Category Archives: Arizona

Turtles, Cougars, and Frogs in the Southwest

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The current issue of Southwestern Naturalist has several articles that may be of interest to biologists outside of the region.

Yellow mud turtles decline in the Midwest. The largest populations of yellow mud turtles in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri have experienced severe declines. Withdrawal of water from aquifers is the main cause, but the growth of woody plants also plays a role. Read the article, here. (Requires fee or subscription for full article.)
More info on yellow mud turtles from Texas Parks and Wildlife, here.

Cougar habitat in Texas and northern Mexico. Researchers from Sul Ross State University tested a model of current and potential cougar (Puma concolor) in Texas and northern Mexico and found that it worked. Read the article here. (Same for fees or subscription.)

Fungus strikes desert frogs. Chytrid fungus was found in desert oasis frog populations in Baja California Sur. The oases with higher infection rates also had bullfrogs and non-native crayfish. Read the article here.

Also interesting: Western red bats (Lasiurus blossevillii) and Arizona myotis (Myotis occultus) were found on the lower Arizona River after the area was restored. The Arizona myotis had been extirpated from the area, and the western red bat had not be found there previously. Read the article here.

New Nest Helps Eagles in Arizona

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After three years of ticks killing off bald eagle nestlings in Arizona, the Arizona Game and Fish Department constructed “starter nests” in nearby trees. This year the bald eagle pair used one of the man-made nests and successfully fledged two young, says a department press release.

Several attempts to protect the nestlings from the ticks in the old nest were unsuccessful. While building the man-made nests, the old nest was removed and burned.

The press release gives more detail about the attempts to rid the nest and the tree from ticks, but does not give any detail about techniques used in the building the starter nests.

According to the release: “Bald eagle conservation in Arizona is a partnership effort of the Southwest Bald Eagle Management Committee — a group of 25 government agencies, private organizations and Native American tribes.”

Photo: Building a new bald eagle nest, courtesy of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

New Nest Helps Eagles in Arizona

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After three years of ticks killing off bald eagle nestlings in Arizona, the Arizona Game and Fish Department constructed “starter nests” in nearby trees. This year the bald eagle pair used one of the man-made nests and successfully fledged two young, says a department press release.

Several attempts to protect the nestlings from the ticks in the old nest were unsuccessful. While building the man-made nests, the old nest was removed and burned.

The press release gives more detail about the attempts to rid the nest and the tree from ticks, but does not give any detail about techniques used in the building the starter nests.

According to the release: “Bald eagle conservation in Arizona is a partnership effort of the Southwest Bald Eagle Management Committee — a group of 25 government agencies, private organizations and Native American tribes.”

Photo: Building a new bald eagle nest, courtesy of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Feds Announce State Wildlife Grants

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Oregon vesper sparrow and Mazama pocket gopher; mountain plover, burrowing owl and McCown’s longspur; the palila, a rapidly-declining Hawaiian honeycreeper; Karner blue butterfly, grasshopper sparrow, Henslow’s sparrow, and northern harrier; and white-tailed, Gunnison’s, Utah, and black-tailed prairie dogs are among the non-game species to benefit from this round of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s State Wildlife Grants.

The competitive federal grants focus on large-scale, cooperative conservation projects for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) that are included in State Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plans (also known as State Wildlife Action Plans — what would government be without changing terminology?).

Seven projects will take place in 12 states: Washington (2), Oregon, Idaho, Nebraska, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Alabama, Arizona, Montana, Texas, Wyoming (and also British Columbia, Canada).

Read about the projects in the USFWS press release, here. Don’t bother to follow the link in the press release for more information about individual projects. It takes you to information about the grants that hasn’t been updated in years.

Photo: Black-tailed prairie dog, by Gary M. Stolz, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

 

Feds Announce State Wildlife Grants

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Oregon vesper sparrow and Mazama pocket gopher; mountain plover, burrowing owl and McCown’s longspur; the palila, a rapidly-declining Hawaiian honeycreeper; Karner blue butterfly, grasshopper sparrow, Henslow’s sparrow, and northern harrier; and white-tailed, Gunnison’s, Utah, and black-tailed prairie dogs are among the non-game species to benefit from this round of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s State Wildlife Grants.

The competitive federal grants focus on large-scale, cooperative conservation projects for Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) that are included in State Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plans (also known as State Wildlife Action Plans — what would government be without changing terminology?).

Seven projects will take place in 12 states: Washington (2), Oregon, Idaho, Nebraska, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Alabama, Arizona, Montana, Texas, Wyoming (and also British Columbia, Canada).

Read about the projects in the USFWS press release, here. Don’t bother to follow the link in the press release for more information about individual projects. It takes you to information about the grants that hasn’t been updated in years.

Photo: Black-tailed prairie dog, by Gary M. Stolz, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

 

Overpasses Top Underpasses?

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Do bighorn sheep like highway wildlife overpasses better than underpasses? Arizona sports three wildlife overpasses over Highway 93 which were specifically designed for bighorn sheep. It also has three wildlife underpasses under Highway 68.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department recently reported that there were 229 bighorn sheep crossings at the three overpasses in a single month. There have been only 32 crossings at the underpasses in two years.

The Highway 93 overpasses also have a higher cuteness quotient than the underpasses. A bighorn ewe and her lamb were recently photographed crossing one of the overpasses.

Read the report from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, here. (Second item from the top.)

Photo courtesy Arizona Game and Fish Deparment.

More States Turning to Night Hunting for Problem Animals

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North Carolina, Arizona and Tennessee are among the states that are allowing night hunting for problem species like feral swine, coyotes and mountain lions when existing hunting practices fail to reduce populations, says an article in USA Today.

Night hunting is allowed in 42 states, the article says, quoting data from the Indiana-based National Predator Hunters Association.

In the article, a coyote coexistence advocate is quoted as saying that hunting does little to reduce population levels of the fecund coyote. That’s a sentiment shared by many wildlife managers was well, regarding both coyotes and feral swine.

Read the USA Today article here.
PDF article on feral swine in New Hampshire Fish and Game’s magazine.

Photo: Feral swine piglet. If only they were all this cute. By Steve Hillebrand, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Charity Permit Raffles

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Does setting aside big game permits for conservation organizations to raffle off:
(a) Give state wildlife agencies a way to support their conservation partners at no cost, or
(b) Give away an important public resource to favored groups, going against principles of fair government?

In Kansas, local nonprofit conservation organizations or Kansas chapters of national organizations based or operating in Kansas that actively promote wildlife conservation and the hunting and fishing heritage apply to receive one of seven big game permits to be raffled off. This year 98 organizations applied, according to a Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism press release.

The release says: “After a permit is sold by an organization, the amount of the permit is subtracted, and 85 percent of the proceeds are sent to KDWPT to be used on approved projects. After the projects are approved, the money is sent back to the organization for the project. The other 15 percent may be spent at the organization’s discretion.”

In Arizona, the Game and Fish Department opposes a house bill in the state legislature that would reserve a “large number” (50 antlerless elk permits are just one item on a long list of permits) of big game tags for qualified organizations to resell at auction. The legislature has put a hearing on the bill on hold.

Read the Arizona Game and Fish Department press release, here.

Read Arizona House Bill 2072, here. (PDF)

Jaguar and Ocelots: Seeing Spots in Arizona

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What happens when an exciting wildlife sighting gets national media attention? Increased reports of rare wildlife? A sudden interest in that creature? Leave a comment to let us know what reactions you commonly get in your state.

The exciting wildlife sightings of this week are jaguars and ocelots in Arizona. There has been plenty of national coverage, including this article in the New York Times. The Times article dutifully notes that the Arizona Game and Fish Department has reassessed one of those ocelot sightings, and now believes it was a serval (Leptailurus serval), an African cat popular in the pet trade, or possibly a serval hybrid.

Here’s AZGFD’s press release on the jaguar sighting. And here’s a backgrounder on jaguars in Arizona.

Here’s AZGFD’s press release on the most recent ocelot sighting. And here’s the press release reassessing the ID.

Photo: An Arizona Game and Fish Department wildlife manager investigates a jaguar sighting. Courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish Department

Arizona Allows Night Hunting for Predators

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The Arizona Game and Fish Commission believes that reducing predators in certain game management units will boost struggling pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep populations. It signed off on a rule that will allow the use of artificial lighting during night hunts of coyotes and mountain lions.

Read the full press release here. (All the media coverage I’ve seen about this so far is just a reprint of the press release.)

The press release says that 41 other states allow night hunting of predators.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know which states? The closest I could find to a list is this list of coyote hunting regulations from the National Predator Hunters Association. It reveals that as of early 2011: in Florida you can hunt coyotes at night by the light of the moon, but need a permit for an artificial light; you can’t use lights affixed to a vehicle in Georgia; you can’t hunt coyotes on Sunday in Maine; and you must use a light when hunting at night in Indiana and Ohio.

The link pops up a Word document.

Photo courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish Commission