Michigan Department of Natural Resources - April 16, 2015

Press Release

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2015

Contact: Lori Sargent, 517-284-6216


Calling all citizen scientists – report reptile and amphibian sightings
as part of the Herp Atlas ProjectThe Department of Natural Resources is calling all citizen scientists to help collect vital information about Michigan’s reptiles and amphibians. Anyone can help by reporting sightings of turtles, frogs, toads, snakes, salamanders and lizards in Michigan to the Herp Atlas Project.

“We need Michigan’s citizen scientists to send us information about the reptiles and amphibians they see,” said Herp Atlas Project coordinator Lori Sargent. “We need information on all species, no matter how common or rare they are.”

The Herp Atlas Project is the first statewide inventory of reptiles and amphibians ever conducted in Michigan. Its purpose is to document the distribution of Michigan’s reptiles and amphibians, collectively known as herpetofauna or “herps.”

Although local surveys have been performed in several areas, the Herp Atlas is one of just a few to be conducted over multiple years. Observations of all herp species will continue to be collected, and data collected will be mapped to evaluate species’ distribution over the entire state.

“With continued effort, we can document changes in herp populations,” added Sargent. “The atlas will also serve as a baseline for looking at distribution changes.”

The Herp Atlas Project is managed by Herpetological Resource and Management. Citizen scientists can enter their sightings online at www.miherpatlas.org. There is also a mobile app available for download from the website to make field reporting quick and easy. The Mobile Mapper is available for Android and iOS (Apple) devices.

Information about the atlas and data submission instructions can be found on the atlas website or can be obtained by sending an e-mail to SargentL@michigan.gov, calling 517-284-6216 or writing to DNR Wildlife Division, Herp Atlas, P.O. Box 30444, Lansing, MI 48909.

Observations must be verified by a knowledgeable source or by submission of a photo, audio recording or body part accompanied by the data card. Animals should NOT be killed for the purpose of identification.

Citizen scientists also are encouraged to attend the Herp Atlas Project’s first Herpathon, scheduled for Saturday, May 16, at Port Sheldon Natural Area in Ottawa County. The Herpathon is a volunteer event to identify amphibian and reptile diversity and distribution within Michigan’s unique landscapes. Information will be provided to the Michigan Herp Atlas Project and the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Commission. Preregistration is required. Visit the Ottawa County website atwww.miottawa.org/Parks or call 616-786-4847 to register.

To learn more about Michigan’s amphibians and reptiles, visit www.michigan.gov/wildlife and click "Wildlife Species." Find additional citizen science projects by clicking on Wild Science. 

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The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.

/Editors, please note: An accompanying photo is available below for download.

Suggested caption: Spot a spotted salamander – or one of the many other turtles, frogs, toads, snakes, salamanders and lizards found in Michigan – and report the sighting to help the DNR collect vital information about the state’s reptiles and amphibians./

• spotted salamander.jpg

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Michigan’s bald eagles full of flame retardants. — Environmental Health News

Michigan’s bald eagles full of flame retardants.

ShareThis

Ray Dumas/flickr

What does your old couch have to do with the health of the nation’s most iconic bird? More than you think.

February 9, 2015

By Brian BienkowskiEnvironmental Health News

Christopher P. Bills/flickr

It is unclear what, if anything, the flame retardants contaminating Michigan's bald eagles might mean for their health.

Christopher P. Bills/flickr

It is unclear what, if anything, the flame retardants contaminating Michigan's bald eagles might mean for their health.

Michigan’s bald eagles full of flame retardants. — Environmental Health News

Supporting a Great Organization

I don't want my blog to turn into a beg for donations, but I'm making an exception this holiday season. The Keweenaw Land Trust (KLT) is doing such great work to preserve the natural areas of the Copper Country, the area where I grew up. KLT manages Lightfoot Bay, the cabin I visit every summer and now they are looking to restore another block of land. I feel so strongly about their mission, that I want to share this email I received from them recently.


This is the final email focusing on the major details of KLT's Land Slam fundraising campaign. We've already covered the Paavola Wetlands Expansion and Point Abbaye Initiative, which leaves our Princess Point Water Trail Campsite project for last.  It may be small, but there's a lot of potential at this location and we need your help to make it happen!

The Princess Point property lies on the Keweenaw Waterway directly across from the Sturgeon River Sloughs. What the 4-acre property lacks in easy road access (it's a 40 minute drive from Houghton), it makes up for in its prime location for water-based activities. In addition to the Sturgeon River Sloughs, paddlers can explore the Snake River, numerous islands along the Portage River, and nearby Portage Lake, all within a short distance of their launch point. The majority of the shoreline in the vicinity is undeveloped, making this area ecologically rich and excellent for bird watching and fishing. Paddlers can visit for the day via the Sloughs boat launch off of US-41.

While 4 acres may not sound like much land, it's how we plan to use it that really matters. Princess Point is perfectly situated along the Keweenaw Water Trail and will make for an excellent rustic campsite for overnight visitors. The Copper Island Kayak Challenge recently highlighted the need for more public places along the Keweenaw's shoreline for camping or just a rest. With high and dry public land hard to come by in this area (most is wetland wildlife areas managed by the Michigan DNR), the Princess Point water trail campsite will fill an important need. The property has an old cabin that we plan to repair and allow visitors to stay in, similar to our offerings at Lightfoot Bay. With so many destinations within striking distance by canoe or kayak, paddlers can spend the night in a tent or inside the cabin and head out to visit more special places the next day.

The land, once a cherished family retreat, is generously being donated to KLT by a the current generation of a dispersed family that has local ties to the region. We are excited to share their vision for a public recreation area with the rest of the community. However, to accept the property we need to pay back taxes still owed - just a tiny fraction of the total project costs - before it's a done deal! Please donate to the Land Slam fundraiser to help establish the Princess Point Water Trail Campsite! We appreciate anything you can give to help make the Land Slam a reality.

-Keweenaw Land Trust Team

To give to the Keweenaw Land Trust, click on the Please donate link above or send your checks to

Keweenaw Land Trust

801 N. Lincoln Drive. Ste. 306

Hancock, MI 49930

Your Help is Needed - Squirrel Pox

I want to learn more about Fibromatosis (Squirrel Pox). If you have rehabilitated squirrels infected with the pox or have come across articles about the disease, would you please send them to me at this blog site. The more we know, the more we can help these infected squirrels. Thanks for your assistance.

Squirrel Pox

Healthy Baby Squirrel - October 2012

October 4^th is celebrated as the Roman Catholic feast day of Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and nature.  So it seems like an appropriate day to write about an animal that has touched my heart this week.

On Thursday I saw a gray squirrel bound across the backyard. He was moving fast but I could tell that something was wrong with his front leg. It was bright red and devoid of fur. By the time I got my binoculars, the squirrel was gone.

The next day he returned, joining the other squirrels in the feeder area directly behind the house. Now I could see that what I had initially thought was an injury was in fact a bad case of Fibromatosis commonly known as squirrel pox.

Michigan is known to have frequent outbreaks of the disease. Affecting young squirrels, it is believed that the virus is transmitted by insect bites.  During my time as a wildlife rehabitator, I never admitted or cared for a squirrel with the disease. However, that the source of the disease came from insects was no surprise as my experience in raising orphan squirrels always began with treating them for fleas and other infestations.

The virus manifests itself through the growth of tumors (pox) that emerge on the skin surface. In extreme cases the pox may metastasize internally but what I have been able to research indicates that the disease doesn’t in itself directly cause death. Death comes from by the squirrel’s inability to maintain a normal life. Should the pox invade the mouth; eating becomes difficult with starvation its natural course. The pox may cover the eyes, or enlarge the paws to the point that escape from predators is impaired. Injuries to the pox themselves can result in an infection that can also kill the squirrel.

I found an article from a rehabilitator that with the application of drying medications to the pox and antibiotics for infections, the squirrel can be successfully treated and released. Because of the abundance of squirrels and the fact that an infected squirrel can still be hunted and consumed without fear of disease transmittal to humans, little effort is made to combat the disease system-wide by wildlife managers.

Despite the numerous poxes on his body, my squirrel is able to run, climb and eat without difficulty. There is always a risk that the pox will compromise his ability to survive but at this point, he is doing fine. I will continue to monitor his health and if given the opportunity, will attempt to live-trap him for treatment. 

I taped his visit yesterday and have linked it below for viewing. For those who are squeamish of growths, please be aware that I tried to capture as many of the pox for my own research purposes. But realize that in spite of the pox, this squirrel is behaving no differently than a healthy one. 

Manistee dam removal yields snake hibernaculum - Great Lakes Echo - September 18, 2014

A restoration specialist uses a video-scope to detect snakes. Image: Herpetological Resource and Management (HRM)

Manistee dam removal yields snake hibernaculum

Look who is crossing the road

Eastern Box Turtle - September 8, 2014

Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) - Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Identification: The high, domed carapace is dark with a radiating pattern of yellow or orange. Plastron with flexible hinge, allowing complete shell closure. Head and legs with yellow markings. Male usually has red eyes and concave plastron.

Photos © Jim Harding

Adult carapace length: 4.5 to 7.8 inches (11.4 to 19.8 cm).

Habitat: Open woodlands and adjacent meadows, thickets, and gardens, often near shallow ponds, swamps, or streams. Michigan's only truly terrestrial turtle.

Habits: Many Box turtles stay in a small home range (under five acres) most of their lives; they routinely live for several decades, occasionally a century or more. Food includes plants, berries, fungi, insects, worms, slugs, snails, carrion.

Reproduction: Mating can occur spring through fall; female may remain fertile for four years after mating. Three to 8 oval, soft shelled eggs are laid in the ground in June; they hatch in 75 to 90 days.

Range and Status: Uncommon to rare in southern and western Lower Peninsula. Declining due to habitat loss, collecting for pets, and road mortality. Protected by Michigan law as a special concern species.

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10370_12145_12201-60648--,00.html

Michigan Department of Natural Resources - April 10, 2014

Press Release

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 10, 2014

Contact: Dan O’Brien, 517-336-5035 or Ed Golder, 517-284-5815White-nose syndrome confirmed in bats in Michigan 

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and a consortium of partners announced today that the fungus known to cause significant rates of illness and death in North American bats has been detected for the first time within the state’s borders. White-nose syndrome (WNS) has been found in three Michigan counties: Alpena, Dickinson and Mackinac.

"These are the first confirmed WNS cases in Michigan. Even though we’ve known this disease was coming, it is a disappointing day,” said Dr. Dan O’Brien, DNR wildlife veterinarian. “We will now shift gears and try to stop the spread of this serious disease.”

Five little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) showing disease characteristics were collected in February and March during routine WNS surveillance by Dr. Allen Kurta and Steve Smith, researchers from Eastern Michigan University. White-nose syndrome was diagnosed by Michigan State University’s Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (DCPAH), in cooperation with the DNR Wildlife Disease Laboratory.

“At DCPAH we have to have our eye on emerging diseases and prepare our test capabilities early on so that we are ready when the need for testing arises,” said Dr. Tom Mullaney, DCPAH’s interim director. “We identified the fungus by PCR and through histopathology due to the specific presentation of the lesions. While we regret that this disease has arrived in Michigan, we will work closely with our DNR partners as they continue the next phase of their work.”

The diagnosis was then confirmed by the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis. The bats tested positive for Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus known to be the causative agent of skin lesions observed in WNS-affected bats.
The disease was first documented in 2006 in a cave in upstate New York. Eleven species of bat have been infected and over 6 million have died.

In 2010, the DNR, along with the agency’s federal and non-governmental partners, developed Michigan’s WNS Response Plan. The plan outlined two main pillars: 1) prevent the arrival and spread of WNS as long as possible by mitigating the human-assisted movement of the fungus that causes the disease; and 2) conserve whatever bat populations remain after the disease has arrived by preserving abandoned underground mines and caves.

In northeastern states, where the bat disease has been present the longest, summer bat populations are down by 70-80 percent, and winter die-offs in some specific caves have been greater than 90 percent.

While there is no connection between WNS and rabies, the DNR and Michigan Department of Community Health caution the public to avoid handling bats because of the risk for exposure to rabies. Bats in Michigan can carry rabies, a virus that infects the central nervous system of mammals, including people, and causes death in almost all cases. Rabies is most commonly spread by the bite of an infected animal. There are no known harmful effects to humans from WNS.

“At this point, there is no effective treatment for WNS and no practical way to deliver the treatment to millions of affected bats even if treatment existed. Rehabilitation of bats is prohibited in Michigan because of the potential for the exposure of humans to rabies,” said O’Brien. “The best thing the public can do when they find a dying or dead bat is to leave it alone and keep children, livestock and pets away from it.”

Bat die-offs can be reported through an observation report on the DNR website atwww.michigan.gov/wildlife or by calling the DNR at 517-336-3050.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requests that cavers refrain from caving in all WNS-affected states and adjoining states. Cavers also should refrain from caving anywhere during the hibernation period (September – May) to minimize disturbance and mortality to bats.
The loss of bats due to WNS could be economically significant for agriculture and commercial forestry. A reduction in the bat population could lead to an increase in pests that are harmful to crops and trees.

Learn more about white-nose syndrome at the DNR website www.michigan.gov/wns.