Wildlife Wednesday: American Green Tree Frog

The past few days I have had a little green visitor to my kitchen window. I believe him to be an American Green Tree Frog. I have, to follow the cliche, named him Kermit. Kermit likes the kitchen window because at night there are always insects flying at it and it creates a buffet for him. Let me tell you about Kermit and his species, the state amphibian of Louisiana, the American Green Tree Frog.

American Green Tree frogs are found in the south-eastern united states with populations stretching from the shores of Virginia to southern Illinois and south to central Texas and southern Florida. They prefer swamps, sloughs, and the edges of ponds and lakes as well as meadows and grasslands near these areas. They look for floating vegetation, grasses, and cattails. You will find them anywhere from trees to the side of homes.

The American Green Tree Frog is a mid sized frog. They are usually bright green with a creamy stripe down their sides. Sometimes individuals will lack these stripes or will be a different hue such as reddish-brown, yellow, or brown depending on their environment, They are a relatively thin frog with long legs and pads on their toes that allow them to climb many surfaces. They have smooth skin that may have spots on the green. Like many amphibians, the females tend to be larger than the males.

The tree frogs make distinct mating calls but use a variety to communicate. They have a special call when they sense it is about to rain. They are more active on warm, muggy nights especially after it has rained.  They eat insects and are often eaten by aquatic birds, snakes, other frogs, and fish.

I enjoy seeing Kermit at night and I hope he keeps coming back. American Green Tree Frogs are a beautiful species that is pretty common in its distribution. I am glad I was able to see him as we do not have them back home.

Articles

American Green Tree Frog

Encyclopedia of Life

Pictures

Frog on Stick

Frog on Log

Frog on Leaf

You Aren't a Chicken

So as some of my classmates and friends may know prairie chickens are one of my absolute most favorite species of birds. Like the title says they are not actually chickens but are a species of grouse. Prairie chickens are very cool birds that I have been unfortunate enough to not see. One opportunity that I got to see prairie chickens in Iowa I had to miss because I had to go to Minneapolis. I am lucky enough that I am still helping with research at a site that has prairie chickens and I hope I will be able to see them one day.

Prairie chickens are fascinating creatures. They have a uniformly barred plumage of brown and grey with bright orange sacs on their neck. They are a medium sized bird. They have squared tails and long plumes that look like horns on their head. Males will compete for females on leks which are sites where the birds will congregate and the males will display and the females will watch. Females will lay ground nests of 7 to 17 eggs in tall, dense grass. Their are two species of prairie chickens, the greater and the lesser. There are two extant subspecies of greater prairie chicken, Attwater prairie hen and the greater prairie chicken, and one extinct species, the heath hen. Lesser prairie chickens are found through Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico in decent sized wild populations. Attwater prairie chicken is found only in southeastern Texas and formerly southwestern Louisiana. The greater prairie chicken is found with moderate numbers in Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Small pockets of prairie chickens exist is Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Iowa where they have been reintroduced or have been managed to remain in select areas both origins undergo heavy conservation. Both species of grouse were once found throughout the short and tall grass prairies of the interior of the continent but have faced many challenges as settlers moved west. They used to be found in prairie that was interspersed with oak forests. Since most of this forest was cleared they have adapted to small prairie areas with crops. Now they also seem to be harmed by the presence of dense forests.

One of the most damaging situations to prairie chickens is habitat loss and fragmentation. For the lesser prairie chicken this has meant a decrease of nearly 80% of their range since the 1800's which resulted in a decrease of 99% of the population. Attwater prairie hens have lost 97% of their home territory and had an estimated number of only 60 birds in 2003. There are an estimated 400,000 greater prairie chickens and 32,000 lesser prairie chickens. The main reason for the habitat loss is the conversion off land to agriculture. This agriculture can take the form of turning areas to cropland or over-grazing cattle. They have also had habitat damaged due to encroachment of woody plants, wind energy development, oil production, and the building of roads and fences. There has also been a lot drought in the south eastern United States that has hurt them. Many land managers used to not include prescribed burns in their management plans and they are vital for healthy prairies. All of the remaining habitat is generally fragmented and this leads to more problems; the birds may not be able to reach other populations which will increase interbreeding and lower fitness, fertility, and survival. Prairie chickens may also face competition from ring-necked pheasants (which are not a native species but are from Asia) due to similar food sources and nest parasitism. 

Another challenge that the protection of prairie chickens faces is a legal one. In 2014 the Fish and Wildlife Service listed the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species and grant it protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. This was not to the liking of many states because they believed it would hamper economic development in agriculture, petroleum production, and wind energy. Kansas tried to pass a law that would make the actions of federal wildlife agents illegal and I had read that New Mexico was very unhappy. At the national level a senator has been trying to put in the defense bill an amendment that would prevent the FWS from listing the bird for five years. It is believed that listing the bird will prevent expansion of military bases and harm national security. Another senator was noted in showing that the range of the grouse hardly overlapped with any bases and that this was about stopping anything from getting in the way of corporate oil profits. The listing of the lesser prairie chicken was overturned by a judge who said that the FWS did not properly follow its own rules in the listing process. This harms the FWS's ability to list species it feels need protection, a power that it was granted. Who is to say that other legislators will not try to remove other animals from the list in the name of commerce.

There has been a lot of effort put into protecting prairie chickens. The NRCS has an initiative that works with landowners to provide incentives to set land aside for prairie habitat. This initiative also lists what can be done on land near prairie chickens to help them The states have also been creating plans that will work in a similar fashion to the NRCS's plans. There have been energy companies that have enrolled over 169,000 acres into an FWS rangewide conservation program and pledged at least $46 million dollars and millions of acres to conservation efforts to avoid the listing. There has been an increase in the population in recent years, but it must continued to be monitored to see if this trend continues. For greater prairie chickens the future is stable, but attempts to reintroduce the birds to former parts of their range have not been the most successful. These birds take many acres to be established and several years before they will mate in new locations. In areas such as the Loess Hills of Iowa the birds will typically die or disperse before they breed and establish a population. This leads to more birds being moved into the area and the cycle repeats. 

There needs to be a time when man needs to realize that there are other animals on this planet and greed needs to take a back-seat. I know that people make a living off of these industries and that they are important to the whole country. I enjoy using petroleum and electricity as much as any other person but we need to look to the future. There has been synthetic diesel made and plenty of other advances in energy. Prairie chickens are really cool and we need to make sure that they have a future in the United States. Go visit prairie chickens near you and find out what you can do to help conserve the species.

Articles

The Nature Conservancy

All About Birds

ARKive

North Dakota Game and Fish Department

Attwater Prairie Hens

FWS Listing Determination

Threat to FWS's Ability to List 

Prairie Chicken Issue Passed to House

Casts Doubt of FWS Listing Policy

Is the Prairie Chicken a National Security Threat?

FWS Will Not Appeal

NRCS Initiative

NRCS List

Prairie Chickens in Missouri

Prairie Chickens in Iowa

Prairie Chickens in Illinois

Prairie Chickens in Wisconsin

Pictures

Male 1

Male Displaying to Female

Male 2

2 Males and Female

Wildlife Wednesday: Five-Lined Skink

Since I have been in Louisiana I have seen some lizards running around. I knew they looked familiar from my herpetology (the study of amphibians and reptiles) class, but I was not entirely sure what they were. I saw what I thought were two species. Then it hit me what one of the species was, well sort of. It had lines running down its back and a blue tail and I remembered something I thought was called a seven-lined racerunner. I knew that wasn't right so I looked it up and found it to be a six-lined racerunner. I was confident in this for a couple weeks, but I still didn't know what the other species was. Upon further research I realized that what I thought was six-lined racerunner was actually a five-lined skink (many similar names in the world of herpetology). While reading the information I learned that the species I didn't know was actually the same species just older individuals. Five-lined skinks are interesting little lizards.

Five-lined skinks are brown or black medium sized lizards that can get up to 8.5 inches. Younger lizards will have five pale stripes. These stripes will fade away as the skinks get older an they will look all brown. That is why I thought they were different species. young skinks have bright blue tails that will also fade in the males. Males have bright red under their chin during breeding season.

Five-lined skinks are a common lizard found across the eastern and southern United States. They are active during the day and like to bask on logs and rocks during the day. They are found in woods with logs, stumps, rock piles, and plenty of leaves on the ground. The skinks will also climb trees in search of prey. They eat a lot of invertebrates, mostly insects, spiders, slugs, and worms.

Five-lined skinks are neat looking lizards that I am excited to see whenever they appear. They usually tend to run away whenever I get close, but they are still really cool. I hope to see a lot more and hopefully a few more species of reptiles and amphibians

Articles

Five-lined skink

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

Missouri Department of Conservation

Pictures

Adult Skink

Other Photos by Justin Hohlen

A Safe Haven for Rhinos

Last year I joined a club on campus that I told myself for two previous years that I would. Finally I had joined and I am very glad I did. One of the first meeting that I attended a guest speaker would be talking after the meeting. This man was a professor from South Africa and his presentation was two-fold: he wanted to promote the ability for students to go down there and have a veterinary experience as well as discuss some of the issues facing wildlife in South Africa. That second part is what fascinated me the most; don't get me wrong I would have loved to go work with veterinarians and learn about exotic animals in South Africa, but that trip was expensive. I enjoyed the professor talking about some of the disease that affect hoofstock in Africa. A part of his talk that he did not spend a lot of time on, was my favorite. He mentioned that many in South Africa were pushing to legalize the trade of rhino horns. At first this shocked me but as I continued to listen I began to see the point they were making.

Rhinos are one of the most threatened and poached species in the world. There are only 20,000 white rhinos and only 5,000 black rhinos left in the wild. This number is don from 70,000 total in the 1970s and 500,000 total in the early 20th century. During the last century poaching and over-harvesting on legal hunts decimated their populations. It is estimated that about three rhinos are poached every day and approximately 1,215 were poached in 2014. When the average income of a person in the country is $1,700 a $360,000 sale of a rhino horn is very tempting and what leads to so many of these animals being killed. Their is high demand in China where it is a status symbol for the growing middle class and countries like Vietnam where many, incorrectly, believe that it cures cancer and hangovers. Demand in the Far East is currently a major driving force of many poaching activities due to false beliefs, traditional medicine, and increased wealth.  One country in which most of these animals reside in is South Africa. South Africa has strict poaching laws, but not as strict as Botswana which allows law enforcement to shoot them on sight. South Africa relocated some rhinos there and to other nearby countries for protection. There are plans in the works to find the rhino an even safer home half-way around the world.

The future of rhino protection is Texas. the South African government has been working with the Exotic Wildlife Association to transport 1,000 rhinos to southern Texas where the brush land is comparable to southern Africa. The majority of the rhinos transplanted would be white rhino orphans.There is a lot of discussion going on between the Department of the Interior, the state of Texas, South Africa, and the EWA. to help ensure the safety of the rhinos the potential owners have to undergo background checks and build special enclosures for the rhinos. There is also talk of them having to meet zoo accreditation (not that that means much from the USDA). The DNA sequences of every rhino would be kept so that they could be tracked and recorded. There will also be microchips implanted into their horns. These rhinos would be very safe in Texas where they would not be hunted and when poaching has been stopped they will be returned to Africa. The EWA would also like to set up a breeding program for the future that would allow them to return even more animals to Africa in the future.

A step further than just bringing them to Texas is raising them like farm animals. Many of you may have the misconception that to take a rhinos horn it has to die but this is not true. A rhinos horn is made of keratin like your finger nails and hair; it grows back. A rhino can be sedated and the horn removed with no problems to the rhino. Poachers kill rhinos for their horns because it is easier than sedating them (and that is not how they think). There is one man in South Africa, John Hume, that raises over 800 rhinos and cuts off their horns with no problems. I recently spoke to a couple of people from South Africa and they too believe that farming is a practical future to help preserve rhinos.Currently the trade of rhino horn is illegal, on the black market one kilo of horn goes for $90,000. If trade was legalized it would allow people to raise rhinos and have a source of income by keeping them. The professor that spoke to us at school said that no animal that has ever been raised for profit has gone extinct, look at cows they are not going extinct any time soon. Captive raising of animals has been successful on other animals and even brought them back from extinction like the Père David's deer. Legal trade would also help fund more protection in South Africa's parks, who have stockpiled horns.



There are problems with farming or even moving them to Texas. The transportation costs are high and rhinos are not the best of travelers. Many of the ones being moved to Texas would still not be very old and would require bottle feeding which is a lot of work. All of the animals would have to undergo a quarantine period to be tested for diseases. Rhinos also need a lot of space and are expensive to care for. Some species of rhinos form small herds but many are solitary and do not like to be near others. Currently you cannot make money from the rhinos so you are basically just putting money into them to save the species. 

I think moving them to Texas is a great first step and I think farming would be a novel way to try and save the rhinos. There would be a lot of effort put into keeping them around. You should also have to prove you own the animal through matching DNA of the animal  and its horn to your records before you can sell any horn. The trade should be heavily regulated. I would love the opportunity to work with or raise rhinos and help save the species. I do not believe that we should reduce rhinos to a commodity. Farming and relocation should be required to return some animals to the wild when it is safe so that wild populations can be reestablished. If something is not done it is estimated rhinos will go extinct in the wild in the next five years. I lean towards supporting the legal trade of horn, but some of the stuff I have read keeps me from fully supporting it. I do think that raising them will help, but is it being done for profit or is it being done to help the rhinos. Those who have stockpiled horns want trade opened so that they can sell their horns claiming it will flood the market and push prices way down, but what about when all that horn is bought up? Are they doing it to make money or save the rhinos? I will remain on the fence until I know specifics and know that the have pure intentions. I do want them moved to Texas to have a safe haven and I also believe that South Africa and other countries need to crack down even harder on poaching and remove the permitted hunts. A lot can be done to help rhinos and every bit helps.

Articles

Endangered African Rhinos Might be Moving to Texas

1,000 Orphaned, Endangered Could Come to South Texas

Out of Africa?

Farming Rhinos

South Africa Consider Rhino Farming, Horn-Trading

Fight for Rhinos

Exotic Wildlife Association

Pictures

Rhino on Grass

Bottle Feeding Baby Rhino

3 Rhinos and Feeders

Rhinos and Feeders

P.S.

To me it seems that I flip-flopped towards the bottom. I think this was meant to happen. It is a truly challenging issue and If you stand firmly on one side or the other you may not be clearly seeing both sides of the argument. I truly do not know what to do, but I will continue to research and keep up with those trying to find a solution.

Wildlife Wednesday: Great Blue Heron

Yesterday I saw a decent sized bird fly over as we were watching deer out in the pens. It was going to go land in the pond before the weather got bad. I thought it looked very majestic as it glided over head. It had arched wings and a coiled neck. It was a Great Blue Heron.

These herons have distinct plumage and do not look very similar to other birds of their size. Great Blue Herons have two-tone wings with a pale blue-gray on the front of the wing and a dark gray or black on the flight feathers. Overall they are a slate-blue color. They have a black crown that goes into wispy crest feathers. They also have wispy feathers on their chest. There is a pure white subspecies that is found in southern Florida and the Caribbean. Some mistake them for cranes or  Great Egrets, but cranes fly with an out stretched neck and egrets are white with black legs.

Great Blue Herons are the largest of all herons in North America and are only out sized by two species of heron worldwide. Adults will have a body that is 3 to 4.5 feet long and a wingspan that may get over 6.5 feet.

Great Blue Herons are widespread across North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and some winter in northern South America. Great Blue Herons can usually be found in areas with water, salt or fresh. Herons can be found in coastal areas, marshes, rivers, and ponds. They mostly prefer areas with slower water where they can hunt for prey.

When hunting Great Blue Herons will slowly stalk their prey in shallow water and then strike with their dagger-like beak. They will also grab prey with their strong bills. Great Blue Herons will eat fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and other birds.This diet allows these birds to spend more time farther north than most herons. These herons will usually hunt alone.

An interesting fact that I learned last year in my ornithology class was that Great Blue Herons nest in colonies. They make large nests, usually in trees. Their can be several hundred birds in one colony. The male arrives first at the nest site and courts passing females. He will bring her materials, such as sticks, that she will build the nest with. The female will generally lay 3-5 eggs that are pale blue. The parents will feed the young by regurgitating food they have caught. 

Great Blue Herons are really cool birds that are found across the country. They are not too hurt by human developments, but they do prefer areas without a human disturbance. Also the wetlands that these animals live in are disappearing and being degraded. Make sure you keep your eyes open for herons when you are near a river, lake, coast, or wetland.

Articles

All About Birds

Audubon Society

National Geographic

Bird Web

Photos

Heron in Marsh

Heron in Flight

Heron on Rock

Heron Nests

Yellowstone Drama

This year Yellowstone National Park has been in the news a lot and not to tell everyone how fantastic the park is. I think I have found a topic that I can express a little more emotion in as well as provide you all with the knowledge of current issues. It is overdue that I talk about what is going on in the world's first national park. Ever since I went to Yellowstone this past spring the park has had a special place in my heart and if you have read any of my previous blogs on issues in the park you could see that. If you don't know what has been going on in Yellowstone in the last few months then allow me to update you, bear with me there is a lot and I am only covering a few of the more popular news stories,

First we should start with some background. This summer Yellowstone will more than likely see another year of record attendance. The busy season has started early this year. Usually the majority of visitors don't start showing until mid-May, but this year there have been more people coming to the park earlier than usually. There is a dramatic increase in the number of people that have visited the park this year when compared to the last few years. Some attribute this to low gas prices allowing more people to road-trip and increased international visitors. Yellowstone National Park and the other national parks will be seeing another year of high attendance and this is hard for rangers to handle.

Let's start with the most recent as of this posting (who knows what could happen in the next months). A young man from Oregon fell into a hot spring earlier this week. He had walked off the boardwalk and went over 600 feet from the trail with  his sister. Rangers spent several days looking for his remains but had to call off the search when they determined that there would be nothing to be found. The man fell in near Porkchop Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin. The Norris Geyser Basin is the oldest and hottest of the thermal features in the park. It has temperatures underground that have reached up to 459 degrees. There have been similar stories that have also happened since the start of the year. Three days prior to the young man falling into the spring a father and son both fell into a hot spring. These two also ventured off of the boardwalk near the Upper Geyser Basin at Old Faithful. The boy had burns around his ankle and the father had burns from helping his son. The father is receiving two citations: one for disorderly conduct and creating a dangerous situation, and another for leaving the park's boardwalk. A third related story is when a group of four young, Canadian men walked out onto Grand Prismatic Spring. These four men are a group called High on Life, a group who makes a living on creating videos about landscapes and travel. They had videotaped themselves and another visitor caught them on video as well. The group faces charges of leaving the path, creating a hazardous condition, and filming without a license. The group has pledged to donate $5,000 to Yellowstone. Many believe that they are donating the money to try and get out of the citations. They should be charged no matter what. All three of these situations, and many more like them, are all due to people who do not respect the regulations the park has set forth. It is unfortunate that someone has died at Yellowstone, the first death due to a thermal feature since 2000, and hopefully this will help others realize that when the park says not to leave the boardwalk they have a good reason.



Another category of recent news stories involves people who decide they need a selfie with the an animal or a picture on their phone or camera with a terrible zoom. There is no good starting place for this category so I will just pick one incident and start there. At the end of last month a woman who decided she needed a selfie with a mother elk who had just given birth. The lady walked closer and closer to the animal with her camera phone out in front. Then the mother elk charged her. The lady was not hurt but I bet she was surprised. The lady had been warned by a guide that she was too close, but refused to listen. Another time late last month a tourist got out of her car and approached a mother black bear with two cubs. Yes the cubs are adorable, but mother bears can be very protective. As the bears came down the hillside many cars stopped and there were a lot of people there creating a bear jam. All of these cars would have stressed the mother bear out. This woman was lucky she did not get mauled by a black bear. Also last month a Texas woman was hit by a car as she crossed the road to watch and take pictures of an eagle. The NPS notes that pedestrian fatalities don't happen very often. While only the one person had gotten hurt or worse this year (that I know of) due to picture taking, I found a story from almost exactly a year ago about a 62 year-old Australian man who was taking pictures of a bison and came within five feet of it. The bison charged him and tossed him into the air. A few weeks prior to that a 16 year-old Taiwanese exchange student was gored by a bison while posing for a picture. I know how amazing taking photos in Yellowstone is I bought a 300 dollar camera to do just that, but when my friends and I wanted to take pictures of an animal we were never closer than what the park recommended. The park recommend that you are 25 yards from elk, deer, pronghorn, bison, and all other wildlife and 100 yards away from bears and wolves. These restrictions are in place for safety reasons and can be enforced through citations. People need to understand that a selfie is not worth possibly dying or invading an animals space. If you want to take pictures of animals and landscapes in Yellowstone go buy a nice camera and do it from a safe and respective distance.

The third and final category that we will cover today is on people physically interacting with the animals. You all have probably heard about the Canadian father and son who put a bison calf in the back of their car because they thought it was cold. You probably also know that the NPS had to euthanize the calf. The tourists received a citation. The rangers attempted to re-release the calf to the wild but the herd did not accept it back. It had been witnessed days before by a photographer that the calf was alone and it was accepted that the mother had died or abandoned it. The calf got a bad deal that was made worse when people intervened. The calf should have been left alone and let nature take its course and let something eat it. The NPS could not have released the calf and just let it go without receiving a lot of bad press. It also would have needed testing for diseases during months of quarantine, which they do not have the facilities for. That is why they had to euthanize it. People need to understand that a calf dying is nature and needs to be left alone. In a national park nature is the law of the land, unlike the rest of the United States where people take injured or abandoned animals to rehab places all the time. Another incident that happened this past April was when a lady tried to pet a bison. She got right up next to it and may have petted it. She was extremely lucky the bison did not get upset and charge her. People just don't understand what wild animals means. They are not your dog or cat and they can kill you,



People have been making stupid decisions at Yellowstone. This is unfortunate and I hope it does not ruin the park for so many other people. It needs to be understood that the park is not their for your entertainment; it is there for education and preservation. People need to respect the park and the animals. This is not the news we should be focusing on coming out of Yellowstone; we should be about the possibility of removing bears from the Endangered Species List, the killing of the famous bear Scarface, or some of the great local cuisine (because I love food and game meat). There is a lot of great research coming out about the ecosystem in and around the park. There is plenty of interesting information coming from Yellowstone that we should be reading instead of how stupid people are. Things need to change and I think the NPS needs to crack down on people and manage tourism to the park in a way that does not hurt the parks' reputations. Personally I know that I will not ever (probably) be going to Yellowstone in any month that May through September. Those months are tourist season and I want no part in that. I prefer to go back in the late winter or early fall when it is still cold and there are less people. The park is gorgeous at all times of the year you just have to be determined and willing to get a little cold. Whatever you do don't do anything like what these people did, be safe, and respect the park.

Articles

Yellowstone Visitor Dies After Falling Into Hot Spring

Father and son burned by Yellowstone hot spring

High On Members Charged For Walking on Grand Prismatic Spring

After Elk Charge Woman Taking Selfie, National Park Officials Warn of Danger

Woman shooting photos gets too close to Yellowstone mama bear

Woman dies after being hit by vehicle in Yellowstone

Second Yellowstone visitor injured in bison encounter

Yellowstone Bison Calf is Euthanized After Riding in Tourists' SUV

Woman tries to pet bison in Yellowstone

Scarface Illegally Shot Dead

Beyond Bison Burgers

Sad Tale of Photographing in Yellowstone

Pictures

Sign

Prismatic Hot Spring

Elk Charges Woman

Calf in Trunk

Waterfall

Winter Scene

Wildlife Wednesday: Japanese Macaque

Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, are the only species of non-human primates that are found in a temperate region. They are a very interesting species and have been studied for decades. Some behaviors that these monkeys exhibit are very unique like these monkeys.

Japanese macaques are found throughout Japan. They can be found in grasslands and montane regions. the macaques will travel to different areas based on the season. They are a medium sized monkey and weigh from 22 to 66 pounds. The males are generally larger than the females. They have a short tail. The macaques have a pinkish red face and rear end. In the winter they have a thick coat and they shed it to have a lighter summer coat. Two subspecies have been identified that are based on genetics and regional differences. These monkeys are omnivorous and will eat a lot of different plants as well as insects.

One of the most common known behaviors of the snow monkey is sitting in the hots springs. These monkeys will sit in the hot springs during the winter to help stay warm. They will also sleep in huddles to help regulate body heat. another interesting behavior that was discovered only  a few decades ago was when a female washed a sweet potato with salt water. The potato had sand on it and the sea water helped clean it. It is also thought that the salt in the water added flavor to the potato. A behavior that has been observed but not entirely understood is rock play. Rock play is when a macaque picks up a rock and taps it on the ground. It will do this repeatedly. It is hypothesized that this helps develop motor skills and learning.

Japanese macaques are really neat creatures and are unique in the primate world. They face pressure from some habitat loss and feral dogs. They are common animals at zoos and a great study species. The Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines has a great troop of macaques and enclosure. The Minnesota Zoo is also getting a new macaque enclosure. Macaques are fascinating and should continue to be studied.

Articles

Macaque Factsheet

Japanese Macaque

Pictures

Macaques in Spring

Baby Macaque

Two Macaques

Serpent Takeover

Many of us know about at least one species of invasive species be it Asian carp, kudzu, or those darn starlings. What many of you may not know is that former pets are eating up Florida. I'm not talking about cats and dogs, hamsters, or even alligators that someone may have unwisely kept as a pet. I am talking about some other reptiles though, boas and pythons. Boas and pythons that used to be pets but that were released when they got bigger than some naive people thought are taking over many areas of Florida.

One of the most damaging species is the Burmese python. They are one of the largest snake species on earth growing up to 23 feet long and weighing over 200 pounds. The pythons do not pose too much of a threat when they are smaller as young snakes and eggs may be eaten by other predator but once they reach the eight feet in length. At this size they begin to eat almost every other animal in southern Florida. They will eat raccoons, alligators, adult deer, almost anything. They will also eat federally listed species like wood storks and wood rats. They are apex predators that once they are big enough nothing else can eat them.



Pythons are devastating southern Florida and especially Everglades National Park.
they are not the only reptiles that are hurting the ecosystems in Florida. Nile crocodiles, tegus, and multiple other species of snakes have been brought to southern Florida due to the pet trade. Miami is a hub of legal and illegal importation of animals.

The state of Florida and other organizations have been working to to control and determine the extent of the problem of the invasive snakes. They have made nine species of snakes illegal to transport beyond state borders without a permit. They have also started a hunt where anybody can come and kill whatever pythons they can find. This was not very successful because these snakes are elusive animals and are hard to spot. This is also the reason why managers do not know how many invasive snakes are in the wild. Without knowing the extent of the problem it is hard to find an effective solution.

It is currently believed that the only truly effective solution to the snake problem would be a long hard freeze, but this is Florida we are talking about and the world currently isn't getting any colder. Other states should be concerned as these pythons may spread to the southern third of the United States and could possibly reach New York by 2100. Seeing as how much damage these snakes do in their current locations, the magnitude of problems they could cause in a greater area would be very large.

This is a growing problem that needs to be slowed down and eventually stopped. Burmese pythons and all of the other species of invasive reptiles are causing possibly irreversible damage to southern Florida and the Everglades. Greater pet importation and breeding regulation is needed as well as pet owners understanding their responsibilities. More information is needed so that we can effectively remove the snakes. This may mean hunts to remove these animals and while this may seem like a cruel solution it is certainly better than releasing another animal into the wild that may eat the snakes or introducing chemicals to kill the snakes.




Articles

NPS Burmese Pythons

The Snake That's Eating Florida

Pythons in Florida Everglades

Which Exotic Species are Really Scary?

Burmese Pythons in Florida 

Python "Nightmare"

Python Patrol


Pictures

People Holding Python

Snake Killing Deer

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Wildlife Wednesday: Whitetail Deer

So as many of you know that I am working with whitetail deer this summer and I am planning on working with them for the rest of my life. This means that you all should be expecting a lot, and I mean a lot, of posts about deer this summer. I will be looking at many different species of deer as well as talking about my experience with them. I am going to start out by talking about one of the most prevalent cervids (deer and their relatives) in North America, the whitetail deer.



Whitetail deer are found from Canada in the north to Bolivia in the south. They are the most widespread species of deer in the world, including being introduced to some countries outside of the western hemisphere. In some of these countries, like New Zealand, they do more harm than good to native animal populations. In the United States many people hunt them, think they are pests, or hit them with their vehicles. There are six subspecies of whitetail that are determined mostly by geographic distribution. Whitetail in the north are generally larger than whitetail in southern areas. One example of an extreme size change is the Key deer of the Florida keys; they are the size of a large dog.

Key Deer

Whitetail deer are mostly browsers preferring to eat leaves off of trees and shrubs rather than grass. They are also ruminants meaning that they have multiple stomachs that utilize bacteria to break down plant matter.

Male deer grow antlers, not horns, each year. Antlers are bone that grow from the head where horns are keratin with a bony core. The antlers can grow to be very large and are shed each year after the rut which is the deer mating season. During the rut the males will fight for females and the antlers are their weapons; the buck that is stronger, can fight better, and generally has a larger set of antlers will win. Deer will breed in the autumn and fawns will be born in late spring and early summer after a gestation period of roughly 200 days. Fawns are spotted and they will lose this camouflage after about 60 days.



Whitetail deer are amazing animals that many people love. Some have chased after deer all their life and now many people raise them; it is a decent sized industry that promotes growing better deer as well as finding solution for deer diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). I love the deer that I have and am currently work with and look forward to continuing to work with and care for them even more into the future. I know many of you want fawn pictures so I will put in one, but you will have to look for a future post to see even more adorable fawns.

Pictures

Florida Key Deer 

The Rest By Justin Hohlen