River Otter Tracks at Butternut Brook

River Otter Tracks and Slide Marks on Butternut Brook, Litchfield, Connecticut, USA, February 12, 2016

A group of River Otters (Lontra canadensis) traveled along Butternut Brook toward the Bantam River/Lake outlet where it was ice free.  The group consisted of at least 3 animals but there may have been one more.  It was not possible to get a closer look at the tracks because the ice is not thick enough to walk on but a photograph was taken from the bridge on North Shore Rd.  It is difficult to determine from this spore the group composition but it is very likely that this was an adult female with her kits but it could also consist of a group of males.  River otter home ranges tend to be larger in the winter because they need to travel between areas where the water surface is ice free.  They will often travel along waterways but may occassionally traverse along upland routes.  River otters consume meat, primarily fish, but their diet will include frogs, crayfish, and other prey depending on their seasonal availability.

Winter Track Transects Workshop

River Otter (Lontra canadensis)
Photo by Margaret and Thomas Sellers

December 10, 2011

9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

A. B. Ceder Classroom

Facilitated by James Fischer, Research Director

Do you enjoy the winter season?  

Do you want to learn which animals leave all of those tracks in the snow?  

Come find out who they are and how they live at White Memorial!

All who want to participate in this year's tracking transects must attend the training. 

Hope to see you there!

It will be a fun day for all of us!  The information that we gather is very useful to our long-term monitoring and conservation of these species.  Please dress for the weather and walking/standing outdoors.  This workshop is facilitated indoors and outdoors.  Bring a lunch, water, paper, pen, & your favorite tracking field guide.  We'll provide light refreshments.  

Confirming the presence and local distribution of porcupine (Erithizon dorsatum) on the White Memorial Foundation property, Litchfield and Morris, Litchfield County, USA.

We observed our first definitive evidence of porcupines on the property on March 15, 2011.  Lukas Hyder, WMF Asst. Property Superintendant, observed 4 to 5 sugar maple (Acer saccharum) trees that were recently de-barked by chewing animal while performing the forest inventory.  The de-barked regions of the tree boles were approximately 10 to 15 feet above the forest floor; each tree was approximately 6 to 10 inches dbh (Figure 1).  

Figure 1:  Sugar maple tree debarked by porcupine.
Photo By: James Fischer

Trails in snow, claw marks on tree boles, gnawing tooth marks, and nipped twigs of yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) (Figure 2) and red maple (Acer rubrum) (Figure 3)  were observed in this vicinity. 

Figure 2:  Yellow birch nipped twigs by porcupine.
Photo By:  James Fischer

Figure 3: Red maple nipped twigs by porcupine.
Photo By James Fischer

To date, all of this evidence was observed in the ravine and valley that extends SSW of Plunge Pool across the Beaver Pond trail and ends at the Teal Pond-south woods road.  We have not yet observed the animal, only the evidence of its activities.

Since this is our first observation of this species on the property, we need to establish if this animal is a resident or using it as a corridor.  Summer home ranges expand greatly from winter home ranges (Roze, 2009).  However, attempting to capture, mark, or track this lone animal will be costly and time consuming.  We would like to attempt a novel approach to detecting the presence and potential local distribution of this animal on the property.  Porcupines have a seasonal salt drive from April to August, which peaks in May (Roze, 2009).  We propose to utilize this behavior to our advantage by placing “salt licks” in the local vicinity of where we made our initial observations.  We are going to distribute salt soaked stakes (1"x1"x20" white pine) throughout the 5 Ponds region and to observe the presence/amount of chewed wood at each station.  If the animal remains on the property then the wood should be chewed by the porcupine.  We'll be replacing the stakes every month to assure that the stations display a relatively constant amount of salt because the rain will leach the salt from the stakes over time.

We are going to need a lot of help with this project, so if you are interested in volunteering to help us.  Please contact James Fischer.


Roze, U. 2009.  The North American Porcupine.  2 ed. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.  pp. 282

February 2011 Monthly Volunteer Meeting Recap




River Otter Tracks at Cranberry Pond in Late December 2010.
Photo By James Fischer

 
Last night several folks (a total of 14) came out to catch up with the program's current events and to share their observations while helping on the property.  We began with some announcements. 

1. Wetland Bird Callback Survey and Frog Call Survey Workshop on March 19.  We are combining both surveys into one protocol.  Last year we initiated the Frog Call Survey but the season became too warm earlier than we had anticipated so we missed the peak of frog calling activity.  Several species of wetland birds inhabit the property for the breeding season and as migratory stopover habitat, so we will orient you to these calls, too.  Details will be announced soon.  Check back at the Wildlife Monitor and Forum for further information. 
2. Connecticut Conference on Natural Resources is March 7 at the University of Connecticut, Main Campus in Storrs.  Please consider attending this conference because there will be many natural resource professionals presenting their original research performed in Connecticut.  James Fischer will be presenting a poster titled "An initial survey of crayfish (Order Decopoda) species inhabiting the White Memorial Foundation, Litchfield and Morris, Litchfield Co., Connecticut."  Check this link for more information http://www.ccnr.uconn.edu/ 

Several of our volunteers have been observing loads of meso-predators throughout the property, while some species that are traditionally observed are observed less this year.  White-tailed deer have been impacted by the deep snow so they are moving less to conserve energy, therefore their tracks are infrequently observed this year versus previous years.  Most of the meso-predators are having to move greater distances so that they can find food because most of the small mammals are living under the deep snow and are detected less.  Result of these subtle changes has been translated in our volunteer's observations on the property.  Meso-predators (bobcat, coyote, & red fox) tracks and sign are being observed throughout the property and consistently between each of the transects (a total of 19).  On the other hand, white-tailed deer spoor are observed less frequently by our volunteers even though they are distributed throughout the property.  Our Winter Track Transect Monitors logged a total of 65.5 cumulative hours of effort during the month of January!  The tracking conditions have been really challenging this year but they are all strapping on the snowshoes or lacing up the ski boots so that they can contribute their observations.  Kudos to all of them!

Coyote Tracking in Duck Pond Vicinity

Friday, January 18, 2011, start time: 13:15 p.m., end time:16:30 p.m., temperature ~34 degrees F, wind: SW 0 - 10 mph, cloud cover 90% - 100%, snow cover 8 - 32 inches.

Nicki Hall and I observed coyote tracks in the Duck Pond Vicinity; which is located north of Bissell Rd., southeast of S.R. 202, and west of White Woods Road.  The tracks were actually quite tricky to identify because their gate appeared to demonstrate that they were running from the trail while maneuvering through some dense cover.  We were quite puzzled at first because these tracks could have been domestic dog that wandered a little far from it's owners, who remained on the trail.  After a little bit of exploring, we observed a small clue that helped us to determine that it was indeed a coyote.  The tracks became a little clearer as the animal continued to walk further away from the trail.  The following pictures illustrates what we observed:

Photo by James Fischer

The coyote was running and it grazed a multi-flora rose branch.  Notice the photograph above that we observed fur on the rose thorns.  A closer inspection of the branch is below.



Photo by James Fischer

 Although the tracking conditions were challenging, with a bit more careful observations we were able to confidently identify the species. 

Good Tracking!

Who's Out and About on the Day After the January 2011 Blizzard




Scott's First Time on Snowshoes!
He took to it like a duck to water.

  Scott Dayton and I (Jamie) were out on the property checking waterfowl nest-boxes in the 18+ inches of snow.  Snowshoeing was the only way to travel in these conditions.  Although snowshoeing is fun, it can be really hard work when you are the first to break the trail through deep powdery snow.  It reminded me how difficult it would be for some of our larger mammals to travel through the same conditions.  Some animals have adaptations that are adapted for these conditions such as the large feet of cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares so that they can travel on top of the snow.  Moose is the only large mammal that inhabits northern CT that can walk through deep snow with their long legs.  Bobcats, coyotes, fisher, and white-tailed deer, on the other hand, are hindered by these conditions.  I expect to see more of their tracks and trails as soon as the snow compacts, but so far we found no evidence that they were moving around much today.  These mammals rely on other adaptations to survive when they can not move very far to find food.  They carry a layer of fat on their bodies that insulates and provides energy that maintains bodily functions.  These adaptations are good for short periods of time and each of them use many other behavioral and physiological adaptations to survive the winters especially during these dramatic environmental conditions.  Some move into the sunlight to warm their bodies, others reduce their metabolism so that they don't need to find as much food when it is difficult to find, and others sleep through the extreme winter climate.  The only mammal sign that we observed today were weasel tracks in various marshes.  The weasels bounded between shrub stands and dove under the snow to probably elude predation and to gain access to the subnivian (below snow) layer where all of the small mammals (mice, voles, shrews, moles, etc.) inhabit.



Weasel Tracks at Little Pond Boardwalk



Weasel Tracks at Little Pond Boardwalk Another Perspective

Winter Track Training

Winter Track Training

See all of the happy faces!  They are returning from an excursion that found bobcat and coyote tracks!

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Winter Track Transect Workshop -- Saturday, 8 Jan. 2011

Saturday, 8 January 2011

9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Free Workshop for Volunteers helping with Winter Track Transects!

Bring a lunch, water, and dress for the weather.

James Fischer will introduce the basics of snow track identification and how the transects are to be conducted for the season.  Please make every effort to attend, even if you have participated in the past.  The program has several new modifications to the protocols which address new program objectives.  This workshop will be conducted rain, snow, or shine.  There will be classroom
and field introductions.  We will be developing our senses to encourage our awareness of our environment.  We will also increase the accuracy and precision of our observational skills.  This will be a workshop that you do not want to miss.

Topics include species natural history introductions, interpreting tracks and gait patterns, critical habitat introductions, track photography, and much more!

Please contact James Fischer if you are interested in participating in this year's Winter Track Transects.

Snow Tracking

14:40 to 16:05 (EST) 30 degrees F., North wind ~0-5 mph, 25% cloud cover.

Nicole Morin, volunteer from Wamogo Regional High School, visited today and helped with some of the first snow tracking of the year.  We hit several locations.  The best site was Catlin Marsh junction of Webster Road!  Look for yourselves, bobcat tracks!  We also saw old coyote tracks. 



Bobcat Tracks!  Notice the walking gate (direct register) on the right trail and the running gait on the left trail.  



 
We saw 8 turkeys (all males) leave one of the Arethusia Farm fields and enter into the white pine stand on the north side of the road.  They were scratching the ground and probably will roost in the pines overnight.

We also saw a bald eagle soaring over Cranberr Pond.  The ice on Heron Pond was at least one inch thick, not enough to support my foot, I tried!