Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

The Pope and Young Club Helps Protect Bighorn Sheep


Chatfield, MN – The Pope and Young Club’s Conservation, Education and Outreach Fund awarded a grant to the National Wildlife Federation’s Howe Peak and Deadman Domestic Sheep Allotment Retirements. The purpose is to help remove domestic sheep from Forest Service and BLM allotments in close proximity to bighorn sheep. The Pope and Young funding grant will help decrease the susceptibility of wild sheep from contracting disease from domestic animals. Read more
Wildlife

Pheasants Forever Annual Report: 1.7 Million Wildlife Habitat Acres Impacted in ’15


Quail Forever celebrates 10th anniversary, sets new membership recordSt. Paul, Minn. – In 2015, Pheasants Forever, Inc., including its quail division, Quail Forever, worked with more than 35,000 individual landowners and its chapter affiliates completed more than 12,700 wildlife habitat projects, which combined to improve habitat for pheasants, quail and other wildlife on more than 1.7 million acres. Read more
Hunting, Wildlife

Cornell Spring Field Ornithology Course Goes Online

Eastern Bluebird by Glenda Simmons.

A vision of spring, the brilliant Blackburnian Warbler usually arrives in the southern U.S. by March or early April. It reaches the northern limits of its range in Canada by mid-May, crossing the Gulf of Mexico during its long journey from South America. Photo by Luke Seitz.

Lectures on birding and Northeast species available to everyone

Ithaca, N.Y.—The annual Spring Field Ornithology course is celebrating its 40th anniversary by reaching out to those who cannot take the course in person at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y. For the first time, lectures will be available online to anyone, anywhere. Though species native to the Finger Lakes Region of New York will be discussed, course lectures are also packed with information about bird identification, migration, nesting, and other topics that are relevant to anyone hoping to improve their bird-watching skills. Read more

Wildlife

What a difference a year makes

Michigan DNR biologists discuss effects of milder winter on wildlife

Looking out your window, do you find yourself saying, “This winter is different?”

Remembering last winter, areas of Michigan had not inches, but feet of snow on the ground by mid-November. In stark contrast, this winter, many parts of Michigan didn’t receive any significant snowfall that stayed on the ground, until after Christmas.

With the effects of one of the strongest El Nino weather patterns on record – warmer Pacific Ocean waters producing atmospheric changes in weather thousands of miles away – this winter certainly is different.

As a result, weather forecasters are predicting above-average temperatures and drier than normal winter conditions across the northern tier of the country, including Michigan.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologists have been fielding inquiries about how the milder conditions might be affecting wildlife this winter.

“The 2014-2015 Michigan winter had record low temperatures for numerous days,” DNR Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason said. “Along with those cold temps, winter brought snow depths that challenged even the most adapted wildlife.”

Waterfowl

Several mallards and Canada geese are shown in a stretch of open water.Less than a year ago, waterfowl were being negatively affected across Michigan by lakes, rivers and streams freezing completely, or more extensively than usual, leaving smaller areas of open water for ducks and swans to feed. After the last two hard winters, this winter is providing many open water locations.

“Instead of ducks being concentrated in small areas, ducks and swans have good amounts of open water in a mild winter, giving them room to forage and find the food they need,” said Barbara Avers, a DNR waterfowl and wetlands specialist.

The last two winters resulted in some malnourished or dead waterfowl being trapped on the ice, unable to fly. Not this winter.

Smaller mammals

Squirrels never take a break. Read more

Wildlife

Bear Hunters Asking Michigan DNR to Ban Chocolate in Bait

 

Hunters want to eliminate poisoning risk for wildlife

LANSING—Michigan’s bear hunting community is asking the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to consider banning the use of solid chocolate in bear baits. Chocolate contains theobromine, which can be toxic to bears and other wildlife in high quantities.

“As hunters, we have a responsibility to look out for wildlife. We take that seriously,” said Mike Thorman of the Michigan Hunting Dog Federation. “Bait allows us to selectively harvest bears. We don’t want to see non-target wildlife harmed, so we’re being proactive about this.”

Last winter, four bears in New Hampshire died from chocolate toxicity near a 90-pound bait pile containing chocolate. In May 2015, the New Hampshire Game and Fish Commission banned the use of chocolate in bait.

“This is really a matter of using sound science to shape wildlife management decisions,” said Tim Dusterwinkle, president of the Michigan Bear Hunters Association. “Our first role as hunters is to conserve the resource we use.”

The Michigan Hunting Dog Federation, the Michigan Bear Hunters Association and the U.P. Bear Houndsmen Association have led the charge to ask DNR biologists to study the matter for a possible wildlife conservation order in the 2017 regulation cycle. Other organizations that are supporting the ban of solid chocolate in bear baits include: Michigan United Conservation Clubs, Michigan United Coon Hunters Association, Michigan Fox Hunters Association, Michigan Archery Bear Hunters Association, Michigan Bow Hunters Association, Michigan Longbow Association, Upper Peninsula Sportsmen’s Alliance, and Safari Club International.

“We’re encouraging our members to voluntarily refrain from using chocolate in baits until then,” said Amy Trotter, deputy director for Michigan United Conservation Clubs

Hunting, Wildlife

Arizona Game & Fish Commissioners Urge President to Say No to Monument Designations


PHOENIX – The five-member Arizona Game and Fish Commission and 10 former commissioners have sent a letter to President Barack Obama, urging that he not designate 1.7 million acres in northern Arizona as a new Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument.Calling the proposed monument “a solution to a non-existing problem,” the commissioners said designating this large swath of land as a national monument could impose unnecessary rules and regulations, negatively impact outdoor recreation, and compromise the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s ability to manage and conserve wildlife. Read more
Wildlife

Arizona Game and Fish Passes Resolutions


PHOENIX — The Arizona Game and Fish Commission approved two resolutions, including one to address an “extreme overpopulation of burros” impacting the state’s wildlife, habitat and public safety, and another that bolsters the department’s efforts to ensure public access to public lands. The Commission passed the resolutions at its January meeting.The resolution on burro management states that “the Arizona Game and Fish Commission recognizes there is an extreme overpopulation of burros in Arizona that negatively impacts wildlife, wildlife habitat and public safety.”

Under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burros Act of 1971, there should be no more than 1,676 burros within the state. The current population is estimated at 4,860, according to the Bureau of Land Management, which is legally required to maintain burros at established “appropriate management levels.” The BLM is hampered by a lack of funding and support from the agency’s administration at the national level. Read more

Wildlife

Citizen Science Reveals Annual Bird Migrations Across Continents

Graphic by Misaki Ouchida, Bartels Science Illustration Intern. Data sources: eBird, NASA.

Data-driven animation shows routes for 118 species

Ithaca, NY—For the first time, scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have documented migratory movements of bird populations spanning the entire year for 118 species throughout the Western Hemisphere. The study finds broad similarity in the routes used by specific groups of species—vividly demonstrated by animated maps showing patterns of movement across the annual cycle. The results of these analyses were published today in theProceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Read more

Wildlife

MI DNR announces $100,000 in Upper Peninsula Deer Habitat Improvement Grants now available


The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has announced a March 1 deadline to apply for a total of $100,000 in deer habitat improvement grant funding in the Upper Peninsula.The Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative is a competitive grant program designed to enhance deer habitat on non-state-managed lands in the Upper Peninsula.

Now in its eighth year, the initiative is supported by the state’s Deer Range Improvement Program, which is funded by a portion of deer hunting license revenue.

“Due to the success of this program, and interest in 2016 grant cycle, the total amount of grant funding available has been increased by $50,000 to the $100,000 level,” said Bill Scullon, DNR field operations manager and Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative administrator. “Additionally, the maximum amount of individual grants has been raised from $10,000 to $15,000, with the minimum remaining grants at $2,000 each.” Read more

Wildlife

FLIR Announces Next Generation Thermal Handheld Camera


Company also demos recently announced sub-$600 thermal monocular, the FLIR Scout TK
WILSONVILLE, OR – – FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) announced the FLIR Scout III today at Shot Show in Las Vegas, the latest addition to its popular FLIR Scout series of outdoor thermal vision devices. In addition, FLIR is also showcasing the FLIR Scout TK, the smallest, lightest and most affordable thermal monocular in the Scout series that was first unveiled at the recent 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. Read more
General, Hunting, Wildlife
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