Ahh....to those who read this I apologize for not having a new post up sooner. So much has happened since my last one. Instead of trapping till we have 50 does on air, lead scientists on the project Dr. Jerry Balant and another researcher who works for the DNR decided to stop trapping last Sunday, no matter number we were at. Right now we have 31 does on air. Discussing sample size with both Nate and Dawn, for research in general 30 is the minimum number one would want for a field study to have strong statistical data. Of course the bigger the sample size, the better since one would have a more accurate estimate of population size. It was decided, however, that having to do 50 VIT searches in the summer would be nearly impossible. By VIT searches, this means locating over 50 fawns after parturition (since it's common for deer to give birth to twins and even triplets) plus locating the dropped VIT tags that are excreted during the birthing process.
Alec and I are holding a captured doe down just after she was injected with an immobilization drug. I had to put my entire weight on this particular deer because she was very strong and wouldn't go down easily.
I am sad to be done with deer trapping. I had a day off on the last day that we deer trapped as well, so I wasn't able to work up the very last doe caught for this winter season. Right now work is more dull than usual since we have a lot of data-related work to do on the computers. The last five days were spent pulling deer traps, which are extremely heavy (luckily I strong like bull- repeat this to yourself with a Russian accent for added humor), and then fixing them. We have a total of 54 traps. My fingers, aside from getting very sore from the rope I was using to tighten the nets, actually ended up bleeding a bit. I have several cuts all over the place and a back ache on top of it. There is something gratifying about this work though. I don't think life is supposed to be easy. If it is, then that leads me to assume one has been handed everything on a silver platter. In essence, isn't that just an ignorant lifestyle devoid of realistic situations? (By "realistic situations", which I recognize is vague, that could applied to a range of things from being independent and supporting oneself financially to job hunting and applying for universities without having any connections). Being able to work a mentally challenging and labor intensive job full-time makes me feel more capable of taking on the future both in graduate school and my career.
This is a doe that just recovered after being worked up.
Josh and Alec watch as a doe recovers and takes off into the forest. We always keep an eye on the animals we work on to make sure they recover smoothly and appear healthy after handling.
Nate with his dad and his dad's friend after handling a pregnant doe.
Moving on from that rant, I am looking forward to carnivore trapping. We have over 15 snares set out to trap coyotes. Today we trapped our first coyote. I have a day off, so I wasn't there (and had plenty of overdue reading to keep me occupied). He was only 33 pounds! Coyotes are much smaller than I originally thought. In the near future, we might also set up snares for bobcats. Bobcats are even smaller than coyotes. In the UP, the average size is between 25 and 30 pounds. We still have two male bears to work up as well called "Ghost bear" and "Angry bear". Both bears we have already attempted to recapture this season four times. Ghost bear acquired this name from never being seen when using telemetry to locate him. Angry bear initially was in his den upon recapture, but unfortunately was not asleep and came out of his den charging at all the researchers and technicians who were there. Since then, Angry bear has been out of his den and on the move!
Side note: Four out of the total seven in this house are left-handed and five have colored eyes, myself included in both ("colored" meaning non-brown because brown doesn't count). We are slowly taking over.
Side note: All these photos are from Nate's camera and most of them were taken by him. Thanks, Nate!
I want to note that bobcats range in size depending on their location. In Canada, they are bigger. This can be explained by Bergmann's rule, which states that animals (mammals, birds, and possibly ectotherms) increase in size in colder environments (when comparing different populations of the same species). This has to do with surface area to volume ratio. Since larger animals have a smaller ratio, they are able to radiate less heat and thus stay warmer. This rule can also be applied latitudinally, so the higher the latitude, the bigger the animal.
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