FLCC Conservation Field Camp 2012

Team WILDLIFE
(l to r: Madie, Clinton, John, Alyssa)

Last week was spent at our residential field course CON 190: Conservation Field Camp. The course is required for our Conservation, Conservation Law and Environmental Studies majors. It is one week of looooong days at Camp Cutler Scout Camp in Bristol, NY (Resulting in a loooonng post here). The students rotate among different disciplines throughout the week. For faculty, this means repeating the same day over and over with different students. I spent the week with co-instructor Clinton Krager and our two Technicians Madie and Alyssa. Activities included small mammal trapping, Breeding Bird Atlas protocol, GPS, tracking, and of course camera trapping.
Here are some highlights --

Lactating Peromyscus
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

Small mammal trapping was a huge success. Clinton runs the trap lines and had 60 Sherman traps set out in brushy and grass habitats. We captured four species this year with the big miss being meadow vole. Many of the critters were in breeding condition as indicated by swollen mammaries. Students took turns taking animals from the traps, handling them safely and applying ear tags.

Notice the swollen mammaries between the hind legs of this Peromyscus sp. Once animals were processed, they were returned to the spot they were captured.

An additional 12 traps were set specifically to target flying squirrels. They were set in a hardwood forest at about five feet off the ground. Traps are attached to the trees using surveyors flagging. Each day we caught two or three flying squirrels and they were a huge hit with the students. Although flying squirrels are common in our area, they are not commonly seen. We have both northern and southern flyers and sometimes catch both species.

Clinton and Madie affixing a flying squirrel trap
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

We have found that putting the critters in a glass jar helps to calm them down. In most cases, the animals will almost immediately calm down and even groom themselves. It also helps the students to see the animal at leasiure. Below is a flying squirrel:

Flying squirrel
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

Flying squirrel patagium
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

We did not ear tag any of the squirrels so I am not sure how many individuals we captured. We would release the squirrels and watch as they climbed a tree. Often, the squirrel would then launch itself to another tree to the delight of all. I have yet to capture a photo of that though so you will have to settle for a picture of the crowd in rapt anticipation.

The results of our camera trapping were equally exciting. We placed 12 cameras out a week before the class and then pulled SD cards from some each day. We tallied 12 species of mammal and five species of birds. Here are some of the better ones:

Mammal species captured:

-White-tailed deer
-Red fox
-Raccoon
-Opossum
-Striped skunk
-Weasel sp. ***
-Woodchuck
-Gray squirrel
-Red squirrel
-Eastern chipmunk
-Flying squirrel sp.
-White-footed mouse sp.

 We had no shortage of raccoon photos. One in particular looked like a young coon. Note the color on this photo. This is the Cuddeback Attack with infrared and I believe that this color occurs when there is some ambient light but the flash still triggers.

Young raccoon
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

This same location also produced an adult coon. Check out the bin int he background. That is an inverted tote with one side cut out so animals can enter. Inside is some bait at the far end of a home made track board (wish I had a photo for you). The bait is at the raf end of the board. At the near end of the board is a piece of felt saturated with "ink" (mineral oil and food coloring). In the center of the board is contact paper, sticky side up. When an animal leaves its tracks on the contact paper, a piece of white paper can be stuck to it so they can keep the prints without getting smudged.

Raccoon
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

 We inspected the logs and found very clear coon tracks. I only had my cell phone so the photo is not the best. See if you can find any of the distinct five-toed tracks....

Raccoon tracks
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

I am always anxious to show students size comparisons between different animals. The results from the Field Camp cameras allowed me to create a few spliced images that show two species "together" in order to directly compare their sizes. First up, gray squirrel size compared to red squirrel.


Composite image of gray and red squirrel
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

The spliced together photo was created using Paint. I am pretty much a novice in this area and welcome any and all comments and suggestions.

This next image is a gray squirrel comared to an Eastern chipmunk in size.

Composite image of gray squirrel and Eastern chipmunk
(South Bristol, 5/12)

The two rarest images of the week were an owl and a weasel. First, the Mustelid! I so rarely capture weasel images that I cherish each one. This one is very nice as it shows a nice image of the weasel in action. This was an Attack camera and set to record video as well. The video is too short to be worth much.

Weasel at Camp Cutler
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

Now the owl.... I have never camera trapped an owl so this was exciting for me. My first reaction was to call this a barn owl, but is just isn't big enough (compare to gray squirrel above). I am going with Eastern screech-owl. Thoughts?

Last year I trapped int his same area and last year we also captured images of red fox pups. I made no attempt to find the den.

Red fox pup
(South Bristol, NY 5/12)

 We set out one of the Cuddeback Attacks on a downed tree and got some fun video of raccoons and red fox (not together). Here is the best of the red fox (only need to watch the first half):

Bobcat dissection at FLCC

Bobcats are becoming more common in our neck of the woods and when a fresh roadkill showed up nearby this summer, the DEC offered to let me dissect it with my classes (as long as I retained a tooth for aging). I set the date for this past Tuesday in order to correspond with the Felidae lecture in CON 102. For a more complete treatment of bobcat tracks, see my previous post here.

The dissection was done as an activity for the FLCC Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society. Alyssa Johnson, current president, has agreed to create a sister post on her blog here.

Road killed bobcat from Howard, NY
(5/12)

Thirty-five students showed up along with Clinton Krager, a Biology Professor. We started with a look at the external anatomy. I asked the students to guess the weight. Most of us were a bit high in our estimate. She weighed 17 pounds. That is not a bad weight for a cat around here. I give my students three external characteristics to tell a bobcat from a lynx. In each case, the bobcat and the lynx share the characteristic but the lynx has more. For example, on the photo to the right you can see "sideburns". A lynx also has these facial tufts, but they are more pronounced.

Next, look at these ear tufts. Bob has them, but lynx has more.... On a bobcat they tend to be small (these are really small). On a lynx, they are much longer.

Bobcat ear tuft
(5/12)

Finally, examine the tail tip. Bob has black on his tail, but lynx has more. The bobcat tail is half black and half white. The lynx has a tail tip that is completely black.

Bobcat tail showing black and white tip
(5/12)

We then examined the feet. Cats have five toes on their front feet, but only four show up in the track. The other toe is higher up and often called the dew claw. It is functional though -- they can distend it when capturing prey.

Front feet of a bobcat
(5/12)

The rear feet show no such toe. They are smaller than the front feet. Check out the distinctive toes and foot pad.

Hind foot of a bobcat
(5/12)

It was a great experience for students and faculty alike. We all agreed we should do this more often. Now, click here for more photos and the "inside story", head over to Bearly Alyssa

Woodchuck VII: The Groundhog takes to the Trees!

Whether you call it a woodchuck, groundhog or whistle pig, it is all the same thing: Marmota monax. It is not unusual for an animal to have more than one common name. Some are regional while others are more widespread. The woodchuck is even called "gopher" by some, but that name is particularly confusing since there is already another animal called gopher... This is my seventh post since I began monitoring this particular woodchuck burrow with a Cuddeback Attack. Just when I think I have blogged about everything, this critter does something different! Read on...

Woodchuck
(Seneca Falls, NY 4/12)

Many people are surprised to learn that woodchucks and other marmots are members of the squirrel family. I tell my students that there are two things that will help them remember that woodchucks are squirrels. as mentioned in a previous post, the first thing is the tail. Check out this first photo and note the bushy squirrel tail. Sure, it isn't as fluffy as the gray squirrel for example, but the woodchuck spends far more time on the ground (and under it!) than the gray squirrel. Which brings us to the second point regarding woodchucks: they climb trees just like other squirrels.

I have only seen two woodchucks in trees myself. Both times, I happened to be with students and both times the woodchuck were in fruit trees. Seeing a woodchuck in a tree will forever remind you that it is a big ol' squirrel. I still have the Cuddeback Attack set up on the woodchuck burrow in my backyard. I checked the camera last week and had 214 videos captured. That is 107 minutes to watch! About half way through I hit the jackpot; my woodchuck decided to climb. Here she is just before the video starts. She looks to be sizing up the situation...

When you watch the video, note that the woodchuck remains arboreal throughout the entire 30 seconds. In the next video segment recorded, she is down. I have been monitoring this particular burrow nonstop for weeks now and this is the first tree climbing noted.
Enjoy the video and remember to keep your eyes on the trees, watching for New York's largest squirrel.

Woodchuck VI: Stretching and Yawning with Groundhog Yoga

Woodchuck
(Seneca Falls, 4/12)

The Cuddeback Attack continues to produce some interesting video. Did you know woodchucks yawn? Yawn and stretch? In a way that makes them look like they are doing yoga? No? Well then! Check out the video below. As you watch, think about the purpose of the stretching. Woodchucks are known for spending a lot of time underground. Is the stretching simply a reaction to being up and out in the open? Or is this more of a reaction to waking up after a winter-long hibernation?

The video is a montage of several yawns and stretches but I saved the best one for last

Northern Short-tailed Shrew nest unearthed!

Northern short-tailed shrew young
(Seneca Falls, 4/12)

Today was the day I was finally going to dig up the drain pipe that has been giving me fits for several months now. I anticipated several hours of digging, poking and prodding ahead of me. Well, I was only into it about five minutes when I unearthed a nest of young short-tailed shrews. Their were four in all. I grabbed them up and brought them to Laura to hold while I took photos.

Have a good look at these guys on the left. Shrews are often mistaken for mice even though they are not close relatives. Mice are in the Order Rodentia while shrews are in the Order Soricimorpha. On the inside, there are some dramatic differences between shrews and mice, but let's judge this book by its cover. First, shrews have five digits on the front feet while mice have four. Secondly, shrews have very small eyes and external ears while mice often have prominent ears and big eyes to match. These shrewlets are showing their external ears because their fur is still not to full length.
As mentioned above, I scooped up the little guys and brought them to Laura. She held them as I took a few photos.

Shrewlets
(Seneca Falls, NY 4/12)

Although they were all active, one in particular seemed to want to explore...

Northern short-tailed shrews
(Seneca Falls, NY 4/12)

He even crawled up Laura's sleeve. You can just see his tail in the photo...

Northern short-tailed shrews
(Seneca Falls, NY 4/12)

These guys were so photogenic that I could have done this for hours. But that would not have been in the best interest of the shrews. I wanted to get them back to the nest site quickly. I placed them back down on the ground where I first found them. There were only a few remnants of the nest remaining. Some leaves and shredded plastic were all that was left of their natal den.

Laura gathered up some fresh grass clippings and we covered the shrewlets up. I hoped that mom would come back to take care of them I have done this with mice before and watched as the mother came and relocated the babies.

Make-shift shrew nest
(Seneca Falls, NY 4/12)

I busied myself with other tasks and tried to forget about the little shrews. Would mom come for them or would I end up trying to hand-rear four baby animals with some of the fastest metabolisms of any mammal on the planet? Finally, I could take it no more and gently peeled back the grass to find a re-excavated tunnel heading. Mom did indeed return and whisked off her young. So this is a story with TWO happy endings. The shrews survived and I have to wait at least a few more weeks to tackle that drain pipe to assure they have left their new nest :)

Woodchuck V: Groundhogs in the Mist

Woodchuck
(Seneca Falls, NY 3/11)

Today I deployed nine camera traps with my students at our East Hill Campus. We plan to pull them in two weeks. Until then, I will continue with my series of woodchuck posts. I have two cameras out on two different but very close woodchuck holes. I believe I am only capturing images of a single animal on both cameras, but that is the subject of another post. Today, let me share a few images form the Cuddeback Capture. Unfortunately, the camera picked up some moisture inside and the photos all have a little foggy tint to them (Camera is currently in a plastic bag with some rice to soak up the water).  This first photo is just to set the scene so you can tell where the hole is.

Vigilant woodchuck
(Seneca Falls, NY 3/12)

I really enjoy the photos with the woodchuck standing tall on sentry duty. According to Elbroch and Rinehart (2011), up to 15% of a woodchuck's time above ground is spent in "vigilance behaviors" searching for predators or trespassers. I learned years ago that a sharp whistle can often get a woodchuck to pop up like this. Hunters often use this technique to get a 'chuck to reveal itself. The whistle is so effective because woodchucks whistle as a form of communication (one folk name for groundhog is "whistle pig").
I have no quarrel with my woodchucks. I do not farm. I have no livestock that could step into their holes.

Climbing woodchuck
(Seneca Falls, NY 3/12)

Woodchucks are rodents in the squirrel family. People are usually suprised by that. All squirrels have a pointed post orbital process on the skull, but that is hard to relate to and I don't always have a woodchuck skull handy. So I direct people to look for the bushy tail. In addition, I tell them that woodchucks climb trees like other squirrels. I have only personally witnessed this twice in my life, but the ever watchful camera captured this behavior in a mere few days time. Granted, this 'chuck is not scaling the heights or reaching the nosebleed section, but she appears to be completely off the ground.

Tomorrow, I hope the camera is dried out and ready to be put back out. In the meantime, I hope this woodchuck is enjoying her two days of privacy...

Woodchuck IV: I get by with a little help from my friends

Feral cat inspects woodchuck hole
(Seneca Falls, NY 3/12)

It has been a week since I posted anything about the woodchucks in our backyard. I have accumulated some interesting stuff that will be the subject of upcoming posts. Today was reserved for trying to learn how to use basic video editing software. So I cobbled together some footage of the OTHER critters that have been showing up at the woodchuck burrow. This guy gets more visitors than we do! I had a hard time uploading the video to this site so I have provided a link to it on YouTube. Hope you enjoy!

Visitors to a woodchuck burrow