Announcer:
You know what that sound means. It's time for the Michigan DNR’s Wildtalk Podcast. Welcome to the Wildtalk Podcast, where representatives from the DNR’s Wildlife Division chew the fat and shoot the scat about all things habitat, feathers 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.

Holly:
Welcome to Wildtalk. I'm Holly Vaughn and hosting with me this episode are Rachel Leightner and Hannah Schauer.

Speaker 3:
Hello, Holly.

Speaker 4:
Hello.

Speaker 5:
Hello everyone.

Holly:
Today we'll be talking with Kerry Fitzpatrick about a very cool photo project that's been recording force management practices over time. It's very neat.

Speaker 4:
Yes, that'd be a great episode, and then we'll be answering your questions from the mailbag. But first we'll kick things off with what's happening around the state.

Announcer:
A base license for $11 is a fair, fair to go hunt hair or even a squirrel or two if you care. You hunted deer last month, the license is already there, so no more money from your pocket or your billfold square to get your share of squirrel or hair to eat yourself or share with flare and fanfare with a nice set of flatware at a table you prepared, just bundle up warm with something to wear and don't miss when you shoot or you're liable to swear and possibly despair if you see no more signs of hide nor hair. Happy hunting to all and y'all take care.

Speaker 4:
All right. It's time for some updates on what is going on in the Wildlife Division around the state. We're going to kick it off in the North. Holly, what is going on in the Upper Peninsula?

Holly:
Well, the winter is a somewhat slower time of the year for our field staff, and attentions tend to turn to administrative and planning work for the upcoming field and hunting seasons. This, you know, spring, summer, fall,

Speaker 4:
Right, a little warmer that way being inside planning versus outside.

Holly:
Absolutely. Especially in the snowy Upper Peninsula. It's a good opportunity to catch up on data entry and report writing and lots of other office work that gets pushed aside during the busy fall hunting seasons. Every three years, the Wildlife Division reexamines deer hunting regulations and this year is a regulation setting year. Staff in the UP are working closely with the division’s, deer specialists to prepare recommendations for the period 2020 to 2022, that three year period. A major part of this effort will be to assess deer population size and also trends relative to past years and they'll be working on developing antlerless licensed quotas for each deer management unit in the Upper Peninsula and in the Lower Peninsula as well.

Holly:
And staff will be discussing topics that were brought to their attention by hunters and others who have an interest in deer management. Lots of conversations going on about what should change, what could change for deer hunting regulations for the upcoming three years.

Speaker 4:
Let's take a jump below the bridge now and Rachel, what do we have happening in the Northern lower region? I imagine maybe it's slightly snowy and cold there as well.

Rachel:
Yes. I was going to say we have really similar work objectives as the UP right now, so similar to everything that the UP has been doing in the northern lower. We also have had a lot of meetings and there's a lot of work planning going on there. We've been recapping what's happened this past year and putting that into work plans for what we want to accomplish this next year in 2020. Our field staff and the wildlife species specialist have been meeting with lots of groups, universities, other state, federal agencies, hunters and hunting groups to discuss potential changes to elk and deer regulations, since those regulations are now up for discussion and changes.

Rachel:
And so these meetings and these work planning meetings will continue to carry out throughout the rest of February. And after that, people will put on warm gear and head out to the woods again.

Speaker 4:
All right, so let's go a little further south now where we might be a little bit warmer perhaps. Let's start in the southeastern region. Holly, what do we have happening over there?

Holly:
Well, it's been pretty mild in the southeast region so far this year and we still have water that's wide open in the southeast and like the Detroit River is wide open, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, pretty incredible for this time of year.

Speaker 4:
No ice fishing yet.

Holly:
Believe it or not, there are still some waterfowl hunting opportunities in February.

Speaker 4:
In February?

Holly:
Yeah, so goose season runs until February 10th in zone three, which is most of Southern Michigan except for the Muskegon County Wastewater System and the Allegan County Goose Management Units. Be sure to get out and get a few geese for the freezer before the waterfowl season ends for seven long miserable month before it starts up again in September. The Southeast region is also doing their mid-winter waterfowl surveys right now, so they head up to the skies in little airplanes to count waterfowl, especially on Lake St. Clair and Western Lake Erie and then also on the west side on Lake Michigan as well.

Holly:
They also survey smaller inland lakes, which some of those might be open this year, which is pretty unusual, winter waterfall surveys. And then they also take a look at rivers and wetlands and farm fields for wintering Canada geese and those sandhill cranes that just don't want to leave Michigan and stick around for the whole winter.

Speaker 4:
Why would you, if it's not cold?

Holly:
If it's mild and you can find food, why not just stay? The Wildlife Division cooperates with other states and also the US Fish and Wildlife Service to survey local migrant and wintering waterfowl populations to determine population status and habitat use trends.

Speaker 5:
I have a question. Holly, would you anticipate seeing different types of species this type of year now that we have more open water than normal or will it be relatively similar to?

Holly:
Yeah, so this time of year, what we're seeing are winter ducks, so we're seeing things like canvasbacks, redheads, scaup and on Lake St. Clair and Western Lake Erie, they gather in gigantic flocks like the Detroit River system, Lake St. Clair, they can host rafts of tens of thousands of redheads and canvasbacks. And it's actually one of the biggest wintering places in the world for these birds.

Speaker 4:
A good birding destination, if you're looking to see some waterfowl.

Holly:
Absolutely.

Speaker 5:
I would imagine that would look like a floating mat of feathers.

Holly:
Just black dots as far as the eye could see. Until you get your binoculars honest-

Speaker 4:
[crosstalk 00:07:19] bring your sporting skill and binoculars.

Holly:
With the water open, they should see maybe a few more ducks than usual this year. The winter waterfowl survey is part of a continent wide waterfowl survey that must be completed during the first week of January at places where waterfowl tend to congregate. They’ve finished these flights but are now taking a look at the data that was collected. The results of this survey helped to set hunting regulations and determine population trends in the Mississippi Flyway, which Michigan is part of.

Holly:
This year there was, like I said, lots of open water and which isn't always the case, so that might change some of the numbers that we're seeing for this year.

Speaker 4:
Lots of waterfowl to be had. Finally, Rachel, can you let us know what's happening in the southwestern region?

Rachel:
Sure. There is quite a bit of action going on in southwest right now specifically with timber sales. Timber! You can expect to see some trees being cut on a few state game areas throughout the region. There is about 15 timber sales planned for 2020 and most of those harvest are going to begin in January and February and they'll proceed throughout the winter months because there's this many benefits to harvesting trees on land during the wintertime. It reduces soil disturbances or mitigates high water tables and encourages successful re-vegetation in those areas. And it's also important to remember that harvesting portions of the forest in those areas will generate space and sunlight for new trees to grow, so we can really improve the overall forest health by removing disease trees or trees that have reached their age limit. And the result provides high quality wildlife habitat and beautiful spaces that we all could enjoy.

Rachel:
And lastly, we have an update on the Trowbridge Dam removal. A few episodes back in August we discussed the Allegheny County Dam and its removal and how it was entering into phase one, which was to stabilize the dam and remove the powerhouse super structure. It's a great term.

Speaker 4:
It is, super structure.

Speaker 4:
Rachel [inaudible 00:09:40]. I am happy to report that has been successfully done and soon we will begin phase two of the project in which we begin to remove the contaminants that have been trapped behind the dam. There may be intermittent closures or access to that dam site. If you're in the area, you'll just want to check in with the local staff to see if anything is closed during the time you want to use the area. But this dam has been at the highest priority dam removal for the state currently. And so it's really excellent to see such great work happening.

Speaker 4:
All right. Well, that's all for around the state. Next up we'll be talking with Kerry Fitzpatrick about this very cool photo project so you aren't going to want to go anywhere.

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 1-800-44PARKS to make a reservation.

Speaker 4:
Welcome back to wild talk. Today we are joined by Kerry Fitzpatrick and we are going to be chatting about the awesome camera point project. Kerry, thank you for being here today.

Kerry:
It’s good to be here with you.

Speaker 4:
Give us a little bit of background about yourself, how you started with the DNR and how you got to this current role as the Wildlife Division.

Kerry:
I’m the wildlife habitat specialist. Started in 2004. I was working at the University of Maryland. Position opened here that seemed very interesting. I was interested in moving from talking about management to getting involved in management hence this wildlife habitat specialist position seemed like one that would do that. My job is to work with statewide habitat issues. These would be things like coordinating prescribed fire for the division, being involved with state forest management and compartment reviews. That's how we manage our state forests. I'm responsible for coordinating our leases, state land that the Wildlife Division administers. I'm responsible for coordinating federal aid issues, land management matters with the state federal aid. I'm responsible for all of our state historic preservation reviews, things of that sort.

Speaker 4:
A whole gamut of different things that you work on. Very cool. One of the very interesting projects of course that we wanted to have you on the show to talk about today is this a camera point project. Can you give us a brief overview of what the project is and what it's all about?

Kerry:
Yes, sure. The camera point project was a project that was started in the mid-1920s and it evolves choosing sites throughout the state forest where a photograph is taken and it's taken at a particular location and then it's repeated every 10 or 20 years. Someone will come back to the exact same spot that the photo was taken a decade ago, take the picture again, so we ended up having is a series of these photographs and it becomes a little bit like time lapse photography or a little flip book in a sense that you could kind of flip through them and you could see the changes that occurred in the state forest over, what turns out we're approaching a hundred years.

Speaker 4:
Wow, that's pretty cool. I've seen a couple of the pictures and like the series and it's fascinating how much things change over that amount of time. And then some aspects, how much they don't really change either. But you get the gamut. Where in Michigan are some of these photo locations and are they all throughout the state? Are they just on public lands? Could you tell us a little bit about where the photos have been taken?

Kerry:
Sure. The camera points are spread across wealth counties in Michigan. There's probably about a third of them [inaudible 00:13:57] UP, mostly in the east UP. And then the other two thirds are in northern lower. Mostly this going down the center of the northern lower, photo points were set up by person who envisioned this project from the very beginning. It was started by P.S. Lovejoy who was our first division chief. Started the job in 1927 and the photograph started right after it, so he must've had some good ideas about scientific management.

Speaker 4:
Were these all on public lands or were they … did they start on public lands and has land ownership changed at all over time?

Kerry:
Almost all of them are on a state forest land or national forest land. There are a few spots where they originally were not taken, like on a road side, looking at a private farm as an example and that was looking at private land. And there was one site that used to be state forest land and it was sold somewhere along the line and it's now private lands. Majority are on public land, a few are on-

Speaker 3:
And how many photos are in the whole series?

Kerry:
There are 365 photos in the whole series and there are 49 camera points.

Speaker 4:
With those changing landscapes coming back 10 and 20 years, I would imagine there's a lot of growth in some areas. Are you always able to get back to the exact location that the photo is going to be taken from?

Kerry:
When they managed the forest back at the turn of the century, they were using same tools that they used for surveying, which were these chains. They were the 60 foot long, 66 foot long chains, links and they would lay them out and that would be how they measure things in the forest. The descriptions are written out in, you know, at this section line, go four chains down north and then six chains south. And you know, it-

Speaker 4:
I'm so glad it's not like that anymore.

Kerry:
When we went to look at … when I went back to do this last set of photographs, there were, well, as an example, I got to one where their series of photos were being taken from fire towers. Well, we used to have fire towers, but over the past, I don't know, 20 or 30 years, we've been dismantling them, get to the site, there's no fire tower there anymore. While the picture was taken, the photos were taken up at like 50 or 80 feet up in the air, before. Now all of a sudden I'm down on the ground, so that was one change. Another change was that I went to a place where they used to be part of what they called the prairie chicken area. It was open area was shrubs and the like in it.

Kerry:
Well, as the Wildlife Division was doing management, they realized they wanted to maintain that opening for prairie chickens. And with the idea that sometime in the future they may reintroduce them. And as they were managing it, they did a very good job and they just literally removed all the vegetation that was in there. What, in the past there would've been shrubs or trees that you could go and line up the photograph and say, “Yeah, this is where the photograph was taken.” Well, when I got there, it was nothing but it looked similar to a corn field that was just denuded of all vegetation. And there was no way for me to figure out where the photo was taken. And then when I was taking the photos, it was immediately after the Duck Lake Fire up in the UP.

Kerry:
And I got there and there were trees there, but they were all burned down and they were all lying on the ground. There was just no way to even figure out where the photo was taken. I followed the directions to the, to the best of my ability and then just took the photo. There's other ones, other sites where we had jack pine for instance and there'd been a fire and you could see originally where there are charred trees and no other real vegetation. And as the photos go along you can see that the jack pine is sprouting up and starting to grow. And then when I went up to take the photo, I get there and there is not a forest there anymore. It's just young trees that are like two or three feet high. They harvested the entire area and either replanted it or it started to regenerate on its own.

Kerry:
And it was, again, it was another situation where it was very difficult to try to match up the photograph because they're based on the trees and what they look like.

Speaker 4:
How did you get roped into this project? How did it land in your lap?

Kerry:
No one ever really assigned me the job. I started the job in 2004. I had only been in the job for a couple of weeks and one of the Wildlife Division employees came over to my desk and he said, “This is my last day. I'm retiring.” He says, “I don't know what to do with this, and you're the only person I think who should be, whose job seems to be handling it.” And he just handed me this binder that was full of photographs and was busy at the time. I didn't even look at it for a couple of months. And then when I started looking at, I realized what a treasure it was and then started thinking about what we needed to do to continue it.

Speaker 4:
Wow, very cool. Just kind of out of the blue fell in your lap. Why would you say a project like this is important? What information do you think it can provide to us as wildlife managers?

Kerry:
The big part is that humans, we don't do a good job of perceiving the passage of time. Just, we look at things and we look at it as it is today. And for somebody who, in particularly this relates to the general public, if we harvest trees in an area and there's three or four varieties of trees that they do not grow in the presence of shade from other trees. If you want to regenerate a forest of say like Jack pine, you really need to cut it all down and then start over again. And with that then it provides an opportunity for the trees to grow. If you're someone from the public and you see that, what you see is somebody has cut down my forest and they don't realize that those trees are fast growing and that within four or five years you'll see trees growing there and within 10 or 20 or 30 years, there’ll actually be what you would call a forest there.

Kerry:
It just allows us to see that and to grasp what happens with, as the passage of time. And I have to say this, that even wildlife biologists have a hard time perceiving that. And even some of our constituents, like hunters, they don't realize that change is really occurring on them. There's a … One of my colleagues was telling me a story of a hunter, elderly gentleman, he's probably like 70-years-old. And he was saying, “I don't know why,” he says, “What has changed?” He says, “I used to hunt snowshoe hare here and I used to sit on this stump right here and hunt snowshoe hare.” Well, he didn't realize that when he started hunting them, that the forest there was young and it had a lot of vegetation that was close to the ground that the snowshoe hare likes.

Kerry:
But as the forest matured, it was maturing and he wasn't really observing that happening. And as it went on the trees started growing up and then there was no vegetation in the ground and they weren't there. That's an example of something for the public to see.

Holly:
I often think about that, like when we hear from hunters, you know, “I've been deer hunting in the same spot for 30 or 40 years, and I used to see dozens of deer on my property. And now I'm not seeing anything.” Could that possibly be related to the passage of time and habitat changing on the landscape?

Kerry:
Sure, deer is an example, yeah. They need something to eat. If you have a forest that's young and there's deciduous trees or conifer trees that are close to the ground where they can eat the vegetation, then that works out really well for them. But as the trees get taller then they shade out the lower branches and then that's not available for them. At the same time, the trees are getting taller and they're shading out the vegetation on the ground. And what once was, had a lot of herbaceous or fobs growing that the deer could eat. It's no longer available there because it's shaded out and it's more of a leaf litter on the bottom there. That's just a really good example.

Holly:
Passage of time affects us all. How could this project impact wildlife and forest management in Michigan?

Kerry:
I'm sure that P.S. Lovejoy who started the project, he was committed to scientific management. And if you have to think about this, photography really started out in the middle of the 18 hundreds it wasn't until 1888 that they started developing like roll films so that you didn't have to carry these heavy glass plates to take pictures. And then it wasn't until 1900 that they started mass producing cameras. In a sense we didn't really have the technology available until the beginning of the 19th century for the average biologist or resource manager to take pictures.

Kerry:
Well, that occurred at the same time … roughly about the same time that P.S. Lovejoy was … He was assistant professor at University of Michigan and he was … that was probably where his, his of scientific management started. And you can see that if you could take pictures of a site and come back to it, you could be observing the successional change that happened with vegetation. And that was beginning to be a key concept in the early part of the 19 hundreds, this idea that ecosystems go through a series of changes. And I think that's probably what he was interested in when he started the project.

Kerry:
Probably not quite as much as now we're thinking of what the public can learn about it and what our fellow, our colleagues can learn about it. This was, I think more probably was more scientifically oriented. The moment I haven't had anybody that I've talked to that perceived it is some sort of a scientific record. I was just speaking with someone the other day and he was talking about … Well, maybe this is something that MNFI would be interested in. I mean, they're the natural features inventory. These are people that inventory things like that and there's a possibility for them to use them.

Holly:
Well, it's a fascinating project. If people want to learn more about this project or see some of the photos that you've taken, where can they go to find that?

Kerry:
When we took the last set of photographs we were looking at the digital imagery, but the rest of the images were all prints and negatives. And we were faced with what are we going to do with these to preserve them? We took them over to the Michigan State Archives, and they said, “Yes, this is really important material and we have the technology, we have the facilities to preserve this material.” They preserved it and then they digitized all of the images so that they would be available to people. And now they'll be … although the actual images are not available to people, the digital images are.

Kerry:
And there's a website that the State of Michigan has is called Michiganology. And there is a website that's set up just for the camera point project. You can go in, click on a particular site and then there'll be a series of photographs that you can look at that you can see the images.

Holly:
That's awesome. Well, of course, be sure to include a link to that in the show notes so that you can find it easily. Thank you so much for joining us today, Kerry. That was an interesting conversation.

Kerry:
Thank you.

Holly:
Yeah, so stick around. Next up we'll answer your questions from our mailbag.

Announcer:
It’s the Great Backyard Bird Count . It's time once again for the free fun birding event that you can do from the comfort of your own home. The 23rd annual Great Backyard Bird Count will be held Friday, February 14th through Monday, February 17th 2020. To participate, count birds for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the four day event. For more information or to report your counts, visit birdcount.org.

Speaker 3:
Welcome back. Now it is time for us to answer your questions from the mailbag. Hanna, what questions do you have?

Hannah:
Well, I've got a couple here. The first one is from Sarah, who asks, are you guys going to be doing the deer patch design contest again? And yes, we are. The deer management cooperator patch, for those of you who are deer hunters and bring your deer to a DNR check station, you've likely received one of these patches before. They've been a collector’s item for hunters since the ‘70s, so they're very popular. And each year the patch features a different design. And so the past couple of years now we've been doing a contest to get these fabulous artists and other folks from around the state and around country the world, you know, wherever who want to help us design and submit their ideas for the patch.

Hannah:
This year our designs submissions are due by March 10th of 2020 and we've got a bunch of contest rules and entry information for folks on our website. We'll include those links in our show notes as well so you can look at all of those details if you are interested in participating in the contest.

Speaker 4:
Yeah, a really fun opportunity to use your creativity.

Hannah:
Absolutely. And the other question I have today also has to do, sort of, with deer. Ben wrote in asking if it is legal to use an old deer carcass as bait for coyote hunting purposes. All right, so Ben, you can use deer as bait as long as it was legally harvested and is open season for deer hunting or you collected a roadkill deer and have gotten a salvage permit for that animal. And so if you're interested in learning more about how you can use legally harvested game for hunting or trapping for furbearers. That is on page 18 of the Fur Harvester Digest. Kind of goes over those regulations.

Hannah:
And the other important thing to remember, as I mentioned, you need a roadkill salvage permit if you're using a roadkill deer. And you can get those applications at michigan.gov/roadkillpermit. But please be aware that there are restrictions on deer carcass movement outside of the county where the deer was killed. You want to be cautious if you're going to be transporting that deer away from where it was killed or any great distance. Please see page 62 of the Hunting Digest for those transportation restrictions. And again, we'll include links in the show notes for you if you're interested in checking those out.

Speaker 4:
All right, good stuff. Thanks Hannah.

Hannah:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Speaker 4:
Well, I got a question from Barb, who is asking about her bird feeders. And so she really likes to feed the birds every year and has been seeing fewer birds this winter and is wondering why that is. It's hard to say exactly what the cause might be. Sometimes changes in the local environment can cause the number of birds that you're seeing at your feeder to decrease. Maybe you had a big evergreen tree that the birds really liked to hide in that's now gone and they're going somewhere else to spend the cold days. Or maybe there's been some construction in your neighborhood that has disturbed the birds. That could be a couple of reasons why you're not seeing the birds that you usually see.

Speaker 4:
Another reason is that we've had a really, really a fairly mild winter all told, and some birds that usually come down from Canada, so some of the feeder birds that we see every year, like chickadees and blue jays, they actually come down from Canada are … The residents stay, but some of the Canadian birds move down into Michigan to spend the winter cause it's more mild here in winter, but it's been fairly mild further north as well. We have weather conditions that may be keeping birds out of the state. And then also seed crops were very abundant in Canada as well. And so we tend to see those big migrations when there isn't as much food.

Speaker 4:
And since it's abundant this year, we're not seeing birds like pine siskins, we're not seeing some of the winter finches that come down from the north like purple finches and crossbills and things like that. Those could be some of the reasons why you're not seeing those birds at your bird feeders this year.

Hannah:
Lots of possible explanations, but yeah, notice less birds hanging out just … and I would assume it's because they have more natural food sources that might be tastier.

Holly:
And it's as warm as some days have been here in Southern Michigan, like we've had days that have gotten up into the mid-forties, low-fifties. I've seen insects around those days. And that's an opportunity for them to find food.

Hannah:
High in protein in fact.

Holly:
Yeah.

Hannah:
Good energy.

Holly:
And then they don't have to come to the feeder because there's plenty of food around.

Speaker 4:
Well, thanks Holly. I had received a question from Dave and his question was regarding antler sheds and if it's legal to keep an antler shed that you find on public land. The answer is yes, you can collect those sheds if you find them. There's no permit needed. However, if the antlers are attached to a head or if you find other skulls or carcasses from other game species, you cannot collect those parts without using a kill tag for that particular animal or having a scientific collector's permit.

Holly:
And if you do find an animal and you have the proper kill tag for it, it also has to be in the open season for that game species for you to collect it.

Hannah:
Absolutely. Basically, the reason behind that is we don't want you to bring home a deer skull and some deer antlers and some day for whatever reason, you have a conservation officer over for dinner. And he's like, “Hey, where did you get that deer?” And maybe you don't have the proper documentation for it, which could potentially get you in trouble. We don't want you to get into any sort of inadvertent trouble.

Speaker 4:
All right. Well, thank you ladies. As we zip this segment to a close, remember if you have questions about wildlife or hunting, you can call 517-284-WILD or email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov, or stop by. Your question could be featured on the mailbag segment.

Announcer:
The 2020 winter Free Fishing Weekend is scheduled for February 15th and 16th, and is a fun outdoor event the whole family can enjoy. All fishing license fees are waived during these two days and a recreation passport is not required for entry into state park and recreation areas during this time. All fishing regulations still applied. For more information, or for a list of free fishing weekend events, visit michigan.gov/freefishing.

Speaker 4:
Well, it's February and maybe you're thinking about that special someone in your life. You aren't alone. Many wildlife species are also thinking about romance this time of the year.

Holly:
Yes. It is the season. I recently heard a pair of great horned owls calling to one another and it sounded so romantic. In fact, the great horned owl is usually the first owl to breed here in Michigan and they’re maybe sitting on their eggs already. A little bit of a challenge, I would think to keep those eggs warm in the middle of the winter, but whatever works. And then we have other Michigan owls such as barreds and saw-whet owls are starting their courtship, and will be laying eggs in the next month or two. Lot of birds getting busy right now, which is contrary to what a lot of people think. Most of the time you think spring, but we've got some that start early.

Speaker 4:
So we're seeing a lot of wildlife and I bet a lot of folks have also noticed there's more coyotes or foxes wondering through their area for a good reason. They are also looking for a mate. Most breeding’s for these canids occurs January through March, so you're likely to see an increase in activity and vocalizations from these critters?

Holly:
Yeah, they are much more vocal as they are communicating with their mate or letting others know where their territory is. I know, I hear yips and howls every once in a while in the middle of the night, wake you up. And once a pair has established their territory, they'll start looking for a suitable den site to raise their young over the summer.

Speaker 4:
If these wild canines aren't your favorite animals to see around your neighborhood now is a good time to start hazing coyotes. And hazing means just kind of a gentle scare tactic, so maybe, clapping your hands or yelling really loud or banging pots and pans or something like that to try and scare them away. When you haze coyotes or foxes, they won't view your yard as a quiet place to raise their babies over the summer months. While you think it might be rude to interrupt their courtship, the more consistently that you haze them, the less likely they're going to want to hang around your yard and potentially cause some concern for your neighbors.

Hannah:
Right. And it's also a good idea if you do, like Holly said, if you have some wild canines and aren't a fan of having them around, it's a good idea to look for attractants that might be making your area more appealing. Easy access to food sources can make your area especially appealing to a fox or a coyote.

Rachel:
Yes, and it's a good, also a good idea to think about removing bird feeders from your yard as these attract small birds and other animals like rabbits and squirrels, which are good natural food sources for faxes and coyotes.

Hannah:
And make sure you aren't leaving any pet foods outside and keep your trash indoors until the morning of your trash collection day.

Holly:
And if you have a Fox or a coyote that is causing you concern, there are permitted nuisance wildlife control companies that you can contact for removal assistance.

Speaker 4:
Before we close. I did want to mention something more about birds. My favorite, so my birds has a bunch of upcoming winter events this month including a Great Backyard Bird Count birding tour at the Belle Isle Nature Center. You might not think of February is a good time for bird watching, but you can see all kinds of great species and at that Great Backyard Bird Count on Belle Isle, which is right on the Detroit River you might see some of those canvasbacks, redheads, some mallards, some other cool ducks that we talked about earlier. We'll be sure to include a link to event information in our show notes.

Speaker 4:
And also if you're looking for something fun to do with your family, the Great Backyard Bird Count is going on February 14th through 17th and is a great opportunity for you to head out to a park or observe your bird feeders and record what you're seeing. And this adds to information that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has been keeping track of for decades now. And so you can be a citizen scientist and participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Rachel:
Well, that about wraps it up for us. We hope that you all can spend some time outdoors, enjoying some wildlife, watching a recreation this month with your family and friends. Thanks for tuning in and we will see you back here in March.

Announcer:
This has been the Wildtalk 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 at 517-284-9453 or dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov.