Global Wildlife Conservation Center

What factors influence deer survival in Michigan's UP?

We monitored 150 adult female deer to find out. Spring snowmelt appeared to be the most influential on late-winter mortality in our study!

Read the open access article @
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.6026

Maps on Monday!:

Take a look at the movements made by a male coyote, CO306, captured last summer on the Michigan Predator Prey Project!

CO306 was collared on June 4, 2019 as part of Phase III research based out of Baraga, MI. At the time of capture he weighed 28.2 lbs and was fit with a GPS collar programmed to take a location every 15 minutes and drop off after 6 months due to battery life. After 3.5 weeks of collar locations near Rousseau, CO306 moved and spend the remainder of the summer in the Houghton area!

Learn more about the Michigan Predator Prey Project @
https://campfirewildlife.com/projects/predator-prey/

Are you planning a trip to Isle Royale National Park this year? Consider contributing to our research while you hike! It's as easy as downloading a free activity tracker on your phone.

We are conducting a citizen science project where you can help us document visitor trail use and monitor wildlife. Combining anonymous data from hikers will allow us to better understand how wildlife respond to human use and overall animal use of the trail network.

Learn more @ https://globalwildlifecc.org/research/species-recovery/isle-royale-wolf-recovery/
& https://www.facebook.com/isleroyalewolves

Maps on Monday!:

BB303, an adult male black bear, was collared on the Michigan Predator Prey Project from 2016-2018. This was the 4th bear captured on Phase III and monitored until early last year! During the initial capture on 15 Jun 2016, he weighed 125.2 lbs and was fit with a VHF collar. By the time we did the den check on 21 Feb 2017, he had gained over 60 lbs, weighing 191.2 lbs! Throughout the spring/summer/fall, we monitored his VHF locations weekly during aerial telemetry and conducted a second den check on 19 Feb 2018. We were unable to weigh him during this den check due to the den construction within an old slash pile. Despite slipping the collar soon after exiting the den, we fit BB303 with a GPS collar during a recpature event on 26 Jun 2018. At this time he weighed 237.4 lbs, gaining over 100 lbs since the original capture in 2016!

Take a look at a map of his VHF and GPS locations from 2016-2018 as well as a few photos over the years!

Thanks to everyone who viewed/commented yesterday! The featured birds visiting the bobcat hair snare site were both the same species... blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata). One blue jay has the characteristic blue plumage. The other blue jay, however, is leucistic and has mostly white plumage. Leucism is a genetic mutation that causes white coloration in patches, spots, or blotches due to a partial loss of all pigmentation. While this is similar to albinism, there are is a key difference. Albinism is a genetic mutation that prevents the production of melanin in all cells. The lack of melanin also causes the pink eyes associated with albino animals because the only color in the eyes comes from the blood vessels.

Remote Photo Friday!

We used bobcat hair snares during the winter as a population estimation technique on Michigan Predator Prey Project. Many other species utilized these sites as well. How many different species of birds can you spot?

Check back tomorrow to find out!

Maps on Monday!: Roads are a widespread form of human development that carnivores may perceive as efficient travel routes or centers of human activity and associated risk. We compared the spatio-temporal responses of carnivores to human road use with high-resolution tracking of American black bears (Ursus americanus), bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and wolves (C. lupus) in Michigan, USA. This map show the GPS locations used in the analysis.

All carnivores selected for roads when traveling at night but avoided roads during the day when human activity was greatest. Human activity explained 90% of temporal variation in road use across carnivore species.

Read the full article @ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01772

Thanks everyone who viewed/commented yesterday! The mystery marsupial was a yapok or water opossum (Chironectes minimus)!

Water opposum are tropical/subtropical marsupials native to southern Mexico to Central and South America. As their name suggests, they are often found in semi/aquatic habitats, especially along freshwater streams and lakes. You may have seen their close terrestrial relative, Virginia opposum, here in North America!

Water opposums have a water-repellent coat that their terrestrial counterparts lack. This increases their buoyancy and allows them to float on the surface of water, so they can swim quickly and efficiently. Additionally, they have broad, webbed hindfeet, which they use to move through the water. Did you know they are the only extant aquatic marsupial?!

Like other marsupials, young remain in the mother's pouch until they are weaned. The water opposum's pouch, called pars pudenda, has a water-proof sphincter! This way young can remain safely inside during underwater dives.

Continue learning @
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Chironectes_minimus/

Remote Photo Friday!:

This week we're traveling down to Central America for our trail camera photo! As part of our previous collaborative research in Costa Rica, we placed trail cameras along trails and roads. Who knows what species was caught on camera? (Hint: it's a marsupial!)

Check back tomorrow to find out!

Maps on Monday! We compared public reports with GPS telemetry data of black bears in Missouri and evaluated strategies to remove spatial biases from distribution models.
Read the open access article published earlier this year @ https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3938