It Takes a Village
On the heels of another record-breaking year for piping plovers in Maine, this endangered beach-nesting shorebird had more pairs (125) and fledged chicks (213) on Maine’s beaches since intensive monitoring began in 1981. MDIFW is mandated to preserve, protect, and enhance the inland fisheries and wildlife resources of the state. This can be difficult to attain for a species vulnerable to climate change, sea level rise, predation, and recreating humans and dogs.
The Importance of Regulated Doe Harvest
While you can’t have a deer population without bucks, it is the does (female deer) carrying and raising offspring that drive population growth. Regulated doe harvest is a cornerstone of deer management and is the primary tool used by state deer managers to control or direct deer population growth.
BEE on the Lookout for Rusty Patched Bumble Bees!
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is looking for rusty patched bumble bees and you can help!
Checking in on Peregrine Chicks
The keen eyes of one of the many MDIFW peregrine falcon surveyors, Trish Berube, and the partnership of Chinburg Properties, led to the discovery of a female incubating eggs in a 14-year-old nest box on a historical building in Lewiston. The exact location of this nest box is being kept private at this time to limit disturbance to the young until they fledge early summer.
Lessons from a Lynx
Often referred to as the “Gray Ghost of the North,” due to its perceived elusiveness, the Canada lynx is more fittingly described as calm, aloof, and surprisingly tolerant of human presence. Their long legs and thick-furred paws act like snowshoes to hunt in deep snow and their eyes have mirror-like cells allowing an increase of light available for the lynx to see at night. In addition to these adaptations, the lynx has a keen sense of hearing and smell, making them exceptional predators and equipped at living in deep snow environments.
Be Bear Wise
As the days grow longer, wildlife and humans alike emerge from their homes and dens to greet the warm weather. For many humans, we emerge with some extra “fluff”; we’ve exercised less, stayed inside more, eaten all the delicious desserts over the holidays, and gone through a long phase that I like to call “bulking season.” For our furry friends from bats to bears, winters can be more challenging; presenting little food, frigid temperatures, and the need for exceptional adaptations to ensure survival.
Turtle Talk
Maine has eight species of semi-aquatic turtles that inhabit a number of regions and ecosystems across the state. Turtles are a unique group of reptiles, with an anatomical design that ensures protection from a number of predators. A turtle’s shell, or carapace, is made of hard bony plates covered in scutes, which are the same material as our fingernails. Fused to the inside of their shell is their spinal column and the belly side of the turtle shell, the plastron, are the fused ribs and sternum. So, a turtle’s shell is a unique armor that a turtle physically cannot live without.
Mowing for Monarchs
Butterflies are a fan favorite when it comes to fluttering invertebrates, and in addition to their beauty, they bring a number of benefits to our lives. Butterflies play an important ecological role as prey to a number of larger species such as dragonflies and birds and are vital pollinators for wildflowers.
The Tick and Turkey Debate
Turkeys and ticks have long been a topic of conservation, with Maine’s wild turkeys sometimes taking the blame for causing problems for Maine’s moose as a spreader of ticks, the proliferation of ticks in Southern Maine, and the negative impacts on humans that come with the ectoparasite.
Turtle Crossing
Turtles are long-lived animals that take many years to reach reproductive ages, in the range of 10-15 years for many Maine turtles. Their delayed maturity coupled with low hatching success creates exceptional challenges for survival. The annual loss of just a few adults to roadkill can lead to a population decline or even local extinction.
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