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.

Eric:
Hello everybody and welcome to the April edition of the Wildtalk podcast. I'm your host today, Eric Hilliard, and joining me is Dr. Dan O'brian, the wildlife veterinarian epidemiologist for the DNR's wildlife disease lab. Welcome Dan.

Dan:
Thanks Eric, it's great to be here. We've got a great show lined up for our listeners this month. We'll start out to going around the state to talk about some of the activities related to wildlife as Spring slowly rolls in, and we're going to have an interview with Dr. Kim Signs from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services about rabies and some of the ways that people could be exposed to rabies. We'll be answering questions from the mail bag, and then we'll end things up with a short interview with the most recent Pure Michigan Hunt winners.

Eric:
Great, sounds like we've got a great show lined up. I'm excited, I hope you all listening are as well, and we'll be right back after this.

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, antlerless deer, and first pick at a managed waterfowl area for a reserved hunt. Purchase anywhere hunting licenses are sold or online at michigan.gov/pmh.

Eric:
All right, welcome back to the Wildtalk podcast, we're going to kick things off there around the state segment right up in the UP, which there's been quite a bit of snow up there Dan, have you noticed things are a little bit more white and fluffy up there as compared to the southern part of the state?

Dan:
Yeah, I was actually up there working on a research project in Ironwood in January when we had that really cold snap, and yeah it's a whole another world.

Eric:
So because of the winter wonderland up in the UP throughout March and now into April, the upper Peninsula staff have been and will continue to monitor snow conditions and the health of the deer herd as we're coming out of winter and certainly coming out of it slowly up there. Moving down to the northern lower region throughout the winter months, staff in the northern lower have been evaluating impacts of winter weather on various wildlife populations, and staff take a look at things like snow fall and temperature throughout the winter and when breakup occurs and it also involves field observations by staff and reports from the public about wildlife stress or mortality. And this helps keep us abreast of what's going on throughout the region and to answer any questions that may arise as a result of some of what's being seen out there.

Eric:
With winter ending, master plans are being wrapped up for the wildlife game areas in the region. State Game Area master plans provide direction for habitat work based on the featured species selected for the State Game Area. Master plans also direct recreational use of the area and help determine operational details to achieve goals and objectives outlined in the department division in a regional planning efforts. Also, this spring the region is finishing preparations for controlled burns to improve wildlife habitat. Priority areas for burns in the region were identified last year based on combined priorities across the region, burn plans are now being developed for technical aspects of conducting the burns. This includes things like timing, fuel, size of the area, weather conditions needed, impacts on nesting and other wildlife and things of that nature. Wildlife staff work with forest resource division fire staff to make those decisions and finalize plans before spring weather arrives.

Eric:
We've also been evaluating potential changes for tricky regulations in the region. Much of our analysis involves reviewing harvest and hunter satisfaction data from previous years along with our estimates of population trends in specific parts of the region. And please remember bears are beginning to emerge from the winter rest, and will be looking for food. They have an excellent sense of smell and can remember the location of food from year to year. They will also travel pretty far distances to find that food. So keeping that in mind, there are a few simple things you can do to help prevent bear conflicts around your home or cabin. Those include removing potential food sources, that's things like bird feeders from your yard, pet food. You want to make sure you keep that inside or in a secure area. Same thing with garbage, try to keep the odor at a minimum and if you can keep it in a secure container, preferably in a garage or someplace where the bears can't get to it.

Eric:
Keep grills and picnic tables clean, and things like beehives, fruit trees and gardens can be protected from bears with electric fencing, which is very effective in keeping them away from those things. But, if you do experience problems with a bear, you should get in touch with your nearest DNR office to speak with one of our wildlife biologists or technician for assistance. And you can find those locations at michigan.gov/wildlife and click on the contact information for them to pull numbers for the place closest to you. Dan, what do we got going on in the southern part of the state?

Dan:
Well, as you know, Eric, the spring is slowly making its way in, in southern Michigan here and this would be the time of year when many of our listeners will start to notice the birds coming back, it's a great time of year. And so spring is when we typically do our breeding waterfowl surveys. Our wildlife division staff from both the southeast and southwest region, so we'll be doing flights in small fixed wing airplanes to count ducks, geese, swans and sandhill cranes. The spring breeding waterfowl population and habitats survey is something that's conducted cooperatively each spring by the US fish and wildlife services migratory bird program as well as state wildlife agencies like Michigan DNR and also our partners to the north, the Canadian Wildlife Service. And the purpose of it is to try to estimate the size of breeding waterfowl populations across North America and to evaluate the habitat that they rely upon on their breeding grounds.

Dan:
So, these crews of staff who are conducting the survey will be using really keen observational skills, not only to count the number of birds, but also to identify the species of waterfowl that are present in Michigan on the lakes, wetlands, farm fields and rivers. Spring is a nice time to do that because the waterfowl will all be in their breeding plumage, and so it's a lot easier to distinguish the species in the spring than it is any other time of year. Once all that data is compiled, the biologists can then compare that data to previous years to see whether waterfowl populations are on par with longterm population averages. Ultimately, the biologist typically hope to see numbers at or above the longterm average when they do these flights.

Dan:
Spring is a great time to be out in Michigan, and this year we hope you get out and enjoy a wetland near you and spend some time observing Michigan's fascinating waterfowl and other wetland dependent wildlife, and our spring birding tours are a great way to do that. As you mentioned on last month's podcast, Eric, the southeast and southwest region manage waterfowl hunt areas of DNR or the wetland wonders will be hosting spring birding tours, and those tours are going to continue in April. They're a great opportunity for the public to meet DNR staff or take a driving tour of our managed waterfowl areas and ultimately to see the great birds that live and are attracted to those managed waterfowl areas. They're a great opportunity for birders and wildlife watchers and photographers. There's a lot of opportunity for the public to ask questions of our staff and also familiarize themselves with these great birding locations, which are really a wonderful resource for the public.

Dan:
There'll be a three locations where the tourists would be going on, on April 6th those are the Harsens Island unit of Saint Clair flats state wildlife area as well as the Muskegon county wastewater treatment area, and also the Shiawassee River state Game Area near Saint Charles. And then, on April 13th two more areas we'll be hosting tours, one is the Nayanquing Point State Wildlife area north of Bay city and the other is Pointe Mouillee State Game area at the mouth of the Huron River in Rockwood. We certainly encourage you to get out and enjoy the great early spring weather and enjoy the viewing opportunities for some of these great birds that are attracted to those areas. If you're interested in more information, you can visit michigan.gov/dnr and click on things to do, at the bottom of the page click on events for a calendar of upcoming DNR events including these birding tours.

Eric:
Well, it sounds like our staff are staying busy all the way from the northern most part of the UP down to the southern most part of the state, so that wraps up our around the state segment. Stick around, we'll be right back with our interview with Dr. Kim Signs.

Announcer:
Base licenses are now available for 2019. Purchase your Base license online or anywhere hunting and fishing licenses are sold. Are you a non resident who enjoys hunting and fishing in Michigan? Take advantage of all Michigan has to offer with the Hunt Fish Combo, which includes your Base license, two deer licenses, and an all species fishing license. Non residents can save over $150 when these licenses are purchased as the hunt fish combo package. Visit michigan.gov/hunting for license information.

Eric:
All right, everybody, welcome back to the Wildtalk podcast. We move on to our interviews segment. And today, Dan and I are joined by Dr. Kim Signs, a veterinarian and epidemiologist with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Kim is going to talk to us today about rabies exposure. Welcome to the podcast Kim.

Kim:
Yeah, thank you for having me.

Eric:
All right, so Kim, I think a good question to start off with because maybe some of our listeners may be unaware, what is rabies and how is it transmitted exactly?

Kim:
Sure. So, rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals that infects the nervous system causing disease in the brain and death. Although rabies is nearly 100% fatal in people once symptoms develop, it is also 100% preventable if treatment is administered before symptoms develop. It's transmitted by the saliva and nervous system tissue of an infected animal, that's where the rabies virus is. It's most often spread through bites when saliva from an infected animal is introduced into the skin of an uninfected host. Although quite rare rabies has been transmitted by other routes, including contamination of mucous membranes like the eyes or nose or mouth with infectious material through aerosols for example, in a laboratory setting, or in caves where there might be millions of bats, and organ and tissue transplants from patients that have died of rabies.

Eric:
Now, when you say that rabies is nearly 100% fatal in people once symptoms have developed, have we had any rabies deaths from exposure in Michigan within the recent history?

Kim:
Unfortunately, yes, we have in 2009, we had a human case of rabies that was associated with a strain related or that's spread by bats. And this was a gentleman who woke with a bat on his arm, but he didn't recognize that that was a risk for rabies at the time, and he did not really tell anyone who might know that that was a problem. And unfortunately, by the time he developed symptoms, the disease was too far advanced, and he did die.

Eric:
Oh that's very unfortunate. So, had the bat actually bit him or was it just there on his arm or do we maybe not have those details?

Kim:
Yeah, unfortunately, often times by the time a person presents with symptoms of rabies, they are having neurologic symptoms and can't always relate something that happened to them weeks or months before. So in this case, we really don't know that a bite happened, we just know that he had this close contact with the bat, but the assumption is of course that he was bitten by that bat. But like I said, did not seek care. Just didn't recognize that that was a risk for rabies exposure.

Eric:
Probably safe to say that if you wake up with a bat on you, it might not be a bad idea to contact some people and maybe get some more information about whether or not you should be checked out I would say then.

Kim:
Absolutely. Situations that we're concerned about with bats in particular are those situations where a person is in close contact with a bat or in a confined area with a bat and can't really recollect or may not know what kinds of contacts they had with the bat. For example, a person who wakes up from a deep sleep, from sleeping to find a bat in a room where they've been asleep, or a person walks into a room where there's a young child and there's a bat in that room, or a person who might be incapacitated in some way and can't account for their time in the room with that bat. In those situations where a person has been in close contact with the bat, potentially may have had contact with the bat, they should try to collect the bat, contact their local health department and submit that bat for rabies testing.

Eric:
So basically, better to be safe than sorry in a situation like that where rabies is a possibility.

Kim:
Yes.

Dan:
So Kim, is it unique in the United States, we're talking about wildlife obviously is it unique here that wildlife species are the main source of rabies for people to be exposed to?

Kim:
Well, yes, it is. I mean, here in the US most animal cases of rabies occur in wildlife, but that is not the case globally throughout the rest of the world, at least in the developing world, dog rabies remains a huge threat and kills over 60,000 people it's estimated every year. Most of those deaths are actually in children. In the United States, most of the rabies cases occur in wildlife. 91% of the animal rabies cases are in wildlife, and bats are the species that are most commonly found infected with rabies, followed by raccoons, skunks, and fox.

Dan:
Why are bats associated with rabies, Kim? They seem like they would be an unusual one?

Kim:
So, I mean, I think that's a great question. I mean, we don't really understand how or why rabies infection has maintained in bat populations, but it's likely similar to other disease agents. The disease spreads among bats due to their normal behaviors such as living in large groups like colonial bats, or defending territory such as solitary bats.

Kim:
Studies have shown that most bats collected in the wild don't have rabies, so fewer than 0.5%, but of those bats that we test in public health for public health purposes, those bats that have potentially exposed a person or an unvaccinated pet about 5% here in Michigan of those bats are rabid. And, this is probably because these bats are more likely to be sick acting, more likely to end up where they don't belong inside your home or on the ground unable to fly where a pet can get ahold of them.

Eric:
If somebody, let's say, finds a bat in their home, if the disease is infecting that bat, it's maybe not necessarily readily apparent, especially if the bat is flying around. I think if, like you said, it's on the floor, and it's not really flying, you might have some suspicion that there's something going on in that bat's brain that is preventing it from getting up off the ground. But, in the event you've got one flying around or maybe it's flown around and landed somewhere on your curtains or on a table someplace, what should people do in that situation? Particularly in one of these cases where you're coming in, and you don't know if you've been exposed, or you come into a room where somebody has been asleep and there's a bat flying around, and you don't know if that person's been exposed, what steps should a person take to address that?

Kim:
That's a great question. If you have a situation where you have a bat in your home, and you're really not sure, or you know you had close contact, or you're not sure, we do recommend that you try to safely collect the bat rather than let it go, and then talk with your health department about potential exposures. If it's determined that there really wasn't an exposure of concern, at that point then the bat can be released. And, I can describe how you might safely collect a bat. In general, if you stand back and wait for the bat to land, then you can use something like a coffee can, tupperware container, place that over the bat, find a square of cardboard or stiff paper and slide that underneath gently, underneath a can or a tupperware container, plastic container, and then tape the top to the container. And then, just poke a few holes in the top and place it away from dogs and kids, and give your local health department a call.

Eric:
So, okay, so that sounds relatively straight forward. And, I think what we'll do is we'll have a link to a video in our show notes for people that they can check out and watch that process inaction so that in the event they run across that situation in the future, then they're prepared and ready to handle things appropriately.

Dan:
So Kim, you just described the situation where the bat is still present and can be caught. In situations where people may release the bat because they want to get it out of their house, I mean you could see that happening, and the bat is not available for testing, what happens to those folks then if the local health department deems that they've actually had an exposure?

Kim:
That's a great question as well, and unfortunately that does happen not infrequently. In having a conversation with your local health department about your exposure if it's determined that there was a possibility that you could have been bitten by the bat maybe and not know, whether you were sleeping or like I said it was a child or somebody who can't really recount their time near the bat, then the health department will recommend that you get rabies postexposure treatment. And, if you've never been through a rabies series before, that involves receiving actually two different biological products, one is called Rabies Immune Globulin, which is basically antibodies from other people who have been immunized against rabies. The physician will inject the immune globulin around the bite if we know there's a bite. If we don't know there was a bite, then you just receive that in a muscle.

Kim:
And then, you also will receive a series of rabies vaccinations. And, you have to receive a total of four vaccinations administered over a period of two weeks. So, you do have to return to the hospital to receive that treatment, finish your treatment. But, people who receive rabies postexposure treatment, and if there is a bite, if there's wound cleaning, et cetera, injection of Immune Globulin, then you will not develop rabies.

Dan:
So Kim, we've talked a bit about bats, and you even touched on some of the other wildlife species that are frequently the source of rabies, and that's of course of interest to tell our listeners because we're all about wildlife. But, can you tell us a bit about some of the domestic animals, how they would be exposed, and do you ever find situations where those animals can then expose people?

Kim:
Yeah, sure. So, in the case of domestic pets, in particular, dogs and cats, even for a variety of livestock, there are licensed rabies vaccines that can be administered in Michigan. Dogs are required to be vaccinated against rabies. We certainly recommend that all cats be vaccinated. Even, cats that don't go outside because very frequently, the people call us about bats in their home and their cats, indoor cats catching those bats. And so, it's important to have your cat protected against rabies as well. But occasionally, we do see domestic pets that do develop rabies. Here in Michigan, I mentioned bats are the species that most frequently test positive for rabies, but we also have a focus of rabies, a strain of rabies associated with skunks. And, it's primarily found in southeast Michigan and up into the Thumb. And so, because that strain is circulating in that part of our state, we do see occasional cases of rabies in domestic pets or livestock in that part of the state.

Kim:
Obviously, if you keep those animals vaccinated, that can protect them if they do encounter a rabid skunk. The most common domestic animal that we see testing positive for rabies is probably cats. We'll see rabies occasionally in stray cats for example. Last year we had a family that found a stray kitten under their porch, and brought it in. They noticed it smelled like a skunk. The kitten had an injury on a leg, took it into a vet, and within a few days the animal developed some neurologic signs, got aggressive and the veterinarian was astute. I euthanized the kitten and we tested it and it was rabid with a skunk strain. So, now all this make sense, when we look back the kittens smelled like a skunk, et cetera, et cetera. But, that's a typical scenario that we have with stray cats.

Kim:
And then again, we'll see it sometimes in a horse or a cow or something like that. And just, they're out in the field, they're curious. They see this, maybe a skunk that's acting funny, and they go check it out probably get bit on the nose or something like that, and end up developing rabies. And we've seen those types of cases as well. They're rare, but they do happen.

Eric:
That situation with that kitten was because his family was around that kitten handling this kitten and everything, were they considered exposed at that point and did they undergo rabies treatment then?

Kim:
Yeah. And again, this is very typical of these situations. Yes, so the people who had taken the kitten in they did go through the rabies treatment. Unfortunately, there were a couple of staff at the veterinary, the cat actually went to two different veterinary clinics and there were a couple of staff that were actually bitten by the kitten, and so went through postexposure treatment. We also had people who handled the kitten that wore proper protective equipment at the veterinary clinic and actually didn't have to go through rabies postexposure treatment, so that's always a good thing when that happens. But, it's not unusual in these situations to end up with a number of people that have to be treated.

Dan:
Eric, one of the point I just want to touch on as a wildlife veterinarian is that many of our listeners will know that bat, some species of bats are having a really hard time now in North America because of a disease called white nose syndrome. So, some of the colonies of bats have lost a lot of population. This is a fungal disease that has gone through and killed a lot of bats while they're hibernating. It's important as we've talked about, it's important for people to know that bats can be the most frequent species that are rabid. It doesn't mean bats are bad, bats are actually really cool wildlife species. They contribute a lot to ecosystems, and it's important for us to conserve bats. The important thing for people to understand is that they just need to stay away from bats. They need to not handle them.

Dan:
And so, I frequently get the question at the lab from the public, they want to put up bat houses to provide summer roosting habitat for bats. And that's perfectly fine, that's a great thing to do to help those bats. Just make sure that when you put the bat house up that you locate it somewhere where it's away from people and away from domestic animals. So, above the door of a barn where you've got horses or cattle is not a good place or on the swing set in the backyard where the kids play is not a good place. But as long as you can locate that bat house someplace where people and domestic animals are unlikely to get exposed to the bats, that's a perfectly fine thing to do. It's good for the bats, and it's really a lot of fun to watch bats in the summertime when they come out at dusk to go feed, it's a really cool thing.

Kim:
Yeah. And I'm glad you brought up this particular issue with regard to people's concerns about bats because they are very cool creatures and have a lot of benefits to the environment. And a lot of people really take this to heart can become quite concerned when they see a bat, for example, on the ground or in funny place outside their home. And, we have had situations where we've had members of the public who have ... For example, last year we had a situation where a man found a bat on his driveway and probably heard some of these conservation messages about bats. He took the bat inside and tried to feed the bat. People in the home had contact with the bat, and he ended up getting bitten on the finger, and told his mom about it the next day, and she immediately knew that that was a potential risk for exposure, he didn't. He didn't seek care at the time that the bite happened, and she took the bat to the health department. They drove it to our lab. We tested it right away and that bat had rabies.

Kim:
So, everyone, folks in the household had to get rabies postexposure treatment, people that had contact with the bat, and that included a young child and a pregnant woman. And so, I think it's important for the public to understand that bats do carry a risk, particularly bats that are sick acting or may not be behaving normally. And so, you should leave them alone. You shouldn't be picking the bats up with your bare hand, which this gentleman did or trying to save them, I guess, or feed them because a sick bat is very likely to have rabies. And again, this is another example of a situation where we can have a number of people that end up having to get rabies postexposure treatment from exposure to one animal.

Dan:
Yeah. And, I mean it's broader than just bats too Kim. I mean in general, even though people want to be involved with wildlife in a good hearted way, they want to do the right thing, but the right thing to do is to actually leave wild animals in the wild. You can look but don't touch, and that goes across species.

Eric:
So Kim as we wrap up the interview here, what do you really want people to walk away from? What knowledge do you want them to have to be able to protect themselves, and their pets from rabies exposure and what are those take home points that you want people to have today?

Kim:
Really pretty basic steps, keep your pets up to date on their rabies vaccinations, maintain control of your pets to reduce their exposure to wildlife. Don't handle wildlife as we've discussed. And if you happen to be bitten by a wild animal or have close contact with a bat like we've discussed, seek care immediately for the bite. If possible, try to confine or collect the animal taking care to preserve the brain, we need that for testing and contact your local health department. If the animal's available for rabies testing you meet may be able to start rabies treatment pending the results of testing the animal.

Eric:
All right, great and as always people can get more information on rabies at michigan.gov/rabies, and we'll also have more links in our show notes from some of the things that we've discussed here today. So Kim, thank you so much for coming in and joining us today.

Kim:
Yeah, thank you for having me.

Eric:
Stick around, Dan and I are going to be answering questions from our mailbag.

Announcer:
Check yes for the recreation passport when you renew your license plate at the Michigan Secretary of state. The recreation passport is just $11 when purchased with your license plate registration renewal and is your key to visiting more than 100 state parks accessing staff public boat launches, harking for rustic forest campgrounds in hundreds of miles of trails, attending free family outdoor events and classes, and protecting our natural for the next generation. Visit michigan.gov/recreation passport for more information.

Eric:
Welcome back everybody, it's time to unzip the mailbag and see what we've got inside.

Announcer:
One, two, three.

Eric:
The first email we have is a short one. Just wondering if I can use a drone for scouting on private land, Adam. Well, Adam, the DNR does not actually have authority over drone usage. That's handled by the FAA who oversees regulations regarding drones. And there is a link in our show notes for anybody who would like to have more information about private operations of drones and what the FAA has to say about those. You can check out those show notes and follow the link for more information.

Dan:
The first one I have Eric is from Chris, and they write that they had found seven eggs from a wild duck in their backyard, and they haven't seen the mother, and so they wonder if the nest is abandoned. Well, Chris, ducks, especially Mallard ducks, which are really abundant, can make their nests in odd locations. They take some time to lay all their legs. They don't just sit and lay them all at once, and they won't actually sit and incubate those eggs until all the eggs have been laid, so it isn't unusual if the female has not finished laying all of her eggs that you could go to the nest and not see them. She may just show up once a day to lay a new egg. But, once they're all laid, then she will sit and incubate them that way all the eggs will hatch at roughly the same time and then she can lead those babies to water the same day. That's ultimately where they're going to be safer.

Dan:
Typically, a Mallard, will sit on her nest for about a month before all the eggs hatch, and don't worry if there wasn't water nearby, mother's a typically know how to get their brood there safely. When a nest is made in a location where there's a lot of human activity though, which they do sometimes, it could be that the female will get spooked and scared off the nest, and she may abandon the nest, and that is also one reason that you may not be seeing her in case she doesn't return. Best thing for you to do like with all wildlife is to just leave them alone, let nature take its course. She may or may not come back. Mallards are abundant, and so that's not a species that is in any danger of dying out by any means. Waterfowl including ducks, their nest and their eggs are all protected by federal law, and they have to be left alone, so that's a good thing to add as well.

Eric:
Our next question comes from Dell, from Ohio and Dell wants to know, can non residents apply for the Pure Michigan Hunt? And the answer to that question is yes Dell, absolutely. People from outside of the state of Michigan can apply for the Pure Michigan Hunt. We haven't had an out of state winner yet, but if we do have one in the future and if Dell, if you happen to win the Pure Michigan Hunt, you get everything in that price package with the exception of the elk license. And the reason for that is by law set by Michigan legislature only Michigan residents can hunt elk. That said, you are still able to transfer that elk tag to a friend or family member who is a resident of Michigan.

Eric:
I know we had an email a while back from somebody from I think from the state of New York who had asked a similar question and when I told him, yeah, you can give it to a family member, both of his brothers lived in Michigan and so he said he was going to make the two of them fight over the elk tag if he wants, so. So yes, you can indeed apply and then you can choose which one of your friends or family members would be lucky enough to get that elk tag, and you can also just donate that elk tag to a general pool of licensed transfers that end up going to somebody with an advanced illness potentially, so they can get out and have an elk hunt as well. So, you don't have to give it to a friend or family member, there are other methods out there as well to get that into somebody's hands. So.

Dan:
Yeah, and who wouldn't be happy to have that?

Eric:
No, yeah, pretty much just about anybody. Those elk tags are definitely coveted.

Dan:
Well, our next note here, Eric is from Susan in Fenton. She writes that she's a community manager for a Condo Association, and she's received some reports from a couple of homeowners that turkeys have moved in and are becoming a nuisance in the community. They first went to the city of Fenton for assistance, but then they were directed to us at the DNR. She was just asked by those residents to contact us for any help that we could provide, is there anything to be done to control the turkey issue? In general, the best thing to do is to try to scare them away, hazing with either loud noises or things like motion controlled sprinklers are typically effective, but you sometimes need to be persistent because for whatever reason, sometimes turkeys pick out a spot that they want to frequent, and they can be difficult to get rid of.

Dan:
You want to cover your car or park a car in the garage so that the turkeys don't scratch the paint. They sometimes get up on tops of vehicles, but it's also a nice opportunity to see them. Turkeys are a species that have really made a comeback, particularly in southern Michigan and they typically don't cause any problems. It's just that people have to get used to seeing them. Pretty often Eric, you get people they don't want to hurt the animals, but they just want somebody to come and move the turkeys or whatever animal we're talking about somewhere else. But, what they often don't think about is that you're essentially just transferring your problem onto someone else, and you're also moving those animals out of their home ranges. So, they're at a competitive disadvantage when they go into a new area. So, it isn't always easy or justifiable to just move these animals to another area.

Eric:
Moving on, I have a question here from Joseph and this is one that comes around usually just about every deer season. This one was asked a little bit later in the year, Joseph says, I'm a lifelong resident of Michigan and as a young child I would go to Kalkaska area deer hunting with my father. We had many great memories of those trips, and this brings me to my question that nobody can seem to answer with any logical response other than tradition. Why is opening day of deer season always November 15th and not always the second Saturday in November? I've asked this question to hundreds of hunters over the years, and the only answer I received was either, I don't know, or it's tradition. Logic tells me if it's changed to the second Saturday of November that everyone can plan that weekend, no school closings, no missing work, businesses thrive, and tourism escalates. Everyone benefits. Please provide me with a logical answer. Thank you, Joseph.

Eric:
Well, I don't really have what everyone might consider a logical answer as to why things are always on the 15th other than it's what deer hunters want. Every couple of years within our deer hunter surveys, we ask people their opinions about opening day of firearm season, and consistently right around 85% of survey respondents say that they want opening day to remain on November 15th. Now those reasons for that might be wide and varied. For some of those people, maybe they just like the tradition of it and therefore they want to keep it for tradition. Maybe for some people it's easier for them to get off of work and therefore they feel that there'll be less hunters in the field, and they'll have a better chance. And, you can't really crawl inside the minds of every hunter in the state as far as getting their reasoning behind why they support a particular position on an opening day, but I'm sure that they're wide and varied among respondents.

Eric:
And, you can find the most recent survey result in the 2016 dear hunter survey report, which is available online, and we'll provide a link in our show notes. And unless that number changes drastically, we are likely to probably continue to see opening day in November 15th of each year for the foreseeable future, which is in line with the desires of the majority of Michigan deer hunters.

Dan:
Oh, last one I have Eric is from Lauren in Kalamazoo. There's a pregnant coyote in Kalamazoo, which is not unusual. Coyotes do really well in urban areas. Lauren writes that the coyote is around neighbors and pets and not leaving the area. She wonders if the coyote could be removed and put somewhere else. That isn't always a good way to go, and frequently it is not a good way to go. And the DNR does not remove coyotes in cases like these, but there are some options available, Lauren, for people on our coyote page. We have some excellent information under conflicts with coyotes in the management options section. There's a number of things you can do, you can either hire a nuisance wildlife contractor who are licensed to remove those animals. If you are a licensed hunter, or a licensed for Harvester, you can also hunt or trap coyotes in season if you live in an area where you can actually do that legally with firearms or traps.

Dan:
Generally speaking, coyotes don't pose a danger to humans, and they tend to avoid interactions with us, but they tend to prosper in areas where humans are in urban areas because they have access to garbage that humans leave out, pet food that people leave out. It is recommended though that you not leave small pets out and roaming free in an area where you have coyotes, because they can become part of the food chain for predators like coyotes or hawks. But the other side of that is two, leaving those animals to roam freely domestic animals to roam freely like cats for example. Cats are predators themselves for smaller species like birds and rodents, and outside cats kill between one and a half and 4 billion birds a year. So, it's best that domestic animals stay inside and wildlife be left alone outside.

Eric:
All right, well that wraps up our mailbag segment. Remember that you can email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov that's dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov, you can email your questions into there, or you can call (517) 284-9453 that's (517) 284 wild with your questions as well, and you just might be featured on a future episode of the mailbag.

Announcer:
Is it time to renew the license plate on your car or truck? When that moment arrives, show your support for Michigan Elk and Conservation by getting the wildlife habitat plates at the secretary of state. 2018 was the 100th years since the reintroduction of elk to the state of Michigan. And while the elk have been here for over a century, this plate is only available for a limited time, so don't miss out. Visit mi.gov/elk, and click on the license plate for more information.

Eric:
So, it is February 14th, Valentine's Day and I'm joined by our three Pure Michigan Hunt winners, Jesse Job, John Murphy and Greg Burkes, they are going to get to hunt elk, bear, spring and fall turkey, antlerless deer, and first picking a manage waterfowl area. In addition to that, they get $4,000 and prizes including rifles, shotguns, and all kinds of great hunting equipment from our wonderful sponsors that contribute to the Pure Michigan Hunt. So starting off right off the bat, Jesse, what was it like to win the Pure Michigan Hunt? Was it a dream come true?

Jesse:
It was better than hitting the lottery.

Eric:
Well, even if it was a $50 million lottery?

Jesse:
Well, I don't know about that.

Eric:
At least-

Jesse:
I would go on a lot of hunts for 50 million.

Eric:
I bet you could. I bet you could. So, how many applications did you buy this year?

Jesse:
20.

Eric:
20 applications. And, you buy one every year?

Jesse:
I bought for the last three years.

Eric:
Three years, okay, great. And, I believe you told me that your brother actually reminded you this year to get your Pure Michigan Hunt applications, correct?

Jesse:
He did. Thanks to my brother Jerry Job, he's a good brother. He's a good brother.

Eric:
But probably not good enough to give your elk tag too, right?

Jesse:
Probably not.

Eric:
So, when you got the call from Russ, did you believe him when he told you that you were a winner?

Jesse:
I did not. I second guessed him and he told me it was very real and very straight forward.

Eric:
Well, that's great. Well, congratulations as a winner, you've got a great year of hunting ahead of you. John, how about you? You got the call from Russ as well, you've got a bit of an interesting story with that also.

John:
Yeah, I was at work, I got a voicemail from Russ, and we played phone tag. I called him back, left him a voicemail. So in the meantime, I looked his name up, I Googled his name because the name sounded familiar, and I didn't know about the drawing being on January 18th until I saw a link to the Facebook live video. So, I clicked on that link and started watching that, and saw my name come up, first name drawn, and the last two digits of my phone number, and I was pretty excited to say the least.

Eric:
So, did pandemonium and sue where you were standing at that point?

John:
It did. I made a fool of myself a little bit with my coworkers, but they understood. It was good, everybody was excited for me, and finally spoke to Russ on the phone, and he made it official. I couldn't believe it.

Eric:
Excellent.

John:
So, best $5 I ever spent.

Eric:
I'm sure. So, you got one application, correct?

John:
I did one application.

Eric:
One application, and Jesse bought 20 applications. And Greg, you also bought one application, is that correct?

Greg:
Yes, just one.

Eric:
Just one, and that was probably $5 well spent for you as well, correct?

Greg:
Absolutely.

Eric:
So, has the smile come off your face at all in the last, I don't know, two or three weeks?

Greg:
No. Yeah, perma grin.

Eric:
So, I understand you're looking at possibly transferring your bear tag to somebody, is that correct?

Greg:
Yes. Yeah, I'm not a bear hunter per se, and the opportunity to pass it along to somebody that is, I'm going to look into that.

Eric:
Yeah, that's great. And, that's one of the nice things about the Pure Michigan Hunt application is that if you are drawn, and you are one of the winners, you have the ability to transfer that tag. Well, gentlemen, I appreciate you giving me a few minutes here today and good luck on what's sure to be an incredible year of hunting for the three of you. Thank you.

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.