REFUGE NARRATIVE REPORT
May to August 1958
KODIAK NATIONAL HILDLIFE REFUGE
Kodiak, Alaska
Will Troyer, Refuge Manager
Agnes Hansen, Clk-Steno REFUGE NARRATIVE REPORT
Table of Contents
I. GENERAL
A. Heather Conditions 1 B. Habitat Conditions 1
II. WILDLIFE
A. Migratory Birds 1 B. Upland Game Birds 2 C. Big-Game Animals 2 D. Composition Counts 4 E. Fur Animals, Predator, Rodents and other Mammals 5 F. Hawks, Eagles, Owls, Crows, Ravens and Magpies 7 G. Other Birds 7 H. Fish 7
III. REFUGE DEVELOPHENT AND M.AINTENANCE
A. Physical Development 8 B. Collection and Receipt 8 c. Fires 8
IV. RESOURCES HANAGE!:·..f!::NT
A. Special Use Permits 8
V. FIELD INVESTIGATIONS
A. Karluk Lake Studies 8 B. Bear�Cattle Relationships 8
VI. PUBLIC RELATvJNS
A. Recreational Use 9 B. Refuge Participation 9 c. Hunting 9 D. Violations 9
VII. OTHER ITEMS
A. Items of Interest 9 REFUGE NARRATIVE REPORT
May to August 1958
KODLt\K NATIONAL IHLDLIFE REFUGE
Yodiak, Alaska
I. GENERAL
A. Weather Conditions. All weather data is furnished by the Fleet Heather Central, Naval Station, Kodiak, Alaska.
Precipitation Max Min Snmvfall This Honth Normal Temp. Temp. 32 May 0 2.29 6.21 57 64 June 0 6.20 4.51 43 67 July 0 8.24 3.64 45 66 Aug. 0 5.44 �-.35 43 Total 0 22.17 18.71 Extremes
B. Habitat Conditions.
1. h'ater. As indicated by weather data, rainfall was extremely heavy during usual periods of minor precipitation. July was one of the wetest months in history. For a two month period from the middle of June to the middle of August it rained every day except for one or two. This is our normal dry period and the extreme rainfall and bad weather conditions hindered work operations.
2. Food and Cover. Because of cloudy and cold weather conditions the ripening of the elderberry crop was delayed until early August.
II. HILDLIFE
A. Migratory Birds.
1. Waterfowl. The spring migration of waterfowl continued through early Nay. On a flight to Tugidak and Sitkinak Islands on May 6, twenty-nine swans were seen. In addition, around 150 white fronted geese and some mallards, gadwalls and pintails were in the area.
The first brood of mallards was observed on Hay 16 and another on May 23.
B. Upland Game Birds. Segeral spruce grouse were observed on Woody Island but no broods were reported.
C. Big-Game Animals.
l. Goats. None were observed this period.
2. Reindeer. On Hay 17, an aerial reindeer calf count was conducted. Nost reindeer were concentrated around Low Cape on the South end of Kodiak Island. At this time no attempt was made to make a total population count. A total of 409 reindeer were checked. Of these 77 or 18.8 percent were calves. During the summer most reindeer ranged from Red River to the mouth of the Sturgeon. A fe'l.v 'l.vere observed on the Karluk River in June and one lone bull was observed near the mouth of Frazer Lake.
3. Kodiak Brown Bear.
a. Bear Kill Data. The total kill for the first two periods in 1958 ending August 31 was 112 bears. This is almost identical to last years kill.
Of this total kill, 80 were taken by residents and non-residents for trophies. The remainder of the kill constitutes those taken for food purposes, in defense of life and property and the estimated illegal and natural mortality loss.
Seventy percent of the kills were made on the Refuge and the remainder 'l.vere taken off the Refuge on Kodiak Island, Raspberry and Afognak Islands.
Table I gives the sex ratio and break down of the kill and Table II gives the kill by district.
b. Hunting Pressure Data. This year an attempt is being made to dete1�ine the hunting pressure in the field. Only hunting pressure for trophies is considered.
Methods of hunting are given in five catagories as shown in Table III. Those hunting with guides always have a very high success rate. The remainder charter fishing boats, aircraft to fly into some camping spot, use skiffs or hunt from the road area by car and by foot. Of the 184 hunters who participated in the hunt, 43 percent were successful and took 80 bear. The extremely high success of the guides brings the overall success ratio unusually high.
TABLE I
Bear Kills - March through August 30, 1958
Trophies Male Female Unknotvn Total Resident Hunters 17 11 0 28 Non-Resident Hunters 39 13 0 52 Scientific Purposes 1 0 0 1 Defense of Life & Property 2 0 7 9 For food of Natives 4 4 Estimated Unknmvn Nortaility 18 18
Totals 59 24 29 112
TABLE II
Bear Kills by District - Harch through August 1958
District Off Refuge Bear Kills Percent of Total A 15 14.4 B 3 2.9 E 1 .9 c 15 14.4 D 5 4.8 E 4 3.9 F 8 7.7 G 16 15.3 H 19 18.2 Afognak & Raspberry I. 13 12.7 I 5 4.8
105 100.00 Includes known portion of unknotvn mortality.
TABLE III
Hunting Pressure and Success of Various Modes of hunting - March through May 1958.
Mode of Hunting No. Hunters Bear Kill % Successful Air 23 7 30.0 Car 24 4 17 .o Guided Hunt 49 45 92.0 Commercial Fishing Boat 58 15 24.0 Skiff 30 9 30.0
l!.3.0 Totals 184•b.,.:� 3 80 D. Composition Counts. These will be included in the next reports.
4. Sitka Black-Tailed Deer. The deer season opened on August 20 and about 15 animals had been taken at the end of this period. The season 'tvill continue to November 30 and all hunting data will be included in the next report.
5. Olympic Elk.
a. Calving. Del Valley reported seeing the first calf tracks on May 23rd. This is earlier than any calves have been observed.
On an aerial flight on July 12, elk were scattered all along Raspberry Straits and along t--1alina Beach but very few calves were observed. Calves may be well hid at this time and hard to observe by air as vegetation is quite dense.
b. Cow-calf ratio counts. On August 1 cov1-calf ratio counts were flown in the Raspberry Strait area and on August 26 the Tonki Cape area 'tvas flown.
A total count was aot attempted as this is usually more feasible during the rutting season.
On Raspberry Island 43 cows and 24 calves were observed. This was not considered to be the entire herd. On Mal ina Point the count was 82 cot.:rs and 42 calves. Only one herd was observed on Afognak in the South Raspberry Straits area. Here 84 CO\vS tvith only 24 calves were observed. The Tonki Cape area was checked on August 26 when 66 cows and 25 calves were observed.
The total aerial counts revealed a total of 115 calves and 274 cm.:rs for an overall ratio of 42 calves per hundred cows.
During the elk se�son on September 8, foot checks were made of two individual herds in the lower Raspberry Strait area on the Afognak side. One herd consisted of 137 animals with 24 calves and the other consisted of 113 animals, with 22 bulls, 21 calves and 70 cows. Apparently this latter herd was missed t.:rhen making the earlier calf counts, because an aerial check revealed that the Halina herd was still in the Nalina Cape area; therefore this herd is included in the cow-calf ratio counts and would make the total count 136 calves and 345 cows for a calf to cow ratio of 40:100. Table IV gives the total counts and ratio of each individual herd.
TABLE IV
Cow-Calf counts and ratios of individual elk herds August, 1958
Herd Location Cows Calves Total Cow-Calf Ratio Raspberry Island 43 24 67 106:56 Malina Herd 82 42 124 100:51 Lo>ver Raspberry Strait /Fl 84 24 108 100:29 Lmver Raspberry Strait /F2 70 21 91 100:30 Tonki Cape 66 25 91 100:38
Totals 345 136 .,ep81 100:40
This may seem like an extremely large count since our aerial counts have never revealed a total census of more than 456 animals. It is well known that when eik are in spruce timber they cannot be seen by air and are missed. This was proven when the Refuge Hanager actually checked two herds by foot on the same day con sisting of 250 animals on the Afognak side of Lmver �asEJ;>erry Straits. Only one herd had ever been seen -atl fl� � time via air although other individuals had re- ported seeing more than one herd.
From the past observation it is clear that the
calf counts should not be made later than August Sf4fter this date, calves are becoming quite large and are often quite difficult to distinguish from adults especially, / when milling in a large herd.
E. Fur Animals, Predator, Rodents and Other Mammals.
1. Beaver, Otter and Weasels. No report.
2. Sea Otter. On August 26 an aerial survey for sea otter was conducted around the Shuyak Island area. This survey was con ducted similar to last years, except for the time element. In 1957 the aerial count was made on June 7. Following is a list of the otter seen in the various areas:
Eastern Shuyak 209 v:estern Shuyak Latox Rocks 365 Dark Island 17
Total 591
\ ..: 5 ..� -..- . ·--�-- ------w--
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Ot>.tiGER During 1957 the total count for the same 281. area was This year the count was double last years. The reason for this is not definitely known. It either denotes a<1'-ovement into the area or else some of the otter were missed the previous years. There may be a natural population increase but it could not have been that great.
A possible movement from one area to another during various times of the year might occur. In the Sea Otter Rock area, two large pods about five miles apart were found last year. This year the entire population except for stragglers were in one confined area.
3. Fox. Continue to be abundant.
4. t1ink and Martins. No observations.
5. Vfrying Hare. Dick Hensel of the Alaska Cooperative Hild life Research Unit continued with the hare investigations in the Kodiak area. During June, July and August, four small islands representing different vegative types were stocked with rabbits, enclosures were built and vegetative linee transects were run.
A number of hare were livetrapped, eartagged, and released on Woody Island. Indications are that the population will not be as great during the fall hunting season as the last two years.
6. Ground Squirrels. During the livetrapping operations for rabbits a number of ground squirrels were caught on \�cody Island. Records in our office did not show populations on this island.
7. Pine Squirrels. Several were seen in Raspberry Strait in dicating that their spread is progressing.
F. Hawks, Eagles, Owls, Crotv-s, Ravens and Nagpies.
1. Eagles. Quite abundant in the Karluk Lake area. Several nests with young were observed during the summer. Qut�e a number of unused nests are in the area and the population may have been higher in the past. In the future bald eagles will probably be one of the chief attrations on the Kodiak Refuge and plans are underway to start some minor life history studies on this species in the Karluk area.
G. Other Birds. No report.
H. Fisha Rainbow trout fishing in the lakes near Kodiak were good. During the latter half of this period, most fishing effort was concentrated on the various species of salmon. III REFUGE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE
A. Physical Development.
1. Karluk Lake Cabin. The cabin at Karluk Lake received additional work throughout the summer whenever time permitted. An addition was added on the rear which will serve as storage space. Shelves were built, the inside was insulated and covered with 1/4" plywood. Rooms were rearranged and now include a small corner for an office combination kitchen,_living-room, and two bedrooms will be added next spring which will complete suitable quarters for personnel while >vorking in the Lake.
B. Collection and Receipt. None.
c. Fires. No fires occured on the Refuge during this period.
IV RESOURCES l':-1.A..NAG EMENT
A. Special Use Permits. Special Use Permit #15989 issued to John Morton for a cabin in Karluk Lake was sold to Alf Madsen and automatically cancelled since he already had a permit in the Lake.
U FIELD INVESTIGATIONS
A. Karluk Lake Studies. During this period experiments in live trapping and eartagging bear were continued. Four culvert type traps were in use and both #4� and #150 steel traps received limited use. Initial experiments indicate that the #150 steel trap will be the most economical and effective.
A method of anesthising bear by use of various drugs delivered from the Cap-Chur-Gun has received limited use. Once a suitable drug with the right dosage is found, the p�oblem of handling larger bear in steel traps will be solved.
A special report will cover this study.
B. Bear-Cattle Relationships. For a few years, some of the ranchers have been using bells on cows to serve as deterrents to bears. Most ranchers believe that this does serve as a scaring device for bear. This experiment has been under close observation by the Refuge Manager.
During the latter part of June, Joe Beatty lost seven cattle from bear. Two of these had bells on and on examination both retained the bells after being killed. Apparently this proposed deterrent is not too effective. Tom Felton also lost four cows in August� and the bear was taken.
VI PUBLIC RELATIONS
A. Recreational Use. Spring bear hunting in Hay and sport fish ing were the major recreational uses during the surrnner.
B. Refuge Participation. The Refuge Manager met with the new Air Force personnel at Chiniak in August to orient them on wildlife in Kodiak and Alaska.
C. Hunting. The follo>ving hunting seasons were open during this period:
Bear - Spring season ended Hay 31. Fall season opened September 16.
Deer - Opened August 20.
Ptarmagin - Opened Aqgust�20.
D. Violations. Two individuals were apprehended during the period.
Name Violations Date Fine Richard Yost Fishing without license 7/10/58 $25.00 Alfred C. Grandos Taking of sow bear w/cubs 5/25/58 seized hide
VII OTHER ITEMS
A. Items of Interest. Biologist Clark resigned on August 4th to file as a political candidate as a Representative on the new Alaskan State Legislature.
On May 9, Secretary of the Interior Seaton signed the order which placed the controversial mile-strip in the Refuge and excluded the Kupreanof and Shearwater Peninsula. The Refuge now contains around 1�600�200 acres. ty�/� Submitted by: Hill Troyer f Refuge Hanager
September 1, 1958
Approved Dave Spencer
( Refuge Manager Troyer measuring a bear skull taken in May. Measurements 17 6/16 X 11 4/16. The hide squared 9 feet and 8 inches.
------�85 ...... _,!,_:10� Note well worn and broken teeth. "In bad need of a dentist."
------Refuge vessel, "Kodiak Bear" �n patrol.
taken on
..