Right in my own backyard in the suburbs of Los Angeles, world reknown wildlife tracker Jeff Sikich works alongside Biologist Seth Riley to find, tag and evaluate the movement and habits of the 1/2 dozen or so Pumas that still call the Santa Monica Mountains their home................For every discouraging finding about the Santa Monica Mountains lions — increased inbreeding, males fighting to the death over territory — Sikich is buoyed by hopeful news, such as the California Department of Transportation's effort to secure a grant to build a $10-million wildlife corridor across the 101 at Liberty Canyon Road(a key path that Pumas take in and out of Los Angeles)----perhaps providing a "life corridor" for young Pumas seeking to disperse from their natal birthing territory so as to create new home ranges where they can procreate and expand their numbers

Wildlife biologist Jeff Sikich knows how to get his mountain lion

Sikich is a world-known tracker of carnivores for groups aiming to study and keep them alive. His territory in recent years: The Santa Monica Mountains. His quarry: mountain lions

National Park Service wildlife biologist Jeff Sikich, right, and his team secure an expandable GPS collar to a tranquilized young female mountain lion named P-25, captured in the Santa Monica mountains, in August so she could be tracked and studied. But the cougar was found dead by hikers in Point Mugu State Park in late October. (Al Seib, Los Angeles Times)

By Martha Groves, Los Angeles Times

Jeff Sikich has concocted lures from beaver parts, skunk essence and catnip oil. He has used blowpipes to dart furry limbs and lowered drowsing animals from trees.Sikich's instincts in the wild and his humane captures have earned him a place among a cadre of go-to carnivore trackers.Agencies and nonprofit groups across the nation and around the world have enlisted him to capture and collar animals, many of them threatened, so that their eating and mating habits, movements and life spans could be studied.

Sikich has safely caught hundreds of carnivores large and small, most recently leopards in South Africa for the Cape Leopard Trust and mountain lions and jaguars in Peru for the World Wildlife Fund. He has weighed them, measured their teeth, taken blood samples and attached radio tracking collars.
But his main work for the last decade has been somewhere less exotic: right here in Southern California, where as a wildlife biologist for the National Park Service he has trailed cougars in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

As part of the study, Sikich has twice captured and collared P-22, the male puma that in February became the first mountain lion to be photographed in Griffith Park. The recapture — to replace a nonfunctioning GPS device — followed months during which Sikich drove his government pickup in and around the park, using an antenna to pick up very high frequency signals still beaming from the cougar's collar. Just after sunrise one August morning, Sikich and a colleague hiked in and spotted the cat, relaxing in a boulder-strewn ravine. Sikich, 6 feet 2 and 180 pounds, clambered onto an overhanging limb to survey his quarry, about 10 feet away. The cat didn't move. "He knew I was there," Sikich said. 

Studying big carnivores requires patience. For every discouraging finding about the Santa Monica Mountains lions — increased inbreeding, males fighting to the death over territory — Sikich is buoyed by hopeful news, such as the California Department of Transportation's effort to secure a grant to build a $10-million wildlife corridor across the 101 at Liberty Canyon Road.

Not every lion, after all, can be as lucky as P-22, the puma that managed to cross the 101 and the 405 — perhaps via a bridge or culvert — to enter Griffith Park. After Sikich found the lion in that ravine in August, he raced on foot to his truck and returned an hour later with capture equipment. He climbed back onto the tree branch and used a silent dart pistol to deliver a sedative. Three minutes later, P-22 was asleep, and Sikich lowered himself into the animal's hiding space."He appeared healthy and had a nice fat belly, so he must have recently been eating," Sikich said.The new GPS collar, Sikich reports, has been working great so far

Always brings a smile to my face when we see our Pumas and Wolves "pushing the edge of the envelope" against all odds and attempting to colonize their historical haunts across the USA.................Illinois has a 4th confirmed sighting of a Puma (4th since 1880!) in central Illinois near Literberry.................No commentary on whether it was a male or female,,,,,with the likelihood being a dispersing male out of the Black Hills, South Dakota...........It is unfortunate that at this time, Pumas can be killed on sight in "The Land of Lincoln" as they are considered extinct in the state and are not listed as game animals with posted seasons---All of you in Illinois should petition your Governor and Game Commision to change that ruling to one of "Protected Status"

4th Confirmed Sighting of a Puma in Illinois in the past 130 Years!!!!
galesburg.com

 A cougar walks past a deer hunter's trail camera early Sunday in Morgan County. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources confirmed the authenticity of the photo Monday afternoon. Photo courtesy of Mark Cobb.

 SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Department of Natural Resources confirmed Monday that a trail camera photo snapped in Morgan County is indeed that of a cougar. The photo marks only the fourth confirmed Illinois sighting of a cougar – also known as a mountain lion, panther, puma or catamount – since the cats were driven from Illinois in the 1870s.

Mark Cobb, who hunts on property north of Jacksonville near Literberry, captured the cougar on his trail camera, a motion-sensitive camera used by hunters to keep an eye on the movements of deer in their hunting areas.

“Sunday afternoon, I got the SD cards out of the cameras and was sitting at my sister’s kitchen counter and was checking them out,” Cobb said. “I just kind of went, ‘Oh, my God,’ and everybody thought I had a big deer on there.” DNR wildlife biologist Mike Chandler visited the site Monday afternoon and verified the location where the picture was taken. The picture clearly shows the big cat walking past a camera set up along a trail through a wooded area.

Cougars once roamed most of the lower 48 states, but for much of the past century have been restricted to the mountain west. Today, stories of young males wandering east and south from the Dakotas to states like Nebraska, Iowa or Missouri are relatively common. Missouri regularly reports cougar sightings, although conservation officials in Missouri say no known breeding populations have been established.

In 2011, a young male from the Black Hills of South Dakota made it as far as Connecticut.Cougars can range great distances, but Bob Bluett, furbearer biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said it is impossible to say if the Morgan County cat is still around. “Most likely it will move on, but these animals are so few and far between no one could know what their habits are,” he said.

Cougars prey most often on deer. Cobb said it was a shock to learn the cougar was so close by. Cobb lives in Sherman, but his mother and sister live in houses within walking distance of the trail where the cougar was photographed. “I had this uneasy feeling in my gut when I realized something that big and potentially dangerous was walking around that close to us,” he said.

Cougars are nocturnal and generally stay away from people. Still, Cobb said his 12-year-old son didn’t want to go out hunting with him after learning about the cougar Speculation about cougars and their presence in Illinois is fairly common among hunters and other outdoorsmen.“It’s kind of cool,” Cobb said of having photographed a cougar. “Everybody hears the rumors, but not very many people have seen one.”

Because there is no breeding population in the state, cougars are not listed as a protected species, as are gray wolves, bobcats and other mammals not governed by hunting seasons in Illinois. Chandler said DNR wants hunters in the area to report any additional sightings and send in any trail camera photos that might show a cougar. “If they get pictures, call us,” Chandler said. “We want to know.”


Mountain lions
“Mountain lion,” “cougar,” “puma,” “catamount” and “panther” all are names for the same animal: Puma concolor.

According to the website Living with Wildlife in Illinois, domestic dogs and bobcats are most likely to be misidentified as mountain lions. Bobcats weigh 10 to 40 pounds. Adult female cougars weigh 80 to 110 pounds, while males range from 130 to 160 pounds, according to The Cougar Network.

Mountain lions once were found throughout the United States. Conversion of prairies to agriculture, logging of forests, elimination of prey species like white-tailed deer and predator-reduction programs led to their extirpation from Illinois by the 1870s.

***

Cougars in Illinois ---Previous confirmed sightings

Chicago - 2008
Mercer County - 2004
Randolph County - 2000

Missouri has had 33 confirmed reports since 1994

With all the tall tales currently circulating about alleged "monster" Gray Wolves tipping the scales at 175+ pounds, Idaho Biologist Jason Husseman shared the following information with Norm Bishop depicting our biggest Wolves hitting the scales at 135 pounds--see data below

FROM OUR FRIEND NORM BISHOP WHO SECURED THIS WOLF WEIGHT DATA FROM JASON HUSSEMAN, IDAHO WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST

Seems like a lot of Wolf weights being tossed about, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and get all the backlogged, pre-IDFG wolf management capture forms entered (250-plus capture events), and then summarize the weights for all recorded captures.  I also did this for all mortality weights, but kept them separated under the rationale that there may be differences between the two categories (e.g., diseased, dead wolves being lighter than healthy, live wolves, or harvested pups coming from later in the season when they are heavier than pups caught during the capture "season").

135 pound Gray Wolf--as big as they grow em

That said, here's the Excel document to file away on your computer somewhere for when you get asked about the massive 175 pound wolves running around Idaho, or if you want, just the summary tables (below):

Table 1.  Summary of weights (scale and estimated) from wolves captured in Idaho.
	Male			Female
	Mean	Range	n	Mean	Range	n
Adult (>2)	100	72-135	98	82	50-101	71
Subadult (1-2)	85	65-113	56	73	50-92	82
Pup (0-1)	55	20-105	67	49	25-85	60
Table 2.  Summary of wolf weights from confirmed mortalities in Idaho.
	Male			Female
	Mean	Range	n	Mean	Range	n
Adult (>2)	99	69-132	41	79	46-98	36
Subadult (1-2)	91	66-101	8	74	65-81	11
Pup (0-1)	71	25-90	9	54	23-70	7

 ____________________                                                   

Jason Husseman

Regional wildlife biologist

PO Box 1336

99 Hwy 93 North

Salmon, ID 83467

208-756-2271

More today from the LARGE CONSERVATION LAB at Washington State University------How do Grizzly and Black Bears hibernate for up to 5 months and still keep their muscle fitness and overall health?.........How do they carry 30 to 40% body fat which would be deadly for a human being?..............The research that WSU researchers are conducting could aid us in preventing and curing diabetes, osteoporosis, strokes and general body aches...............So when folks ask you readers why you are so passionate about rewilding and giving all wild animals a chance to flourish, start em off with this primer-----"Every cog and wheel"--Aldo Leopold.

 

Washington grizzly bear research could help remedy human diseases

By Kevin Maki nbcmontana.com

Grizzly bear research could open doors to better understand and treat human diseases.

Scientists at Washington State University's Bear Center in Pullman are studying grizzly bears and hibernation.The center studies both captive and wild grizzly bears, and is the only program in the world to house adult grizzlies for research.The scientists' findings could help remedy human maladies like heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.

Scientists want to understand the way they put on fat, and how it affects their heart functions and hibernation quality. Scientists want to know how nutrition affects the grizzlies health, reproduction and hibernation. "Things that are learned here," said the doctor, can be applied to "wild bear populations."

wants to know how they can remain healthy when they can have 30 to 40% body fat, which would be very unhealthy for humans.


Griz in hibernation

If humans spend four or five months in bed, like bears do in their cozy nests, their muscles would weaken and bone density would diminish. But bears can rise from their winter naps and lumber right back to what bears do.

WSU researchers have found that bears are able to keep their muscles and bones healthy by frequent exercise, even as they sleep. The grizzly might be a good teacher for humans in helping to fight health problems like heart attacks and strokes, diabetes, osteoporosis and our every day aches and pains.

For more on WSU's Bear Center, click here.

The Outstanding Washington State University LARGE CARNIVORE LAB is in overdrive trying to determine exactly how many Lynx roam Washington State----At last count, only 30 individuals were left in the Pacific Northwest and Head Researcher Rob Wielgus is pushing his team to trap some female Lynx so to better learn their habits and determine their mating potential...........With climate change increasing the number of forest fires annually, Lynx habitat is riding an up and down roller coaster that if not soon enhanced, could see the secretive cats completely blink out of existance here.........Wielgus said his team hopes to see significant gains in habitat and population management within the next four years......... “If I can demonstrate that these lynx are viable, that the females are reproducing successfully, then I think we stand a good chance of obtaining lynx from British Columbia for a transplant augmentation in the Kettle Crest region of Washington State sometime down the road”

Where Are the Missing Lynx?

wsu.edu


Using box cages baited with raw meat, wild lynx are trapped just long to attach a GPS collar, and then are released unharmed into the wild.  With only an estimated 30 lynx left in the Pacific Northwest, a recovery team led by Washington State University researchers is fueled with a sense of urgency.

The lynx recovery program, recently coordinated by WSU researcher Rob Wielgus, as associate professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences, brings together researchers, scientists and funding support from Washington State University, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Washington Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Washington, and Seattle City Light.

The team has been tracking lynx for years, but at the end of January began increasing trapping to define the current lynx population and ultimately to help the species recover. Most of the lynx they’ve tracked so far have been males, Wielgus said. “We know we have females, but we want to get a better idea of the numbers,” he said. “We want to know if they are successfully reproducing and having kittens here in Washington State.”

The team recently began trapping in Loomis State Forest and the Black Pine Basin in the northern part of Washington. The team also believes lynx were living in the Kettle Crest area, but have since been extirpated there.

Every morning, research teams check about 45 PVC-pipe and chicken wire box-traps in the study areas. If a lynx is found inside the trap, it is sedated for about 50 minutes, leaving enough time for researchers to slip a GPS-tracking collar around the cat’s neck.
As of mid-February, the team had trapped 12 new lynx and placed GPS-tracking devices around ten, said Gary Koehler, wildlife research scientists for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Ben Maletzke, a WSU researcher, said they are trying to save the collars for the females who will ultimately be needed for a species recovery. He said the mothers tend to avoid the traps to protect their kittens. The team trapped only one female last year.

Lynx mother with kittens

Using GPS-tracking devices, the researchers are able to pinpoint six locations the lynx go throughout the day. “Hopefully, we’ll get a location every four hours of where that lynx is and from that we can determine the habitats the animal is selecting and what forest conditions they need out on the landscape,” Maletzke said.

In 2006, a wildfire north of Okanogan wiped out a large part of lynx habitat, taking with it a substantial portion of the lynx population, Wielgus said. As climate changes, there is an increased likelihood of forest fires. That, coupled with the fact that boreal forests naturally burn, seriously threatens lynx habitat and their continued survival as a species. Therefore, Wielgus said he’d like to set up a series of large habitat islands. “We’d like to establish a series of lynx preserves or lynx habitat islands, so if catastrophic wildfires take some of them out, the population isn’t extirpated,” he said.

The team will continue trapping until March. If all goes as planned, Wielgus said they hope to see significant gains in habitat and population management within the next four years. “If I can demonstrate that these lynx are viable, that the females are reproducing successfully, then I think we stand a good chance of obtaining lynx from British Columbia for a transplant augmentation in the Kettle Crest sometime down the road,” he said.

By Rachel Webber, WSU CAHNRS MNEC news writing intern

I live on the border of Los Angeles and Ventura County, outside of Los Angeles,,,,,,This is where the San Fernando Valley transitions into the Conejo Valley running 25 to 50 miles north up the 101 freeway out of the "City of Angels" straight up the coast to Santa Barbara............Seth Riley is a biologist for the National Park Service(Santa Monica National Recreation Area) and is the areas expert on urban carnivores.......... Seth has conducted extensive research on the Pumas, Coyotes and Bobcats that call this region home...........This heavily populated suburban and exurban region has many pockets of protected open space that has allowed this particular suite of carnivores to persist into the 21st century........Through Seth's research, area Politicians and Urban Planners continue to try and link up the greenspaces and provide "life corridors" across both the land and the extensive freeway system.........In addition to landscape alteration and fractionalization, we have discussed in previous Posts the increasing threat that we homeowners have brought upon carnivores through the use of rat poisons in and around our homes-------The rodenticides increase in potency as the Coyotes, Bobcats and Pumas kill and eat the mice, voles and other rodents that we initially targeted with the poisons--------- the unintended result being that the carnivores begin to internally bleed to death-------- And if the bleeding doesn't kill the animals, then the onslaught of the mange virus (which kicks in after poison ingestion)does the job of weakening and eventually killing our wild "cats and dogs"..........The greater Los Angeles basin is an "up close and in person look" at what wildlife face across the increasing urban interface that rings our major metropolitan areas--------If we can find a way to modify our rodent killing procedures and create connective open space, wildlife will continue to be a wonderful part of our existance--------We have the ability to both caretake as well as to snuff out other lifeforms---------Can we rise to the occasion and do the former????

Experts say wildlife survives in rural pockets of county urban areas

By Rachel McGrath; vcstar.com 

Coyotes and bobcats and to a lesser extent mountain lions are adapting to the urbanization of the Conejo Valley and surviving in pockets of open space in the increasingly fragmented landscape.That was the message from wildlife experts at a free seminar Tuesday at Westlake Village City Hall.

"How to Coexist with Wildlife" taught the public about the activities and survival of carnivores in the wild and offered advice on discouraging wild animals from taking up residence in backyards. Seth Riley, a wildlife ecologist with the National Park Service and a professor at UCLA, has studied the movements of carnivores in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area since 1996. Coyotes have been found living around Medea Creek in Oak Park, near Cheeseboro and Palo Comado canyons, and in the botanic gardens and an area between highways 101 and 23 in Thousand Oaks. They also live in an area bordered by Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Hillcrest Road and Conejo School Road and in the open space between Lindero Canyon and Kanan roads.

Coyote trotting in the backyards of a California housing complex

"They're finding these little bits of remaining areas within the landscape," Riley said. Of 110 coyotes tracked by radio collar, none has become a nuisance or threatened humans, experts said. Between 1996 and 2012, researchers also handled 297 bobcats and fitted radio tracking devices to 160 of them. Among the smaller mountain lion population, 26 animals have been tracked in the past 11 years. Their home range is much greater, from the Los Padres National Forest to the Simi Valley hills and Santa Monica Mountains.

Mountain lions have been tracked around Lakeview Canyon and the North Ranch golf course, as far west as Point Mugu State Park and Calleguas Creek in Camarillo, and regularly crossing under Highway 118 at Rocky Peak near Simi Valley.Research indicates mountain lions tend to stay at least 2 kilometers from urban areas.

a bobcat foraging in a suburban backyard

A growing cause of death for all these carnivores is rodent poison that contains anticoagulants, Riley said. When ingested, it can cause an animal to bleed to death internally.More than three-quarters of coyotes that were tested came back positive for anticoagulants.

About 10 years ago, Riley said, bobcats began showing signs of mange, something never seen. All had been exposed to anticoagulants, and 24 of the 26 animals that died from mange had been exposed to high levels.
Mountain lions, too, are showing signs of exposure to rodent poison. In 2004, two mountain lions died from anticoagulant poisoning, and both had killed coyotes in the month before they died. Nine of 10 mountain lions tested had been exposed to multiple anticoagulant compounds.

Several mountain lions have been killed by vehicles on Highway 118, Interstate 405 and Malibu Canyon Road, but the biggest cause of death is other mountain lions, Riley said."When these young males try to disperse, they go out to the edges of the mountains, or they go up against the freeway, and they can't get anywhere else, and then they end up running into their father or other adult males and getting into these fights," he said.

Puma coming over a wall in San Diego neighborhood

Cindy Reyes, executive director of the California Wildlife Center, said it receives about 10,000 calls a year from the public with questions and concerns. She said raccoons and skunks are most likely to come into contact with humans as they look for food, water and shelter.

Her tips for minimizing conflict include never intentionally feeding wildlife, keeping uneaten pet food inside, collecting fallen fruit, picking fruit and vegetables when ripe, keeping small pets inside and using motion-activated deterrents or ground-level bright lights.

Marc Bekoff always tells it like it is in his highly readable and informative DO ANIMALS THINK AND FEEL" ESSAYS that appear in PSYCHOLOGY TODAY MAGAZINE----Today he gives us a succinct and crip review of the benefits of Coyotes being in our landscape: "Less than a quarter of one percent, 0.23%, of the American cattle inventory was lost to native carnivores and dogs in 2010, according to a Department of Agriculture report.".......... "And, "four percent (4%) of the U.S. total sheep inventory are killed each year by carnivores such as coyotes and dogs according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)"............... "Although coyotes can live into their teens, the average life span in the wild is around five years of age, and a lot shorter when targeted for elimination"...... "Causes of death include predation, disease, weather, hunting, trapping, poison, automobiles, and rampant and wanton predator control by local, state, and federal agencies".......................... As we have discussed countless times, "Coyotes respond to indiscriminate control programs with a number of complex biological mechanisms that work very efficiently to boost their numbers"............. "For example, when the alpha pair is killed, subordinate pack members can breed and produce larger litters of bigger pups with higher survival rates"........... "In order to feed more robust litters, coyotes may change their hunting habits to include unnatural and larger prey, such as livestock"..... "Thus, increased persecution leads to bigger populations and increased predation, a response that is just the opposite of what the control is designed to accomplish".....The bottom line is that Coyotes "exert a top-down regulation of other species, coyotes maintain the balance in the food web below and around them"....."When coyotes are absent or even just greatly reduced in a natural area, the relationships between species below them in the web are altered, putting many small species at risk"

Do animals think and feel?

by Marc Bekoff
psychologytoday.com 

Coyotes: Let's Appreciate America's Song Dog

 

Coyote, America's song dog, is an amazing and magnificent animal who is very misunderstood, historically maligned, and tragically and reprehensibly persecuted. Coyotes are intelligent, playful, affectionate, and devoted caregivers. Native Americans appreciated them as cunning tricksters. They are among the most adaptable animals on Earth and are critical to the integrity of many diverse ecosystems. I know coyotes well having studied them for decades.

North America is home to a very special wild dog—the coyote. Highly respected by Native Americans, coyotes have held a special place in our history. The Navajo's sheep and goat herders greatly revered coyotes, and referred to them as "God's dog." It wasn't until sheep ranchers began running large herds of unprotected sheep that coyotes began to be viewed in an unfavorable light. I've written about these amazing mammals in earlier essays  and this short piece is an update on what we're learning about them. It's essential to revisit just who coyotes are because they (and other predators also called pests) are killed in huge numbers because of incredibly false claims (detailed data about what coyotes and other predators actually do can be found here that they wreak havoc on livestock and kill pets.

 Indeed, "Less than a quarter of one percent, 0.23%, of the American cattle inventory was lost to native carnivores and dogs in 2010, according to a Department of Agriculture report." And, "Four percent (4%) of the U.S. total sheep inventory are killed each year by carnivores such as coyotes and dogs according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) ..."       

 

Yes, coyotes rarely attack livestock and dogs and cats but, in fact, dog fights and dog attacks and bites directed toward humans are incredibly more common. In October 2009 two coyotes tragically killed Canadian singer Taylor Mitchell. This was only the second fatal attack on a human by coyotes and the first on an adult. The facts about the attack remain unknown so it is simply irresponsibly misleading to conclude that the coyotes were motivated to kill and eat her as was claimed in the sensationalist National Geographical documentary called "Killed By Coyotes".

There is no doubt that coyotes have the opportunity to do significantly more harm than they do but choose not to do so. They have a healthy respect for people and actually avoid us almost all of the time.

Coyotes are native only to the western two-thirds of the continent, although today they can be found from Alaska's arctic regions to as far south as Costa Rica. Their extreme adaptability has enabled them to fill the void left open by the elimination of other larger predators such as grizzly bears, wolves, and mountain lions. Coyotes also thrive in urban and suburban environments. While their natural prey is primarily rodents and carrion, their omnivorous diet allows them to survive in diverse habitats. Because of what we know about their incredible ability to live just about anywhere and the flexibility they show in social organization, it's misleading to talk about "the coyote."

Coyotes can live on their own, as a mated pair, or as part of a pack with a social structure similar to that of wolves. Packs typically consist of a dominant male and female (often called the "alpha pair"), and extended family members. Typically, only the alpha pair breeds and produces one litter a year. They breed from January through early March, and the gestation period is 63 days. Litter size varies from 4 to 9 pups, with an average of two pups surviving the first year in unexploited populations. Unless they become habituated to humans, coyotes are generally shy and wary of people.
Although coyotes can live into their teens, the average life span in the wild is around five years of age, and a lot shorter when targeted for elimination. Causes of death include predation, disease, weather, hunting, trapping, poison, automobiles, and rampant and wanton predator control by local, state, and federal agencies.

The paradoxical effects of coyote control
Counter-intuitively, programs aimed at reducing coyotes such as lethal control programs and sport trapping and hunting actually cause coyote numbers to increase. Coyotes respond to indiscriminate control programs with a number of complex biological mechanisms that work very efficiently to boost their numbers. For example, when the alpha pair is killed, subordinate pack members can breed and produce larger litters of bigger pups with higher survival rates. In order to feed more robust litters, coyotes may change their hunting habits to include unnatural and larger prey, such as livestock. Thus increased persecution leads to bigger populations and increased predation, a response that is just the opposite of what the control is designed to accomplish.

The importance of coyotes in ecological balance

Like other top predators, coyotes play a critical role in keeping natural areas healthy. In fact, coyotes are considered to be a keystone species, meaning that their presence or absence has a significant impact on the surrounding biological community. For instance, because coyotes reduce the number of nest predators and jackrabbits, sage grouse benefits include higher chick survival and less competition for food.

By exerting a top-down regulation of other species, coyotes maintain the balance in the food web below and around them. When coyotes are absent or even just greatly reduced in a natural area, the relationships between species below them in the web are altered, putting many small species at risk.

It's clear and inarguable that we should respect coyotes for whom they are and appreciate that they still bless our lives. Hysterical over-reactions that result in the killing of more than 80,000 coyotes a year by Wildlife Services is thoroughly unjustified and indeed, Wildlife Services has been widely criticized for their wanton murderous ways.

 According to WildEarth Guardians, "Between 2004 and 2011, Wildlife Services killed over 26 million animals purportedly to 'protect' agribusiness or 'bolster' hunting opportunities – a contention based on unsupported myths. The agency spends over $100 million each year on wildlife-killing actions."

Much information about coyotes is available from Project Coyote and Predator Defense, both of which organizations work tirelessly to promote getting out the true facts about coyotes and other predators, to offer ideas about humane education,  and work for peaceful coexistence. Peaceful coexistence is easy to accomplish and we should all aspire to having more harmonious relationships with the amazing beings with whom we share our homes as we head into the future.
Note: A recent essay in the New York Times provides an excellent review of the lives and plight of urban coyotes.

A clearcut forest swept clear of woody debris is truly a moonscape---a sterile environment that is narrow in its species content--Conversely, a logged forest where loggers leave piles and windrows of woody debris at least 2 meters high and 5 meters wide offer a conservation measure that can benefit small native mammals like voles, mice and chipmunks---The more of these creatures in a cutover zone, the more likely to see the mesocarnivore suite present, including fox, coyote, bobcat, fisher, lynx and marten

Forestry's Waste Wood Offers Habitat for Small Forest-Floor Animals

ScienceDaily  — The wood that remains after a tree harvesting operation is often burned to reduce the hazard of fire or is removed for bioenergy production. But another option should be considered -- leaving the wood for forest wildlife whose habitat has been disturbed during clear-cut forestry operations. Woody debris on the floor of the forest is essential for maintaining biodiversity and long-term ecosystem productivity.

woody debris left on the ground after logging

The Journal of Mammalogy presents a study of coarse woody debris left behind from forestry and salvage harvesting of wood. Researchers tested the abundance and species diversity of small forest-floor mammals under varying wood conditions: dispersed wood debris, piles of wood debris, windrows of wood debris, and uncut mature forest.

Clear-cutting remains the dominant method of forestry in North America and northern Europe. This process can interrupt the ecology of the forest. Small mammals that offer prey for predators, consume plants and invertebrates, and disperse fungal spores may disappear.

woody debris left after select logging operation

The current study was conducted in three locations in British Columbia, Canada, from 2007 to 2009. The responses of animals to the four types of wooded areas were recorded. Small mammals were captured, tagged, and released at each of the sites to determine the number of species present. In the winter, their tracks were counted to determine the frequency of animal visits to particular habitats or features.
Nine species of small mammals were captured. Contrary to expectations, species were just as abundant in clear-cut areas as they were in uncut matureforest. However, generalist species, such as deer mouse, chipmunk, and shrew, increased while specialist species, such as the red-backed vole, declined. The red-backed vole is important as a principal prey for marten, a species of concern in Canada.

clear cut with no woody debris left behind

The number and diversity of species, including the red-backed vole, increased primarily around piles and windrows of woody debris. These stacks, at least 2 meters high and 5 meters wide, offer a conservation measure that can benefit the small natives of the forest floor.

In Alaska, the typical Moose mortality each year for new born calves is about 50%...........This past year in the Kenai Peninsual, the Alaska Dept of fish & Game lost 83% of the Moose Calves that they had tagged for study(45 of 54 died).................26 of the 45 deaths were attributed to Brown and Black Bears with Wolves or Coyotes taking 1 calf................Biologist Thomas McDonough issued a disciplined and knowing statement that the record snowfalls in the region this past Winter might have assisted the Bears in making easier kills............One year of findings is not enough to make a trend and additional years of study will be needed to determine if the Winter of 2011-12 was an anomaly as it relates to Moose population dynamics

Study: Moose calf survival low

 

By Dan Schwartz

Peninsula Clarion.com

 

Eighty-three percent of the moose calves collared this year in an Alaska Department of Fish and Game calf mortality study died, according to the study's findings.The study started in February as a subcomponent to an ongoing examination of the moose populations in Game Management Units 15A and 15C on the Kenai Peninsula, areas targeted for intensive management, said Jeff Selinger, Fish and Game Kenai area wildlife biologist.

"When you're looking at populations, one of the most important things you can look at is how many animals are coming in and how many are going out," Selinger said.
The study, which collared 54 calves, was conducted only in Unit 15C, spanning an area south of Tustumena Lake and west of the Kenai Fjords National Park. Of those 54 calves biologists collared, 45 died, according to the study.

Brown Bear feeding on Moose

Selinger said most wildlife populations in Alaska loose about half their moose calves in their first three to six weeks of life, but the number of deaths in 15C is high.

The preliminary study results show that of the 54 calves that died, brown bears killed 19.
Of the other deaths, black bears killed two, an undetermined bear species killed five, wolves or coyotes killed one, an unknown predator killed three, disease killed one, three drowned, four died from unknown causes, and researchers caused seven deaths when they frightened the cows into abandoning their calves.

The study's principal investigator, Thomas McDonough, a research biologist for Fish and Game, said the death distributions may change pending further analysis of kill-site evidence, but the "bottom line," Selinger said, is bears kill a majority of moose calves in their first six weeks of life.Before Selinger and McDonough conducted the study, they said they knew bears would account for the majority of calf deaths. Predators in general, McDonough said, are a major limiting factor on moose populations.

But, McDonough said, the question is, "Is it the main factor?"
Neither Selinger nor McDonough said they can answer that question now."You need to do this for several years to see if there's a pattern," Selinger said. "We just finished a record snow level on the Kenai last year. That may play into these statistics. Maybe this'll be what we see on annual basis, but we can not come out and say this is the norm."

More on the negative impacts on Grizzly Bears that are likely to occur due to the demise of the Whitebark Pine----Janet Barwick writing on the NRDC blog saying the following--- "46% of whitebark pine in the ecosystem(Yellowstone) showed a high level of mortality, 36% showed a moderate amount of mortality, and 13% showed low mortality"......... "Taken together, 82% of whitebark pine in the GYE in 2009 had been impacted by mountain pine beetle"......."whitebark pine is a less risky food to acquire for grizzlies"............ "No killing, no risk of injury…they move through these ancient forests keying in on the chatter of small red squirrels who have conveniently cached huge middens of these seeds for their own winter food supply".......... "For a female Grizzly to rely on meat instead of these fatty, nutritious seeds would mean putting herself and her cubs in greater danger of being killed"......."yes, there are still other foods available for grizzly bears, but the decline of whitebark pine trees (and their high-calorie seeds and remote, high-elevation location) will make it tougher for grizzly bears to make a living on the landscape in the future in and around Yellowstone"

The Dangerous Life of a Grizzly

Janet Barwick; nrdc.com

 

It isn't easy being a grizzly bear. Sure, they spend six months of the year sleeping and the other six months eating (and who wouldn't LOVE that?), but the truth is that life as a grizzly – a top-of-the-food-chain predator – is filled with danger and uncertainties. There is a good chance that you will not survive the first year of life and an even greater chance that you will not live to a ripe old age—your early 20s in the wild.
 
For grizzlies, life begins in the dead of winter where cubs are born tiny, naked, and defenseless weighing as little as 12 ounces. (Think about that next time you're chugging down a small latte which weighs roughly the same.)
By the time cubs are old enough to leave the den in spring, they've grown fur, packed on between 10 to 20 pounds, but they remain vulnerable to many dangers including larger male grizzlies that are eager to find a mate to carry their offspring. Male grizzlies are not particularly sentimental when it comes to the act of procreation and cubs are easy targets for these big boars that will kill the cubs (even their own cubs) for the chance to mate with their mothers.

And speaking of the mothers ... female grizzlies really have it rough. They need to focus all of their attention on rearing their young and protecting them from harm. She has only a few short years to help them learn how to hunt, which areas contain the best food, and which areas they must avoid at all costs. And on top of all of these threats, a new danger could prove to be the Great Bear's undoing in our oldest national park.

High-elevation forests have experienced a catastrophic loss of trees (particularly whitebark pine trees) due to the climate-driven invasion of mountain pine beetle. Trees once mostly untouchable to the tiny invaders due to harsh winter cold snaps of way-below-zero temperatures are now sitting ducks at the top of the tree line.

The importance of whitebark pine seeds in the diet of grizzlies has long been established. The seeds from this tree have traditionally been a very important source of food for grizzlies and female grizzlies in particular have benefited from this food source for three reasons. First, the seed of whitebark pine is a fat bomb! Over 50% of the nutritional value of a whitebark pine seed is fat. And when your primary goal is adding enough fat reserves to survive the long, cold winter, huge caches of this high calorie food could decide whether or not you will bear cubs, or what condition you will find yourself in the spring—bears lose between 15-30% of their body weight during hibernation.

Second, since whitebark pine grows at high elevations (generally between 6,000 and 9,000 feet) it serves to keep grizzlies, particularly females and cubs, farther away from the dangers that exist at lower elevations like garbage, livestock, roads and people.

And, finally, whitebark pine is a less risky food to acquire for grizzlies. No killing, no risk of injury…they move through these ancient forests keying in on the chatter of small red squirrels who have conveniently cached huge middens of these seeds for their own winter food supply. For a female to rely on meat instead of these fatty, nutritious seeds would mean putting herself and her cubs in greater danger of being killed.

What is true is that grizzlies are omnivores, and, yes, there are still other foods available for grizzly bears, but the decline of whitebark pine trees (and their high-calorie seeds and remote, high-elevation location) will make it tougher for grizzly bears to make a living on the landscape in the future in and around Yellowstone.

In 2009, NRDC (in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service and Geo Graphics), conducted the first-ever aerial assessment of the impacts of mountain pine beetle in high elevation forests in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). The survey determined that 46% of whitebark pine in the ecosystem showed a high level of mortality, 36% showed a moderate amount of mortality, and 13% showed low mortality. Taken together, 82% of whitebark pine in the GYE in 2009 had been impacted by mountain pine beetle—a heartbreaking loss to not just grizzlies, but a whole host of species that rely on this keystone tree species.

But for grizzlies in particular, the loss of whitebark pine is a devastating blow. Without these seeds, grizzlies will need to roam more widely in order to feed themselves and their cubs. The real question is will people let them? Are we willing to change our own behavior to accommodate these amazing creatures? Are we willing to implement creative ways to non-lethally protect livestock from conflicts with grizzlies? Are we willing to take greater responsibility when recreating in bear country by learning how to behave in grizzly country? Are we willing to help communities in bear country devise new ways of securing trash so bears don't become habituated to human foods?

From my perspective, the answer is obvious. They are amazing creatures that deserve our respect and our best effort. Grizzlies have their place in this wild landscape and right now they need our help. It isn't easy being a grizzly, but with a little help and tolerance from us, they can endure. We just need to be creative, patient and determined to work together to prove that this place is big enough for the both of us!

Perhaps both Governor Romney and President Obama should be reading this Post that SHELL CANADA has published about the debilitating impacts on wildlife expected if the Jackpine tarsands mine is expanded in Alberta, Canada................Shell's own estimates of habitat destruction in and around the mine site is staggering: 40 to 60 per cent of the habitat for birds, 47 per cent of habitat critical to woodland caribou, 39 per cent of the habitat used by wood bison and significant swaths of forest important to fisher, lynx, wolverine, moose, beaver and black bear.,,,,,,,,,,, A 24-per-cent loss of habitat for moose, 18 per cent for beaver, 17 per cent for the black bear, 34 per cent for the fisher, 32 per cent for the lynx and 26 per cent for the wolverine.........Among bird species, the study predicts a 61-per-cent loss of habitat for the Canada warbler, 44 per cent for the black-throated green warbler, 43 per cent for the barred owl, 28 per cent for the rusty blackbird, 27 per cent for the yellow rail, 26 per cent for the horned grebe, and 13 per cent for the olive-sided flycatcher and common nighthawk-------Any sane person would say "NO MAS"(NO MORE DRILLING)!

Study for Shell's Jackpine oilsands mine predicts big losses in animal habitat
  By Marty Klinkenberg, Edmonton Journal.com


EDMONTON - Shell Canada outlines a substantial loss of habitat for birds, woodland caribou, bison and other animals in an environmental assessment of the proposed expansion of its Jackpine oilsands mine in northeastern Alberta.

The document prepared by the company for an upcoming public hearing predicts that the impact of all development projects in the region, including but not restricted to the proposed Jackpine mine, would result in the loss of 40 to 60 per cent of the habitat for birds, 47 per cent of habitat critical to woodland caribou, 39 per cent of the habitat used by wood bison and significant swaths of forest important to fisher, lynx, wolverine, moose, beaver and black bear.

Once wildlife habitat--now an eroded barren moonscape permanently damaged

"The numbers are unprecedented, and show we are getting closer and closer to an environmental tipping point," said Simon Dyer, policy director for the Pembina Institute, a non-profit think-tank that promotes environmental, social and economic sustainability. "If everyone develops what they want to develop in the region it could be devastating."It is time some tough choices have to be made when it comes to deciding which projects go forward and which should be held back."
Take a look at a gallery of animals that could be affected by the expansion

The Jackpine oilsands mine is 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray on the east side of the Athabasca River. An application by Shell to increase production of bitumen at its Jackpine site by 100,000 barrels to 355,000 per day is under environmental review by a federal and provincial panel that will convene in Fort McMurray beginning on Oct. 29.

the industrial footprint of the tarsands

Approximately 20 individuals and groups, including the Government of Canada, Syncrude, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, five First Nations and environmental advocates are participating. Saying that Shell's environmental assessment foretells greater cumulative damage to wildlife and biodiversity than any study of the oilsands that has ever been conducted, the Pembina Institute is opposing the application. If Shell's Jackpine expansion and other proposed developments in the region are approved, the institute says, 13 of 22 assessed species will lose more than 20 per cent of their most critical habitat — a threshold identified in a previous oilsands review as representing a significant adverse effect


The Boreal in its splendor

.
Shell's study predicts a 24-per-cent loss of habitat for moose, 18 per cent for beaver, 17 per cent for the black bear, 34 per cent for the fisher, 32 per cent for the lynx and 26 per cent for the wolverine.
Among bird species, the study predicts a 61-per-cent loss of habitat for the Canada warbler, 44 per cent for the black-throated green warbler, 43 per cent for the barred owl, 28 per cent for the rusty blackbird, 27 per cent for the yellow rail, 26 per cent for the horned grebe, and 13 per cent for the olive-sided flycatcher and common nighthawk."This is a question of cumulative effects," Dyer said. "The sheer number of proposed projects will result in unacceptable impacts."

David Williams, the head of media relations for Shell Canada, said the numbers in the assessment look drastic because they represent the impact of all possible mining and logging activity in the region and assume that all pending applications will be approved, all will go into operation at the same time, and all will result in maximized habitat disturbance. The predicted percentage of change is also based on pre-industrial levels for the region.

In some cases, the figures are also disproportional, Williams said; the predicted overall loss of habitat for woodland caribou is 47 per cent, but Shell's proposed project would only account for one per cent of the loss.Williams also said that Shell has plans to mitigate the lost habitat and restore wetlands.
Carolyn Campbell, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, said her group believes there are many good reasons the Shell application for Jackpine expansion "is not in the public interest."


The Boreal ripped apart for oil

But she said the study looking at the impacts on wildlife habitat is a move in the right direction.
"In the past, the unfortunate part of the environmental review process was that regulators looked at too narrow a window," Campbell said. "At last, they prodded a company to be more realistic about the impacts."

Williams said Shell has had the application in play since 2007, and understands it has its detractors.
"We look forward to hearing submissions from people at the hearing and responding to them," he said. "It is all part of a fair process."

We have Posted two previous Michelle Berry AMERICAN PRAIRIE RESERVE articles on the historical wildlife paradigm that existed in the Northern Rockies pre and post the Lewis & Clark early 19th century Corp of Discovery Expedition from St.Louis to the Pacific Ocean..............Michelle today discusses the challenges of interpreting the journals and diaries that these and other early frontiersmen, Clergy, Naturalists and Adventurers penned as it relates to what exactly they saw during their journeys---Wolves or Coyotes?,,,,,,,,,one Grizzly or many different types?,,,,,,,,,,,Pronghorns or Goats or Deer??......As Michelle states below: "Though it is often difficult to deconstruct and synthesize information from these journals, both the greatest struggle and reward of doing historical research is the requirement to interpret"

Why don't you call it Scat meriwether?...
nationalgeographic.com


I have read numerous journals from 19^th century explorers, fur trappers, and government officials for my research project with American Prairie Reserve this summer (previous posts here and here). The hope was that these sources would provide anecdotal insights into historic wildlife populations from Montana's prairie ecosystem.

In fact, these sources have been indispensable to my project by providing vivid, quotable descriptions of the landscape and wildlife. However, these sources also present several problems related to interpretation. This post shares some of the more interesting examples I have encountered.

I spent more time examining the journals of Lewis and Clark than any other sources. They take MANY liberties with spelling, terminology, and grammar. The following sentence about grey wolves is representative of their writing style: "we scarcely see a gang of buffaloe without observing a parsel of those faithfull shepherds on their skirts in readiness to take care of the mamed and wounded." These misspellings are easy to understand. It is more difficult to decipher the different names that explorers used for animal species.

Lewis and Clark often mistakenly refer to pronghorn antelope as goats or deer. In addition, they, as well as most other early explorers, use the term wolf for both grey wolves and coyotes. Sometimes coyotes are distinguished from grey wolves by the name "prairie wolves."

The grizzly bear seemed to cause more nomenclature problems than any other animal. The explorers document black, brown, red, white, grizzly, grey, and sometimes just "large bairs" throughout their expedition. It is particularly problematic when they call an animal a black bear, because they may have been referring to the species Ursus americanus, which is highly distinct from grizzly bears, or they simply may have been referring to the color of the bear.

"Weapons and physiognomy of the Grizzly Bear" by George Catlin, 1846-1848. Source: Smithsonian American Art Museum.

 

The Corps of Discovery, the official name of the US army expedition led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark, was the first group of American explorers to see grizzly bears, and they were certainly confused about the species' taxonomy. Grizzly bears are known for being highly varied among individuals in terms of skeletal structure and fur color. This variability was so apparent that Lewis at one point speculated that the grizzly comprised up to 20 different species.

However, on May 22, 1805, Lewis has a revelation and proclaimed, "I believe that it is the same species or family of bears which assumes all those colours at different ages and seasons of the year."
Lewis and Clark's journal entries on bears pose yet another interpretive problem. The explorers frequently refer to bear "signs," which most scholars have interpreted to mean feces. The writers never once mention scat or feces to clarify the meaning of "signs," perhaps because it would have been considered an improper subject in society at that time.

Clark's journal sketch of the bighorn sheep (enlarged to show detail). Source: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Despite the mistakes or inconsistencies, the journals I read are still excellent sources of information on the Western landscape before white settlement. The Corps of Discovery contributed a great deal to the scientific knowledge of our country. Elliot Coues, editor of the 1893 edition of the journals claims, "The grizzly bear is the most notable discovery made in zoology by Lewis and Clark." The expedition is also credited with "discovering" pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mule deer, prairie dogs, kit foxes, and numerous birds like the greater sage grouse – although Native Americans had known these species long before explorers arrived.

The amount of observational data recorded in the journals of Lewis and Clark is remarkable given the pace of their expedition, frequently amounting to 20 miles a day. Though it is often difficult to deconstruct and synthesize information from these journals, both the greatest struggle and reward of doing historical research is the requirement to interpret.
Recommended reading: Paul Schullery's Lewis and Clark Among the Grizzlies

American Prairie Reserve intern Michelle Berry is a Master's student in environmental studies at Stanford. She has been tasked with examining historical works of literature and other primary sources to establish wildlife population estimates in the Reserve region of northeastern Montana. Her 10-week internship was made possible by the Bill Lane Center for the American West.

Keywords: American Prairie Reserve, Clark, grizzly bear, history, journals, Lewis