wild 5290 final

what is a predator pit

theoretical scenario where a prey population declines and does not recover, possible for something to bring prey pop. down so much predators keep them down

one of the mostly widely distributed global species on earth at one point

grey wolves

grey wolf range

all the way from canada to mexico

grey wolf home range

as large as 10,000 square kilometers

why wolves hot topic in 1995

reintroduced into Yellowstone

why reintroduce wolves into Yellowstone

Yellowstone had a overabundance of large ruminants

yellowstone wolves 2000's

25 breeding pairs, huge success, like wolves when stay in Yellowstone but dont stay in Yellowstone, ranchers hate wolves

northern Minnesota group 2 (wolves)

always had wolves

northern wisconsin group 2 (wolves)

didnt have many

upper peninsula Michigan (wolves)

17 in 1991, today pop. in 600's

how UPM (wolves) get such good results

reintroduced moose and started wolf education when population was still small

Maine (wolves)

never established, shot immediately

Arizona and New Mexico (wolves)

lobo wolf subspecies, 1998 three family groups, today 286 wolves

why lobo wolf pops. growing slower

less prey and water, numbers are increasing

wolf social characteristics

pack animals, and social heriarchy

why wolves are pack animals

hunt larger prey effectively

wolf male pecking order

alpha male wants to breed alpha female and more, suppress other males breeding

wolf female pecking order

alpha female wants to mate with alpha, supress breeding in other females, wants whole pack hunting for her litter

wolf beta female

looking to get bred, if gets bred gets ran out

Selfish Gene Hypothesis

everything animals do is to pass on their genes, wolves always cheating

wolf food habits

large mammals, needed to sustain pack

why people scared of wolves

stories, movies, and books; older generations have aversions to wolves and foxes

persecution of wolves

bounties on wolves, and cut down all the woods and killed all prey species

are wolves destroying deer herds

no

do wolves impact large mammals

yes to some degree

hunters thoughts on wolves

think killing all the deer, probably just effecting deer behavior, predators help regulate prey in reality

red wolf home range

was from Florida to Pennsylvania

red wolves 1973 captive breeding

trapped 14 red wolves in Washington, 1977 first litter

red wolves 1987

released first wolves into wild at alligator river national wildlife refuge

why release red wolves at alligator river

native range, less coyotes, private government refuge

early red wolf releases showed what

high tolerance to humans

red wolves on islands

used in captive breeding , no humans only large mammals, less tolerance for people

Red Fox home range

globally distributed, northern species

difference between grey and red fox

red fox has a white tip on tail

silver phase red fox is

the native north American species of red fox

red phase fox we see across U.S.

brought by Europeans, competing with grey fox

red fox breeding

borderline monogamous with little sexual dimorphism

red fox home range

400-500 acres, less then a square mile, live in-between coyote territories

red fox habitat management

presence of coyotes make habitat unsuitable, frequent lake shores and urban/suburban reas

red fox food habits

small mammals, invertabrates, fruits, dietary overlaps coyotes

red fox diseases

rabies, distemper, mange

rabies transmission

aerosal possible but mainly through bites, virus in saliva before symptoms, not density dependent

rabies symptoms/stages

restlessness, behavior change, paralysis

two forms of rabies symptoms

furious form-all stages and dumb form-skip second stage

why rabies also called hydrophobia

down want to swallow due to extreme pain in throat

why furs not very valuable today

change in societal attitude, furs not popular to wear,demmand decreases

drop in fur prices lead to what in red foxes

healthy population due to less trapping

grey fox ecology, diet, and disease

very similar to red fox

grey fox differences to red fox

black tip on tail and semi-arboreal

brown bear range

circumpolar distribution, North Sea to northern Mexico

brown bear home range

100-1000 square miles

brown bear habitat

island biogeography

worries about managing a place like Yellowstone

genetics, disaster, environment, and demographics

genetics (bears)

inbreeding

disaster (bears)

random events

environments (bears)

habitat and resources

demographics (bears)

birth and death rates

what are we worried about in island population

localized extinctions

predictions (grizzly)

trend line and simulations, only as good as data put in, what need today to have a population in future

Bobcat range

northern range is where southern range of lynx is

what limits bobcat northern range

limited by snow depth

difference between lynx and bobcat

tuff on ears and beard, leg length and feet size

bobcat food habits

rabbits!!! also deer cache it

what animals cache prey

felines but also coyotes

bobcats cycle with

rabbits cycle

how do bobcats hunt

ambush predators

biggest negative to bobcat population

coyotes

how to manage for bobcat

manage for rabbits, hiding and escape cover, reduce coyotes

lynx food habits

lagomorph specialist, more specialized then bobcats

Racoon Habitat

lowlands better then uplands and hardwoods better then pines

why hardwoods better for racoons

cavities and mast

raccoon management

damage control, suburban and urban areas

raccoon problems

people feeding racoons - rabies and reliance on people, and crop damage mainly grapes

raccon removal and relocation

not legal now, 20 miles, hard release 10% survival

hunting raccoons 2 recommendations

don't harvest any after December 1st and if tree multiple only shoot 1

skunk color

warning sign

skunk defense

well developed anal gland, 5 feet, early as 8 days

skunk facts

bad eyesight and mainly nocturnal

skunk foot habits

mainly bugs, eggs, and fruits and mast

skunk habitat

grassy areas with bugs, early successional habitat

skunk management

damage control - public areas and dens under buildings

what to do if skunk sprayed

light acidic properties break down butyl mercaptan

opposum facts

apposable thumbs, pouch, prehensile tail

opposum gestation time

12 days then crawl into pouch

opossum how many nipples

13 in bullseye

opossum home

solitary wanderer stay when good leave when bad

opossum density

could be 1 per acre or 1 per 100 acres

opossum food habits

generalist omnivores very little wont consume

opossum defense

play dead, temporary paralysis, can't control it 10-15 minutes

opossum problems

don't cause many problems

mink range

common across most of U.S.

mink facts

solitary, territorial, true predator, can be found high density

mink habitat

edge of water sources, not built to live in water but can handle the water, stream edges most common, marshes some of the best

mink food habits

true predator, mostly aquatic animals

mink pollution problems

PCB's and lead

mink why most valuable fur

it glistens

mink trapping

easy to trap, know where they are and there are lots of them

what we earned from mink farming

nutrition, reproduction, diseases

how to manage mink

manage water, manage for the habitat

river otter range

found across united states except deserts, extirpated across most of home range