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| Demonstrating the white-tailed deer trap |
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| Deer researcher explaining how he remotely springs the deer trap from his laptop |
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| A chapter member from New York City Parks pointing out chestnut blight canker |
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Former University of Pennsylvania researcher explaining a research project in the background |
Timing for the tour was fortuitous - there's more snow forecast for tomorrow!
6 comments:
Looks to be an interesting field trip, Scott. Although I recognize the importance of scientific research, I'm often conflicted about the cornering, collaring and monitoring of animals--even though I understand the results often benefit them.
The effort to relocate Bighorn Sheep from Yuma to the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson has been a disappointing failure. The 16th of 31 sheep was recently found dead from predation; so Arizona Game and Fish has compounded the problem by killing three mountain lions "responsible" for the deaths.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/th-transplanted-bighorn-dies-in-catalina-mountains/article_5294e76a-ae0b-11e3-a045-0019bb2963f4.html
:(
Thanks for the link about the Bighorn Sheep, Packrat. I feel pretty much the same way about releasing Canadian lynx in Colorado to try to re-establish a population there. Until there's a really good indication that a reintroduction will be a rousing success, let's just leave things alone.
Except for the immediate and undeniable trauma the deer experience when they are subdued and collared in the trap, they don't seem to be much the worse for wear. In fact, some individuals actually return to the traps to eat the bait corn. However, I do have to report one exception: one of the most recently collared deer lost nearly all of the pelage under the collar--something we have not noticed before in the 29 deer previously collared. The deer is alive and seems to be doing well (and its fur is regrowing), but it must have been an especially cold winter for the deer without a "muffler."
Looks like a great warm day for a field trip. Definitely excellent timing.
I often have very mixed feelings about human interventions into animal lives. Good intentions do sometimes go awry. I wish we could know outcomes before we engage. Still, I always want the very best for the animals. I want them to thrive and carve out niches for their ongoing success.
It's a shame to see the chestnut showing blight signs, but I guess it's not unexpected.
Robin Andrea; it was a good day for the field trip, and the participants seemed to enjoy themselves and get a lot out of the walk.
With regard to the deer, we have been culling the herd here since 1984 and have reduced the size by 3/4 or more, which has been good for the ecosystem and also for the deer, if individual size and productivity are used as measures. It's not, however, good for the animals that are killed, of course. On the other hand, we also pick up road killed deer from the municipalities surrounding us (as a courtesy to the municipalities, and so that we can collect biological information from the deer). Last year, we collected 88 deer--by far, the largest number of deer we have ever gathered from roadways. With our own deer numbers way down, this road kill uptick is perplexing.
Mark: I had my fingers crossed that these chestnuts wouldn't get infected, but I guess I was too optimistic and unrealistic. It's so discouraging.
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