Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Kylie Paul, Rockies and Plains Representative

Oddly enough, fishers don’t eat fish. Instead, these solitary and highly elusive members of the weasel family prey on creatures such as showshoe hare, porcupine and other small animals. Fishers’ pre-European distribution ranged across the boreal forests of Canada, extending south into the United States in the Great Lakes area and along the Appalachian, Rocky and Pacific Coast Mountains. But their luxurious coasts made them a highly sought-after furbearer in the 1800s, leading to dramatic reductions in range and population. While their populations have grown throughout many northern forests in North America, there is still little information on their distribution and population status in the Rockies. Some biologists think they are the most imperiled predator in the northern Rockies, but it is hard to know for sure without more data. Earlier this year, Defenders participated in a program incorporating citizen volunteers and DNA sampling to better understand the distribution of these important creatures.

Given the relative lack of information available on the prevalence and habits of fishers, they have sparked a significant amount of curiosity and debate. Defenders petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide Endangered Species Act protections to fishers in the U.S. northern Rockies, and in 2010, the Service announced that our petition raised legitimate concerns and it would consider listing fishers in the northern Rocky Mountains. However, the agency held off after deciding there was insufficient data to show their population in the region has declined historically.

One of the snares set to collect hair samples.

To fill this data hole, researchers at the U.S.Forest Service (USFS) Rocky Mountain Research Station began monitoring fishers in 2007. They sample five-mile-square grids and place hair snares in likely fisher habitat within those grids to collect hair (and thus DNA) for genetic analyses. A hair snare is a triangular tube made of waterproof posterboard, similar to the kind used for real estate signs. Each side has bristle rifle brushes, and in between those brushes is an enticing raw chicken wing. Anything that wants the chicken has to squeeze past the brushes, leaving a few hairs in the bristles. DNA from these hairs is then used to identify species and individuals in a lab. In addition to being painless for the fishers, this relatively easy standardized protocol allows ordinary citizens to assist in the surveys.

The U.S. Forest Service partnered with such citizen volunteers to set up and retrieve fisher hair snares along Forest Service roads and trails throughout the Ninemile Watershed/Ranger District of Lolo National Forest in Montana. Earlier this fall, 13 citizen volunteers were trained and, working in pairs, set out more than 70 hair snares in possible fisher habitat within grids in the Ninemile. Three weeks later, more volunteers headed to those same snares to remove them and gather hair samples. I took part in the hair snare survey, and hope to be able to with with the USFS on similar efforts in the future.

Preliminary results of the hair snare DNA analyses showed that no fishers were detected in the Ninemile this past September. Other species whose hair was found in the snares included striped skunk, bushy tailed woodrat, snowshoe hare, red squirrel, northern flying squirrel, coyote and pine marten. While fisher weren’t detected with this survey, it doesn’t necessarily mean they do not exist there — it could mean that we just didn’t find them, and we may want to try again.

One thing is clear: this was a win-win for citizens and fishers alike. It allowed volunteers to get involved in wildlife work while also providing an opportunity to learn more about the distribution of these fascinating creatures.

 This post was written by Patrick Graham, a member of the Wood River Wolf Project field crew 

Last month, the Wood River Wolf Project concluded its fifth and arguably most successful season — but it was a roller coaster from the very beginning.

Boise the lost wolf pup

As folks started to pour into the Wood River Valley seeking recreation, a couple of campers nearly drove over a wolf pup! They thought it would be a good idea to capture him and turn him over to the Sheriff, who then brought the pup down to the Sun Valley Animal Center. Field assistant Kyle Coshow happened to be working at the Center when the wolf arrived and knew we had to try to help. This kicked off a furious effort to locate the rendezvous site of the pup’s pack in order to return him to the wild with his family. Sadly, we were unable to locate his pack, so the pup was sent to Busch Gardens in Virginia to be raised with other pups his age.

Luckily, we didn’t have much time to mope around before things got really busy. At the end of June, our project team held a three-day training session and officially kicked off the grazing season when five different bands of sheep trailed onto the Sawtooth National Forest. Then we installed 15 motion-activated cameras along major grazing routes with suspected wolf activity and got pictures almost right away.

We captured our first photo of a wolf on June 24 near Lake Creek, which alerted us to the presence of wolves in the area. Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, we weren’t able to stop these wolves from killing four sheep over a busy Fourth of July holiday. Our field crew responded right away, however, by establishing a human presence near the sheep band while they were in the general vicinity of the kill site. We spent three full weeks on night watch and were able to deter any further conflicts. Throughout this 21-day stretch, we pulled six more photos of wolves from different cameras around the area, and every one of our field assistants got to hear wolves while they were out!

Soon thereafter, the Ketchum Ranger District office received a report from a hiker who saw five wolf pups along a road near Sun Valley. We followed up on this report by placing a camera at a stream crossing where wolves would be likely to stop and take a drink. Not too long after this camera was up, we got two great photos of wolves, one black and one gray.

At that point, our crew hiked up a trail with veteran wolf trapper and project adviser Carter Niemeyer to see if we could find any evidence that wolves were still present. Sure enough, not more than half a mile into our hike we discovered a fresh elk carcass. Then, while we were investigating the kill, we heard howls off in the distance. We immediately pursued the noise of the wolves, had Carter give his best howl, and the whole pack responded! We had discovered the Pioneer Pack.

Gray and black pups of the Pioneer Pack

The Pioneer Pack would prove to occupy most of our energy for the rest of the season, since two sheep bands were using the same area. We accumulated nearly 400 photos from 10 different cameras over a four-week period and determined that six wolves were in this pack — two adults and four pups. The sheep that were grazing on this allotment were scheduled to travel directly through the wolves’ rendezvous site, giving us the perfect opportunity to prove how effective nonlethal deterrents really are. One of our crew members was with the sheep every single night for 24 days total. We hiked hundreds of miles, climbed thousands of vertical feet, and used every deterrent in the book, including a propane cannon provided to us by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. We endured rain, wind and show during our time out in the mountains, and heard wolves nearly every night. But at the end of the long month of October, no sheep were killed while in the Corral Creek Drainage, and only four sheep were taken during the previous four-week period.

Considering more than 27,000 sheep moved through the project area during the summer, I’d consider the season an incredible success. Our feet became sore, and our legs became strong. We saw a lot of progress both on the part of the field crew and the ranching community, and look forward to exploring the future of predator deterrents and livestock management. See you all in the spring!

Following our success restoring life-saving protections for Northern Rockies wolves earlier this year, a handful of anti-wolf extremists have been extremely vocal, making outrageous, dangerous comments like the following:

Killing wolves is patriotic. Use shelter dogs to lure wolves to their deaths. Eliminate all wolves from the Northern Rockies—by any means necessary.

You can help stop these extremists. Your donation will enable us to produce and air a new radio ad to counter the anti-wolf propaganda.

Powerful Voices for Wolves

Recently, Defenders recorded the testimonials of 300 authentic Montanans who favor an end to the anti-wolf hate that has been dominating the airwaves and inciting violence against our endangered wolves. A sample of these recordings can be heard in the video above.

With your support, Defenders will produce and air a radio ad showcasing these Montana wildlife champions who understand the importance of maintaining healthy wolf populations in their region.

Please help us ensure that these reasonable conservation voices are heard.

Your contribution will also help us:

• Fight anti-wolf legislation in Congress
• Help ranchers co-exist with wolves and keep these magnificent animals out of harm’s way
• Promote other vital efforts to save wolves and other imperiled wildlife

As usual, it was a mixed bag in wolf news this week. So here’s the good, the bad and the … ridiculous.

Bad news first. Despite a tremendous response from Defenders supporters last week (who sent more than 55,000 responses to congressional offices opposing wolf legislation), many Montanans still want to strip federal protections from wolves. A recent poll published by Montana State University-Billings signaled that support may be slipping for protecting wolves under the ESA. That’s even more reason to get wolf supporters to speak out on behalf of protecting wolves for the future. The silver lining is that a plurality of young voters still support keeping wolves on the endangered species list.

A collared gray wolf in Yellowstone. Photo courtesy of William C. Campbell/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

A Bozeman Daily Chronicle editorial also mischaracterizes the ongoing problems with wolf management and finding a durable solution. Yes, wolf recovery has been a success on the whole, but that could easily be undone by current plans to kill hundreds of wolves across the region. The Chronicle’s editors need to hear from wolf supporters who want wolves managed based on science, not politics.

Now for the good news. Kirk Robinson, a colleague with the Western Wildlife Conservancy in Salt Lake City, Utah, got an excellent op-ed published in the SLC Tribune. Kirk explains why federal legislation to remove protections for wolves is the wrong approach. More importantly, he takes anti-wolf advocate Don Peay (head of the extreme group Sportsmen for Fish & Wildlife) to task for prioritizing hunting over the conservation of all wildlife. He goes on to highlight the critical role that wolves play in regulating ecosystem health and he debunks common myths about the relative impact of wolves on livestock.

Fortunately, other hunting groups are starting to take a more moderate approach. A coalition of seven organizations had their letter published in the Missoulian denouncing statements about poaching and calling for a return to the conservation ethic. Hopefully this begins a new chapter in finding common ground between hunters and wildlife groups.

And finally, Carharrt clothing outfitters is running this ridiculous ad showing wolves attacking three guys around a campfire. Keep in mind that the wolf “stars” are trained captive wolves that regularly appear in movies. Wolves in the wild almost never attack humans. Check out this post from Wolf Awareness Week to learn the facts about wolves.