In this episode of the Wildtalk Podcast, we’ll shine our wildlife spotlight on the American toad, find out what habitat work is happening in the Northern Lower Peninsula, hear listener questions answered in the mailbag segment and get a sample of conservation officer activity reports from the field.
Questions or comments about the show? Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453 (WILD). You can also email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov, and even send your question as a sound file that you record on your phone to be played on the air!
Episode Hosts: Hannah Schauer and Rachel Leightner
Producer: Eric Hilliard
Around the State Guest: Brian Mastenbrook
Law enforcement segment host: Katie Gervasi
Questions or comments about the show? Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453 (WILD) or email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov.
In this episode of the Wildtalk Podcast, we’ll shine our wildlife spotlight on the American toad, find out what habitat work is happening in the Northern Lower Peninsula, hear listener questions answered in the mailbag segment and get a sample of conservation officer activity reports from the field.
Questions or comments about the show? Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453 (WILD). You can also email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov, and even send your question as a sound file that you record on your phone to be played on the air!
Episode Hosts: Hannah Schauer and Rachel Leightner
Producer: Eric Hilliard
Around the State Guest: Brian Mastenbrook
Law enforcement segment host: Katie Gervasi
Questions or comments about the show? Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453 (WILD) or email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov.
Announcer:
You know what that sound means. It's time for the Michigan DNR's Wild Talk Podcast. Welcome to the Wild Talk Podcast where representatives from the DNR's wildlife division chew the fat and shoot the scat about all things habitat and fur. With insights, interviews, and your questions answered on the air, you'll get a better picture of what's happening in the world of wildlife here in the great state of Michigan.
Hannah:
Welcome to wild talk. I'm your host, Hannah Shower, and today I have Rachel Leitner here with me.
Rachel:
So in this episode, we'll be hearing the conservation officer reports from the field, and later in the show, we'll be answering some of your questions from the mailbag, and we'll also be revealing the winners of our Wild Talk Podcast camp mugs sometime during this episode and you can find out how you can win one, two.
Hannah:
We've also got Brian Masterbrook on the show to talk about what is going on for wildlife in the Northern lower region, but right now, we're going to shine our wildlife spotlight on the American toad.
Rachel:
If you've ever come across the toad in Michigan, it is likely to have been the Eastern American toad, which can be found throughout Michigan and much of the Eastern United States. These toads are typically characterized by their short hind legs and warty skin, and no, you cannot get warts from a toad.
Hannah:
That's right. I'm not really sure how that one got started, but no warts can be received from the toads. So the Eastern American toad can have a wide range of coloration. They may be tan, brown, reddish brown, gray, or olive color. They also have dark rounded spots on their back, and these spots usually encircle one or two warts. Now, this is an important distinction to help tell them apart from the Fowler's toad, which is the other species of toad found in some parts of the lower peninsula.
Rachel:
Eastern American toads also have those enlarged glands behind the eye that are shaped like a kidney. Now, the throat and the belly are white-ish and usually have some spotting. Interestingly, the American toad has some color-changing ability and may gradually darken or lighten in color based on its surrounding environment.
Hannah:
Pretty cool. American toads can be found in a wide range of habitats, including woodlands, grassy areas, marshes, backyards, and parks. If they aren't out and about on a rainy or humid evening, they're likely to be buried in the soil under logs or in some leaf litter, and when they dig in, they dig in backwards using their hind feet to move the dirt.
Rachel:
Toads eat a variety of different insects and larva, and also eat centipedes, millipedes, snails, slugs, worms, and spiders. Now, toads are also prey to larger species though, including garter snakes, hognose snakes, herons, raccoons, and lots of other critters.
Hannah:
Yes. If you ever get a chance, we had a really interesting thing. We found a garter snake hunting toads in my garden a few weeks ago, and it was very fun to watch the snake try and swallow the toad, which was much larger than its head.
Hannah:
Now, toads are not defenseless against predators, however. Those glands behind the eyes you mentioned earlier actually serve a purpose. The toad can secrete chemicals that can make small mammals sick or die if they bite or eat the toad. Now for people, these chemicals could cause some irritation, so avoid getting them into your eyes or mouth, and wash your hands thoroughly if you've handled the toad. But other than that, they're not particularly dangerous per se. Toads will also puff up their body and urinate to try and make themselves less appealing to those would-be predators.
Rachel:
Toads breed in the spring in the shallow, usually temporary, bodies of water. The male toads are usually smaller in size than the female toads and will call while sitting near the edge of the water body. We've probably all heard frogs and toads calling on a water body, and then if you walk closer, they all of a sudden stop. It's a cool thing to listen to. Male toads will grab onto any passing toad, and other males will have a special chirp call and body vibrations that they give if they are grabbed by mistake.
Hannah:
Yep. It's interesting that they have to have that adaptation to tell the other males to let go. The female toad can lay 2,000 to more than 20,000 eggs during amplexus. Tadpoles will hatch anywhere from two to 14 days later depending on the water temperature, and in about six to 10 weeks, they transform into toadlets, which I think are just the cutest little things ever. Now, for those that survive to adulthood, it takes a few years for them to reach that sexual maturity.
Rachel:
These American toads could survive more than 10 years in the wild and are likely helpful critters to have around, especially in your garden, to eat some of those garden insect pests. I could use a few more toads in my garden at this point in the summer.
Hannah:
Yes, I was going to say I really appreciate having the toads around my garden, take care of all those creepy crawlies that I'm not a fan of.
Rachel:
Well, there you have it, folks. Those are some cool facts about American toads. Now, don't tap off because next we'll be finding out what's happening in the Northern lower region.
Announcer:
Pure Michigan hunt applications are on sale now. If you want your shot of what is considered Michigan's ultimate hunt, pick up a $5 application or two. There's no limit to the number you can buy. If you're one of the three lucky winners, you'll get a hunting prize package worth thousands, as well as licenses for elk, bear, spring and fall turkey, analyst deer, and first pick a managed waterfall area for a reserved hunt. Purchase anywhere hunting licenses are sold or online at michigan.gov/pmh.
Rachel:
Welcome back to Wild Talk. Brian Masterbrook, the Northern lower regional manager, is joining us on the show today to chat about the happenings in the Northern lower region. Thanks for joining us today, Brian.
Brian:
You bet. Glad to be here.
Rachel:
So far in the year, what would you say is the biggest accomplishment that your region has tackled this quarter?
Brian:
We're still getting back from COVID and the post COVID thing, the re-exercising the equipment we have, getting out to the field like we used to. All this has been really refreshing for staff, but has there been a few roadblocks that we've had to get over to do it? We still have people going out occasionally because of COVID, but again, we're better at adapting to that. We're rolling along, not quite 100% to what we were 2019, but 85, at least. So we're doing good with that.
Brian:
Projects are our standard things. Goose banding is done. We've started getting ready for duck banding. We're doing opening work and that's both food plots and large scale opening maintenance using big machinery that just pretty much chew up trees. This is a more and more important part of what we do. It's cheaper and more effective than using farming equipment to move things around. A greater proportion of people, I think, are signed up now to work on burn teams, and so we're getting more burns done, and those are huge habitat wins.
Hannah:
Nice to hear about all of the habitat work that goes on. Now, do you have any big projects that you have looming on the horizon or coming up soon here?
Brian:
We've got a couple high price, wetland infrastructure projects at the Holton Lake Flats. It's going to really spruce it up. It's going to function better. We're looking to the future now, too. It originally was just duck hunting, but now we're going to have engagement opportunities, we're getting parking lots, we're getting more access. So that's one big thing. We're replacing entire dams and water control structures, and again, these are big picture things, or big price things, but it's to get us ready for the new norm of storms where we can get six inches of rain in a day. The old dam washed right out, but we're trying to prep for the future and get new ones in place. So [inaudible 00:08:09] infrastructure stuff.
Hannah:
Yeah, there's been a lot of talk throughout the state about dam removal or repair. So it seems to be a common thing, and we're working on updating that infrastructure across the state, as well as in the Northern lower region.
Rachel:
With your staff, you oversee quite a few over in the Northern lower region. What are some impressive contributions you've seen come from your staff this quarter?
Brian:
So people have stepped up where there are gaps, and so got a technician here at Gaylor, Jessica Greenwald, who started right in the middle of COVID. So she was not able, let's see people and talk to people, and we finally then get back to the office this year and then the biologist goes and takes another job. So she's still on the steep learning curve from being a technician, some biologist duties that are getting thrown at her. We've got another person in the office that's getting some biologist duties thrown at her, and so people are adapting and being cheerful mostly and helping out when needed.
Brian:
It's not just in one office. It's across the region. People are being asked across the region. We're short a couple of supervisors in a week, and people have stepped up to help with that, and other people have said, "What can I do?" We don't have a biologist in Atlanta, and we had to do a land review. Brian Piccolo, the biologist in Grayling, took the Atlanta unit and ran through that. So stuff like that where people are stepping up makes a real difference.
Rachel:
Yeah. The region is certainly filled with a lot of people who care. That's awesome to hear.
Hannah:
Well, thanks so much, Brian. We appreciate you taking the time to share the work happening for wildlife in the Northern lower region with us.
Hannah:
Now is your opportunity to win a Wild Talk Podcast mug. As a thank you to our listeners, we'll be giving away a mug or two every episode.
Rachel:
Our July mug winners are Jeff Davis and Dan Johnson. Check your email will be getting in touch with you soon. They answered the question true or false, a fish does not add new scales as it grows, but the scales it has increase in size. This is true, an interesting fact that I didn't know until we researched this question.
Hannah:
Yeah. Very interesting. All right. So to be entered into the drawing for this month, test your wildlife knowledge and answer our wildlife quiz question. What does a toad do with its shed skin?
Rachel:
Email your name and answer to us at DNR-wildlife@michigan.gov to be entered for a chance to win a mug. Be sure to include the subject line as Mug Me and submit your answers by August 15th. We'll announce winners and the answers on next month's podcast, so be sure to listen in to see if you won and for the next quiz question.
Hannah:
Good luck everybody. Now, back to the show.
Announcer:
Did you know that you can take your hunting and fishing regulations with you wherever you go, have access to the information you need when you need it right on your smartphone? Just visit michigan.gov/dnrdigest to download the applicable hunting digest before you head out to the woods, or the Michigan fishing guide before you hit the water. Download the most up to date regulations available today at michigan.gov/dnrdigests.
Speaker 6:
Roger, that.
Speaker 7:
Conservation officer Cody Smith was on patrol in Baraga County when a call was received about a person that had flipped their canoe and was floating in the middle of a remote lake. Officer Smith and Michigani first responders headed to the area to assist the individual. The subject was contacted by first responders and found to be safely floating in a personal flotation device. Officer Smith helped return the overturned canoe to shore and gathered items that had drifted away for the man. The situation could have turned out much worse had the individual not been wearing a personal flotation device.
Speaker 6:
Roger that. Go ahead.
Speaker 7:
Conservation officer Kyle Publiski and probationary conservation officer Olivia Moler conducted a marine patrol on the Pere Marquette river. The officers issued citations for smoking marijuana in public and no personal flotation devices. While writing a subject for no personal flotation device, a radio call came back that an individual had two warrants. The suspect was arrested on the warrants and lodged in the Mason County jail.
Speaker 6:
Roger that. Go ahead.
Speaker 7:
Conservation officers Chad Baldwin and Nathan Beelman participated in a countywide active shooter training hosted by the Charlevoix County Sheriff's Department. Along with the conservation officers, deputies from the Sheriff's Department, East Jordan Police Department, Charlevoix Police Department, Boyne City Police Department, emergency medical personnel, and emergency dispatchers via radio trained on multiple scenarios and utilized simunition firearms and ammunition to make the training as real as possible.
Speaker 7:
Actors who participated in the training scenarios consisted of local teachers and administrators, which gave them a firsthand look at how the officers would respond to an actual incident while giving them confidence on how well trained local units are helping with the understanding of the procedures for emergency response.
Speaker 7:
The officers also trained and practiced school classroom door unlock procedures and toured a local school to get a visual on the layout. Overall, the training was a success at not only sharpening the officer skills, but also fostering and building relationships between law enforcement and school staff and administration.
Speaker 6:
Roger that. Go ahead.
Speaker 7:
Conservation officer Matt [Zoltack 00:14:23] concluded a bobcat case from a previous year. Conservation officer Zoltack responded to a complaint of a bobcat that had been trapped out of season in Roscommon County. Conservation officer James Garrett remembered the last name of a subject he had checked predator hunting in that area earlier in the year and had matched the suspect's description. Officer Zoltack used the last name to identify the possible violator. Conservation officer Dave Schaumburger conducted an interview with the suspect, who was located in Wayne County, and gained a confession. A report was submitted to the Roscommon County prosecutor, and the subject pleaded guilty to taking bobcat out of season.
Speaker 6:
Roger that. Go ahead.
Speaker 7:
Conservation officer Mike Haas and probationary conservation officer Marissa [Hasovor 00:15:15] received a complaint from the DNR's report [inaudible 00:15:18] poaching hotline. An individual stated that there was a large group of people camping along the flat river in a location closed to camping. The officers located the camp and contacted the group. The group was advised of the camping rules on state land, were instructed to secure their dogs unleashes, and to pick up all of their litter. Various members of the group received citations for their illegal campsite, and one individual was advised and released for an outstanding arrest warrant out of Ionia County.
Speaker 6:
Roger that. Go ahead.
Speaker 7:
Conservation officer Carter Woodwyk was patrolling lake Allegan in Allegan County when he observed two subjects on a vessel. One was actively fishing. Officer Woodwyk contacted the anglers and requested to see a fishing license from the subject holding the pole. Both subjects stated that they did not have fishing license. The officers also checked the vessel for all necessary safety equipment. The operator failed to provide a type five personal flotation device. Enforcement action was taken.
Speaker 6:
Roger that. Go ahead.
Speaker 7:
During a patrol focusing on aquatic invasive species, conservation officer Ariel Young checked a local spot that had previously been known to have multiple anglers using invasive gobies to fish. During the first contact of the patrol, officer Young observed a minnow bucket full of gobies. While checking the minnow bucket, Officer Young also observed a stringer with a small mouth bass on it that was too short. After talking with the angler, it was determined that he was in possession of 23 live gobies and three undersized small mouth bass. Officer Young issued citations for both infractions.
Speaker 6:
Roger that. Go ahead.
Speaker 7:
Conservation officer Steve Butzin received a complaint from Delta dispatch of an individual who had possibly taken a newborn fawn. Officer Butzin contacted the individual who was found to have taken the fawn from a wooded location near his house after he stated he thought the mother abandoned it. The individual was told several times during multiple calls to dispatch prior to this to leave the fawn where it was so the mother could return when she felt it was undisturbed and safe. Instead, the individual refused to follow directive and took the fawn, wrapped it in a blanket, held it in a plastic tote, and forced fed it watermelon. The fawn died shortly after the individual took it.
Speaker 7:
When Officer Butzin arrived at the individual's house, he observed a single mature doe standing in the woods close to the home. The dough was looking towards the back porch. Officer Butzin later discovered the dead deer was on the bad porch. The subject began swearing at Officer Butzin, stating that it was the DNR's fault for not arriving sooner. He believed he did nothing wrong. Criminal charges are being requested through the Menominee County Prosecutor's Office against this individual for unlawful take of a whitetailed deer.
Speaker 7:
To read more conservation officer biweekly reports, go to michigan.gov/conservationofficers.
Announcer:
There are many camping and lodging opportunities available in Michigan state parks. When you choose state park campgrounds, you get more than just a campsite. State parks offer a diverse range of recreational opportunities including hands on instructional classes, nature programs, places to fish, boat launches, family friendly events, and much more. Reservations can be made six months in advance, so why wait? Visit MIDNRreservations.com or call 1-800-44-PARKS to make a reservation.
Rachel:
Welcome back to Wild Talk. Now let's dig into the mail bag and answer some of your questions.
Speaker 8:
One. Two. Three.
Hannah:
Rachel emailed in wondering if five lined skinks are known to be in Muskegon County because they seem to be all over and they haven't seen them elsewhere in the state. First off, yes, we have lizards in Michigan. How cool is that? The five lined skink has been found throughout much of the lower peninsula and some central portions of the upper peninsula, and may be common in some areas and not others. It looks like there have been sightings in the Muskegon area reported to iNaturalist, so they have been found in that particular area.
Hannah:
Five lined skinks prefer woodlands with sunny edges or openings, and skinks primarily feed on insects like millipedes, crickets, beetles, and spiders. So pretty cool to see one of these little lizards.
Hannah:
All right. Rachel, how about you? Did you get any questions in the mail bag today?
Rachel:
I did, yes. So a question came in from Jason. Jason said, "I drew a bear license for this fall. If my father wants to come along with me, but doesn't have a weapon, he just baits and sits with me while I'm hunting, and then hopefully tracks a bear with me, does he need a no kill tag bear license?"
Rachel:
So if you are planning to have someone accompany you during your hunting season this fall, the individual, in this case, his father, without a bear hunting license, if he is accompanying a licensed bear hunter on a bear hunt and he is in possession of a firearm, a crossbow, a bow and arrow, then he must have a no-kill bear license. But if someone is just accompanying you and they do not plan to carry any sort of weapon, then they do not need a no-kill tag bear license.
Rachel:
Also, if you plan to use dogs to track a bear, the owner of the dog, this person who does not have a hunting license, they're just bringing their dogs to track, they do need to have a no-kill tag bear license as well. Those no-kill tag bear licenses are $15, and they can be purchased online on the DNR licensing website or over the counter at any license agent.
Hannah:
Now, speaking of bear hunting, we've also been receiving many questions on legal baiting methods for bear. I'd say the most frequently asked question is since bait barrels are no longer allowed on DNR lands, what can I use to contain my bait pile if I plan to bait and hunt on DNR or state lands? Rachel, do you know the answer to that one?
Rachel:
Yes. First of all, this is a great question. Thank you for asking. On DNR lands, you must use natural materials to contain your bait. Now, this includes dead and downed trees, rocks, soil, and any other natural materials. Those can be used. On public lands, including commercial forest lands, you cannot use metal containers, plastic, wood, concrete, glass, fabric, cloth paper, or any other manmade materials at that bait station. I would also recommend that if you're planning to hunt bear this fall or even assist someone in a bear hunt that you please review the bear hunting rules and regulations that are listed in the 2022 bear digest, and then contact us if you have any questions. We'd be happy to help you out.
Hannah:
All right, folks. As we zip this segment to a close, remember if you have questions about wildlife or hunting, you can call 517-284-WILD, or you can email us at DNR-wildlife@michigan.gov. Your question could be featured on our next mail bag. That is our August episode. We hope you enjoy Michigan's wildlife, and we'll see you back here in September.
Announcer:
This has been the Wild Talk Podcast, your monthly podcast airing the first of each month and offering insights into the world of wildlife across the state of Michigan. You can reach the wildlife division 517-284-9453 or DNR-wildlife@michigan.gov.