field biology

CSI Wilderness: Researchers use predator spit to ID kill sites

A newly released study aims to utilize DNA extraction from saliva at prey kill sites to help identify predator species. Of an acquired 53 recent hare kills, researchers managed to get positive IDs on 31 of them. Laurel Peelle’s research is published in the September 2019 Wildlife Society Bulletin.

Idaho's air-dropped beavers, muskrat pens and ear-tagged marten

In 1948, game warden and pilot Elmo Heter executed a plan years in the making to reintroduce beavers into the mountainous wilds of Idaho. The project gained international fame in 2015, when a local historian discovered lost footage of the program. As seen in the video, the reintroduction efforts didn’t stop at parachuting beavers.

Last year’s rodent “bumper crop” means predator boom this spring

Just as the acorn mast abundance of two years ago drove a rodent explosion last year, I’m confident the expansion in rodent presence will drive a “cyclical boom” in New England’s predatory species this year.

Northeast Coyote Management: NH H.B. 442 Revisited

While most folks are discussing the rise in problems with coyotes, lawmakers in one Northeast state are calling for more protections. House Bill 442 is currently floating around in New Hampshire’s state house. The bill mandates a closing to coyote hunting from April 1st through August 31st.

Leucisitic Fisher: Diamonds in the Rough

A newly released study in the American Midland Naturalist focuses on the recent discovery of leucism traits found in a traveling male fisher, captured on a trail camera image from Price County, Wisconsin in 2017. The report states its the first scientifically documented case of leucism in pekania pennanti. Although, as we found out, its clearly not the first documented case on the World Wide Web!