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November 21, 2005
Where Will The Buffalo Roam?
When my little brother and I were younger, let's say about 10 and 6 years old, we had a dream. We would grow up and live together and adopt lots of puppies and kittens from shelters, to give them all homes. At the time, we saw it kind of cute like the 101 Dalmations or the Short Circuit movies. Now I cringe at what that would have cost in kitty litter, kibbles and vet bills.
Still, as we became adults, we certainly aquired significant numbers of pets. Ironically, no dogs or cats. I ended up with a herd of bunnies and assorted fish and a frog named Commander Toad. My brother, on the other hand, became a slave to his saltwater fishtank and a couple of lizards, dragons, and snakes, including a boa and a python.
After visiting South Africa, the concept of running a private wildlife park was still a bit tempting, a cool idea. But one thing is for sure - it has to be your primary passion, your primary focus. You need to have a very well-trained staff of animal care professionals, not to mention quite a lot of money.
So let's say you've dotted all your J's and crossed all your toes. You have the money to purchase some promising property and to maintain it as required. You've bought or acquired some animals for your land. You've got the backing of wildlife officials and possibly even a big financial and logistical backer. Let's also say you decided to do this in the big ole US of A and so you have property rights. So you're home free, right?
No. Not quite. Exotic "pets" require lots of permits and inspections and there's also the problem with insurance and liability. But what if you bought a big ranch in the Midwest and wanted to have your own buffalo herd. There are quite a few ranchers with such herds already, as there's an exotic meat market for it. Sure, it's nowhere near the cattle market but still, if you wanted to raise your buffalo herd and not eat it, it shouldn't be so difficult to set it up right?
No. Still, the answer is no. For some reason, even this is difficult. The World Wildlife Fund and the American Prairie Foundation found some prime prairie lands in Montana and proceeded to buy and lease up 5 ranches in the area in hopes to do just such a buffalo project. The ranches had been for sale for quite some time and no one else was interested. The conservationalists wanted to turn it into something of a buffalo refuge.
But some of the cattle ranchers don't like the idea and have protested. Some claim that the buffalo could be vectors for cattle-diseases, others express skepticism that the refuge will bring any money to the town for visitors.I guess I just don't understand. It's a fenced area. As long as it's a carefully, thoughtfully-run facility, why should the ranchers have any say whatsoever? Why can't a private operation do basically what they want on their land, provided they meet all the legal and ethical requirements? Provided they have the money. The negative arguments over the refuge felt about as odd a concept as me throwing a fit about the potential for catching bird flu when someone opens an ostrich farm in the next county.
Still, it has taken a lot more work than expected, but finally this past week, the buffalo refuge came through and the first mini-herd has been released onto their new range.
On Thursday, 16 buffalo will be released from a holding pen onto a portion of the nearly 32,000 acres of land that has been purchased or leased as the start of a wildlife reserve. The conservationists hope it will eventually grow to hundreds of thousands of acres.
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The Montana project began four years ago when the World Wildlife Fund found mostly pristine prairie in a patchwork of public and private land neighboring the 1.1 million-acre Charles M. Russell Federal Wildlife Refuge. The array of plant and animals in the region of southern Phillips County ranged from bighorn sheep and elk to owls and hawks and fragrant sagebrush.
More At: MSNBC: Buffalo preserve takes shape in Montana
This news comes as the bison of Yellowstone National Park are being hunted for the first time in 15 years. You can find out more about why on National Geographic's Hunt Begins on Yellowstone's Bison.
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November 20, 2005
Sea Turtles: Off The Hook
Many turtle species of the world are endangered. Some because their eggs are harvested, others due to perpetually ending up in soups. Others are collected as part of the pet industry and some are even considered in traditional medicine. Still more sea turtles are vulnerable to the fishing industry.
Long line fishing has decimated the sea turtle populations, especially in the Eastern Pacific where populations may have dropped up to 90% in the past twenty years according to World Wildlife Fund. Turtles like the loggerhead and giant leatherback swallow the fishing hooks cast in hopes of catching the bistro-favored mahi-mahi as well as tuna.
Conservationalists have been trying out some new types of fishing hooks in hopes of making it more likely that what you want to fish for is what you get, without impacting catch rates of the local fishermen who depend on them. Now they've had some promising findings with circle hooks.
Preliminary results from the first large-scale testing of specially designed fishing hooks ... indicate they can reduce the number of endangered sea turtles killed in long line fishing operations by as much as 90 percent, World Wildlife Fund said today.
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But the results of a year-long study involving 115 Ecuadorian fishing vessels found that this "bycatch" was dramatically reduced when the boats replaced their traditional 'J' shaped hooks with specially designed circle hooks. "This is a win-win situation. We were looking for a way to save the turtles without putting the fishermen out of business..." said Moises Mug, Fisheries Coordinator for WWF's Latin America and Caribbean program.
Over the past year, Ecuador's tuna and mahi-mahi fisheries each tested one large and one small circle hook.
More at: WWF: Year-long Study Shows Circle Hooks Help Save Sea Turtles
Also, read the full report here.
You can find out more on about the turtle troubles at World's Top 25 Most Endangered Turtles On Death Row.
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November 19, 2005
Grizzlies Go & Orcas Are On
Out With The Old, In With The New...
Last week we talked about how the Yellowstone Grizzlies are being de-listed from the Endangered Species Act (ESA). However, as I mentioned, this might allow for other animals to be listed and given the funds they need to make a turn-around.
The orcas, or killer whales, especialy those of the Pacific Northwest in the Puget Sound, have to tolerate a lot of shipping and ferry traffic. This traffic doesn't just result in collisions and sound pollution, it also results in oil and chemical spills and such.
Also know as the sea wolf, due to its wolf-pack hunting methods, the whales are known for several different kinds of community behavior - including resident and transient populations. These communities are thought to have genetic differences, including very different communications and sounds, and even slightly different dorsal fins. However the most significant difference between resident and transient communities is what they eat and where they live.
It is the transient orcas that are known for opportunistic preying habits, including eating other marine mammals like seals, sea lions, dolphins, and even young whales. These whales move around, following food sources. Resident orcas tend to stay in one area and eat only fish - especially salmon. This diet makes the resident killer whale very vulnerable when their food supply suffers from overfishing and high contaminant levels like the salmon populations of the Pacific Northwest have. It is the Southern Resident killer whale population of the Puget Sound that is being listed.
Acknowledging that a population of orcas — one of the icons of the Pacific Northwest — was in greater danger than it initially feared, the Bush administration on Tuesday gave the group the most protections possible under the Endangered Species Act.
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The service noted that the population saw a 20 percent decline in the 1990s. Threats include vessel traffic, oil spills, toxic chemicals and food limits, especially salmon.
In addition, the group has only a few sexually mature males that can help repopulate.
The population stood at 97 in the 1990s, and then declined to 79 in 2001. It now stands at 89 whales.
Endangered listing requires that federal agencies make sure their actions are not likely to harm the whales. As a result, agencies that deal with chemicals and vessel traffic will have to more closely monitor how their rules impact the population.
More At: MSNBC: Orca population to be listed as endangered
Did you know that there is a community of killer whales living in the Monterey Bay? Transients have been spotted for quite some time in the Monterey Bay, often peaking during the the late spring when Gray Whale mothers and their calves swim by on their migration to the north.
In January 2000, some marine biologists identified some resident pods from Washington State and the Puget sound had swum down to the Monterey Bay in search of better eating, most likely the salmon. National Geographic caught it all on tape and whale identification confirmed the pod's origins.
Photo courtesy of The Marine Mammal Commission, an independent agency of the U.S. Government, established under Title II of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
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November 18, 2005
Isolated Ecosystems: The Farallons Are California's Galapagos
Just off the coast of San Francisco lies a small group of rocky islands known as the Farallons. Although they are only 27 miles outside the Golden Gate and 20 miles south of Point Reyes, its far enough out, and secluded enough, that the ecosystem is relatively untouched. Very few people ever set foot on the islands, and the public is not allowed. This makes it an amazingly diverse little rock for naturalists and researchers to study, and so close!
Many species live on the Farallons, which is surrounded by the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, and it has become the largest seabird colony in the continental United States. In the past, companies collected the eggs to sell in San Francisco markets, depleting the populations so significantly that Teddy Roosevelt signed an Exec Order in 1909 to turn the islands into a reserve. Then in 1969, it became a National Wildlife Refuge.
A former lighthouse and radio station, the Farallons support a seabird population of over 250,000 animals. According to Wikipedia, they are home to the: Western Gull, Brandt's Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pigeon Guillemot, Common Murre, Cassin's Auklet, Tufted Puffin, Black Oystercatcher, Rhinoceros Auklet, Ashy Storm-petrel and Leach's Storm-petrel. The Common Mure is our own special penguin, and you can see them at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as well. The Rhinoceros Auklet, which is considered extinct on the coast, has begun to breed on the islands again.
But it's not just a haven for birds. The five mile string of rock outcroppings and islands also supports give species of seals and sea lions including the Northern Elephant Seal, Harbor Seal, Steller's Sea Lion, California Sea Lion and the Northern Fur Seal. These marine mammals, especially the large elephant seals, attract one of the most active Great White Shark populations in the world.
Now the Fish and Wildlife Service is considering options for allowing people to visit the Farallons and is seeking public comment. The National Marine Sanctuary Program is preparing the Draft Managment Plans for the Gulf of the Farallones as well as several other marine sanctuaries like the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Draft plans are open to public input.
How do you feel?
FARALLON NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - Less than 30 miles from San Francisco, an archipelago of rocky islands rises out of the Pacific Ocean, forming a largely undisturbed wildlife haven that biologists call California's Galapagos.
..."You don't have to go to the Galapagos to see amazing biological diversity and thousands and thousands of animals," said Russ Bradley, a Point Reyes Bird Observatory researcher who monitors seabird breeding on the islands. "It's right on San Francisco's doorstep."
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Starting next week, the Fish and Wildlife Service will begin seeking public comment on a 15-year conservation plan that will address public access, among other issues. The agency is considering allowing small groups of naturalists to visit, but probably not tourists.
"We're looking for creative ways to increase the public experience of the refuge without necessarily having them step foot on the islands," said refuge manager Joelle Buffa.
More At: MSNBC: California's 'Galapagos' could see visitors
You can find out more about how the public input process works here.
See more pictures of California Marine Wildlife Here:
Año Nuevo State Reserve - Baby Elephant Seals
Año Nuevo State Reserve - Male Elephant Seals
Northern California: Coastal Wilds & Verdant Redwoods
California Condor Craving Coastal Carrion
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November 16, 2005
Funny Phrases & Silly Searches
Checking my website statistics is fun and occasionally addicting. One of my favorite things to do is read the search phrases people use and somehow manage to end up on perlgurl.org. Today, I thought I'd share a few... just for kicks.
Puggles - The Baby Platypus
Puggles
baby duck-billed platypus
platypus babies puggles
Freakish Frog's Fate Foreboding
goliath frog
goliath frog predators
goliath frog pet
Gator Gluttony: A Python's Fatal Mistake
fatal gluttony
python eating sheep
pythons killing owners
show photos of python attempting to eat a man
The Turtle With Two Heads
two headed turtle
seven headed turtle
two headed animals mutations
two headed snake coloring pictures
Military Bases Benefit Birds
military environmental conservation
we're going to need a bigger conflict
Biting Back Against Invasive Species
fried south american rodents
Rodent Radiation: Squirrels Get Sassy
squirrel tails recycling
PERLGURL.ORG Podcast Episode #1: We're Going To Need A Bigger Boat - Great White Sharks
hiding places of great white sharks
Creepy Creature Camouflage
pictures of a camouflage sheep
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November 15, 2005
ESA: Yellowstone Bears Get Bumped
It is with bittersweet feelings that I write up this bit of news. The current administration has decided that the grizzlies that live in the wilderness around Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming are living in healthy enough populations to delist them from the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
So why bittersweet? Is this not a clear success of the ESA? Well, yes, I suppose it does show this, although the maintenance of this population - a population that is still only several hundred higher than when they were listed back in the late seventies - is still of concern to me. The bear population in the area is still far, far below what it was 50 or 100 years ago. And there was quite a big fuss amongst the local hunters when the bear was listed in the first place, at a time when things looked very bleak for the Yellowstone grizzly.
But the ESA doesn't just protect endangered creatures through law enforcement, it also provides funding for protection programs. Bear programs are especially expensive - it's not just about building bear boxes. There are relocation programs for problem bears. I'd like to believe that the local officials have alloted resources to manage these tasks on their own, but it makes me uneasy. Yosemite has to constantly change their bear program to keep up with the bears, who learn quickly how to circumvent rangers' bear-proofing tactics. But also, it's important to note that the grizzly is not going to be delisted completely just yet, just the population groups around the Yellowstone region.
Noting that the grizzly bear population in the Yellowstone area has thrived in recent years, the Bush administration on Tuesday announced that it plans to remove federal protections for the animals in the areas around the national park.
"A population that was once plummeting towards extinction is now recovered," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said in making the announcement. "These bears are now no longer endangered" and should be removed from the Endangered Species Act listing.
More At: MSNBC: U.S. to lift safety net for Yellowstone grizzlies
On the other hand, there are many other species that would benefit from support through the ESA. Contrary to popular belief, not every threatened species makes it onto the list, and so there's something of a backlog. As long as there is some sort of maintenance plan for monitoring the health of the de-listed species, the bears should be relatively safe. They could always be re-added if things went south again, right?
I often talk about grizzlies on this blog. If you'd like to listen or read more, feel free to check out:
LISTEN: PERLGURL.ORG Podcast: The Grizzly Truth
READ: The Bear-Human Conflict - Part I and Part II
READ: Lions, Ligers & Bears - Oh My!
READ: DNA Of The Cave Bear
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November 11, 2005
California Condor Craving Coastal Carrion
Long, long ago.. although not so very far away... The latest ice age had chased away many of the massive-winged condor's natural prey, and so they looked to the coastal waters of California for new sources of food. Here, the opportunistic scavengers swooped through the skies and snacked on seal and whale carcasses and all was good.
But then, when man came and began clubbing all those baby seals and whaling off the coast waters, the condors yet again suffered from their food sources disappearing. The California Condor almost went extinct.
Now scientists are hoping that conditioning the condors to feast on the returning populations of seals and sea lions may be the key to reintroducing them successfully to the west coast. Elephant seal rookeries, for example, which have been localized in the south for some time, are gradually sprouting up to the north. And just perhaps, where the food may go, the condors may follow.
If the birds—among North America's biggest and rarest—return to eating sea-mammal meat, the flying scavenger's range could expand northward along the Pacific Coast as far as Canada, the study authors say. This would bring the condor's range closer to what it was hundreds of years ago.
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If condors can tap into this [seals & sea lions] food source, Chamberlain says, the prospects of the birds spreading across their former West Coast range are "excellent."
More at: National Geographic: Seal Meat May Help Save California Condor
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November 10, 2005
Mousy Maestros
Squeeeeeak, Squeeeeeak. Squeak, Squeak, Squeak, Squeak, Squeak. Squeeeeeak, Squeeeeeak...
What, you don't recognize the theme from Cats? Perhaps that's because you're not a mouse!
A new study shows that mice actually sing very complex little songs when they are trying to attract mates. While some animals like elephants use ultra-low frequencies for long distances, scientists have found that mice use very high ultrasonic squeaks in their own version of American Idol.
The stereotypically silent mouse may be one of nature's best singers, according to new research.
The male rodents sing ultrasonic songs that are inaudible to humans—but quite possibly sweet music to the opposite sex.
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Holy and colleague Zhongsheng Guo recorded and manipulated the ultrasonic vocalizations to unveil a surprising complexity. The researchers also found that individual male mice sing their own distinct songs.
"The richness and diversity of mouse song appear to approach that of many songbirds," the authors write in the current edition of the open-access journal PLoS Biology.
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"Whether it's an attribute or a deficiency, the mouse song differs [from birds']," he said. "It seems a bit more experimental and not as stereotyped."
National Geographic: Mice Serenade Mates With Complex Tunes
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November 9, 2005
Pretty In Pink: Mountbatten Pink
Camouflage has been in fashion for quite some time, but when I see something like pink and purple camo, I have to laugh. But you know what? The other day I ran across a bit of history that legitimized what I thought was just silly fad coloring, not that I think the people at Hot Topic know this...
Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable Sir Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, was an admiral in the British Royal Navy. In the autumn of 1940, at the height of the War of the Atlantic, Mountbatten was escorting an Allied convoy and noted that one vessel consistently vanished from view much earlier than the rest. The Union Castle liner's hull was painted a pinkish-purple and the admiral became so convinced that the color was special that he had all the destroyers painted the color.
The color was called Mountbatten Pink and it was actually pretty effective camouflage during the dawn and dusk, when it blended into the purple haze along the horizon. So why are battleships primarily grey today?
By the end of 1942, however, all vessels of destroyer size and larger had dispensed with Mountbatten Pink, although it is believed that smaller vessels retained this colour until well into 1944. The main problem with Mountbatten pink is it stood out at sunrise and sunset, when the traditional battleship grey was much harder to see
More At: Wikipedia: Mountbatten Pink
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November 8, 2005
Butterfly Kisses
I frequently hang out on the NaturePhotographers.Net forum, especially in the image critique area. It's a friendly place to view and post nature photography and get some great constructive feedback. Occassionally, you might even learn something, like I did today!
A fellow photographer had posted a macro shot of an American Lady butterfly and it reminded me of some photos I had taken earlier in the year at Death Valley, which had had a fabulous wildflower season. The butterflies were everywhere and I swear, there were like 200 stuck to our jeep's front grill by the time we came home, which was a shame. At one point, we had stopped the car and as I got out of the car, I noticed a broken butterfly on the road. It was still alive, but clearly not fairing well. I let it crawl onto my finger and as it didn't seem very distressed, I thought I'd put some extension tubes on my 20D and try to take a couple of pictures.
I've never had the opportunity to look so closely at a butterfly. When I looked at the pictures later, I realized how fuzzy these creatures are, and that my butterfly seemed to keep sticking its tongue out at me. When I saw on the forum that someone else had taken a shot of this behavior I asked about it! According to the butterfly photographer, it's called a proboscis, and it acts rather like a drinking straw. The butterfly uses it to reach into flowers for nectar, rolling it up when they're not eating. According to wikipedia, a proboscis (from Greek pro "before" and baskein "to feed") is an long appendage from the head of an animal. The most common usage is to refer to the tubular feeding and sucking organ of insects, worms and mollusks, but an elephant's trunk is also called a proboscis. The term is occassionally used for primate organs as well - the Proboscis Monkey is named for its enormous nose.
The proboscis of a butterfly is very versatile, allowing it to extract sweet nectar from any type of flower, regardless of its shape. During its larval stage as a caterpillar, it can munch away, but when it becomes a butterfly, it loses the ability to chew and must drink its meals instead. It is believed that the Sphinx moth have the longest of the insect proboscises, with lengths up to 14 inches! They are even sometimes mistaken for hummingbirds!
Here are some more close-ups, where you can see the proboscis, partially curled up. You can click on individual shots to see a larger version.
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November 7, 2005
Biting Back Against Invasive Species
I consider myself a pretty adventurous eater. I wasn't always, you know. But sometime in my early adult life, I came to the realization that being a picky eater was making me miss out on a whole range of experiences, especially abroad. So I developed a new strategy - I'd try just about anything. Then, if I didn't like it, I just wouldn't eat it again. Within reason, of course. It's actually quite similar to my take on voting - I don't wanna hear you bitching about the government unless you voted.
Nowadays I'm surprised by how narrow some American's palatal preferences really are. A lot of people still wrinkle their noses when I say that sushi is one of my favorite meals - freshwater eel especially. So when someone offers snake, is that really so different? Remember, though, that I said within reason. For me, that means not eating something that could hurt me - like poisonous blowfish. I just don't like those odds. But when my father mentions he would like to try the ultra-expensive and ultra-exotic coffee Kopi Luwak, harvested from the droppings of a tree-climbing civet (otter-cat-like marsupial) of Indonesia, I no longer automatically think he's joking... although the $600/lb price tag provides a bit of a turnoff.
I had some great food when I was in New Orleans earlier this year. I also tried some new stuff. I'm rather ashamed to say that turtle soup is really good, but the guilt I felt made me vow to only ever partake within Louisiana borders. Gator-On-A-Stick at the French Market was also a treat, although I've had alligator before with fondue and it tasted just like chicken. At one point, I ordered an "OFF TO SEE THE LIZARD" Swamp Platter from a cute young waiter who waxed on about shooting squirrels in his backyard and barbequeing them. The platter had fried frog legs, fried gator nuggets, fried crawfish tails, fried catfish strips, filé gumbo, and corn sticks - needless to say, I made myself a bit ill with all that fried food, but it was a nice intro. All of it was tasty, except for the frog - that was fishy and rather ligamenty... Enough visual for you?
One local delicacy I was not offered was nutria. The only nutria I saw were in the zoo and Barataria Nature Reserve in Jean Lafitte National Park. The nutria is a water-loving rodent native to South America, but now lives in a number of other regions like the Gulf Coast and Europe. In most places, it's considered a pest because it eats the native vegetation, destroys irrigation systems, and displaces native animals. Louisiana has even imposed a bounty program to help stem the tide of nutria-induced damage.
As a poster child for invasive species, the nutria was right at the top of the list when experts suggested one of the latest ways in which people can help fight back. Researches have noted that many of the invasive species of North America are actually quite tasty - and they're urging people to "bite back" by eating the exotic species. According to Wikipedia, nutria is reported to taste like rabbit or turkey dark meat, and it's meat (also called ragondin) is higher in protein and lower in both fat and cholesterol than turkey, chicken, or beef!
Green crabs and periwinkles cause trouble along the East Coast of North America. They're invasive species that disrupt native ecosystems. But they're also delicious...many exotic plants and animals taste good, and this might be the key to controlling their populations.
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Meals such as slow-cooked nutria, exotic jade soup, and carp in sour cream with wild mushrooms... could mean a free lunch for you...eating them can have positive impacts on native ecosystems.
More At: Earthwatch Radio: Exotic Eating
You can find the following recipes in the Audubon Magazine article Eat the Invaders! online:
Exotic Jade Soup
Nutria, Wild Boar, and Crawfish Egg Roll Towers
Sweet and Spicy Side
Carp in Sour Cream With Wild Mushrooms
Kudzu Sorbet
Back in 1998, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wetlands Research Center teamed up and had the first official nutria cooking contest with the theme: Save Our Wetlands----Eat Louisiana Nutria. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries invited several chefs to come and cook up the orange-toothed river rodent, exposing the public to a number of unique dishes!
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November 4, 2005
Military Bases Benefit Birds
There's been a lot of press lately on the federal budget and the Department of Defense's need to perform some military base closures. I've followed this with some interest - is it a sign of the defense budget being cut? Is it a revamp to make the DoD more efficient? What I hadn't even considered is the environmental impact of closing bases.
Military bases have been built in just about every kind of setting from along the seashore of Monterey at Fort Ord to the deserts of Southwest. There's even the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, nestled in the Sierras, which acts as one of the most remote and isolated posts. However, all military bases share one important feature: they generally keep the public out and most military activities take place far inside the borders, buffered by acres and acres of land. Land that is not compromised by the mandates that generally apply to federal land - like grazing and logging rights. This undisturbed land is a haven for wildlife, supporting hundreds of federally listed threatened or endangered species.
Military personnel are forced to maintain the delicate balance between using the land wisely for training purposes without disrupting the fragile ecosystems.
Nationwide, more than 300 federally listed threatened or endangered species inhabit military lands and waters—more than are found throughout the entire national park system, which has nearly three times more land.
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Yet the Pentagon rarely gets kudos for housing such a diversity of wildlife. Indeed, the relationship between the military and most environmental organizations has tended to be acrimonious. In one recent battle, the Defense Department two years ago asked Congress for an exemption to the Endangered Species Act's (ESA) mandate to establish critical habitat for federally listed species. The department claimed that designating critical habitat on military lands would potentially interfere with training, and therefore the nation's readiness for war.
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Success is due in part to habitat availability and restrictions on public access, as well as avoiding training when and where the birds are nesting. Yet base personnel also have mounted aggressive conservation actions, from grading beaches and removing trash and vegetation from nesting sites to installing protective fences and shelters for hatchlings. Their efforts have paid off.
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But success has come at a price ... populations are spilling over onto sections of beach considered critical for training. So far, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given Navy officials permission to discourage nesting on some beaches and to collect and incubate in captivity eggs that end up in training zones.
More At: Bases Loaded - National Wildlife Magazine
When bases are closed permanently, the land can become neglected and vulnerable to developers, creating situations just like those my British friend, the Badger Charmer, has to deal with.
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November 3, 2005
Rodent Radiation: Squirrels Get Sassy
Remember those nature shows that use night vision to illustrate how owls locate prey at night? While owls have good vision in low light, they only see in black and white and they don't have thermal vision, instead they rely more on sound to find prey.
Pit vipers like rattlesnakes have specialized thermoreceptors, heat-sensitive organs located on the head to detect prey. Recently, biologists discovered a critter that purposefully used infrared against the rattlesnake - just to rattle it's chain!
Ground squirrels are the first animals reported to broadcast an infrared signal, and the message seems to be "Nyah, nyah."
When adult California ground squirrels discover a lurking rattlesnake, they often harass it... They dash into its striking range, kick sand at the snake, nip at its tail, and whip their own tails back and forth ... A snake subjected to such vexations sometimes slithers off to lurk somewhere else.
Infrared videos show that ground squirrels' tails, which are generally cooler than the bodies, heat up during a bout of rattlesnake baiting... Rattlesnakes have infrared sensors inside little pits below their eyes, and Rundus proposes that the tail's heat enhances the harassment display.
In contrast, the ground squirrel tails didn't warm appreciably during similar taunting of a gopher snake. This predator doesn't have infrared sensors.
More at: Hot Bother: Ground squirrels taunt in infrared
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November 2, 2005
Through The Looking Glass: Rutting Reflections
Tap, Tap, Tap. Tap, Tap, Tap.
Every year, a little bird visits my upstairs bedroom window in the early morning hours.Tap, Tap, Tap. I throw the Kleenex box on my beside table at the window and the bird scampers away, returning five minutes later to tap some more. It's mating season and the little bird is either courting its reflection or challenging another good looking male. Either way, I'm up for the day.
Apparently, this behavior scales to larger creatures, like deer. White-tailed deer populations have skyrocketed, leading to more and more encounters with humans. Just yesterday in Benton County, Arkansas, a five-point whitetail buck crashed through a window into someone's home. Earlier in the week, another deer became trapped in a nearby elementary school hallway.
For 40 exhausting minutes, Wayne Goldsberry battled a buck with his bare hands in his daughter's bedroom.
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The deer ran down the hall and into the master bedroom — "jumping back and forth across the bed."
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This time of year, bucks that see their reflection in windows often charge them, believing the mirror image to be a rival.
More At: MSNBC.com: Man battles buck with his bare hands, and wins
In one case, the school principal was able to release the deer by opening a door and allowing the deer to escape. However, the man who wrestled the deer in his house now plans to eat it...
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November 1, 2005
The Beavers Are Back!
One of my friends works as an ecologist in Britain, often helping relocate animals whose homes are threatened by development and such. I've recently taken to calling her the Badger Charmer.
In a story out of The Secret of NIMH, some badgers have made their home on some government land near Heathrow Airport, but the land was recently sold to a private developer. Now my friend the ecologist has the task of trying to charm the badgers into moving to a safer location. She constructs their new setts, coaxes them out of their old setts with hansel and gretel trails of peanuts covered in honey. Then she fences in their old sett off and put badger gates on so they can come out but not go back in... Afterwards the team opens up the old sett to learn more about them and pass on their findings to future badger translocation projects.
But while badgers and hedgehogs are fairly common in England, beavers were hunted to extinction there many years ago. In fact, Canada became very important to both England and France in the late 1600s and early 1700s for its millions of beavers available for the fur-trade.
Now beavers are being reintroduced to England. Perhaps my friend will next become the Beaver Whisperer...
Beavers have been reintroduced to England, 500 years after they were hunted to extinction for their fur.
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If the pioneering scheme is successful, it is hoped beavers can once again thrive in the British countryside.
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This is the second attempt to re-introduce beavers to England - a previous attempt in 2001 in Kent ran into difficulties with the animals failing to breed.
More at: BBC: Beavers in 'wild' after centuries
Perhaps it's the cynic in me, but one of the reasons beavers were considered a fine re-introduction candidate is because they are unlikely to cause any problems for fishermen and others. The European beavers don't eat fish and that unlike some other beaver species, they don't cause a lot of damage to the trees by building huge dams. Instead, they feed on aquatic plants, grasses, ferns and shrubs, living in burrows along the river.
Posted by sorsha at 7:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
