Furthering efforts to promote the scientific understanding and management of chronic wasting disease, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation committed $100,000 to two research endeavors.

One study, in conjunction with the University of Tennessee CWD Working Group, aims to develop a CWD test for live animals. The other seeks to measure the CWD prevalence among elk in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

“There are many more questions than answers related to this mysterious and deadly wildlife disease,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “This research has great potential to shape how biologists can better manage CWD’s impact on wildlife.”

Development of a live CWD test (University of Tennessee)
· Research to develop a rapid and sensitive platform for detection of CWD prions in live animal samples. Results could help state wildlife agencies evaluate prevalence and improve management including test-and-cull actions. Read more

We imagine that you get excited when you see a Rufous Hummingbird, or a Calliope Hummingbird – we do! Just a quick look at one of these species will make our day, maybe our year. But imagine a scene with the above species along with Broad-tailed and Black-throated Hummingbirds in a continuous feeding frenzy, and then a rare Lucifer Hummingbird flies into view. A link to a remarkable video is included here for you to be astonished – that’s right, get ready to be astonished by the action in this video at https://youtu.be/zOet2wbCwR8

After taking an initial look, you may think, “they should provide more than 1 feeder – no wonder so many hummingbirds are gathered around this one.” But there are 20 other feeders at this site in far west Texas, and the live cam host shared that the action at all 21 feeders was just as busy as the one with the live cam directed at it. Read more

EDGEFIELD, S.C.—As part of its 2023 investment in wild turkey research, the NWTF is helping fund a unique project out of the University of Tennessee examining potential factors that may be causing wild turkey eggs to fail to hatch.

“We were stunned to find out how many of these eggs were fertilized, but for various reasons including hens being killed or bumped off the nest, they failed to hatch.”

These are the words of an excited-yet-perplexed Richard Gerhold, Ph.D., associate professor focusing on parasitology and wildlife diseases at the University of Tennessee’s Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences. Gerhold is the principal investigator of the NWTF co-funded project.

For the last eight years, Gerhold and his colleagues at UT have been assisting the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency with understanding why wild turkeys are declining in parts of the state. The UT researchers were specifically examining the effect diseases and parasites may have on the birds on a population level. Gerhold says there’s no smoking gun, but if anything, diseases may exacerbate other unknown factors causing the decline. Read more

Total ducks and mallard numbers decline, but pintails and canvasbacks increase

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — The breeding population of ducks declined 7% this spring, while pond counts dropped by 9% compared to last year, according to the 2023 Waterfowl Population Status report released Friday by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Those numbers resulted from the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey, which has been conducted annually by the USFWS and Canadian Wildlife Service since 1955, except for 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19 concerns. The survey, which is used to set hunting regulations throughout North America, estimated a breeding duck population of 32.3 million ducks in the traditional survey area, which is 7% less than 2022 and 9% below the long-term average. Importantly, the May pond count, a key indicator of duck habitat and potential production, showed 4.98 million ponds, a 9% decrease and 5% below the long-term average.

The numbers might seem discouraging on the surface, but Dr. Frank Rohwer, president and chief scientist of Delta Waterfowl puts forth an important reminder: “We don’t hunt the breeding population. We hunt the fall flight, which is made of the breeding population plus this year’s duck production. Duck production is the key to the upcoming hunting season.” Read more

After consultation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department captured and relocated an adult male grizzly bear on Aug. 15.

The bear was captured for livestock depredation northwest of Thermopolis on private land. The bear was relocated to the Five Mile Creek drainage approximately 41 miles west of Cody.

Bears are relocated in accordance with state and federal law and regulation, and Game and Fish is required to update the public whenever a bear is relocated.

WHY RELOCATION?

Grizzly bear relocation is a management tool large carnivore biologists use to minimize conflicts between humans and grizzly bears. It is critical to managing the expanding population of grizzly bears in Wyoming. Read more

August 2023, Accokeek, MD – “The most difficult bird there is to hunt is the ruffed grouse,” says Darin Melton in the new Benelli short film Raising Habitat release. “Folks call them the King of the Woods; they call them the Ghost of the Woods. They figure out a way to elude you. One minute you think you got them figured out and the next minute you don’t. You’ll hunt eight, ten miles a day…one point, one find, one flush makes it worth it — makes you keep coming back to it.”

Within living memory, fans of the ruffed grouse once enjoyed plying the fall woods in search of this magnificent and challenging game bird, whose territory spanned much of the northern tier of the U.S. down through the Appalachians. Many changes, though, over the last half-century have contributed to a plummet in ruffed grouse populations throughout their traditional range. A recent study concluded that ruffed grouse populations have declined “at least 50% throughout the Eastern U.S. over the last 20 years.” Read more

Bats are everywhere! It may feel that way to some of Vermont’s human residents. Summer is when some species of bats gather in colonies, to raise their young in human-made structures such as houses, barns, office buildings, and bat houses but fall is the safe time to get them out.

“Summer is the time of year when the greatest number of unwanted bat-human interactions are reported,” according to Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s Small Mammals Biologist Alyssa Bennett, who works on the conservation and recovery of Vermont’s threatened and endangered bat species.

“Bats can end up in your living space for many reasons, including young bats that are weak, disoriented or lost while coming and going from the roost, bats moving within a structure to find warmer or cooler roosting space as temperatures fluctuate, and bats being displaced from their roosts due to building repairs and renovations.” Read more

EDGEFIELD, S.C. — As part of its 2023 investment in wild turkey research, the NWTF is helping fund, for the second year, a unique wild turkey research project conducted by Mississippi State University and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

The research project utilizes recent advances in genetic analysis to better understand wild turkey ecology and how certain factors — such as hunting seasons, land type and management practices — can affect population densities.

In its second year, the project is improving estimates of various population data, which will allow state wildlife agencies and turkey managers to make better-informed decisions regarding management actions and hunting season frameworks, ultimately leading to a stronger population.

However, accurately gauging the number of wild turkeys on a particular landscape is complicated. Population estimates are often made using rough approximations that rely on anecdotal accounts, volunteer surveys and catch-per-unit information.

The other, more labor-intensive way wild turkey researchers and managers can estimate wild turkey numbers is by trapping and marking birds. While this method has provided valuable and insightful information for decades, it is expensive, takes a lot of personnel, is time-consuming and involves risks. Read more