We choose hope over fear. We see the future not as something out of our control, but as something we can shape for the better through concerted and collective effort.

– 44th President Barack Obama

If you follow me on Twitter or follow this blog, maybe you’ve been wondering why I’ve been so silent on here in 2020. I thought I’d be much more active with my blog due to the pandemic and being home so often, but clearly that did not happen. Honestly, part of my silence has been from a lack of motivation, but also because it’s been hard for me to find things to write about that seem relevant to talk about with everything going on in 2020. From politics to the pandemic, to racial injustice and beyond, I felt that taking up space to talk about anything else just felt wrong; There are so many incredible pieces online that cover topics much more in depth than I ever could on issues like Black Lives Matter, the election, and so forth.

But today is New Year’s Eve. Although we can put 2020 behind us, the problems 2020 brought are unlikely to disappear at midnight. The last thing anyone needs is more bad news or feelings of despair. So in my final post of 2020, I’d like to talk about some good things that happened that maybe were overshadowed. Because I’m a wildlife biologist, most things I talk about will be about wildlife. There are so many more good things that happened beyond wildlife that I encourage you to seek out if you’re looking for other types of good news. Because I have a limited word count, I’ll briefly outline each point while (per usual) linking to other sources where you can read more if you’re so inclined. And I’d like to end by sharing some of my own good news, and if there are things that happened in your life this year you want to brag about, no matter how big or small, I encourage you to comment or email me.

Let’s start with some turtle talk: The world’s rarest turtle, the Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle, also known as the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) has new hope after the discovery of a female in Dong Mo Lake in Vietnam. Not much is known about this turtle, and by the time they were recognized as their own species there were only a few left, likely due to hunting and pollution. The last known female of this species died in 2019, leaving only one known male in existence which lives in Suzhou Zoo in China. Finding a female gives researchers hope that someday the two will be able to successfully breed.

Researchers were happy to see that the female captured was healthy, weighing in at 86kg (nearly 190 pounds!) and 1 meter in length. The female had a PIT tag fitted to her (a tracking device used on herps) and was released back into the wild. But there’s even better news: A second turtle was spotted in the lake! Although it has evaded capture (so far), researchers hope it’s a male so the two can breed naturally in the wild.

Sticking with aquatic animals for a bit, let’s talk about whales: The island of South Georgia far off the coast of southern Africa was once the epicenter for whaling in the 20th century and whales, specifically Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus) were overexploited to the point that they were extirpated from that area. Well this year, Blue Whales are back baby! Earlier this year, 58 whales were seen around the island. The Scottish Association for Marine Science suggested that their absence could’ve been due to the loss of cultural knowledge that the waters around South Georgia were teeming with krill; Because none of the adult whales were left to pass on the generational knowledge of feeding sites, researchers think this site was just forgotten despite the abundance of food still.

Not only are they returning to South Georgia, but a possible new population was discovered off the coast of Madagascar due to their unique song. Two or three subspecies had been discovered previously in the Indian Ocean, and those subspecies were split into four distinct populations with distinct songs between groups. The signature song discovered was found mostly off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea, which in itself was significant because songs had not been recorded in the Arabian Sea previously. Once the initial research team reported their findings of this song in 2018 to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission, another group realized they’d recorded the song too! Although no genetic evidence exists yet, songs are often used to identify specific groups of cetaceans.

Now let’s go down under: Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) have been facing their own pandemic for years now, a disease called Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD). The disease is objectively fascinating in the sense that the cancer cells themselves are the infectious agent and are spread through bites to the face (a common occurrence during devil mating sessions) or through eating the same things. Nearly 100% of devils die within 6 months of infection. But as of this month, geneticists are finding that devils are now transmitting the disease to one or no individuals (previously they spread it to 3-4 others before death), which could mean a disappearance of the disease over time. A few new studies hint at what could be the cause of this: a change in devil behavior, an overall decline in density, or a new and less contagious strain of the disease. Although there is still a lot of work to be done to help devils, these new findings offer hope that we won’t lose them entirely.

We’ll end this post with a species you’ve probably never seen before: A new species of Salamander was discovered by a man named Roberto Pedraza Ruiz (who happens to be the director for Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda) in the Sierra-Gorda Nature Reserve in the state of Querétaro, Mexico. Although this species has yet to be named, scientists concluded it falls into the Aquiloeurycea genus, which falls into the Plethodontidae family (also known as “lungless” salamanders). Amphibians such as salamanders are in decline worldwide due to various factors, but primarily loss of habitat. The Sierra-Gorda Nature Reserve is the first protected area in the entire Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, and a staggering 946,000 acres are now protected. This discovery shows that protecting land is crucial to conservation, even of species we don’t know exist yet.

As mentioned before, my word count is limited, but there’s so many more stories out there if you have the time and dedication to look. If you’d like more feel-good stories, this is a great Twitter thread by @JoshLukeDavis (who was the inspiration for and source of many of the things you read above), you can also check out this link for 10 more by National Geographic, or if you want to look into how nature has rebounded while people have been shut in, this article by Science Daily is a good place to start.

As I’m sure it was for a lot of you, this was a tough and lonely year for me too. I hate dwelling on the bad, so here’s some good things that happened to me in 2020 or things I’m grateful for: I moved in with my wonderful boyfriend at the start of this pandemic and have had the pleasure of making over our yard (in spring of 2021 I’ll be making it more wildlife friendly which I’ll share here). We put out a camera trap behind our house and along with what seemed like hundred of gray squirrels, we captured this guy pictured below! We live in a pretty residential area, so I was pleasantly surprised to have caught this.

I got the chance to do some fun field work this year as well, including working on tracking Feral Swine and testing ducks for Avian Influenza. Actually, just being employed all year is something to celebrate. I’ve also learned a lot about white privilege, the racism that persists in America, and how to support Black Americans to the best of my ability, and will continue to learn and educate myself in 2021. I gained 1,000 Twitter followers as well, something I never thought I’d say. I was part of one of my best friend’s wedding, something I was honored to be a part of due to the constraints put on the wedding due to the pandemic. I started playing Dungeons and Dragons, something so nerdy but now such a big part of my life (seriously, give it a shot, it’s so fun). I am grateful for my health, and for the support of those around me. And if you’re reading this, I’m grateful for you too.

Feel free to share with me whatever good things happened to you this year below or through my contact page. When I have more time and find more stories, I may come back and edit this post. For now this is it, and I’ll see you all in 2021!

It doesn’t.

-Me

If you’ve ever been on Twitter and even flippantly mentioned that cats should be kept indoors, I’m sure you’ve gotten an onslaught of notifications of people absolutely losing their minds at you. This is exactly what happened the morning I decided to write this post, because I commented on someone’s picture of their cat holding a bird saying how “proud” they were of their cat. Today is also World Migratory Bird Day, and you’ll see later why that’s relevant to a post about cats.

Now, I’m not here by any means to shame you if you have an outdoor cat. I’m simply here to provide a sound, scientific argument as to why you should keep your cat indoors. And if your cat truly loves the outdoors and you think it just cannot live inside all the time, I’m going to provide a few alternatives of safe ways to let your cat interact with the outside world.

Let’s start with how we even got the domestic cat that we share homes with today: Unlike dogs that have been selectively bred for thousands of years for a specific purpose, cats domesticated themselves and DNA evidence suggests domestic cats we have today and their wild counterparts don’t have much variation in their genetic makeup, despite coat markings we see in tabby cats. They’re not very genetically distinct because we didn’t need to change them; Cats began living and hunting around human settlements as early as 4400 BC to hunt mice and rats, and they’ve been doing a good job at that ever since.

Maybe too good.

Cats are great hunters and it is in their DNA. To me, that is still not a valid argument as to why your cat should be let outside to do  “what comes naturally” to it. If we generally applied the same logic to dogs as we do cats, we would be overrun with feral dogs. Not only that, but because of their size and ability to form packs, dogs wouldn’t be very well-received by people who own livestock in the same way ranchers/farmers have disdain for coyotes and wolves. Here in northeastern America, we don’t have a lot of stray dogs. It’s within our culture to spay and neuter our dogs, and generally they live inside with us if they’re family pets. We take them out to give them exercise, we take them in to feed them, and they sleep with us.

So why is it not always the same for cats?

I see cats outside all the time, whether they be feral or someone’s pet let loose. If your cat is not fixed and you let it wander outside, not only are you contributing to the already 80 million homeless/feral cats in the United States, but you’re also subjecting your cat to diseases. Spaying your female cat or neutering your male cat prevents cancers (such as breast and testicular, respectively), and lessens females chances of getting urinary tract infections. A neutered male cat is also less likely to get into disputes with other males over females, thus lessening his chance of injury. And if your cat isn’t vaccinated on top of not being spayed or neutered, you’re putting your cat at serious risk of contracting Feline Leukemia Virus or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (aka FIV, the cat equivalent to HIV in humans). Your cat can live with Feline Leukemia and FIV, but will likely be costly due to vet visits and yearly tests. Your cat can also contract deadly diseases from wild animals such as rabies, tularemia or toxoplasmosis to name a few, diseases that your cat can give to you too.

Although I’m all about your cat’s health and well-being, the real reason I take such a hard stance on keeping cats inside is because of their detrimental impact on wildlife. You don’t have to look far or long to find studies highlighting how destructive cats are to native wildlife. A 2011 study revealed that cats are the culprits for 33 extinctions so far in wild species. A study published last month found that in Australia, domestic cats kill 100 million frogs alone every year. In 2019, a single cat was responsible for wiping out an entire colony of Fairy Terns (Sternula nereis), a species that is considered vulnerable by the IUCN, by is critically endangered in New Zealand. On islands, like New Zealand, cats have an even more brutal impact: A cat known as Tibbles arrived in New Zealand with his owner in 1894 and went on to single-handedly (or paw, in this case) caused the extinction of the Stephens Island wren (Xenicus lyalli), a flightless bird that only existed in New Zealand and had never known a natural predator. Cats also aided in the extinction of the Hawaiian Crow, or ʻAlalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) by spreading the parasite Toxoplasma gondii to the birds through their feces. These are only a handful of examples, but the literature goes on and on.

A 2013 study conducted by a team of researchers from the Smithsonian Institution and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that every year, domestic cats kill 1-4 billion birds, 6.3-22.3 billion small mammals, and hundreds of millions of amphibians and reptiles…Every year, in just the U.S. and Canada. I’ve also seen the excuse made “well we don’t have wildlife that a cat would kill where I live”…Not only is that just factually wrong no matter where you live, even if you lived in Antarctica, but wild animals move around. As Rachel Carson said in her book Silent Spring, “in nature nothing exists alone”.

Your cat does not exist in nature alone.

At the start of this post I said it was World Migratory Bird Day, a fantastic reminder that birds migrate! Birds can migrate incredible distances – take the Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) for example; Baltimore Orioles are stunning birds, have a beautiful song, and are a welcomed sight at any bird feeder. They spend their winters as far south as the top of South America, and in mid-April they begin their journey back to the northern states. Let’s say an Oriole winters in Colombia and returns to New Hampshire in May. That means within a month, this little bird has traveled over 3,000 miles just to find a mate and breed here in the north. Thousands of years of evolution has prepared this bird for this journey year after year, and so much energy goes into this trip. Not only that, but birds benefit the environment in so many ways, whether it be dispersing seeds, pollinating plants, controlling pest populations…Is it worth this bird dying just for your cat’s amusement?

Right now, in May, is an especially important time to recognize the devastating effects of domestic cats because spring is when wild babies are born. Fledglings (aka birds that have just left their nest) are particularly vulnerable to cat attacks because they’ve yet to master flight. If you have an outdoor cat that brings you “gifts” in the form of wild animals, you may have gotten an injured baby bird before. Upon receiving this injured baby bird from your feline, maybe you brought it to a rehabilitator to “fix it”. Let me tell you as someone who has worked in a rehab setting: a broken wing is most often a death sentence. Rehabbers will take in animals that they know they can’t fix in order to humanely euthanize them, or prevent people from trying to “save” the creature themselves. Even newborn baby squirrels that get taken by cats won’t always be saved because it may not be worth it from a resource standpoint. And don’t be upset at rehabbers for making that decision: Rehabilitators get no funding from state or federal agencies, meaning other people are footing the bill for lazy cat ownership.

I call it lazy cat ownership because that’s simply what it is. Thinking that your cat can not learn to walk in a harness is undermining how intelligent they are. Not putting a leash on your dog because they “don’t like it” simply would not be a valid excuse, and I don’t see why that applies for cats either. And hey, if your cat walks by your side off-leash when you’re outside, good on you! That’s a valid way to have your cat enjoy the outdoors as well, as long as you’re there to supervise. And if for some reason you cannot make a harness work, there are outdoor enclosures you can create for your cats that are completely enclosed, lovingly referred to as catios, and you can find some great DIY ideas here.

Just like how dogs need playtime, so do cats. I’ve seen many excuses like “my cat needs the exercise and that’s why she goes outside” or “well it’s just so hard to keep him inside because he’s already been out”. My cat was born from a long line of barn cats, and was found abandoned when she was a week old. I’m sure she has a strong urge to go outside and hunt (she tries to escape often), but I curb that urge by playing with her indoors; She taught herself how to play fetch, and I have a feather toy on a string to get her to jump and stalk. And if you’ve ever watched My Cat From Hell on Animal Planet, you’ll have learned just how many behavioral problems in cats can be solved by simply playing with them every day. Your cat won’t have to think about how exciting outside is if you keep their indoor environment exciting.

This post is by no means me bashing cats and hating their existence – as I write this sentence, my own cat is currently on my lap cleaning herself (and making typing a challenge). I keep my cat indoors not only because I love and value wildlife, but because I love and value her too. My cat Nymeria (who only responds to “meow meow”) is small (only about 5-6 pounds), and I have weekly nightmares about her running outside and getting hit by cars or falling prey to hawks, owls, or coyotes. She’s spayed, has her necessary shots, and only goes out in a harness. Despite being born from farm cats, she has never and will never kill a wild animal (despite in her dreams, I’m sure).

Although the point of this post is to inform cat owners about why they should keep their cats indoors, there’s another large part of this problem I haven’t addressed much: feral cats. Getting your cat fixed and keeping it inside is great, but it doesn’t stop feral cats from continuing to decimate wildlife. If you thought cat owners were particularly nasty when you tell them to keep their cat indoors, wait until you get into the conversation about euthanizing feral cats. Oh boy, is it fun for no one. The current debate between feral cat advocates and biologists advocating for biodiversity is that there are too many feral cats (which they agree on) and that something needs to be done (which they do not agree on).

Trap-neuter-release (TNR) programs have become increasingly popular with feral cat communities, programs which trap and fix as many feral cats in a community as they can. Although TNR programs help, they are not a long-term solution to the problem of overpopulation, or of wildlife damage; Unless every cat is fixed, more feral cats will be born (similar to vaccines: you cannot eradicate a disease unless everyone is vaccinated, or else it can still exist in unvaccinated individuals). In fact, to be successful, 75% of feral populations need to be fixed, which is nearly impossible as new, abandoned cats join the colony. Neutering or spaying a cat doesn’t prevent them from killing wild animals either, which is why some biologists believe feral cats should be trapped and euthanized. We already do this in America to some extent – 860,000 cats are euthanized each year in shelters. But from a biologist’s standpoint, it’s not enough.

Yes we need to keep our cats spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and indoors. But we also need to curb feral cat populations. From an objective and scientific standpoint, it makes sense to trap and euthanize feral cats, because a dead cat can’t kill anything else. Although the mass culling of cats is unpopular for so many reasons, the debate is mostly philosophical; In the same way some Americans find it preposterous that other cultures could eat a dog (not that it’s okay by any means to judge other cultures just because they’re different), we cannot fathom killing cats for science. As I look at my own precious bean of a cat curled up and asleep, I get it. I wouldn’t want the job of euthanizing cats either. But in a similar way that climate change has now become a politicized topic in which people choose not to believe in it, some people refuse to believe cats have any detrimental impacts to wildlife. If we are to be good stewards to the earth and maintain as much biodiversity as we can with what we have left, we need to roll up our sleeves and do the dirty work, and make the sometimes uncomfortable or unpopular decisions. Birds face so many other problems worldwide, and cats seem like the easiest problem to fix.

Saying “this is the way we’ve always done things” is not an excuse to not embrace change. We have the science and evidence available, let’s put it to use and make the necessary changes to protect wildlife, and protect our cats.

 

Let us remember that the economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment, not the other way around.

-Gaylord Nelson (founder of Earth Day)

Happy Earth Day everyone!

This year is the 50th Earth Day. I’ve been thinking of this post for a few weeks now because the last thing I want to do on this day is point out the negativity in the world surrounding our environment, because it’s so easy to be negative right now. Don’t get me wrong, we should not ignore the environmental injustices going on just because there’s currently an international pandemic. But dwelling on the negatives while stuck at home and probably isolated from some people you love will do you no good. And hey, if for some reason you want to be angry this Earth Day, read my post from last Earth Day.

I use Earth Day as a time to pick up new ecologically friendly habits, and go out of my way to better my surrounding environment. Typically on Earth Day I go out and pick up trash either in one of my favorite parks or around my town, but going around and picking up trash right now seems…risky? I like to go out with gloves and a big trash bag, but gloves are hard to come by right now and I’ve been trying to limit my time in public places. So in this post, I’d like to give you some ways you can celebrate this earth from home by showing you what I did, and I’d like to highlight some positive changes since that first Earth Day 50 years ago.

If you know me at all or have read previous entries, you’ll already know my favorite Earth Day activity: Birding! If you want to be more connected to wildlife and the outdoors, especially at home, start watching birds. Birds are accessible to everyone. They sing, they’re beautiful, and they’re everywhere. Of course where you live depends on how many/what kinds of birds you’ll see, but there’s some easy way to attract birds to your house without breaking the bank. You can make your own suet to attract a variety of birds including woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees and nuthatches using only 5 ingredients. In the early summer, you can even attract gorgeous Orioles simply using orange slices stuck on branches! If you’re (somehow) bored of your backyard birds, you can sign up for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s daily rare bird alerts in your state.

A very simple bird feeder I made this Earth Day was the pinecone feeder. I had some Safflower seeds I got from Walmart (Pro tip: Grackles, Starlings and House Sparrows don’t like Safflower seeds if you’re trying to deter these birds from your feeder), and I spread peanut butter on a pinecone and pressed the seeds into the peanut butter. I’ll be freezing it tonight to keep everything tightly packed, then I’ll hang it in a tree in my yard with some knitting yarn I have. Another reason this feeder is so great is because it costs you virtually nothing to make (assuming you already have PB and seeds), so if an animal like a bear or raccoon were to take your feeder, you could simply make another.

My next Earth Day activity was starting my own garden using materials from home. I had old eggs in my fridge, and wouldn’t you know, not only are egg cartons great for starting plants, but you can put seeds in the eggshells! Apparently there are many benefits to using eggs in your garden, from deterring pests from slugs to deer, the calcium in the eggs help strengthen your plant’s cell walls, and apparently you can scatter eggshells on the ground (either in your garden or…wherever else) to give mother birds a calcium boost! If you’d like to use your eggshells in the garden for pest deterrent/a calcium boost, make a hole in the top of the egg, take out the whites and yolk inside, rinse in the sink, then bake them on a cookie sheet in the oven for 10 minutes at 250 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius) just until they’re dry, not brown inside. You can crush them up and just sprinkle them on the ground, or even put them in homemade suet. If you’re using the eggs as seed starters, rinse then put in boiling water for a bit until they’ve been thoroughly cleaned. …I’ll try to not turn this into a gardening blog but I make no promises.

And finally, I plan on reading tonight. I’m working from home right now which means staring at a screen for at least 8 hours straight, more specifically, Excel databases…My eyes are dying. Anyways, when I read I want to feel like I’m learning (which probably stems from my life in academia in which I felt guilty for doing anything that wasn’t learning). I’m also a monster who continually buys books before finishing the ones I already have, but I do have some great recommendations for people who want to read science-based books that don’t feel like you’re reading a textbook. In order to give myself a limit (because I will go on forever if I didn’t have a word count limit), I’ll give you my top 3 recommendations, and I’m sure I’ll have more in later posts.

My first recommendation is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I was drawn to this book because I wanted to learn more about plants and thought, who better to learn from than an indigenous person? Oh boy, this book is so much more than plants. I have literally cried reading this book because of how Robin ties in stories with her teachings. And if you’re not in to plants, that’s okay! She also knows a heck of a lot about wildlife – did you know bison have an enzyme in their saliva that encourages grass growth? Well, Robin Wall Kimmerer did! And even if you already knew that, pick the book up anyways. If you don’t learn anything new about plants or wildlife (which I’m positive you will), you may just learn something about yourself.

 

My next recommendation is Coyote America by Dan Flores. Whether you like them or not, coyotes evolved in such a way that they benefit from the changes humans make to the environment. Because wolves and cougars have been extirpated here in the northeast of America, coyotes reign as the supreme predator. And you have to give it to them: they’re able to live among us, yet refuse to be domesticated. If you have a love for nature, you must have some appreciation for the coyote. If you don’t already appreciate them, let Dan Flores show you how linked our two species are. He gives a colorful overview of the perception of coyotes in our culture, past and present, and explains just how they were able to migrate from the west to east coast. Dan Flores also appears on many podcasts to talk everything coyote, including the podcast The Hunting Collective (one of my favorites) and Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.

My final recommendation is Nature Obscura by Kelly Brenner. I started following Kelly on Twitter a few months ago right before her book came out, and I’m so happy to have found her! She’s so curious, creative, and involved with her followers on Twitter. Although I haven’t dug much into the book yet after receiving it yesterday, I’ve only seen glowing reviews. I’ll quote a bit of the synopsis to give you a sense of what the book is about:

In her hometown of Seattle, she explores shores, wetlands, forests, and neighborhood parks to expose strange, often overlooked organisms – tardigrades, hummingbirds, spiders, dragonflies, slime molds, sword ferns, muskrats and more. Nature Obscura may inspire you to follow a fly, spy on a murder of crows, or squeeze moss to find a water bear. Nature exists in our cities, if only we look.

If you didn’t do anything out of the ordinary today, that’s okay! You don’t need a designated day to celebrate the planet. And if it makes you feel better, I wanted to have this blog post out yesterday, or much earlier today, and couldn’t get my shit together…We’re all doin’ our best out here (or in here, I suppose). But if I could leave you with one last thing to do for the earth…Vote. Now more than ever, your vote matters and is important. I don’t mean just voting for a president either (even though that’s important), your state and local governments matter too. Do your research on candidates and make your vote count. I don’t mean to get too preachy or emotional here, but people fought for and died for your right to vote. Especially if you’re a woman, the women who came before us fought so hard for us to be able to vote, so don’t let them down. And don’t let the environment around you down by not voting for someone who gives a shit about it.

If by the end of this you’re still feeling down, as promised at the beginning, I’ll throw some good news at ya:

• A 2018 census of Mountain Gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in the Virunga Mountains in East Africa found an increase in their populations due to extreme conservation efforts to combat disease, habitat loss and illegal hunting.
• ~25,000 whales were killed in a 12-year period in the early 1900s in the South Atlantic Ocean. Thanks to protections put into place in the 1960s, researchers have found that current western South Atlantic humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) are back to pre-whaling numbers.
• Today, the U.S. Court of International Trade agreed in a court ruling today to protect the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), the world’s smallest cetacean of which there only 10 individuals left.
• California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus) populations have not only been increasing, but the 1000th condor born in the wild since 1982 fledged from it’s nest in Zion National Park in 2019. A free-flying population has been established in the Grand Canyon into Utah (secret time: I applied for a job to monitor those populations, and turned it down days before the pandemic really hit because I “didn’t feel it was the right time”…timing really is everything, huh?).

There’s plenty more good news, just take some time to look for it when you’re feeling particularly down. My world has felt pretty small lately because of quarantine, and I’m sure you’re all feeling the same, but it’s been nice to dedicate today to celebrating the world around me. Celebrate today not only for the earth, but for yourself too.

 

 

 

 

That is one good thing about this world…There are always sure to be more springs.

-Lucy Maud Montgomery

For weeks I’ve been going back and forth about the most appropriate blog post to write during these crazy times. Between the global pandemic, the alleged “resurgence” of animals while people are quarantined, Netflix’s documentary ‘Tiger King’, and spring migrations, there’s a lot to write about right now. Although I may make future posts about Tiger King or what’s going on in the wildlife world now that there’s less people out and about, I felt it was most important to write about something fun to do outside. I know in my last post I talked about re-doing my yard to attract wildlife but that’s been put on hold while so many stores are closed, and it seems irresponsible to go out just for some flowers right now. So let’s get into herping!

Herpetology: The study of reptiles and amphibians

Herp: A reptile or amphibian

Herping: The act of looking for a reptile or amphibian (see: birding)

All of the species I’m going to talk about in this post will be native to my area in New Hampshire. If you’re not already familiar with the reptiles and amphibians in your area, check out your state wildlife agency’s website where they’ll likely have a list of species in your state (for example, here is New Hampshire’s list of species). That being said, the only reptiles New Hampshire has are 18 species of snakes and turtles which can be a bit tricky to find. If you’re reading this from a warmer state, you’ll definitely have an easier time finding reptiles. So, keep in mind that the tips and tricks I list below may not always apply to where you live, especially if you live around lizards (which I do not).

If you have particularly cold winters like New England, the first few weeks of spring are incredible for herping. Animals are coming out of hibernation, they’re migrating and mating which means they’re easy to see and hear. For example, the sound of Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) are synonymous with spring because they’re so numerous and so loud.

If you’ve heard spring peepers before, it’s likely that you heard them in the early morning or at night. That’s because in spring, the majority of migrations take place at night. If you want to find a lot of herps in one spot, here’s how to do it: go out at night (past 10pm would be best), find a road that touches a wetland or pond, and search the road with a flashlight. It’s even better if it’s raining, because amphibians need to be wet in order to absorb oxygen through their skin. That being said, it’s good practice to bring water with you when herping, that way you can keep your hands wet so you don’t dry out your new amphibian friends.

If you go out on rainy, warm spring nights you’d be amazed at how many herps you find, and what you’ll find: Last spring a friend and I found a Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) mistaking a Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) for a mate. The technical term is that they were in amplexus, which just refers to the mating position of frogs where the male is on top and wraps around the back of the female.

 

When emerging from hibernation, the first thought in most animals minds is “I need to mate RIGHT NOW“, and amphibians are no exception! If you find some egg masses at the edge of a pond, they could be either frog or salamander eggs. The difference is that salamander egg masses hold their shape and are more globular than frog eggs because salamanders put an extra coat of jelly around all the eggs. With frogs, you can see the individuals eggs in the mass, and frogs lay many more eggs in one mass than salamanders do. There are egg mass differences  between species as well.

That migration period in the beginning of spring can be relatively short and hard to time, especially if you’ve been having weird weather patterns of warm then very cold days. So if you miss that migration period, don’t fret! The herps don’t disappear for the rest of the year; To find herps in late spring or the summer, you just need to know a bit more about the species you’d like to find. Knowing their preferred habitats and behaviors can be very beneficial. If you’re in New England, a great general resource is the Vermont Herp Atlas – if you’re in Vermont, they even have maps of what counties you can find what herps in.

When I go herping, I love looking for salamanders. Turning over rocks, logs, peeling back bark from an old tree or checking under damp leaf litter are great ways to turn up salamanders. A widespread species I love and that’s fairly common is the Eastern Newt (Notopthalmus viridescens). Newts prefer beaver ponds, but they can also be found in small lakes, ponds or marshes. This past weekend I went to one of my local state parks that has a fairly large beaver pond and found a bunch of individuals just hanging out by the shore in fairly shallow water, in and around some debris in the pond.

What’s so cool about newts is that their juvenile and adult forms look so different. Their juvenile form is called a Red Eft, which can live on land for up to 8 years. They’re a stunning bright orange with little orange spots lined in black. When they’re ready to breed, juveniles will find a permanent body of water to breed in. They transform into their adult form that’s better suited for an aquatic lifestyle, with wider, flatter tails for swimming. That being said, adults can return to land if they need to.

If you’re looking for Newts, you’ll probably be in a good spot to find turtles and frogs as well. Turtles can be tricky to find underwater unless you have specific traps for them, but going out on a sunny day gives you a good chance of seeing turtles basking on logs. Because turtles are reptiles, they are ‘cold-blooded’, meaning their body temperatures are determined by how warm or cold their surrounding environment is. Turtles line up on logs to bask in the sun to warm up, but drying their shells also prevents the accumulation of parasites. Of course because we’re talking about biology, there are always exceptions to the rules, like the Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) that is entirely terrestrial.

Now, not all salamanders live in/right next to water. For example, the Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is a completely terrestrial salamander that just needs to live somewhere damp. When I went herping last weekend I found a Red-backed (pictured below) under a fallen log. It was the typical color of a Red-backed: A reddish-brown back with darker sides. However, Red-backed salamanders can also be entirely that reddish-brown color, or can be missing that reddish-brown color entirely. And, there are two other salamanders in New England that are a very similar size and shape to the Red-backed Salamander. So how do we tell tiny salamanders apart?

Evolution most certainly helped us identify tiny salamanders by giving each salamander a different belly. The Red-backed salamander has what’s called a “salt and pepper” belly, that’s white with a lot of tiny black specks. Compare this to the belly of the Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum), which may look similar on top but has a bright white belly with larger black spots.

 

 

Another handy tip for herping: bring a container. Having a container is a very handy way to scoop up salamanders and keep them wet if need be. Containers are especially helpful for stream salamanders that are already wet and extremely slippery, and because they typically hang out under debris or rocks in streams, you can use a container to scoop them up if they start getting swept downstream.

One of my favorite stream salamanders is the Spring salamander, which tend to be larger than the salamanders I previously mentioned. Juveniles can be easily distinguished by their external gills (pictured below). Because of their external gills, juvenile Spring sallies are often confused with Mudpuppies (Necturus maculosus) which have external gills their entire lives and are entirely aquatic.

 

Alright, now let’s to get to one of the most controversial herps but one of my favorites: Snakes. Besides the Common Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis), snakes in New Hampshire are not easy to come by. But if you would like to find Gartersnakes, they’re easily identifiable by their three yellow stripes on the top and sides of their body, yellowish upper lip, and olive green head (take a peak at the one below).

If you’re ever lucky enough to find one, Gartersnakes can be confused with the Eastern Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis saurita). The Eastern Ribbonsnake can be found in more open areas, especially rocky areas near water. Although very visually similar to the Gartersnake, the Ribbonsnake has a mahogany colored stripe along the lower sides of the body and tend to be more slender than the Gartersnake.

So if you’re looking for snakes other than your regular ‘ole Garter, open, rocky areas are the best. Old barns or old farming fields are great for finding snakes too, because where there are mice and rats, there are snakes. Like turtles, snakes are reptiles and need sunlight to warm up, and prefer cover that warms up easily as well. If you can’t get out much right now but want to attract snakes, put out some cover in an open area that snakes can hide under (like light, flat rocks, a tarp, or a sheet of metal).

On a field trip with my Herpetology class last spring, we found 4 species of snakes in a slate quarry. One species was the Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus), which is a smooth-scaled snake. In New England, a good rule of thumb is that snakes with keeled scales (aka, not smooth scales) give birth to live young and snakes with smooth scales lay eggs. This may get confusing but is worth mentioning: snakes can be ovoviviparous, which means they incubate eggs in their lower abdomen then give birth to live young after a few months (Gartersnakes do this).

 

It’s important for you to know what you’re looking for, or know what you’re looking at when out in the woods.

In New Hampshire, we have one venomous snake, the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). And please, if you take anything from this blog: snakes are venomous, not poisonous. The difference is that venom is injected, while poison is through touch or ingestion. That being said, the Gartersnake can be poisonous if you eat it because they absorb toxins from newts and salamanders when they prey upon them…I’ll leave it at that because otherwise this post will never end. My point is, the difference between picking up a Gartersnake and Rattlesnake could be your life.

At my job, I get so many calls about people seeing a Timber rattlesnake or having one in their basement. The odds of seeing one in New England is so slim. Timber rattlers are very endangered here, and state wildlife officials know exactly where they are (some have GPS-locators in them called PIT tags). Not only are they not aggressive, but Timber rattlers are able to bite without injecting venom into what they’re biting. Think about it: Timber rattlers specialize in eating small mammals like chipmunks, and only have so much venom in their bodies. If you were to pick one up (accidentally I hope), a snake is smart enough to know you’re too big to eat. If it wants to be put down or get you to stop stepping on it, the snake is able to give you a non-venomous bite to get away from you. But I want to make it clear: don’t go picking up venomous snakes. …Please.

Although you’d think the rattle on a rattlesnakes’ tail would be the key to identifying them, so many people mistake other snakes for rattlers. The snake that’s probably mistaken for a rattlesnake the most is the Eastern Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum); When threatened, Milksnakes can vibrate their tails to make a rattling sound (even though they don’t have rattlers).

Common Watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon) are another species mistaken for a venomous species; Because they live in and around water, Watersnakes are thought to be cottonmouths/water moccasins, even though cottonmouths do not live in the northeast. If you live in an area with both Watersnakes and Cottonmouths, just remember that Common Watersnakes (the non-venomous snake) have blotches, whereas Cottonmouths (the venomous snake) have a band pattern. Be careful picking up Watersnakes though; They’re curious (they’ve swam out of a pond straight at me on multiple occasions to inspect me) and will bite you if they feel threatened.

 

Hopefully this post taught you something useful about finding more herp friends. Being stuck inside is fun for no one, especially if you love the outdoors and dedicate your career to the outdoors. Be mindful of others if you go out herping, and stay safe out there. As always, thanks for reading!

 

 

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.

– Henry David Thoreau

Hey everyone! I know it’s been a while since my last post, but I have a lot of topics swimming in my head and sometimes it can be hard for me to pick one and research it thoroughly enough until I feel it’s ready to be published.

This post feels the most timely to me; if you live in the northeastern U.S., you’ve probably noticed how mild the winter has been. It’s only March, and yesterday it was 70 degrees in the southern part of my state. Needless to say, spring is quickly upon us! No matter where you live, spring brings life; birds, bugs, plants, and lots of babies of all species. So the purpose of this post is to give you some tips on how you can fix up your outdoor space to encourage wildlife to visit or take up residence.

But right off the bat, let’s get this out of the way – why should you fix up your yard for wildlife? The overall trend is that America (and most of the rest of the world) is becoming more urban, and public lands in America are becoming harder to find. An increase in private land most likely means more developed land, and thus less and/or more fragmented wildlife habitat. Your local wildlife needs all the help they can get in an increasingly urbanized world. If you’re bummed that your property is no longer part of a larger ecosystem home to owls and snakes and foxes – don’t fret! No matter what you do to the land you live on, you’re influencing the wildlife around you.

Wildlife is a large umbrella that includes reptiles, amphibians, mammals, bugs, and so forth. No matter what wildlife you’d like to have around, they all need the basics: food, water, and shelter. If you’d like to attract certain species or kinds of wildlife, you’ll need to dive deeper into their habitat requirements. I’m going to be as general as I can and I’ll aim towards telling you how to make the most diverse habitat. Oh, and obviously anything you’re able to do depends on the size of your property, the characteristics of your property, the surrounding properties, and where you live in the world – keep this all in mind as you read on.

Food:

All creatures need food, but that food depends on the species (you’ll get real sick of hearing me say that, huh?) and the time of year. Let’s start big: trees. There are evergreen trees (such as pines, junipers and hemlocks) that provide food for animals in the winter ranging from sap, to needles, and even their twigs. Evergreens are long lived, but often take longer to grow. Then there are hard- and soft-mast species. Hard-mast trees (such as oaks, beeches, and hickories) produce nuts and acorns that are rich in fat and important for animals when building fat reserves. Hard mast is only available in fall and winter. Soft-mast trees (such as plums, crabapples and dogwoods) produce fleshy fruits that are available in summer, fall and winter. Then of course there are shrubs that produce berries such as wild strawberries, wild raspberries, wild blueberries, and so on.

Before you start picking plants though, take a look around your land. What plants and trees do you already have? Have you observed wildlife utilizing any of them, whether that be for food or shelter? You also need to consider what soil you have – you may be able to assume this from the surrounding plants and trees, but it’s also easy enough to dig a soil pit. A soil pit will show you a profile of the types of soil under you, and from there you’ll know which plants will be most successful growing on your lot. But no matter what, make sure that whatever you plant is not invasive. Invasive plants will wreak havoc on your land, and could easily spread to surrounding areas. Planting native plants also often means they’re low maintenance, and may not need as vigorous watering as non-native flowers or trees. If you’re nervous about what is native to your area, fear not, Audubon has you covered! Audubon has a database where you can look up plants native to your area and will even tell you what type of bird prefers what type of plant. If you’re not interested in attracting birds (which…why the hell not), this is still a great jumping off point.

You can have supplemental feedings on your land too, and the most popular (and probably least controversial) are birdfeeders. If you’d like a guide to different birdseed types, Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology have you covered here. Actually, other than birdfeeders the only thing you can really have is a squirrelfeeder (which if you’ve ever had a birdfeeder then you know it’s also a squirrelfeeder). Most state wildlife agencies discourage feeding wildlife; In New Hampshire (which is where I live), Fish and Game discourages feeding deer for a variety of reasons including increased risk to predation, the fact that they tend to travel more in winter if fed and deplete fat stores, and feeding a lot of animals in one location (no matter the species) could increase the spread of disease. On that note, let’s have the talk…

The birds and the bears.

Especially if you live in New England (although this is probably true for any state with black bears), you need to know that your birdfeeder will attract bears. It’s not a matter of if they’ll get into your birdfeeder, it’s when. In New Hampshire, Fish and Game recommends you don’t put your birdfeeder out until December 1st and remove them April 1st to avoid bear conflicts. The saying goes that “a fed bear is a dead bear”, and I can assure you that is true; People literally kill bears for getting into their bird feeders and it’s not illegal to do so in New Hampshire (see RSA 207:26-27)! That’s a larger topic for a later entry…But seriously, you need to understand that your birdfeeder will attract everything including predators to feast on the things eating from your birdfeeder. Don’t be upset when things other than birds take advantage of the food you’ve put out.

Water:

Water is a pretty easy one if you want it to be – you could simply put out a birdbath, either raised or on the ground (just make sure you clean them regularly). You could also build a small pond in your yard if you had the space and felt so inclined. Creating a backyard pond could be a great way to attract amphibians though, and who doesn’t want to have salamander neighbors? If you’d like more information on how to build a backyard pond, check out this guide by the National Wildlife Federation.

Shelter:

Not only is shelter important for making animals feel safe in your space from predators, but it also offers a place for animals to breed, raise young, and possibly stick out tough weather. The kinds of shelter you could provide in your yard once again depends on the type of animals you’d like to have around (I told you I’d keep saying it). Generally speaking though, if you plant trees or shrubs in your yard for food sources, they could double as cover.

Because evergreen trees retain their needles year-round, they provide great over-wintering habitat for many animals. Deciduous trees, especially ones that are hard-mast species, are long-lived and often provide natural cavities that many animal species like to call home. And don’t immediately think that just because a tree is dead it’s no longer useful – many animals feed on and love to live in dead trees, also called snags. If you have a snag that doesn’t pose a property damage threat to your home, leave it up! As time passes, try pulling back the bark in the summer to look for salamanders, peak inside cavities (carefully of course) to see who’s inside, and see if you find any scratch marks that animals are making on the snag to stake your property as part of their own territory.

Oh, and leave your leaves! Not only do leaves on the ground provide great habitat for bugs, worms and amphibians, but leaves also act as a sponge and directs water to lower levels of soil, and act as a fertilizer for your soil as well. But the worms and bugs that live among the leaves are also a great food source for the other animals you’re trying to attract. Crazy right? It’s almost as if everything is tied together in some sort of system…

Other things to consider:

If you’d like to attract a diverse array of animals, you’ll need to create a diverse habitat. If you’re planning on planting new trees, shrubs or flowers, try to create layers; Big, tall trees, small, thin trees, shrubs, ferns, mosses…creating layers will allow for a greater array of animals to use your space year-round.

And be mindful of where you plant things. Try to keep vegetable beds and conventional plants closer to your house, and plant your more wild garden on the outskirts of your property to allow it to connect with the surrounding woods. Don’t just plop your food sources out in the open; put food sources near cover to allow animals to escape and feel safe as they forage. And if you’d like to plant evergreens, plant them on the north or north-west portion of your property to provide shelter from wind.

In my research for this post I discovered that New Hampshire has a small grant program for helping landowners restore or create wildlife habitat. Yes, you need at least 25 acres, but I’m sure this varies by state, so check out your local agencies’ grant programs if you need some financial help! If your state doesn’t offer anything like this but you’d still like your efforts recognized, the National Wildlife Federation offers a certification if you meet their requirements; you can pay a $20 certification fee (and portions of that help support local wildlife and go toward their education programs) and if you receive the certification you can put up a special “Certified Wildlife Habitat” sign, get a free one-year membership to their magazine, 10% off their merchandise, and more! If anything, it’s a cool way to acknowledge your efforts and further support wildlife conservation and preservation.

I’ll be using these tips this spring to spruce up (ehhh? See what I did there?) my yard, and in a future blog post I’ll show you my plan for my property sketched out and how we implement it. Oh and if you’ve noticed that this post doesn’t have as many hyperlinks to references as usual, it’s because a lot of these tips I learned from getting a degree in Wildlife Biology or from my work experiences. Below are other resources you can check out if you feel so inclined!

If you’ve made it this far, thanks so much for reading! And feel free to ask questions or show me what you’ve done to your yard through my ‘Get In Touch’ page.

More resources:

• https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/SP530.pdf
• https://www.audubon.org/news/grow-these-native-plants-so-your-backyard-birds-can-feast
• https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create/At-Home

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

-Margaret Mead

Happy New Year!

If you’re someone who hasn’t jumped on the resolution bandwagon – fair. If you’re on the internet ever (which you are, because you’re here) and you care about the environment (which you do because once again, you’re here) why not take up some new ecologically friendly habits? It’s so easy to be pessimistic about the state of our planet, but wallowing in despair will do you and the world no good. And when’s a better time to make your life a little ‘greener’ than the start of a new year?

Warning – this may be a long one.

The first thing, and one of the easiest things you can do, is cut down your plastic use – and that’s obvious, right? 18 billion pounds of plastic goes into the ocean each year. …Every year! And what’s even more horrifying about that statistic is, just think of how physically light plastic is. It takes 2,000 plastic grocery bags weigh 30 pounds…18. Billion. Pounds. So use a reusable shopping bag! America is the worst for not doing this – each resident in the U.S. on average uses one plastic bag per day. 365 days in a year, 365 bags. Wanna know how much a resident of a country like Denmark uses? Four plastic bags…a year. Come on, America. Now I will say, some states like California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have banned plastic bag use. And some major cities like Boston, MA have plastic bag bans, and some cities like Boulder, CO have fees for not using reusable bags.

Plastic grocery bags are only part of the problem. Now think about each time you eat a piece of candy. Each time you buy something that has plastic packaging. Every time your order something off a website like Amazon that is full of single-use plastics. Don’t even get me started on why you shouldn’t use Amazon in the first place. Be more conscious of how much plastic you’re surrounded by or how much you just throw away on a daily basis. Having personally worked at landfills in my state, I can confirm how horrifying it is how much trash there is, and how quickly landfills are growing. And even if you must use plastic, for whatever reasons, recycle! Less than 1/5th of plastic is recycled, and in the U.S. we only recycle 9% of plastics we use. Waste Management has a great website of what can and cannot be recycled, because it’s not as simple as you’d think, but absolutely worth it. Check the rules for your town, but below is a more digestible graphic for basic recycling rules:

Composting is another option that has plenty of benefits for you and the environment, if you can manage it. I won’t get too much into the process behind it in interest of saving space (although you can find more about that here or get more tips here), and I’ll briefly list a few benefits: you reduce space that’d be in a landfill, prevent flooding and erosion, and add nutrients back into your soil. You can’t go wrong!

Okay, now to my next “resolution” or just more environmentally friendly way of living: be mindful of where your food comes from. I know this is a hard one, especially in America where we (or a majority of us) go to a grocery store and pick up whatever we need without looking closely at ingredients or where your meat comes from.

Sources of protein, like meats, can be especially difficult to determine whether or not what you’re buying is environmentally friendly or not. One type of food that’s easy to check the sustainability of is seafood. In fact, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has created consumer guides for each state on which fish are caught or farmed responsibly and which are not. If you’re looking to buy eggs or meat from animals like chickens or cows, finding a sustainable source can be a bit more challenging. If you live in or near a small town, just driving around should reveal neighbors or small stores with eggs for sale that were from humanely-raised chickens (aka, not in an industrialized way). There are a few websites that identify producers who raise their animals humanely: Eat Wild has a list of humane farms in each state with a description for each, and Certified Humane is a nonprofit certification organization that intends to improve the lives of animals before they’re slaughtered for consumption, and have criteria for each animal on how they should be treated before a farm is “certified humane”.

And a quick tangent – the whole “you need to cut down on red meat for your health and the environment” argument? I’m absolutely not here to tell you to cut out red meat or all meat at all. Steak is my favorite food and I could never give it up. However, something can be said for cutting down your red meat consumption: Sujatha Bergen, the National Defense Council Health Campaigns Director, says that if the average American cut down the equivalent of one hamburger a week from their diet, it’d have the same effect as taking 10 million cars off the road for a year. I could spend a whole other entry on beef (and how it might not be as terrible for your health as you think) but that’s not the main point of this post.

Truly, the real problem is industrialized agriculture and pesticide use. If you look harder into the big beef or dairy industry, into palm oil production, into almond milk production, so on and so forth, you’ll find problems. It’s not your fault things are so complicated (unless you created these systems, but if you’re here I doubt you did). Each food type has their own complications; Palm oil, for example, is often vilified for causing deforestation and thus the destruction of habitat for animals like orangutans and tigers. To be fair, from the years 1990-2008 palm oil had been responsible for 8% of the world’s deforestation. However, Dr. Emma Keller from WWF says palm oil is more efficient to produce than other types of vegetable oils, and there are groups such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil that are working to make palm oil harvest a more environmentally friendly practice – they’ve even compiled a list of brands that use palm oil that has been collected in a sustainable way. So that one’s up in the air; palm oil is in so many things from shampoo to candy bars, so if you’d like to fully cut out palm oil from your diet, great! If not, try to think more about where it comes from or how it’s gathered.

And another way to obtain meat in a sustainable way? Go hunting! Go fishing! Engage with your local outdoors, contribute to fishing and hunting licenses (which fund conservation efforts), and do the work for your own meat. Maybe I’m biased, but I think hunting wild game and fishing is a great alternative to buying meat from stores. I know some people are concerned about the disease risk, but if you cook your meat well enough, you shouldn’t have too much cause for concern. And good news, the hunting community is large and is usually thrilled to include and teach others. There are great recipes online for wild game, and sometimes local Fish and Wildlife agencies will test meat for you to be certain your meat is safe – just check your local hunting laws.

I could go on forever but apparently these posts have a word limit and I hit that while listing out all my resolution ideas…Oops. To summarize: I think an overarching theme to this post is that you should do your research; We live in a day and age where people can mindlessly share articles on Facebook that may or may not be true, that they’ve never even read, just because it had an interesting headline. And really, I created this blog as an outlet for me to do more research on topics in my field I find interesting and post them to a place that’s easily accessible for anyone.

I’m getting close to the word limit again so, use this year to do some good. Get outside, give a shit about something, and be nice to yourself and the things around you, okay?

Happy 2020!

I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.

-Steve Irwin

Today is an incredibly special day to me.

Today is the birthday of my brother who passed away 8 years ago, and he’s one of the biggest inspirations I have for continuing in the wildlife biology field. We both shared a love for all wild things, but he loved monkeys, snakes, and lizards more than I did (I’m more of a bird, mammal gal (but I do have an irrational fear of monkeys)). We even had a pet alligator (it was legal at the time in my state) who he named Irwin after our shared idol, Steve Irwin.

So you can imagine my surprise when I went online today and saw that today was Steve Irwin Day, as declared by Animal Planet and the Australia Zoo. It was almost too perfect. It got me thinking a lot about my accomplishments and my future.

My brother loved having pets of all kinds, from our alligator, a cockatiel, gerbils, piranhas, bearded dragons, a snapping turtle, and the list goes on. I was fortunate to have exposure to so many types of animals, and to share a home with someone who shared my passion.

And growing up, having someone like Steve Irwin on Animal Planet bringing you around the world to show animals you didn’t even know existed, was so special to me and so many other kids. He loved all animals, even the ones people thought were gross or scary. And isn’t that inspiring enough? I’ll admit that I have certain animals I’m afraid of or I’m grossed out by, but truly everything has it’s place and purpose in the world and is beautiful in it’s own way. Like yeah, you might think snakes are scary or gross, but did you know the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) gives birth to live young that it takes care of for a week before the babies take off? Yeah, there are snake moms. Beautiful.

Maybe that’s the problem, that we’re afraid of or grossed out by animals we don’t understand. I experienced this often when I would do presentations with a live Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus). People thought they were “rats with wings” or just disease-ridden. It’s easy to be afraid of bats when all you hear about them is that they give people rabies and you only ever see them darting around in the sky. But feelings and opinions change when you see the puppy-like face of a Hoary Bat, especially one who now lives in captivity after being hit by a car.

 

As I get older and advance in this field, it’s becoming increasingly clear to me how about important education is, especially first-hand experiences. I can still remember back in 7th grade when a guy came in with a bunch of raptors, including Saw-whet owls (Aegolius acadicus) and a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). That day got me so interested in birds – and look where that’s taken me!

Educating people with a live animal present is such a special experience, and an important one. A few years ago I wrote up a literature review about using live mammals in educational programs for the Department of Fish and Game in the state I went to college in, and found that using live animals did encourage people to listen more deeply and take away more information rather than just using pictures or reading about it.

Although I’m intending on keeping this entry short and doing a longer one someday about environmental education, I just wanted to point out that getting out and seeing things will make others so much more interested in whatever you’re showing them. You love mushrooms? Take someone out in the woods and show them. You think crayfish are cool? Well find someone you love who thinks they’re gross and go digging around in a pond. Take your kid to a zoo and see a presentation there. Take your grandma out bird-watching. Show your significant other a flowering tree that you love. Just get people out and get them to love the earth.

If it weren’t for people like my brother, Steve Irwin, or that guy who brought in those birds in the 7th grade, I might not be where I am today. And I like to think what I’m doing will lead to big, important things one day. So the point of this entry? Be someone’s person. Get other people to love the things you love. Inspire someone.

The proper use of science is not to conquer nature but to live in it.

-Barry Commoner

The topic of this blog post is something I’ve wanted to write about for some time now, and will likely have future posts about it as well. So let’s dive right in.

I’m going to start this post with an example of a species that went extinct that I love to talk about: The Tasmanian Tiger, aka Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus). Thylacine went extinct (although there are skeptics that believe a small population persists, but that’s a topic for another time) due to a variety of factors, including habitat destruction, poaching, and as recently discovered by DNA evidence, change in climate. Thylacine used to roam all over Australia, but when Europeans settled, they were only really found in Tasmania. When colonies were first established in Tasmania, the settlers experienced loss of livestock and were quick to put the blame on Thylacine (even though mismanagement and feral dogs were responsible for a majority of the deaths).

The last-known individual was taken from the wild in 1933 in Tasmania, put in Hobart Zoo (also located in Tasmania), and died in 1936 due to neglect. Yes, the last known member of a species and the largest living carnivorous marsupial, died because he was locked out of his shelter and couldn’t escape Tasmania’s severe weather changes. In case you’ve never seen it, below is footage of the last known Thylacine.

Back then, zoos were not held to any standards. Enclosures didn’t need to be a specific size, there was no one to say how much enrichment certain animals needed, and animals were largely taken from the wild and put in cages to bring in money. Not much thought went into the potential of conserving or protecting endangered species.

Luckily, the AZA was formed in 1924 in North America.

If you’ve ever been to a zoo or aquarium, hopefully you’ve seen somewhere that where you visited was an “AZA Accredited Institution”. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) is a non-profit organization which accredits zoos and aquariums that meet the “highest standards in animal care and welfare and provide a fun, safe, and educational family experience“. They have specific standards for many aspects of zoos/aquariums, including enclosure sizes and enrichment (you can read more about their standards here). If you’re itching to go to a zoo or aquarium, you should make sure it’s accredited by the AZA so you know you’re giving your money to an institution that treats their animals humanely.

The AZA also helps fund research and conservation projects, one of those projects being the Species Survival Plan (SSP). The purpose of the SSP is “to oversee the population management of select species within AZA member institutions”, and “to enhance conservation of this species in the wild”. Each plan for a specific species is overseen by the Taxon Advisory Group (TAG). Each TAG is responsible for developing a Studbook and breeding and transfer plans for the species they oversee, the goal of this being to ensure they are breeding and producing genetically diverse individuals that will in theory create a healthy and sustainable population of captive individuals.

You may be wondering by now where the young that are born in the zoos/aquariums go after they’re born. And that’d be a great question! So I mentioned that each TAG needs to create a breeding/transfer program – this means that individuals may be loaned or traded between AZA accredited zoos/aquariums so they can breed the most genetically diverse individuals. For example, I used to work at/still volunteer at an AZA-accredited institution and several individuals there are part of their species’ SSP, including a male otter who was wild-born but put in captivity after he was found as a baby in an oil spill (he’s important to his SSP because he has wild genes). If you’re a member of AZA, you can even log into their Animal Program Database to view their SSP Breeding and Transfer plans. So, individuals are bred in AZA zoos/aquariums and their young are born and raised there.

At this point you may be thinking “that’s great that they’re breeding endangered animals and ensuring genetic diversity!” And you’d be right, it is great. But have you thought yet, “how often are these animals actually released into the wild to bolster wild populations?”

And that’s where I find a disconnect between the SSP and conservation of wild individuals.

Don’t get me wrong – I think the work the AZA does is great and that the SSP is a fantastic idea. If the SSP didn’t exist, would we only be seeing wild-caught or inbred individuals in zoos/aquariums? Probably. If the SSP existed back when Thylacine still roamed, would we still have them on the landscape today? Probably not.

Although the SSP can create genetically diverse populations of endangered species, these animals aren’t fit to live in the wild. The fact of the matter is, animals bred in captivity (especially those who have generations of captive-bred ancestors) lack the skills and knowledge of life in the wild. Even if they had the skills, is there enough natural habitat left to support them? Do humans in their natural habitats still hate/want to kill the species? Are they competing with any invasive species? And the list of questions could go on.

The reasons listed above are why I think the SSP wouldn’t have saved a species like Thylacine; we just didn’t know enough about them to teach them how to survive in the wild, and even if some were released, people would’ve likely shot them if they’d been seen. Of course some species are easier to introduce into the wild than others, such as fish and frogs, but for mammals (especially carnivorous ones) reintroduction to the wild is not an easy task. A study from the University of Exeter in the UK studied 45 carnivore (across 17 species including bears, wolves, cheetahs, etc.) re-introductions around the world and concluded only 33% of animals survived – and the reason for a majority of those deaths? Humans, either from car collisions or deliberate killings. The animals released lacked the natural fear of humans they needed. They also (as I mentioned before) lacked the natural skills to survive; some starved to death, and in general seemed more vulnerable to viruses and diseases from wild individuals.

Even if the animal had plenty of habitat, wasn’t near any humans, and (somehow) wasn’t susceptible to disease, there’s so many social aspects of so many species we still don’t understand; In a 2008 article in the journal Biological Conservation, a study found that captive-bred and released River Otters (Lontra canadensis) and Swift Foxes (Vulpes velox) were less likely to mate, breed, and males were less likely to hold territories because they simply hadn’t been taught by their captive parents. So if there are to be introductions of captive-bred animals into the wild to bolster natural populations, they need to be thoroughly thought-out and carefully conducted.

Luckily, it’s not impossible.

The African Lion Environmental Research Trust (ALERT) in Zimbabwe has been reintroducing lions (Panthera leo) into the wild for 15 years now. Their program has multiple stages that you can read about more in depth here, but essentially cubs are born to captive-bred parents, those cubs are then raised by humans and released in a large enclosure with live prey, they form prides, and humans are hands off from there. Those cubs that were released into large enclosures then have their own young that aren’t handled by humans, and those cubs are the individuals that are released into the wild. Lions are obviously social animals, and releasing them in groups has been successful.

But as mentioned, some species are easier than others. Although ALERT does great work with lions, how could you do the same for an endangered species such as a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)? How do you teach a young Polar Bear to survive on ice? Is it worth focusing efforts on raising and releasing animals, or do we spend more time and money on fixing habitat and human opinions?

Something not often taught in formal wildlife/fishery management education is that you cannot manage any species of animal without managing people as well. There’s so much conservation work that needs to be done, and so much of it is educating people about the importance of some species, or the importance of biodiversity in general. And if I’m being honest, we don’t know just how important some species are yet. And some species you can’t conserve without conserving other species that they rely on in the wild. If this post has taught you anything, it should be that conservation is a tricky business. But it’s important, and not impossible.

Lately I’ve felt more inspired to get involved in conservation work, because it’s become increasingly important for so many reasons, but especially in a political environment (especially in America) where large-scale issues like global warming are a contentious issue. If you’re at all interested or passionate about conservation about any species or landscape or whatever, do something. Get involved, and make your time and money count.

 

Sources/Other readings:

• https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/extinction-of-thylacine
• https://www.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=can-captive-animals-ever-truly-return-to-the-wild
• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2008/01/predators-captivity-habitat-animals/#close

Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.

-Theodore Roosevelt

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending four days in Maine’s wilderness with a few of my male cousins and my uncle. I visited my family’s camp for the first time, and am the only woman in my family to have gone. The cabin was bought in the early 1900s by my great-grandfather and grandfather, and since they’ve passed away, the cabin was passed down to my uncle. Each year the males in my family go grouse and deer hunting, and I was finally given a chance to go.

The camp was named “Gor-b-Inn” after the Gorby, aka the Canada Jay. If you love birds and have never seen a Canada Jay, put them on your list. They’re some of the friendliest wild birds there are. Although I didn’t get any to eat of my hand on this trip, it’s not uncommon for Canada Jays to do so. I had breakfast with them each morning, sharing my granola, raisins and bread as if they were family pets.

 

If you’re at all familiar with Maine, you know that many people visit to see the state’s wildlife. Although I consider myself an avid birder and Maine has some great shorebirds including Puffins, I was more excited than anything to see some of the more charismatic megafauna species, including Black Bears (Ursus americanus), deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and of course Moose (Alces alces).

It was Moose hunting season while I was there, and I was in some of the most textbook Moose habitat there was…and yet I saw none. 10 years ago, this wasn’t the case. Because my family has been at this campsite for many generations, they’re very familiar with the population sizes and frequency of certain species. As of late, Moose have been declining at startling rates. Although they’re the largest land animal in Maine, their populations are being brought down by a tiny parasite – the winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus).

Ernest Thompson recorded as early as 1909 that the winter tick was a greater threat to Moose than any predatory species like wolves or cougars. The winter tick doesn’t affect deer as much due to the way they groom; deer groom frequently throughout the day and have lower incisors good for pulling tiny bugs off. Moose are the opposite; they only start grooming once they have an itch, and don’t have the teeth to pick those tiny pests off. If you want to learn more about the winter tick, this is a good resource.

I saw no Black Bears either, despite the camp being surrounded by bear baits. If you’re unfamiliar, bear baits are assigned and permitted areas where weeks before bear hunting season, hunters can put out a variety of foods (such as grease, donuts, and meats) to attract bears to a certain area to make them easier to hunt. It was refreshing to hear that my family members also thought this practice was cruel and not fair hunting. And honestly, we were all hesitant to walk in the woods extensively knowing bears were being drawn to the area and expecting food.

Due to the lack of mammals, I took to searching the ground. I saw Pink Earth Lichen (Dibaeis baeomyces) for the first time; if you know me or have read any of my posts, you’ve probably noticed I’m partial to mammals and birds, so I surprised myself when I wanted to research this lichen more.

As you could probably guess, the Pink Earth Lichen are the little, pink, mushroom-looking things in the picture above. It grows on unstable, acidic soils like loose sand or dry clay. It can grow quickly if the ground is disturbed. The pink parts are the apothecia (the fruiting body of the lichen, aka where the spores of the lichen are), and the thallus (a part of the lichen that doesn’t have roots, a stem, or leaves…I cannot figure out what the purpose of it is) covers the ground in that green crust. And honestly? That’s all I could find out about the stuff; my uncle said Elk like to eat the lichen, but I’ve found nothing to back that up.

And while I was searching for Grouse, I briefly spotted a Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus), pictured below (and the sky was cloudy, so the background is perfectly white to match the blog…win!). The Sharp-shinned Hawk looks very similar to the Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii), but Sharpies are smaller and have a more rounded head. Sharp-shinned Hawks are considered a ‘vulnerable’ species in Maine, meaning the species is likely to become endangered unless changes are made to stop whatever is threatening their survival. This species, like the Peregrine Falcon and Bald Eagle, was affected by DDT,  but have since rebounded. What continues to make this species vulnerable is their choice of breeding habitat; Sharpies only breed in dense forests, so they’re being threatened by habitat loss.

Which brings me to my next topic…Logging. Before we entered the wilderness area where the camp was, there was a huge logging operation, which I was told belongs to a Canadian company that logs on American soil, ships the logs to Canada, and just sells them back to Americans. I didn’t get the name of the company.

I had never seen a large-scale logging operation, and I wish I still never had. One of my family members said that the logging company was “raping the land”, and honestly it sounded fitting. The picture below is a clear-cut, which as it sounds, is an area where the logging company had cleared all the trees out of.

The picture above is one of the nicer clear-cuts, and you can see some trees have started to grow back. This area is one of the luckier ones; a majority of the clear-cuts I saw, and of which there were many, were barren with mangled roots and debris on the ground, making the areas virtually impossible to walk in. The logging company also sprays a chemical on the ground to prevent any growth, although some nasty weeds can still move in (such as burdock weeds, the plant that has the nasty, spiky burs that stick to all your clothing).

Some areas were lucky, and the logging company paid people to plant thousands of trees in the clear-cut (my family said the people who did the planting were Haitian immigrants, but for that I have no sources besides word-of-mouth). Although replanting trees sounds like great news, the efforts were of course half-assed, or not well thought out. In areas were there were once large, beautiful hardwoods (hardwood trees are trees with broad, flat leaves such as ash trees, birches, beeches, and maples, unlike coniferous trees with needles), there are now only spruces and firs. I wish I’d gotten a good picture of the mountainsides as well, because especially now in the fall when the leaves have changed, it’s so obvious which areas were once cut and have new trees planted, because the landscape is spotted with areas of evergreens.

And while there’s nothing wrong with spruce and fir trees, the diversity of trees in those areas has obviously decreased. And when I say areas, I mean miles and miles of lines of spruces and firs. Diversity is important for many reasons, but if you’re managing a forest of the same types of trees tightly packed, any disease or invasive insect that comes in will devastate a forest. And if you’re an animal person like me wondering why we care about tree diversity: hardwoods like beeches and butternuts produce nuts that many animals eat and rely on. Now of course this isn’t to say animals don’t eat cones – just take a look at an angry American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) that didn’t want me near his cones.

And these spruce and fir trees aren’t there to stay – within a few years of growth, they’ll be cut down too. I think what bothers me the most about all this logging business is that miles and miles of forest can be cut down and the trees can be sent to a different country, but no one is held accountable for the way that the land is left, or the habitat that is destroyed. It’s genuinely depressing the kinds of resources that we burn up at the expense of the forests and creatures who live in them. The quote at the beginning of this entry by Teddy Roosevelt seems to fit perfectly in the context of logging.

Okay, let’s not end on a sad note.

If you’ve never been hunting (and are interested), let alone Grouse hunting, I highly recommend it. Because the Ruffed Grouse in Maine live where they do, they’re not as skittish of people as Grouse elsewhere, like in New Hampshire where I live. So us hunting consisted of driving around in a truck, stopping when we spotted Grouse either on the side of the road, in a tree (they eat the samaras (the ‘fruit’) from maple trees and are often in maples snacking) or in the road, we’d get out, load some rounds, and take a shot. We even dressed them on the road (pulling them apart is easier while they’re still warm) and just took the breasts home with us, a process that took maybe two minutes if you do it right.

I realized pretty quickly that hunting was more than just killing something. It’s a tradition; even if you don’t kill anything, you spend the day driving around a beautiful place with people you love, listening to good music, eating snacks, and exploring. We found some beautiful waterfalls, pulled some crystals out of rocks, and found some cool flora. Nights were spent sitting around the fire, swapping stories and jokes. It’s a wonderful way to reconnect with nature and remind you that you’re alive. And for me, it was a very special way to feel connected to my grandfather who I don’t remember. After hearing the stories and visiting his camp finally, I know we would’ve been close. I’ve been trying to feel grateful for getting the chance to be there, instead of feeling robbed of the relationship with a family member who could’ve greatly impacted my life.

If you’re still reading this incredibly long entry, thank you. I hope you learned something, or at the very least feel more inclined to go outside, look around and breathe. I’ll end this entry with a picture that doesn’t do Maine sunsets justice.

 

 

I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.

-John Muir

This post is going to be a mix between a life update, and hopefully career inspiration for those just starting out in the wildlife field or who are currently struggling in it.

It’s been a rough past few months for me trying to balance work, personal relationships, and sudden but intense anxiety. I feel now that I’m on the upswing, and submerging myself in nature has helped that.

For the last few months I felt distracted, like my brain was running a marathon without ever stopping to take a breath. Sleeping (an activity I’ve historically been very good at) became a nightly struggle. I became so grouchy to everyone around me and didn’t like being by myself either. What upset me the most was that I was using my brain to beat myself up, and I wasn’t finding joy in things once important to me.

And then I went hiking.

I took this picture on my latest hike up a mountain near my home. It was early in the morning and the mountain was shrouded in fog. But the smell of the earth, the sound of twigs snapping, the feel of mist on my skin…I hadn’t felt that alert or simply alive in a while.

There’s a reason this feeling came over me. Being in nature actually has an affect on us that forces us to pay attention and be in the moment. According to psychology today, being in the wilderness such as a forest actually causes a shift between our sympathetic division (SNS) in our nervous system to our parasympathetic division (PNS). Our SNS is what everyone refers to as our fight or flight response, and when you have anxiety your SNS is activated more frequently. Normally, your PNS is what controls your heart rate and temperature when you’re not under stress, and is active when your body is at rest or recovering. Therefore, when you immerse yourself in nature and turn on your PNS, you’re positively contributing to your mood, health, and cognition.

In fact, recent research has suggested that hiking can reduce obsessive, negative thoughts. Hiking is essentially a form of meditation, and meditating for at least 10 minutes a day for 5 weeks has shown to change neural pathways for the better.

Alright, I don’t know how this post turned into a short lesson in psychology and neurology so let’s bring it back: going out in nature recently has helped me immensely, and reminded me why I chose to be in this field and why I took the job that I did.

And speaking of my job, I’m very grateful to have gotten a job in the government as soon as I graduated. It wasn’t until the last few weeks of undergrad that I even nailed it down. Without naming the agency specifically, in general I help people mitigate wildlife damage, and spend so many of my days giving out information. When you think of wildlife biologists, you think of them out in nature, hiking and wrangling wild animals, right? Well a lot of my job is at a desk. Although I believe the work I do is important because we’re educating people, answering phones feels so far from what I love: being out in nature with animals.

But I got the opportunity to participate in one of the Oral Rabies Vaccine bait drops. If you’re unfamiliar with the program (which most people are, myself included until I started my job), the National Rabies Management Program distributes rabies vaccines via planes and cars in the form of a small treat for wildlife. Although they’re to fight against raccoon rabies on the East Coast specifically, it can’t hurt to vaccinate skunks and foxes along the way.

Having worked in retail for so many years I sometimes forget that the work I do now is not for personal or corporate gain. Sometimes when I call people to ask if they’ll help spread information about wildlife, I feel bad or guilty as if I’m inconveniencing them, like when you’re cold-calling. But participating in this program, helping to prevent the spread of rabies, felt genuinely good. People were happy to see us and happy to hear about the work we were doing.

Working in the wildlife field can be discouraging sometimes. A lot of my job is convincing people not to kill wildlife for inconveniencing them in the slightest of ways. Obviously not every job in the wildlife field is like this, but with any species of wildlife you’ll have people who hate them. Did you know some people will literally threaten the lives of other people who are trying to euthanize Canada Geese, of all things? I had no idea anyone enjoyed them, and so strongly! But I’m guilty too of having species I favor over others (I applaud you entomologists, but I am definitely not one of you). But it’s important to remember and teach others that everything has it’s place and purpose. Just like you. 🙂

I still haven’t figured out everything I want to do with this blog yet. Heck, I’m not even sure anyone (besides you of course, Nick) reads this. But writing about wildlife and nature and trying to learn something new along the way is important to me, and even if one person learns something or is inspired, then this will all have been worth it. So if you need your own outlet to talk about nature in a society or world that seems so against it sometimes, go for it. Start your own blog, write in a journal, take photographs, do research. Find the thing you’re passionate about and let it consume you (in a healthy, positive way of course).

Life’s too short to not do things you love with the things or people you love.