Masswildlife Monthly December 2019 News from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife TABLE of CONTENTS
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I N FO R M AT I O N A L A L E RT Public Health Alert Vaping Emergency: Learn about the temporary ban and public health emergency for vape products Sep. 25th, 2019, 3:39 pm Read more HIDE ALERTS Mass.gov MassWildlife Monthly December 2019 News from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife TABLE OF CONTENTS Get your 2020 license today (#get-your-2020-license-today-) Give a gift on the wild side (#give-a-gift-on-the-wild-side-) 2019 lake trout survey complete (#2019-lake-trout-survey-complete-) CWD reminder for out-of-state hunters (#cwd-reminder-for-out-of-state-hunters-) Avoid decorating with invasive plants (#avoid-decorating-with-invasive-plants-) Reminder to submit your hunting log to win prizes (#reminder-to-submit-your-hunting-log-to-win-prizes-) Prescribed burning for wildlife in Massachusetts: An essential land management tool (#prescribed-burning-for-wildlife-in-massachusetts:-an-essential-land-management-tool-) MassWildlife property spotlight: Martin Burns WMA (#masswildlife-property-spotlight:-martin-burns-wma-) Contact (#contact) Related (#related-) () Get your 2020 license today Hunters, anglers, and trappers can now purchase 2020 licenses, permits, and stamps. Give licenses as a gift or treat yourself. Use care when purchasing during December, as both 2019 and 2020 licenses are available. Get your license now... (https://www.ma.wildlifelicense.com/Internetsales/IS/Customer/InternetCustomerSearch) Give a gift on the wild side It's time to think about the outdoor enthusiest on your holiday list! Consider the following wildlife-related gifts available from MassWildlife. MassWildlife Publications: A 2-year subscription to Massachusetts Wildlife magazine (/how-to/massachusetts-wildlife-magazine) ($10) delivers eight full-color issues of the Commonwealth’s best wildlife publication. The magazine is packed with award- winning articles and photos on the environment, conservation, fishing, hunting, natural history, and just about everything related to the outdoors in Massachusetts. Find this and other great publications at our website (/guides/masswildlife-publications/). 2020 Licenses: The sportsman or sportswoman in your life will appreciate a 2020 hunting, fishing, or sporting license and any supplemental stamps they will need (available December 1). License purchases support MassWildlife’s fish and wildlife conservation, management, and habitat protection programs. Go to MassFishHunt (https://www.ma.wildlifelicense.com/IS/Customer/InternetCustomerSearch) to make a purchase. Charitable Donations: For the person who has everything, make a donation in his or her name to support one of the following funds. The Wildlands Fund (/service-details/wildlands-fund) is dedicated to acquiring and conserving important wildlife habitat open to wildlife-related recreation. Send the honoree’s name with a check made out to Comm. of Mass – Wildlands Fund to MassWildlife, 251 Causeway St., Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114. The Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Fund supports efforts to protect rare and endangered wildlife. Read rare species success stories (/service-details/support-endangered-species-conservation) made possible by the Fund. A donation in the form of a check made out to “Comm. of MA – NHESP” can be sent to MassWildlife, NHESP, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA 01581. 2019 lake trout survey complete Each fall, MassWildlife samples the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs to monitor lake trout populations. With the help of DCR, MassWildlife surveys lake trout to examine population characteristics. The 2019 fall sampling is complete and crews on Wachusett Reservoir captured and released 142 lake trout including a 37 inch, 18 pound fish. Crews at Quabbin Reservoir captured and released 130 lake trout, 34 at Goodnough Dike and 96 at Windsor Dam. The largest lake trout encountered was originally tagged in 2015 and then recaptured in 2017. That fish measured 33.5 inches and 13.3 pounds. In addition to lake trout, several large landlocked salmon were captured at Quabbin tipping the scales at around 7 pounds. To capture lake trout, field crews set nets on spawning areas starting at sunset and check them about every 20 minutes. Captured fish are removed from the nets and placed in a livewell. Next, biologists record length, weight, and sex and implant a small Passive Integrated Tag (PIT) in the fish. Prior to release, the adipose fin is clipped to provide an external mark indicating that the fish has been captured before. Data collected provide biologists with an understanding of the current condition of lake trout populations. If fish are recaptured from previous tagging efforts, biologists can calculate individual growth rates. Lake trout are long lived and slow growing and it is not uncommon for a tagged fish to be recaptured 10 years later. In fact, the longest recapture interval recorded was 24 years! When other species like landlocked salmon, smallmouth bass, rock bass, and white perch are captured, biologists record information including length, weight, and sex but do not implant PIT tags. Lake trout typically spawn in late October and November when the surface water temperatures are around or below 50°F. The spawning grounds are typically shallow, rocky waters on windy shores of the Reservoirs; spawning occurs mostly after dusk. Night sampling on big waters can be cold and icy in November, but the information it provides biologists is well worth the effort. Sampling efforts like this are just one way that MassWildlife monitors the health of the fish resources of the Commonwealth. CWD reminder for out-of-state hunters To keep Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from spreading to Massachusetts, it is illegal to import deer parts (from any cervid species including white-tailed deer, mule deer, black- tailed deer, caribou, moose, elk, etc.) from any state or province where CWD has been detected. This includes MD, NY, OH, PA, VA, WV, and many other states and provinces – view a map of CWD positive areas in North America (/service-details/chronic-wasting-disease-cwd). Live deer of any species may not be brought into Massachusetts for any purpose. You may bring in meat which has been cut and wrapped (commercially or privately), deboned meat, hides with no head attached, cleaned skull caps (no muscle or brain tissue attached) with attached antlers, antlers with no muscle or brain tissue attached, or fixed taxidermy mounts. CWD is a contagious neurological disease that is 100% fatal to cervid species. It attacks the brains of infected animals, causing them to exhibit abnormal behavior, become emaciated, and eventually die. Infected deer can spread the infectious agents through urine, feces, saliva, etc. for months before showing clinical symptoms. The infectious agents are in very high concentrations in the brain and spinal tissue, so an infected carcass left on the landscape can be major problem. The infectious agents can remain in the soil for over 10 years and can be taken up into the leaves of plants that deer eat. No CWD infected deer have been found in Massachusetts. If you see a deer or moose in Massachusetts exhibiting any signs of this disease or any other disease, please contact MassWildlife at (508) 389-6300. CWD-positive jurisdictions (as of October 2019) include: U.S. States Arkansas Colorado Illinois Iowa Kansas Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Canada Alberta Ontario Quebec Saskatchewan Other Countries Finland Norway South Korea Sweden Avoid decorating with invasive plants During holiday seasons, many people use plants to decorate their homes or businesses. Avoid using exotic, invasive plants such as Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) and Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) in holiday decorations. Though these plants are attractive, using invasive plants in decorations can impact native species and habitat. Birds eat and carry away the fruits from wreaths and garlands and the digested but still-viable seeds sprout where deposited. Exotic, invasive plants create severe environmental damage, invading open fields, forests, wetlands, meadows, and backyards, and crowding out native plants. Bittersweet can even kill mature trees through strangling. Both plants are extremely difficult to control; when cut off, the remaining plant segment in the ground will re-sprout. It is illegal to import or sell bittersweet and Multiflora rose in any form (plants or cuttings) in Massachusetts. Learn more about invasive plants in Massachusetts and how they threaten our native species and natural communities. (/service-details/invasive-plants) You can learn more about invasive plants from our publication: "A Guide To Invasive Plants". In the Guide, each invasive plant description includes a photograph, the plant's regulatory status, key identification characteristics, habitats where the plant is likely to be found, types of threats the plant poses to native species and habitats, and its current distribution and place of origin. To purchase a guide from MassWildlife, stop in the Field Headquarters office in Westborough (/orgs/division-of-fisheries-and-wildlife/locations)during business hours or send in our publication order form. (/files/documents/2017/01/qe/order-form-for-dfw-publications.pdf) Reminder to submit your hunting log to win prizes Hunters, remember to submit your archery deer hunting log or game bird hunting log before DECEMBER 20, 2019 to be entered to win prizes! If you completed an archery deer hunting log or a game bird hunting log, submit it before December 20, 2019 and you will be entered into a drawing. Prizes, donated by Cabela's, include 1 Polar Cap Equalizer cooler (value $249.99) and 2 $25 Cabela's/Bass Pro gift cards. Winners will be randomly selected and notified in late December. If you complete both types of logs, your name will be entered twice. Mail completed logs to: Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Attn: Hunting Log 1 Rabbit Hill Rd, Westborough, MA 01581 Your input is essential! MassWildlife needs hunter participation in every Wildlife Management Zone.