Saturday, April 22, 2017

Vernal Pools are "temporary wetlands found in woodlands which are present in early Spring and gradually dry out as the months move into Summer................"Think of these "pools" as 'protein factories' that provide food and nutrients for wildlife and trees"........."Perfect these 'bodies of water' are for salamanders, wood frogs and fairy shrimp--all finding refuge from predators"............."These shallow pools warm up quickly in the spring sunshine through hardwoods without leaves"............ "Warm water grows copious amounts of algae, which are eaten by macroinvertebrate grazers, which are then eaten by birds, frogs, salamanders, snakes, and on up the food chain"

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http://adirondackexplorer.us5.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f2786fbb7862339a0b90113d7&id=c4a6f59dba&e=46b8d98c6 Vernal Pools: Na...
Friday, April 21, 2017

The most inbred two Wolves in North America are the last of the once vibrant 24 that called Isle Royale, Michigan home in 2009...............The longest running Wolf/Moose study(59 years) ever conducted in North America will come to an end(as the remaining Wolves are ages 7 and 9-an extremely long life would be 12 years)unless the National Park Service decides to go with one of their four "DRAFT Environmental Impact Statement courses of action---"Their preferred course entails a time-limited introduction of new wolves--up to 20 to 30 wolves selected to maximize both genetic diversity and restore predation to the ecosystem"................ "NPS estimates that the process to introduce the number of wolves identified in the plan would take between three to five years".......................... "Public review of the document concluded in mid-March, and the NPS is reviewing all comments"................. "A final decision is expected in the fall"....................Meanwhile, the Moose population on the island has expanded to1600--a six year average rate of growth since 2011 of 22%,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Concurrently, the Beaver population has tripled from 100 to 300 over the same 6 year time span.................Trees and undergrowth on the island are going to diminish rapidly without the top-down trophic presence of the Wolf................Researchers feel certain that our fossil fuel burning has caused warmer Michigan Winters..........As a result, freezing ice has not been pervasive on Lake Superior which in turn has prevented Wolves from mainland Michigan from emigrating over to Royale.........Therefore, most scientists come out in favor of re-stocking Wolves on Royale rather than letting our "recently manipulated weather" cause a die out of the Wolf population

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https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-04/mtu-tit041717.php     18-Apr-2017 Two in the pack: No changes for Isle Royal...

Some great pictures and videos of Pumas, Bobcats and Ocelots captured by the National Geographic BIG CATS INITIATIVE---for your Friday enjoyment below

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/17/big-cats-on-camera/&ct=ga&cd=CAEY...
Wednesday, April 19, 2017

The Eastern fisher is making an excellent comeback across all of New England, NY, West Virginia, New Jersey,Western Maryland and Pennsylvania...........A common forest carnivore across the eastern states at the time of colonization, Pennsylvania killed off their last member of the Weasel family in 1923............A re-introduction program by the PA. Wildlife folks from 1994-98 saw 190 New Hampshire Fishers carted over to the northern counties of Pennslvania..............Combined with natural Fisher expansion into the Penn woodlands from nearby NY and West Virginia and it is now estimated some 2-5000 Fishers live and breed in Pennsylvania with 57 of the state's 67 counties acknowledging the presence of this outstanding tree-climbing hunter..................... In 2008, The Pennsylvania Bureau of Wildlife reported on evidence of intraspecific predation taking place in the Fisher population--Fishers killing other Fishers,.............. "Specifically, this type strife has been noted among adult males and litter-mates".......................And recently published research from Indiana University of Pennsylvania researchers found "the presence of Fisher remains in 12% of the 91 carcasses of the Fishers they examined in the central Appalachian section of Pennsylvania from 2002-14"...............Is this similar to the intraspecific strife that is found among Puma populations where adult males look to kill off the cubs of a female so that they can father another litter, passing on their own genes instead of another males?..................Or is it a way of adult Fishers keeping a particular territory to themselves rather than competing with their offspring once they mature and leave the natal den?

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The American Midland Naturalist 177(2):200-210. 2017 doi:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1674/0003-0031-177.2.200 Diets of Fishers (Pe...

Just like with our Pumas and Wolves of today, Saber Toothed Cats and Dire Wolves of the Pleistocene(10,000 plus years ago) worked hard for a meal...................Kicked to death was a real possibility everytime these carnivores set out to hunt their prey

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sciencedaily/plants_animals/ecology/~3/2fd_4fvnlLQ/170417084827.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=emai...
Monday, April 17, 2017

Who would have thought that the northern Sugar Maple tree and it's sap would be found to be an elixir that will help breathe new life into our less and less effective arsenal of antibiotics......................"The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, "What good is it?",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand(or like) it or not".,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts?",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering"--------Aldo Leopold(our great 20th century naturalist from his Round River writings)

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http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0019cCyBE6j4GdBpVZOJVJ-7PTQG5z_AsiQ_IzAUOe8KXy3f0Equ6MR_aYFYyVDrJHqFlxjdml6I1uAMz8l7ple9_od5GWyR0CrhJbePwjXZ3w--...
Sunday, April 16, 2017

Therre is no question that Pennsylvania has a a thriving Black Bear population and that hunter license tag $$ combined with some excellent scientific management regulations has helped spur the bears revival.......Some of the biggest "Black Bears in the USA are found here and like in neighboring New Jersey, female bears are known to regularly birth 2 and 3 cubs annually..................It was not always this way as 100 years ago like in most of the USA, carnivores of all types were nearly extirpated..........Perhaps 2500 bears existed in Pennsylvania in 1915 compared to some 20,000 today.....................The question that we keep reviewing and debating on this blog through the excellent contributions of biologist John Laundre is---SHOULD NOT ALL FACTIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY,,,,,,BIRD WATCHERS, HIKERS AND THE REST OF US WHO OCCASIONALLY VISIT WOODLANDS HAVE AS MUCH INPUT INTO BEAR MGMT AS DO HUNTERS?

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https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.centredaily.com/sports/outdoors/article144814309.html&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoT...