Conservancy Moves to Study Rare Mammals
Fall 2016
t least ten species of Michigan mammals have long been listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. Several of these are of unknown or disputed status. Population surveys and/or actions to restore their populations were called for in the late 1980s, but little has been done in the three decades since. The only significant work on rare mammals has been on species listed as federally endangered or threatened and for which federal funds have been made available to the DNR. Examples are the gray wolf in the Upper Peninsula and the Indiana bat.
To fill some of the related information gaps, the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy has created an Institute For The Study Of Rare Mammals In Michigan (IRMS). IRMS will develop and employ innovative methods to help determine the status of rare Michigan mammal species, especially those for which federal or state funded research has been lacking. IRMS will organize, guide, and support field research that utilizes citizen volunteers, genetic analyses, and specially-trained dogs to determine presence or absence of rare mammals in different areas of Michigan. The focus will be on species currently listed as threatened or endangered in Michigan and that are not the subject of recent or ongoing research. IRMS uses a 10-member advisory committee that includes biologists with expertise and experience in rare mammals studies and related research.
Since its inception a year ago, IRMS has been focusing on five species in the Lower Peninsula of our state. They are fisher, gray wolf, and cougar in the northernmost three counties (Emmet, Cheboygan, and Presque Isle), and prairie vole and least shrew in Southern Michigan. Two intensive studies are being planned—a northern Michigan study in 2018, and searches for prairie voles and least shrews in 2019 in Kalamazoo, Jackson, and Clinton counties.
“ We hope to get better information about these five species, and at the same time, introduce an exciting, new technique to our state by utilizing dogs to
detect scats of rare mammals by scenting,” said Bill Taylor, MWC Board Chairman. “There have been significant advances in analyses of low-copy DNA from samples of hair and fecal matter that can aid in detection/verification of rare species, and scatdetection dogs are playing a major role in studies of endangered and threatened animals worldwide. The time seems ripe for a coordinated effort to use such methods to answer some long-standing questions about Michigan mammals.”
The Fisher, Wolf, and Cougar Questions:
Fishers were considered extirpated from Michigan by World War II. They were successfully reintroduced in the Upper Peninsula by the U.S. Forest Service and DNR in the 1960s, in part to help reduce the numbers of porcupines, one of their primary prey species. Porcupines can damage timber stands and restoration of fishers has clearly reduced porcupine densities in many areas of the U.P. However, fishers were not reintroduced to the Lower Peninsula, where the species also once thrived.
The assumption that fishers have been long-gone from the Lower Peninsula was thrown a curve in 2014 when a woman near Onaway in Presque Isle County photographed a fisher. The photo’s authenticity was confirmed by the DNR, and since sighting reports of fishers as far south as Traverse City have persisted since they were considered extirpated, there is a legitimate question as to whether a small, remnant population exists in the L.P.
“Nobody has been systematically looking for fishers in the Lower Peninsula,” said Dr. Patrick Rusz, MWC’s director of wildlife programs. “There has always been suitable habitat in the northernmost counties, so it makes sense to take a fresh look at a very old question—Is there still a fisher population there?”
Questions about the status of wolves and cougars in the Lower Peninsula also should demand attention. The Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indi
ans received confirmation that a scat found by its tribal biologists in 2014 in Emmet County was from an apparently-wild gray wolf. This followed several other confirmations of wolves in the L.P. since 2000. However, the DNR’s position is that it has not confirmed a breeding wolf population in the L.P. and that the wolf detected in 2014 was just the second south of the Mackinaw Bridge since 1910. Muddying the waters is DNA analyses of blood from pups trapped in Cheboygan County in 2010. The analyses suggested the apparent wolf pups should actually be classed as coyotes and were the result of wolf-coyote mating back several generations.
“Figuring out what’s going on with wolves in the Lower Peninsula should be a very high priority,” said Taylor. “Additional DNA research is needed and IRMS is looking at ways to get more scat samples that can be analyzed.”
MWC worked with Central Michigan University in a peer-reviewed study published in 2006 that found cougar DNA in scat samples from Emmet, Presque Isle, and Roscommon County. Yet, a controversy remains as the DNR says it has been unable to confirm the presence of any cougars in the L.P. No studies have since been conducted.
Prairie Vole And Least Shrew Questions:
The prairie vole is listed as threatened in Michigan, but there have been no records of the species in the state since 1962. It once occupied a four-county area of the southwestern L.P., preferring prairies and oak savannas. Some habitat of that general type has since been partially restored and prairie voles are also known to occupy grassy habitats along highways and railroad rights-of-way. The least shrew is also listed as threatened and no records in Michigan had been recorded since 1961 until two were found in Livingston County in 2006. The lack of records for long periods p u z z l e s mammalogists, since the least shrew inhabits a variety of both woody and grassy cover types.
A 1994 book, “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife of Michigan,” edited by David C. Evers, recommended studies to determine whether prairie voles and least shrews had been extirpated. IRMS will seek to train volunteers to collect owl pellets that can be subjected to DNA analyses and use dogs trained out-of-state to detect droppings of both species.
Scat Detection Dogs—Best Tool In The Box… thinking outside...
IRMS aims to demonstrate the use of scat detection dogs to help answer questions about rare mammals, and eventually other animals in Michigan. They are already being used in other states, and across the globe. The dogs, including some that can detect scat of multiple species of interest, are available from companies and nonprofit organizations. Some agencies are developing their own programs to train scat detection dogs.
The selection process for these valuable canines is interesting. Dogs of most any breed can trained. As many as 600, sometimes “pound” dogs, are subjected to ball-finding tests. The ones that show the most persistence in searching are first considered, then scents are added, and additional “selection cuts” made. Eventually, only a couple of dogs advance to final stages of training in which the
dogs are asked to signal detection of scats from only the species of interest.
A well-trained dog with a skilled, experienced handler can find scats of the target species 30 times faster than even an experienced, sharp-eyed human. Money is also saved by reducing the number of scats from non-target species that otherwise might be sent to laboratories for analyses. The rate of accuracy is routinely close to 100 percent, with the dogs able to discriminate among very closely-related species. Amazingly, the dogs can detect the feces of very tiny animals, even insects.
Just 15 years ago when MWC began its field studies of the cougar in Michigan, motion-detecting trail cameras were not even readily available. Today, many outdoors enthusiasts use trail cameras extensively and the number of people that carry cell phones with cameras has sky-rocketed. This has naturally led to more cougar-confirming photos and the “discovery” of the fisher in Onaway. Mysteries can often get unlocked by development of new technology and using old tools in new ways. That’s what IRMS aims to do.
For more information about the Institute For Rare Mammals Studies in Michigan visit our IRMS webpage.
t least ten species of Michigan mammals have long been listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. Several of these are of unknown or disputed status. Population surveys and/or actions to restore their populations were called for in the late 1980s, but little has been done in the three decades since. The only significant work on rare mammals has been on species listed as federally endangered or threatened and for which federal funds have been made available to the DNR. Examples are the gray wolf in the Upper Peninsula and the Indiana bat.
To fill some of the related information gaps, the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy has created an Institute For The Study Of Rare Mammals In Michigan (IRMS). IRMS will develop and employ innovative methods to help determine the status of rare Michigan mammal species, especially those for which federal or state funded research has been lacking. IRMS will organize, guide, and support field research that utilizes citizen volunteers, genetic analyses, and specially-trained dogs to determine presence or absence of rare mammals in different areas of Michigan. The focus will be on species currently listed as threatened or endangered in Michigan and that are not the subject of recent or ongoing research. IRMS uses a 10-member advisory committee that includes biologists with expertise and experience in rare mammals studies and related research.
Since its inception a year ago, IRMS has been focusing on five species in the Lower Peninsula of our state. They are fisher, gray wolf, and cougar in the northernmost three counties (Emmet, Cheboygan, and Presque Isle), and prairie vole and least shrew in Southern Michigan. Two intensive studies are being planned—a northern Michigan study in 2018, and searches for prairie voles and least shrews in 2019 in Kalamazoo, Jackson, and Clinton counties.
“ We hope to get better information about these five species, and at the same time, introduce an exciting, new technique to our state by utilizing dogs to
detect scats of rare mammals by scenting,” said Bill Taylor, MWC Board Chairman. “There have been significant advances in analyses of low-copy DNA from samples of hair and fecal matter that can aid in detection/verification of rare species, and scatdetection dogs are playing a major role in studies of endangered and threatened animals worldwide. The time seems ripe for a coordinated effort to use such methods to answer some long-standing questions about Michigan mammals.”
The Fisher, Wolf, and Cougar Questions:
Fishers were considered extirpated from Michigan by World War II. They were successfully reintroduced in the Upper Peninsula by the U.S. Forest Service and DNR in the 1960s, in part to help reduce the numbers of porcupines, one of their primary prey species. Porcupines can damage timber stands and restoration of fishers has clearly reduced porcupine densities in many areas of the U.P. However, fishers were not reintroduced to the Lower Peninsula, where the species also once thrived.
The assumption that fishers have been long-gone from the Lower Peninsula was thrown a curve in 2014 when a woman near Onaway in Presque Isle County photographed a fisher. The photo’s authenticity was confirmed by the DNR, and since sighting reports of fishers as far south as Traverse City have persisted since they were considered extirpated, there is a legitimate question as to whether a small, remnant population exists in the L.P.
“Nobody has been systematically looking for fishers in the Lower Peninsula,” said Dr. Patrick Rusz, MWC’s director of wildlife programs. “There has always been suitable habitat in the northernmost counties, so it makes sense to take a fresh look at a very old question—Is there still a fisher population there?”
Questions about the status of wolves and cougars in the Lower Peninsula also should demand attention. The Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indi
ans received confirmation that a scat found by its tribal biologists in 2014 in Emmet County was from an apparently-wild gray wolf. This followed several other confirmations of wolves in the L.P. since 2000. However, the DNR’s position is that it has not confirmed a breeding wolf population in the L.P. and that the wolf detected in 2014 was just the second south of the Mackinaw Bridge since 1910. Muddying the waters is DNA analyses of blood from pups trapped in Cheboygan County in 2010. The analyses suggested the apparent wolf pups should actually be classed as coyotes and were the result of wolf-coyote mating back several generations.
“Figuring out what’s going on with wolves in the Lower Peninsula should be a very high priority,” said Taylor. “Additional DNA research is needed and IRMS is looking at ways to get more scat samples that can be analyzed.”
MWC worked with Central Michigan University in a peer-reviewed study published in 2006 that found cougar DNA in scat samples from Emmet, Presque Isle, and Roscommon County. Yet, a controversy remains as the DNR says it has been unable to confirm the presence of any cougars in the L.P. No studies have since been conducted.
Prairie Vole And Least Shrew Questions:
The prairie vole is listed as threatened in Michigan, but there have been no records of the species in the state since 1962. It once occupied a four-county area of the southwestern L.P., preferring prairies and oak savannas. Some habitat of that general type has since been partially restored and prairie voles are also known to occupy grassy habitats along highways and railroad rights-of-way. The least shrew is also listed as threatened and no records in Michigan had been recorded since 1961 until two were found in Livingston County in 2006. The lack of records for long periods p u z z l e s mammalogists, since the least shrew inhabits a variety of both woody and grassy cover types.
A 1994 book, “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife of Michigan,” edited by David C. Evers, recommended studies to determine whether prairie voles and least shrews had been extirpated. IRMS will seek to train volunteers to collect owl pellets that can be subjected to DNA analyses and use dogs trained out-of-state to detect droppings of both species.
Scat Detection Dogs—Best Tool In The Box… thinking outside...
IRMS aims to demonstrate the use of scat detection dogs to help answer questions about rare mammals, and eventually other animals in Michigan. They are already being used in other states, and across the globe. The dogs, including some that can detect scat of multiple species of interest, are available from companies and nonprofit organizations. Some agencies are developing their own programs to train scat detection dogs.
The selection process for these valuable canines is interesting. Dogs of most any breed can trained. As many as 600, sometimes “pound” dogs, are subjected to ball-finding tests. The ones that show the most persistence in searching are first considered, then scents are added, and additional “selection cuts” made. Eventually, only a couple of dogs advance to final stages of training in which the
dogs are asked to signal detection of scats from only the species of interest.
A well-trained dog with a skilled, experienced handler can find scats of the target species 30 times faster than even an experienced, sharp-eyed human. Money is also saved by reducing the number of scats from non-target species that otherwise might be sent to laboratories for analyses. The rate of accuracy is routinely close to 100 percent, with the dogs able to discriminate among very closely-related species. Amazingly, the dogs can detect the feces of very tiny animals, even insects.
Just 15 years ago when MWC began its field studies of the cougar in Michigan, motion-detecting trail cameras were not even readily available. Today, many outdoors enthusiasts use trail cameras extensively and the number of people that carry cell phones with cameras has sky-rocketed. This has naturally led to more cougar-confirming photos and the “discovery” of the fisher in Onaway. Mysteries can often get unlocked by development of new technology and using old tools in new ways. That’s what IRMS aims to do.
For more information about the Institute For Rare Mammals Studies in Michigan visit our IRMS webpage.