Category: Mammals

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Cats vs. Wildlife

Rooster, the Stokes Nature Center Housecat
Felis silvestris catus
Copyright 2013
Andrea Liberatore, Photographer

This past winter we took on a new staff member at the Stokes Nature Center. In exchange for room and board, he lives in our building and is on call 24 hours a day. He’s arguably our most popular employee, but I’m not jealous. Rooster is, after all, cuter than me. He’s also a cat.

As one of the only buildings for miles around, we attract a lot of mice. Taking on a cat seemed like a fun and ecological answer to a frustrating long-term problem. Obviously, this isn’t a new idea. Cats and humans have been coexisting for thousands of years – probably since the time our ancestors were developing agriculturally-based societies in the Middle East 12,000 years ago. With agriculture came grain storage, and with grain storage came mice. Cats quickly became an important part of our food security system.

As humans spread around the globe, our newly domesticated feline friends came along too. But while most of us keep cats for reasons other than their hunting prowess these days, they have retained the skills that attracted us to them in the first place. Cats are predators. Even when they’re fed at home, and have no need for additional calories, their hunting instincts don’t dissipate. A recent study estimated that cats in the US alone kill around 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion small mammals every year. These statistics make cats the number one anthropogenic threat to wildlife.

Utah’s wildlife evolved in an environment void of small feline predators, and their behaviors reflect this. Ground-nesting birds such as quail, nightjars, and killdeer are especially prone to predation. Domestic cats are a non-native species against which many of our birds and mammals have few defenses.

So what can you do to help? The most straightforward answer is to keep your cat indoors. If however, you insist he goes out, there are still a few things you can do to keep neighborhood animals a little safer. Attaching a bell to your cat’s collar can warn wildlife that she’s around. If your yard is a haven for birds and mammals, provide dense vegetation for them to take refuge in. And of course, spay and neuter cats to avoid bringing any more unwanted felines into the world. There are already more stray and feral cats in the US than there are loving homes for them. Controlling cat populations can save the lives of millions of birds and small mammals.

If the welfare of birds and mammals isn’t enough to motivate you, consider that research shows your cat is safer, and will live longer, if kept indoors. An innovative study by the University of Georgia – dubbed ‘Kitty Cams’ – can give you a sense of what your cat might be up to during the day. Small cameras attached to the collars of housecats record not only wildlife kills, but also fights with neighborhood dogs and opossums, and trips into storm sewers, across busy roads, and into the undercarriages of parked cars.

So far, Rooster is earning his keep. We have noticed a wonderful decrease in nibbled-on file folders and tiny footprints in desktop dust. But we don’t want our outdoor critters to decrease in numbers, and so despite his (sometimes very vocal) desires, he will remain an indoor feline. For the sake of all our Utah wildlife, I hope you consider doing the same.

For a photo of Rooster, a link to the Kitty Cams site, and more suggestions on keeping wildlife safe from cats, visit our website at www.wildaboututah.org .

For the Stokes Nature Center and Wild About Utah, this is Andrea Liberatore.

Credits:

Photos: Courtesy & © Andrea Liberatore
Text:    Andrea Liberatore, Stokes Nature Center, logannature.org

Additional Reading:

Loss, S. R., Will, T., Marra, P. P. (2013) The Impact of Free-ranging Domestic Cats on Wildlife of the United States. Nature Communications 4, Article number: 1396 Accessible online at: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v4/n1/abs/ncomms2380.html

Angier, Natalie (2013) That Cuddly Kitty is Deadlier Than You Think. New York Times. Published January 29, 2013. Accessible online at: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/science/that-cuddly-kitty-of-yours-is-a-killer.html

The National Geographic & University of Georgia Kitty Cams (Crittercam) Project: A window into the world of free-roaming cats. Accessible online at: https://www.kittycams.uga.edu/

National Audubon Society. (2013) Reducing Threats from Cats. Available online at: https://web4.audubon.org/bird/at_home/safecats.html

Zax, David (2007) A Brief History of House Cats. Smithsonian Institution. Accessible online at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/brief_cats.html

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Yesterday’s Camels

Yesterday’s camel
Courtesy Wikimedia,
Arthur Weasley, Artist
Licensed under
GNU Free Documentation License

Utah locations where
ancient camel bones
were discovered.
Courtesy BerkeleyMapper,
created by
Berkeley Natural History Museums,
UC Berkeley at https://berkeleymapper.berkeley.edu/_

Map data ©2013Google,
INEGI Imagery, © 2013 Terra Metrics

Hyrum Museum
Courtesy Holly Strand, Photographer

Hi, I’m Holly Strand.

There’s a small, but very engaging museum underneath the public library in Hyrum UT. This museum showcases a number of artifacts reflecting the history, customs and environment of Cache Valley. When I first visited in 2009, a couple of odd items caught my eye. One was an enormous hairball that had formed in the stomach of a Cache Valley cow. Such hairballs are called bezoars, a Persian word meaning “antidote.” Centuries ago, bezoars were believed to be a universal antidote that could neutralize any poison.

The other odd item at the museum was a camel tooth. Now a cow hairball can seem geographically appropriate as Cache Valley has plenty of cows. But why would a camel tooth be in a museum about the history of Northern Utah?

Well it turns out that this particular tooth belonged to a native Utah camel species. It most likely came from we now call Yesterday’s camel (or Western camel) which lived over 10,000 years ago. This camel was twenty percent larger than a dromedary and had a longer, narrower head and thick muscled lips. Its footpad was soft and toes were splayed, approaching the foot structure of modern camels. We don’t really know whether or not Yesterday’s camel had a hump. Remains of this Pleistocene ancestor have been found throughout the American West and in a number of UT locations.

Further, I was surprised to learn that camels are a purely North American invention, first appearing some 40- 50 million years ago. At the peak of their North American career–during the Miocene–there were 13 genera of camels. Overall, at least 95 species in 36 genera have been described for this continent alone.

The earliest camel was no more than 2 feet high. After that we find camel legs and necks grew longer to allow browsing on trees and shrub tops. One particular species (Aepycamelus giraffinus ) stood 19 feet high. Essentially this camel had become America’s giraffe on what was then a Serengeti-like plain.

Other camels resembled gazelles, and still others looked more like the camelids of today.

4 million years ago, camelids first crossed the land bridge to Eurasia . Living in Eurasian deserts, they evolved into arid land specialists with a remarkable physiological capacity for water conservation.

Other North American camelids drifted south to colonize South America. They evolved into today’s llamas, guanacos, alpacas, and vicunas—all high altitude grazing specialists.

After a few waves of migration, camels suddenly vanished from their birthplace. In fact much of the North America’s megafauna suddenly vanished in the late Pleistocene. Perhaps due to human hunting, perhaps climate change. We may never know for sure.

But one thing is clear to me now–a camel tooth definitely has a place in a Utah history museum.

For more information and sources, and a link to the Hyrum Museum, go to www.wildaboututah.org

For Wild About Utah, I’m Holly Strand.

Credits:

Image: Courtesy Wikimedia, Arthur Weasley, Photographer
          Courtesy & Copyright © Holly Strand, Photographer
          Courtesy BerkeleyMapper, created by Berkeley Natural History Museums,
          UC Berkeley at https://berkeleymapper.berkeley.edu/_
          Map data ©2013Google,
          INEGI Imagery, © 2013 Terra Metrics
Text: Holly Strand

Sources & Additional Reading

Flannery, Tim. 2001. The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America and its Peoples, NY: Grove Press.
https://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Frontier-Ecological-History-byFlannery/dp/B004XOXF06

Honey, J. J. Harrison, D. Prothero, M. Stevens, 1998. Camelidae. In:
C. Janis, K. Scott, L Jacobs, (eds.), Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, Vol. 1. Terrestrial carnivores, ungulates and ungulate-like mammals, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UKIrwin, Robert. 2010. Camel. London : Reaktion Books
https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Tertiary-Mammals-North-America/dp/0521619688

San Diego Zoo Global. 2009. Extinct Western Camel, Camelops hesternus
https://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/_extinct/camel_extinct_western/extinctcamel.htm [Accessed at time of publication – Note from Library.SanDiegoZoo.org 11/24/2024: The SDZWA Staff Publications Repository and Zoonooz/Journal Index are both unavailable as we work with a new vendor to provide users a better searching experience. Please contact the Library team, or check back here soon, for more information.]

Hyrum Museum
50 West Main Street
Hyrum, UT 84319
435-245-0208
https://hyrumcitymuseum.org/

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Pocket Gopher

Northern Pocket Gopher, Thomomys talpoides. Courtesy NPS, Gillian Bowser, Photographer
Northern Pocket Gopher
Thomomys talpoides
Courtesy NPS
Gillian Bowser, Photographer

Click for a larger view of Pocket Gopher Surface Mound with Open Entrance Hole. Courtesy Lyle Bingham, Photographer Pocket Gopher Mound
with open entrance hole
Courtesy
Lyle Bingham, Photographer

While hiking mountains meadows in spring, you will likely encounter earthen tubes that meander across the soil surface. These are remnants of the winter tunnels of pocket gophers. Often called ropes, these dirt cores result from pocket gophers burrowing for food all winter long. They dig under the snow, backfilling their tunnels with dirt. Another surface clue to pocket gophers’ presence are the hills of soil that they push to the surface. The tunnel opening in the hill is closed with an earthen plug.

Pocket gophers are superbly adapted for their subterranean lifestyle. Their eyes and ears are tiny. In compensation for poor eyesight, they have long whiskers or vibrissae on their snout. The vibrissae are very sensitive to touch and allow them to navigate in their dark tunnels. In reverse, they rely on their stubby, hairless tails to guide them as they run backwards.

These little rodents have formidable tools for digging. Their front claws are long and stout and powered by impressive shoulder muscles. As with all rodents, the incisor teeth grow constantly, offsetting the abrasion of biting through hard soil and roots. Cleverly, the lips close behind their front teeth which keeps their mouth clean of dirt. These gophers really do have pockets: fur-lined cheek pouches which they use to carry food to the storage areas of their burrows.

Pocket gophers are vegetarians, eating roots and bulbs below ground and stems and leaves above. Their plant diet and tunneling cause many farmers and homeowners to consider them a terrible nuisance, but pocket gophers also contribute to a healthy ecosystem. One pocket gopher will move up to 4 tons of soil each year, alleviating soil compaction. They bring fresh mineral soil to the surface and fertilize belowground with their droppings and leftover stashes of vegetation. Their tunnels provide habitat for other animals that live underground. Many mammals, birds and snakes dine on pocket gophers.

If you find a gopher mound, try watching quietly. If you are really lucky, as our Wild About Utah web guru, Lyle Bingham was, you may see one pop its little head out for a quick look around.

Credits:

Images: Courtesy NPS, Gillian Bowser, Photographer
Theme: Courtesy & Copyright Don Anderson Leaping Lulu
Text: Linda Kervin, Bridgerland Audubon Society https://www.bridgerlandaudubon.org
Video:

Additional Reading:

Pocket Gophers – About Exploring the Nature of Wyoming
University of Wyoming Extension

Northern Pocket Gopher — Thomomys talpoides. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved on April 30, 2013, from https://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_AMAFC01040.aspx

About Exploring the Nature of Wyoming, University of Wyoming Extension, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frfxuO6oYkA

Wiscomb, Gerald W., Messmer,Terry A., Pocket Gophers, Wildlife Damage Management Series, Utah State University Cooperative Extension, https://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/NR_WD_005.pdf

Pocket Gophers, Identification, School IDM, Utah Pests, Utah State University Cooperative Extension, https://extension.usu.edu/pests/schoolipm/structural-pest-id-guide/pocket-gophers

On Being Misunderstood:: Pocket Gophers, The Metropolitan Field Guide, https://www.metrofieldguide.com/on-being-misunderstood-pocket-gophers/

Pocket Gophers, Living with Wildlife, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Washington State, https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/living/species-facts/pocket-gophers

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Til Death Do Us Part

Audio:  mp3 Listen to WildAboutUtah

Tundra Swan Pair
Cygnus columbianus
Courtesy US FWS
Tim Bowman, Photographer

Hi, I’m Holly Strand.

Each year we celebrate Valentine’s Day by expressing our love and devotion to a significant other. While humans are the only species that actually celebrate it, we aren’t the only animals who bond together as couples. Monogamy–or long term pair bonding as animal behaviorists call it–is practiced by over 90 % of birds. Along with a modest number of mammals, including wolves, beavers, voles and gibbons. Even a few fish pair up.

Monogamy may have evolved for different reasons among different groups of animals. For some, female dispersal may have played a role. If females are few and far between–as is the case with white tail ptarmigans–there is a tendency to pair up. Perhaps additional potential mates are too far away too bother. For males, monogamy can save a lot of time and energy. Monogamous males don’t have to fight over females or bother with first time courtship rituals. And by closely guarding a single female , males can protect their genetic investment.

There are advantages for females too. With a mate, you can get a little assistance around the nest or den. Male partners can help incubate eggs, guard against predators and help feed the kids. The fact that male and females are equally suited to care for chicks may explain why monogamy is so much more common among birds. The male improves his chances for reproductive success by investing in just one female’s little ones. The situation is different in mammals. Mammal males just can’t step in and help as much with gestation and lactation. So perhaps that’s why only 3% of mammal species form pair bonds.

The offspring of monogamous pairs tend to be pretty helpless at birth. Having two caregivers means that the you can take more time to mature. This long, slow development leads to larger brain sizes. Humans demonstrate this phenomenon very well as we parent our children longer than any other species on earth!

The tundra swan is Utah’s best example of monogamy in the wild. Young tundra swans date around a bit when they are young, but they eventually settle down with a single mate for life. They build and defend a nest together and raise the kids. But then they stick together the rest of the year as well. Greetings and courtship rituals such as head bobbing and dipping and ritual bathing strengthen their commitment toward each other.

You can see these beautiful swans in massive numbers twice a year when they migrate through Utah. Tens of thousands of them stop by the Great Salt Lake on their way to either the Arctic tundra or to central California.

For sources, pictures, and archives of past programs, go to www.wildaboututah.org

For Wild About Utah, I’m Holly Strand.

Credits:

Image: Courtesy US FWS, images.fws.gov
Text: Holly Strand

Sources & Additional Reading

Limpert, R. J. and S. L. Earnst. 1994. Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: https://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/089

Mocka, Douglas, and Masahiro Fujiokab. 1990. “Monogamy and long-term pair bonding in vertebrates” Trends in Ecology & Evolution. Volume 5, Issue 2, February 1990, Pages 39–43

Reichard, Ulrich and Christoph Boesch. 2003. Monogramy: mating Strategies and Partnerships in Birds, Humans and Other Mammals. Cambridge University Press.

Schultz, Susanne and Robin I.M. Dunbar. 2010. “Bondedness and sociality”
Behaviour, Volume 147, Number 7, 2010 , pp. 775-803(29).

Schultz, Susanne and Robin I.M. Dunbar. 2010. Social bonds in birds are associated with brain size and contingent on the correlated evolution of life-history and increased parental investment. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. Volume 100, Issue 1, pages 111–123, May 2010.