Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Governor Ron DeSantis Announces 2022 Florida Python Challenge®

MIAMI — Thursday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that registration for the 2022 Florida Python Challenge® has opened and the annual 10-day event will be held August 5-14, 2022. Members of the public are now able to take the required online training and register to compete to win thousands of dollars in prizes while removing invasive Burmese pythons from the wild. The competition is open to both professional and novice participants.

“The Everglades is one of the world’s most prized natural resources, and we have invested record funding for Everglades restoration projects, including record funding for removal of invasive Burmese pythons which wreak havoc on the ecosystem,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Because of this focus, we have removed record numbers of invasive pythons from the Everglades. I am proud of the progress we’ve made, and I look forward to seeing the results of this year’s Python Challenge.”

“The Florida Everglades is an iconic habitat in Florida and removing Burmese pythons from this ecosystem is critical to the survival of the species that live in this vast wild area,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto. “Under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, the FWC and our dedicated partners continue to have great success conserving our native wildlife and managing this invasive predator.” Read more

Wildlife

Fledging Time

Everyone enjoys seeing new fledglings, such as an Eastern Bluebird, and observing interactions with an adult (Wild Birds Unlimited photo).
During the post-fledging period, fledgling birds like these robins are fed and protected by the adults while they learn to fly and find food on their own (photo by Paul Konrad).

It’s an exciting time as the nesting season becomes more obvious with each passing day, and you may already be seeing some new fledglings that are leaving their nests. As fledglings appear, witnessing the successes of the nesting season is a wonderful experience and a fulfilling part of of providing nesting habitat in our yard, along with foods and fresh water for adults and fledglings. It’s a time we can all learn more about the behavior of birds when they venture beyond their nest, which is a time that’s not often described.

This week we’ve been watching the progress of a particular fledgling American Robin, that on first encounter looked like it was so young that it had fallen out of the nest. But it could fly short spurts to collect food from an attending adult. By the next day, it left its ground-based hangouts for low branches in nearby trees – obviously moving around and flying better. By day 3, it was beginning to stand in a more upright posture, which made it look larger and more adult-like in stature; and by day 4 the fledgling was flying especially strong and reacting immediately to human movements in the area.

And that’s what’s really fun about this time of the year: Everyone enjoys seeing new fledglings such as bluebirds, robins, cardinals, chickadees, screech owls, and others. Part of the learning process for birders is that by observing young birds when they leave the nest, we find out that fledglings are not on their own. The next step is really just a continuation of birds’ development known as the “post-fledging period,” which takes place after new fledglings leave the nest and continue to be protected and fed by adults.

The Post-fledging Period

During this interesting period, Read more

Wildlife

Growing network of radio stations provide important data on small animal migration

Iowa joined other Midwestern states, and researchers in Canada and Central and South America to create a network of radio receiver stations to learn more about the long-distance migration patterns of birds, bats and insects.

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System, motus being the Latin word for movement, began in 2013 by Birds Canada near Toronto. Motus is a system of coordinated automated radio telemetry station used to track long-distance movements of small animals.

Automated antenna array connected to radio receivers are being installed throughout the Western hemisphere and birds, bats and insects are netted and trapped then outfitted with small tags that emit a radio signal every few seconds. When the tagged animal passes near a receiver station, it records the tag and identifies the animal to which it was attached. So multiple detections over time can build a map of migration for a tagged individual. Read more

Wildlife

Kirtland’s Warbler Tours in Michigan

Joining a Kirtland’s Warbler Tour will provide the best chance to observe a rare Kirtland’s Warbler in its jack pine habitat (photo by Roger Eriksson).

Michigan Audubon is conducting Kirtland’s Warbler Tours thru June 26 for birders to see a recovering species that was formerly one of the most endangered species in the United States. Kirtland’s Warblers remain a difficult species for birders to find considering that only a few counties in central Michigan represent its primary nesting range, but during June, Michigan Audubon in collaboration with Hartwick Pines State Park is offering Kirtland’s Warbler Tours daily at 7am, with an additional 11am tour on Saturdays and Sundays. The tours are based at Hartwick Pines State Park just north of the town of Grayling. Read more

Wildlife

Dogs that Learned to Love the Water

By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)

My pal, Joe, has a large German Shorthair dog which has learned to love the water.  Even though he had experienced a life-threatening experience not knowing how to swim properly, he has overcome his fears thanks to his owner, who coaxed him into his arms in deep water.  (Dogs that do the “dog paddle” have not learned to use their back legs and will tire before long.)  In any event, it’s a joy to watch the fearless canine, which will simply swim for the joy of it.

Watching Junior at a lake recently brought back memories of my black Labrador Retriever, Otis, about 50 years ago.  He suffered a similar experience and nearly drowned in the Au Sable River and carried with him the fear of deep water until one fine day frolicking around in a small creek chasing butterflies.  Then it happened.

He got caught in the current and was heading downstream and it was sink or swim!  Something within Otis instantly transformed his fear, as he engaged those hind legs and powered out of trouble.  He never looked back and became a strong swimmer.

Like many loyal dogs, he didn’t like being separated from his owner, who in this case was me.  What follows is a case in point.

The scene played out at a small lake in Oakland County, where my pal, Don and I planned to spend some time in my tiny inflatable boat fishing.  Otis was along for the trip but was to be left ashore, where I figured he’d be able to watch us.  I commanded Otis to stay, as Don and I took the “yacht” to deep water.

The farther away we paddled, the more Otis became concerned.  Back and forth along the shore he ran and barked.  “You stay there” I shouted across the water.  But, he wasn’t having any of it, as separation anxiety took over his brain.

Otis was motoring directly toward us now and there was no stopping him.  His plan was to join us in my two-man boat.  That little boat was barely big enough for two and we were headed for a sink-and-swim lesson of our own, as the dog did his best to climb aboard.

We poked at Otis with our paddles in a losing battle to keep him from his plan.  The frantic dog sunk his teeth into Don’s paddle and now owned it.  Foolishly, I tried to paddle away, but the dog’s will and pure muscle overpowered my single-paddle effort.  Like it or not, we were being escorted to shore, as Otis towed us against our will with a paddle full of teeth holes.

That was the end of our “fishing” excursion for the day – a true testament to the connection that can develop between man and his loyal companion.

General, Wildlife

Nuisance geese ruffling your feathers?

Canada geese are a common sight on Michigan’s waters. In fact, they nest in every Michigan county, but are most common in the southern third of the state. You may even see and hear Canada geese all year in some parts of the state.

In June and July, these birds often are found on lakes and golf course ponds, feeding on lush lawns while molting – the annual loss of their flight feathers, which takes about two weeks. Canada geese are unable to fly during molting, so putting up a temporary barrier between your yard and the water may help keep flightless geese away from your property. Geese are especially attracted to lawns that are heavily fertilized, watered and mowed.

“If you live on a lake and geese frequently visit your yard, try making your lawn less attractive to them by allowing your grass to grow long and cutting down on fertilizer and water, or try planting shrubs to create a barrier between your lawn and the water,” said Barbara Avers, waterfowl and wetland specialist with the DNR.

Intentionally feeding Canada geese can attract them to the area as well, so don’t – especially if you are having conflicts with geese. Such artificial feeding can make them comfortable around people; it also can increase overcrowding and potentially spread disease among the birds.

Read more

Wildlife

TACTACAM launches REVEAL X Gen 2.0 Cellular Camera

Caledonia, MN (June 1st, 2022) – Over the last several years, the market has seen a major shift, and now more hunters than ever are using the cellular option to scout and locate game. The REVEAL by TACTACAM continues to be at the forefront of helping hunters break away from the confines of SD cameras and elevate their scouting experience with cellular cameras. Now with the ever-expanding market for cellular scouting cameras, TACTACAM has continued to innovate and push the technology forward to meet consumer demands, introducing the REVEAL X Gen 2.0 in June 2022.

Jeff Peel, President of TACTACAM, “We absolutely love seeing how well the REVEAL products have been received and the following they have created. We feel a great responsibility to the new REVEAL cellular users, and work diligently to create new products and app features that will make the user experience better every year.”

The REVEAL X Gen 2.0 holds all the positive attributes of the REVEAL X but delivers new features combined with innovative technology making scouting easy, fun, and affordable for the everyday sportsman.

Key features of the REVEAL X Gen 2.0 include: Read more

Wildlife

USDA Commits to Big Game Conservation

New USDA-NRCS partnership with Wyoming will focus on conserving big game migratory habitat on private lands.

On Friday May 20, USDA announced a new partnership that uses diverse Farm Bill investments to support voluntary conservation of private working lands and migratory big game populations in Wyoming. Using lessons learned from this pilot, USDA seeks to scale up this model across the West as part of President Biden’s commitment to support voluntary, locally-led conservation efforts to reach the administration’s national conservation goals.

USDA participated in extensive engagement and listening sessions with stakeholders throughout Wyoming and developed this pilot in response to their feedback. Those listening sessions helped guide the pilot’s concepts and principles: recognition of the large scale of this issue in key landscapes, coordination with state agencies, consistency with state policy and direction and support of existing partnerships wherever possible. Read more

Wildlife

Eleven Mexican Wolf Pups Journey From Captivity to Join the Wild Population

A Mexican wolf pup is given a health check before being placed into a wild den. Photo courtesy of Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team.

PHOENIX — Eleven genetically valuable captive-born Mexican wolf pups have been placed into wild dens to be raised in the wild by their surrogate parents after another successful fostering season. Now in its seventh year, the Mexican wolf fostering program continues to help boost the genetic diversity of this endangered subspecies.

Over a three-week period this spring, 11 pups were fostered into five wild packs across New Mexico and Arizona. The pups traveled from captive facilities across the U.S. as part of a coordinated effort to place genetically diverse wolves into the wild population in support of recovery efforts.

Fostering is a proven method used by the Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team (IFT) to increase genetic diversity in the wild Mexican wolf population. It begins with carefully managed breeding by the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP) program to produce genetically diverse pups within the captive population. Within 14 days of whelping (being born), the captive-born pups are transported to the wild and mixed together with similarly aged wild pups.

Once all of the pups are placed back into the wild den, the breeding female’s maternal instinct kicks in. She will feed and care for both the wild and captive-born pups. With the help of her pack mates, the pups will be raised with the skills and knowledge needed for a life in the wild. The IFT has documented that fostered pups have the same survival rate as wild-born pups in their first year of life (about 50%). Read more

Wildlife
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