Beringia South, a wildlife research and education institute based in Kelly, Wyoming.

The Jackson Hole Daily reports that the dead eagle was one of six golden eagles wearing a GPS backpack since 2010 in a project designed to study golden eagle migration corridors.

An article in the Ravalli Republic says that one of the golden eagles was found dead, the other had to be euthanized and the third is being rehabilitated. The article also notes that golden eagles have been in sharp decline in the region.

Read the Jackson Hole Daily article here.
Read the Ravalli Republic article here.

Photo: Golden eagle in Alaska, by Donna Dewhurst, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

New Brass in Ala. and Minn.

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chuck sykes alabamaThe Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries announced that Charles “Chuck” Sykes has been named director of the division. The division regulates hunting and fishing, manages wildlife populations, wildlife habitat, and freshwater fisheries for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the press release says.

Sykes received his B.S. degree in Wildlife Sciences from the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences in 1992, then worked as a consultant. He appeared on a television show on The Outdoor Channel for 11 years.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for me to work with everyone in our great state on behalf of our wildlife and natural resources. I look forward to it,” Sykes said in the press release.

Read the press release here.

In Minnesota, Barb Naramore has been as a new assistant commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, a recent press release announced. Naramore is a Virginia native and has a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute. Until recently, she was the executive director of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association.

Photo: Chuck Sykes of Alabama, courtesy of the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries