Arizona Ocelot

 photo credit Tony Battiste, Portraits in Nature

An Ocelot in the Huachuca Mountains of Arizona is certainly an exciting find if it turns out to be a wild animal rather than an escaped pet.  We may never know, but my wishful bet will be on a wild ocelot.

The man called Game and Fish and an officer responded to the site and confirmed that it was, in fact, an ocelot. The officer did a non-intrusive, visual inspection of the animal from the ground near the tree, and the animal appeared to be healthy. There was no indication that there had been any dog-to-cat direct interaction, as no wounds were visible on any animal.
As with all wildlife-human interaction cases, photos were taken of the animal (attached). The officer was also able to retrieve some scat samples from the scene.

Once the final confirmation was determined, the officer directed that all humans and dogs retreat from the area, and the ocelot, apparently unharmed, was allowed to go on his way.

Genetic Health

Photo by H Dragon used under a Creative Commons License

There is controversy brewing between environmentalists and cattle ranchers in Wyoming as plan to cull the Yellowstone Bison herd are put on hold.  Original plans were to cull all bison who test positive for brucellosis, but new data suggests this may cause irreparable damage to the genetic health of the herd.

But the study from Thomas Pringle, a biochemist on the genomic team for the University of California at Santa Cruz, faulted the government as overlooking a hereditary weakness in the bison herd that could be amplified by the culling program.

He found that most Yellowstone bison whose DNA were tested carried a genetic mutation that affects cellular metabolism and makes bison lethargic, rendering them less capable of foraging in deep snow, fending off predators and competing for mates.

Pringle, whose work on other genomes has appeared in professional journals such as Science and Nature, said his bison research demonstrates that culling of the wild herd based on brucellosis, rather on the health of their genes, may push the species over the edge into a form of extinction.

"They're taking a really high risk of killing bison with healthy genes and getting into a situation where they can't go back; the good DNA will be lost," said Pringle, whose paper relies on published genetic data, analyses of bison fossils and samples from herds at national parks like Yellowstone.

Genetic analysis has already become a powerful tool in managing captive populations.  Zoos regularly use basic genetic analysis in choosing mating pairs to maximize genetic diversity.  This method is based on pedigree analysis and is slowly moving towards a true genetic analysis.  However, it is time to use genetic tools to manage wild populations.  Whatever the outcome in this particular case, it is encouraging that newer science is getting a foothold in wildlife management.

Camera Trapping in the Classroom

I will invite Christian speak of more on this topic as he is the one actually in the classroom, but I wanted to point to a research project by a high school student in New York that used camera traps to ask whether prey items may be luring fishers to more urban environments.  Follow the link for still shots and video from a Reconyx trap.

We found higher diversity and overall higher activity of animals in our camera traps set in urban forests than in those out in the wild areas. The objective of this study was to compare the potential prey communities that fishers might encounter in these two environments. Could fishers be lured into these areas by abundant prey? Now we know that, yes, this could be part of the explanation (i.e. hypothesis not rejected).

As someone who spends many more hours indoors than I do outdoors, I cannot say I disagree with Joseph's take on camera-trapping:

I love camera traps because they are easy to use, and it is fun to look at the results. Lock a camera to a tree, write down the GPS coordinates, and walk away for a few weeks.

Come back and you get to look at new clips of animals running around. It is rare to take a walk in the woods and actually see a mammal like a fox, but put a camera trap out and you’ll get them

When is our NY Times expose?

h/t JR

Salmon Shark Washes Up

A salmon shark washed up at Cowell's Beach, a famous Northern California surf spot.  That is all.

Brush Rabbits on the High Plateau

Well 20 feet above sea level or so.

Brush rabbits, Sylvilagus bachmani, are all over Santa Cruz County and in the habitat that we are placing our cameras.  Every time we go to place a camera or go to pick up a camera we see handfuls of brush rabbits without even trying.  They are all over the place as if they are breeding like, well, rabbits.  However, on our first three sets we never captured a brush rabbit, even though we had seen rabbits within 50 feet of camera locations.

Photo by ecov ottos

It took the fourth set and 31 total days of camera trapping to finally get our first brush rabbit.  They showed up 8 times in 22 days at this set. Not record breaking numbers but more than we had been getting at other sets.  As you can see this set is really open grassland with some interspersed brush.  Shockingly (at least to me) every single one of our Sylvilagus captures were on IR after the sun had gone down, but not too long after.  The rabbits were foraging on a moderately used game trail.

Here are a few of the visits ...

Passing through

Standing at attention

Laughing at the camera

Busy foraging