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Wildlife Report from N.H. Fish and Game -- September 30, 2004 Spectacular October is
here. While the calendar insists there are still two more months
to the year, there is no doubt that October is the grand finale.
As the magnificent colors spill down from the Great North Woods,
flooding even the southern valleys as the month progresses, it is
also the grand finale of the life of many wild animals. Butterflies,
dragonflies, moths and even mosquitoes will soon be wiped from our
view by the sparkling white explosion of one hard frost. The end
of another cycle of life is at hand, until April once again gives
life to the earth. -- Eric Orff, wildlife biologist Click
here if you'd like to receive this free monthly report by e-mail.
What wildlife topics would you like us to cover in future issues?
Send your ideas to jvachon@wildlife.state.nh.us.
Keep your eyes on the skies during the next couple of weeks for the high-flying Canada goose migration. In a learned family tradition, all the geese hatched in certain areas travel to the same winter destination. Two different populations of migrating geese pass over the Granite State. One group, called the Atlantic population, travels down the Connecticut River Valley as they wing their way south from spring breeding grounds in the Hudson and James bays in Canada to their winter home in the Chesapeake Bay. The Atlantic population, with about 175,000 breeding pairs, is doing very well, according to Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Ed Robinson, who predicts a larger fall flight this year than last. The second population of migrating geese is called the North Atlantic population, with about 197,000 breeding and non-breeding birds. More of a coastal species, these geese breed during the spring in Labrador in the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and winter in New Hampshire's Great Bay, as well as in coastal Massachusetts and Connecticut. This population is also flourishing, and an increased number of birds is expected this year. New Hampshire has still another group of Canada geese - a resident population of about 30,000 birds. Though the same species, this population does not migrate. Our resident Canada geese are more productive than the migrating populations, so can be harvested at different rates by hunters. The resident Canada goose hunting season, with a higher bag limit than the open season, ended on September 25, before the big surges of migrants started coming through the state. Hard mast crops like beechnuts and acorns appear to be more abundant this fall than in 2003, but are still spotty in their occurrence around the state. Much of the state's wildlife relies on this food as a rich source of protein and fat. The American beech is one common mast-producing tree in New Hampshire. An array of wildlife -- from ruffed grouse and wild turkey to raccoons, foxes and squirrels -- consume beechnuts. Beech trees are easy to identify by their smooth gray bark and toothed leaves. Growing slowly to a height of 120 feet, beech trees don't produce nuts until they're 40 years old (the trees can live for 360 years). They produce a triangular-shaped nut in a rough burr, with abundant nut crops occurring every two to three years. This time of year, black bears eat a tremendous amount of food to build up fat reserves to get them through the winter and early spring. When putting on this weight, black bears' diets may be composed exclusively of beechnuts. Throughout the year, beechnuts may make up half of their diet. If you're walking in a beech stand, look for claw marks on the bark, left by black bears climbing in search of nuts. Sometimes you can see where a bear has made a perch high in the branches to gather all the nuts within its reach. Of all the mast-producing trees in New Hampshire, oaks are the most important to wildlife because of their variety, abundance and distribution. Our most common oak is the northern red oak, but black oak and white oak are also found here. Acorns are of greatest value to wildlife during the critical winter season when other food is scarce. Gray squirrels dive into the acorn feast as soon as the nuts begin to mature and ripen, eating all the nuts they can and storing others in large quantities underground. They gather the nuts one at a time, and bury them, usually somewhere near the source tree. Chipmunks take a different approach. They find food more by smell than sight, and carry the nuts to their burrow in their cheek pouches. Chipmunks periodically feed on the stored nuts during the winter, relying on stored food until new food is available in the spring. They will often store far more food than they can possibly eat. Racoons, black bear and deer all rely on acorns as well. When acorns drop, they may comprise as much as 80 percent of the deer's diet. Sometimes after the first snowfall, you can see where deer have pawed through the snow in search of acorns. Acorns are important to many birds, too, including wild turkey, ruffed grouse and wood duck. Songbirds like blue jays and white-breasted nuthatches also feed on acorns. On your autumn walks this fall, take note of the nuts that are such a valuable food source for much of the Granite State's wildlife. -- Judy Silverberg, Wildlife Educator Several readers have requested a bobcat story, so this month we take a look at this elusive feline, the last survivor of three wildcats that once roamed the New Hampshire woods. Mountain lions (also called cougars, panthers or catamounts) were gone from the state by the late 1800s. The bobcat's taller cousin, the lynx, lived in northern New Hampshire through the 1950s. Today, only the tenacious bobcat is still here. No one knows for sure, but probably several hundred bobcats still live in the Granite State. The southwestern corner of New Hampshire has the most consistent reports of bobcat sightings. For centuries, bobcats were killed for bounty in New Hampshire, and by the late 1970s, bobcats had become scarce. New Hampshire's hunting and trapping seasons for bobcat were finally closed in 1989. In less than a decade, bobcats went from being bountied in New Hampshire to being completely protected. The bobcat population in New Hampshire has increased since that time, but not by much, because now the state's bobcats face new challenges. Fishers and coyotes compete with bobcats for a dwindling prey pool, and encroaching development breaks up the large blocks of habitat bobcats need. Humans have ushered in another dangerous element: busy roads that can be deadly for the wide-ranging animals. Bobcats often roam between brushy swamp areas and the high-elevation habitat they prefer. Rocky, south-facing slopes and near-summit ledges of mountains offer protection, a safe place to raise kittens and a chance to soak up the sun. The bobcat's only real social grouping is females with kittens -- usually about 3 to a litter, dependent on their mothers for 9 or 10 months. This solitary lifestyle means bobcats need space, and lots of it. Females stake out a territory of about 12 square miles, and males roam over about 36 square miles. A lot depends on the availability of food -- snowshoe hare and cottontail rabbits are the bobcat's favorite, though they will eat mice, chipmunks, wild turkeys and even an occasional deer. Ongoing efforts to conserve, connect and manage protected lands continue to be the best bet for helping New Hampshire's last wildcat survive. Winter is an especially tough time for bobcats in New Hampshire. Food is scarce, and the bobcat's short legs and small feet aren't well suited to hunting in deep snow. Driven by hunger during the cold months, bobcats sometimes gravitate to barns and porches in search of food, or stalk birds and squirrels at backyard feeders. Many young bobcats, as well as some adults, don't survive winters with long periods of deep, fluffy snow.
Two new areas in New Hampshire are closed to cottontail rabbit hunting to help protect the state's remnant New England cottontail populations. Click here for the boundaries and a map of the closed areas. New Hampshire has two species of cottontail rabbits, the Eastern cottontail, introduced from the Midwest in the early 1900s, and the native New England cottontail. The abundance of New England cottontails has declined sharply since the 1960s because they depend on "early successional" habitats - abandoned farmlands and shrub thickets - that have largely disappeared from the state's landscape. In contrast, Eastern cottontails thrive in the mowed lawns and shrub cover of suburbia. Since the two species are nearly identical, areas where New England cottontails have been recently documented are now closed to all cottontail hunting.
If shorter days and a snap in the air have you at home a little more, get in your wildlife watching by tuning in to Wildlife Journal TV. Upcoming features include:
Wildlife Journal TV is a co-production of N.H. Fish and Game and New Hampshire Public Television. Programs air several times during the week. Click here for additional air times and program descriptions. A brand new season begins November 4 -- stay tuned!
Cost: $5 per family. Call (603) 626-3474, or click here for more information and programs at the Amoskeag Fishways in Manchester.
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