DOCSLIB.ORG

Squirrels As Predators

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Squirrels As Predators Great Basin Naturalist Volume 53 Number 2 Article 5 6-4-1993 Squirrels as predators J. R. Callahan University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation Callahan, J. R. (1993) "Squirrels as predators," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 53 : No. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol53/iss2/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Great Basin Naturalist 53(2), pp. 137-144 SQUIRRELS AS PREDATORS J. R. Callahan 1 ABSTHACT-A literature review and field observations indicate that most sciurids are facultative predators on small vertebrates. This behavior is documented for at least 30 sciurid species in 8 genera. The frequency of predation apparently is influenced by various factors including climate, season, gender, reproductive condition, and availability ofplant sources for certain nutrients such as calcium and nitrogen. Although sciurids assimUate as much energy from animal foods as do obligate carnivores, behavior associated with predation appears to be less efficient in sciurids and may rely partly on prey habituation and other adaptive behaviors. Key words: squirre~ Sciuridae, predator, carnioore, omnioore. Predators utilize various strategies that maxi­ sana! communication). There is universal ac­ mize the probability of successful prey capture ceptance that squirrels eat meat; the question is while minimizing the probability ofinjury. Sci­ how they obtain it. Squirrels are often seen urid rodents, many of them facultative and op­ eating carnon on roads but are rarely seen at­ portunistic predators, are not morphologically tacking live prey. Stomach contents analysis may specialized for this role and should therefore overlookvertebrate flesh and cannot distingUish possess a wide variety of adaptive attack behav­ live prey from carrion. Thus, each newobserva­ iors. As discussed below, one ofthese behaviors tion ofa squirrel acting like a predator becomes observed in tree sqUirrels appears similar to a journal note (see Literature Cited). Although insinuation (Curio 1976), a strategy more often most of these notes imply that such behavior is associated with invertebrates than with mam­ aberrant, collectively they describe a significant mals. component of the sciurid repertoire. The same Predation, as defined here, means the killing feeding adaptations that enable sqUirrels to and eating of active vertebrates (including con­ crack nuts are sufficient for openingskulls (Lan­ specifics) or other relatively large, mobile prey dry 1970). by free-living squirrels. This definition excludes TREE SQUIRRELs.-The following field ob­ the consumption of eggs, nestling birds, small servation (which prompted this review) adds a insects, or any animal that is already dead. Prey species to the hst ofreported sciurid predators. offer some resistance; eating carrion or aphis is On 6 April 1979, I saw a lactating female west­ similar to broWSing. Predation also excludes kill­ ern gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) stalk and at­ ing that appears unrelated to feeding, as in de­ tack an adult mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus) fense of the nest (Harris 1985) or as a in mixed-conifer forest at Black Mountain, Riv­ reproductive strategy (Balfour 1983, Weissen­ erside County, California, elevation 1800 m. bacher 1987). Finally, behavior of caged squir­ The quail was standing on a 60-cm stump at the rels is often abnormal and is excluded here as edge of a clearing; five or six other quail were evidence of predation, although it can provide nearby. None of the quail appeared to react as clues to dietary deficiencies. the squirrel crossed the clearing in an odd, Not all biologists accept the idea ofsquirrels crouched posture, rustling the pine needles and as frequent predators. Despite the 70-year lit­ leaves loudly enough to attract my attention. erature record summarized in Table 1, When it was 20 em from the stump, it leapt up O'Donoghue's recent (1991) finding that squir­ and pouncedon the quail. After a briefstruggle, rels are the chiefpredator ofjuvenile snowshoe the quail escaped and the covey moved off. In hares elicited general "shock" (c. Krebs, per- six years inthesame area, ontwo otheroccasions I MUS~\lm ()fSoothwe~tenl Biology, UHiversity of New Mexi~Q. Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131. Mailing <\ddre~s: Box 3140, llernet, G,lifomia \12'546. 137 138 GREAT BASIN N"rURAUST [Volume 53 T:\fll.1': 1. Puhlish~d r~ptJrts ofpredation by sciurjrk This table is limited to behavior nffree-living squirrel" and induJcs <lnly predation (and prcd,ltioll attempts) as defined in text. Sp~ies IJrev, Source THEE sQUlImEI /oj 1';,L>;tcm gr:.ly squirrel Conspecifics, birds Holm (1976), Ba~ey(I923) (Sdllfll.<; ClImline"sis) vVcstcm gray squirrel Mountain quail; unidentified smaU This paper (Sduru.~, grisells) mammal (Pcrotll!;'~'Cl1s?) Ea~tem fox squirrel Dove, blue jay, other birds Boren (1961), Seton (1929), Shaffer (Sdurllsniger) and Baker (1991) EII)"opcan red squirrel Sql1irrel.~, birds GllnJell (1987), Schlogel (l98.5) ($<;illrw; vulgaris) Douglas squirrel Ground squirrels Roest (1951) ('I(lIl1j(t.~·ciurnst!oug!({/d) Pine (= Bed) sCluirrel Chipmunks, tTtl(;: squirrels, cotton­ H,lU (1929), Seton (929). Hamil­ ('famiast.:illnl,\·/uulwmiclI!;) tail, :.nowshoe Illlre, moumillg dove, ton (19.'14), O·Oonoghue (199[), other birds Nero (1987), Taylor (l9.88) I.ittle ~"'ecn sqUirrel Fwg (h",,?) Emmons (1980) (AJ!tlwsc.illf1JS T}f)ens~'i) CI\OU"J) S(,lullllmLs Whitclail antelope squirrel Pocket mouse, k;mg:lroo rdt, lizards nrndl~y (1968), Morgalt (1985) (AIIIJIJJ.J!>lwmwll!1ilus feIlD' nls) Nds{1ll antelope sfluirrcl J,izanJs llawbecker (1947) (AmmmJlcnlulpltilus Ilelwmi) Yellow-!)(dlied manmlt Cnnspecific:~ Armitage et a1. (1979) (M(/rnwla fl(lviventrl,~) California grOlllll! squirrel Ground sqUirrels, rabbits, pocket Grinnell & Storer (1924), Fitch (SpenTli.IJ,hiLu.\' beer:hcytj gophers, ml1ll~s, hirds, lizards (1948), .sumner & Dixon (1963), Sundberg and Hanta (l97J), TwHo t:t a!. (1986) Belding grollnl..1 sqUirrel Chipmunks, other small mammals, Sharsmith (1936), Howell (1938), (S/lemu'1Jhifu'i heldiJl.gi) jlmco, warbler Sherman & Morton (l9i9). Michener (1982) Suslik Field mice, birds, snakes, Calineseu (1934), IIerzig.Strasdlil (S,H:nflopllib.,s eitel/liS) conspecif'ks (1976) C:nJlllnhian ground squirrel Fish (live?) IloweJ1(1938) (Srx!nlU'1Jhil1l.s ClJlumb;rJnu.'i) Fr:ll1klin ground squirrel Voles, domestic fowl, rlucks, oth~r Polder (1955). Johnson (l922), (Spc.-rmophillls jrtlllklillU) birds Howell (1938), Sm...-1s (1948), Churomanski & Sargeant (l982) Golden-mantled squirrel Voles, <.leer l1lic.:e, chipmunks, junco, CHlllemn (1967), Tevis (1953) (SptmllO'l'hilllS latemlis) lizards Mexican ground squirrel CottUlltuiJ, P'K:kard (1958) (SJu:nnophillls tllexicarllls) HOllJH!-tai]ed ground sqUirrel Sparrows (S}lerlJlOphilus tcreticclIIcZ,JS) T()....'HSentl ground squirrel Com~cifks Mit:hener (1982) (,<;;,Jenllophilus tOlV1lsentlli) 13-lin~1 ~rolllld squirrel Rabbits, biros Bridgewater & Penny (1966), (SJx,'ruwJ,h ifll:. trilleamJiTlcotu.') Bailey (1923) Arctic ground squirrel CAlnspe<:ifics, snowshoe hare, O'Donoghue (.1991), Iiolmes (SJ,umophilllS uru[uk,tus) collared lemming (l977), Boonstra et al. (1990), Mi<;hCllcr (1982) Hot:k squirrel Wild tll1'keys Conk & Henry (1940) (SpentlAJphirus t.Ylrif:g(fttL~) 1993J SQUIRRELS AS PREDATORS 139 TABU 1. Continued. Species Prey Source Washington ~und squirrel Consped.fics Alcorn (1940) (Spermophilus washingtoni) South African ground squirrel Domestic fowl, other birds. turtles, Shortridge (1934), Ry..n (1987) (Xems '''''''ris) other reptiles African ground squirrel Cob", Stiles (19871 (Xeros rotilus) Cflli'MUNKS Cliff chipmunk Crabs Jenkins 1989 (Tamw.s dnrsalis) Merriam's cJupmunk Lizards, sparrows L""on (1986) (Tamw.s meniami) Least chipmunk Tree swallows Ledede et aI. (1985) (Tamias mini.tn.u$) Asian chipmunk Voles, brrds. liza,ds, frogs Ognev (1966) (TamiM sib''''''') E..stern chipmunk ConspeciJics, voles, SW<l.UoYt'S, star­ Krull (1969). Seton (L929), Cinev"n (Tamias striatus) ling. snakes, frogs, salam<l.nder (1970, Hesterberg (1940), Harriot (1940). Shackleforo (19661.1bn-es (1937) I saw a westem gray squirrel stalk a bird briefly killing a young blue jay, avoided the skeletal butthen retreat without completing apredation muscle and gnawed on the joints and bones near attempt. On 1 April 1993, S. B. Compton (per­ the surface ofthe skin. This is in agreement with sonal communication) sawa western gray squir­ other reports of tree squirrels eating bone and rel with a small, live mammal in its mouth, the antlers (Cross 1969, Leach 1977). In othercases, size ofayoung PeromysGUS, beside a road in the however, sciurids have consumed specific prey San Jacinto Mountains (2100 m). organs such as the brain (Hamilton 1934, Elliott Ingles (1947), Cross (1969), Jaeger (1929), 1978) or viscera (Hesterberg 1940), or the flesh and Stienecker and Browning (1970) reviewed of the head (Holm 1976). the food habits ofthe western gray squirrel but Predation by tropical tree squirrels appears reported no predation (although the latter to be rare. Emmons (1980) saw no predation by found feather fragments in one stomach). At any of nine
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Inventory of Terrestrial Mammals in the Rincon Mountains Using Camera Traps
    Inventory of Terrestrial Mammals in the Rincon Mountains Using Camera Traps Don E. Swann and Nic Perkins Saguaro National Park, Tucson, Arizona Abstract— The Sky Island region of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico is well-known for its diversity of mammals, including endemic species and species representing several different biogeo- graphic provinces. Camera trap studies have provided important insight into mammalian distribution and diversity in the Sky Islands in recent years, but few studies have attempted systematic inventories of one or more mountain ranges with a repeatable, randomized study design. We surveyed medium and large terrestrial mammals of the Rincon Mountains within Saguaro National Park, and compared the results with previous surveys of the Rincons. We sampled in random locations in four elevational strata from May 2011 through April 2012. We detected 23 native species of mammals and estimated species richness to be 24.8 species. We failed to detect four native species documented by other methods during 1999-2012, as well as five species (bighorn sheep, grizzly bear, jaguar, gray wolf, and North American porcupine) documented during 1900-1999 that may be extirpated from the Rincons. Advances in camera trap technology, as well an expanding use of this technology by educators and the public, suggest this method has the potential to be a cost-effective and reliable method for both inventory and long-term monitoring of terrestrial mammals of Sky Island region. Introduction using a randomized, repeatable study design that allows estimates to be made of measures such as native species richness (the number The Sky Island region of the southwestern United States and of native species that occur in an area).
    [Show full text]
  • Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management Plan
    Badlands National Park – North Unit Environmental Assessment U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Badlands National Park, North Unit Pennington and Jackson Counties, South Dakota Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management Plan Environmental Assessment August 2007 Badlands National Park – North Unit Environmental Assessment National Park Service Prairie Dog Management Plan U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Management Plan Environmental Assessment Badlands National Park, North Unit Pennington and Jackson Counties, South Dakota Executive Summary The U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS) proposes to implement a comprehensive black-tailed prairie dog management plan for the North Unit of Badlands National Park where prairie dog populations have increased from approximately 2,070 acres in 1979 to 6,363 acres in 2006, or 11% of the approximately 60,000 acres of available suitable habitat. The principal objectives of the management plan are to ensure that the black-tailed prairie dog is maintained in its role as a keystone species in the mixed-grass prairie ecosystem on the North Unit, while providing strategies to effectively manage instances of prairie dog encroachment onto adjacent private lands. The plan also seeks to manage the North Unit’s prairie dog populations to sustain numbers sufficient to survive unpredictable events that may cause high mortality, such as sylvatic plague, while at the same time allowing park managers to meet management goals for other North Unit resources. Primary considerations in developing the plan include conservation of the park’s natural processes and conditions, identification of effective tools for prairie dog management, implementing strategies to deal with prairie dog encroachment onto adjacent private lands, and protection of human health and safety.
    [Show full text]
  • Cliff Chipmunk Tamias Dorsalis
    Wyoming Species Account Cliff Chipmunk Tamias dorsalis REGULATORY STATUS USFWS: No special status USFS R2: No special status USFS R4: No special status Wyoming BLM: No special status State of Wyoming: Nongame Wildlife CONSERVATION RANKS USFWS: No special status WGFD: NSS3 (Bb), Tier II WYNDD: G5, S1 Wyoming Contribution: LOW IUCN: Least Concern STATUS AND RANK COMMENTS Cliff Chipmunk (Tamias dorsalis) has no additional regulatory status or conservation rank considerations beyond those listed above. NATURAL HISTORY Taxonomy: There are six recognized subspecies of Cliff Chipmunk, but only T. d. utahensis is found in Wyoming 1-5. Global chipmunk taxonomy remains disputed, with some arguing for three separate genera (i.e., Neotamias, Tamias, and Eutamias) 6-8, while others support the recognition of a single genus (i.e., Tamias) 9. Cliff Chipmunk was briefly referred to as N. dorsalis 10 but has recently been returned to the currently recognized genus Tamias, along with all other North American chipmunk species 11. Description: Cliff Chipmunk is a medium-large chipmunk that can be easily identified in the field by its mostly smoke gray upperparts, indistinct dorsal stripes (with the exception of one dark stripe along the spine), brown facial stripes, long bushy tail, stocky body, short legs, and white underbelly 2-5. This species exhibits sexual size dimorphism, with females averaging larger than males 2, 3. Adults weigh between 55–90 g with total length ranging from 208–240 mm 4. Tail, hind foot, and ear length range from 81–110 mm, 30–33 mm, and 17–21 mm, respectively 4. Within its Wyoming distribution, Cliff Chipmunk is easy to distinguish from Yellow-pine Chipmunk (T.
    [Show full text]
  • Biogeography of Mammals in SE Asia: Estimates of Rates of Colonization, Extinction and Speciation
    Biological Journal oflhe Linnean Sociely (1986), 28, 127-165. With 8 figures Biogeography of mammals in SE Asia: estimates of rates of colonization, extinction and speciation LAWRENCE R. HEANEY Museum of <oology and Division of Biological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, U.S.A. Accepted for publication I4 February 1986 Four categories of islands in SE Asia may be identified on the basis of their histories of landbridge connections. Those islands on the shallow, continental Sunda Shelf were joined to the Asian mainland by a broad landbridge during the late Pleistocene; other islands were connected to the Sunda Shelf by a middle Pleistocene landbridge; some were parts of larger oceanic islands; and others remained as isolated oceanic islands. The limits of late Pleistocene islands, defined by the 120 ni bathymetric line, are highly concordant with the limits of faunal regions. Faunal variation among non-volant mammals is high between faunal regions and low within the faunal regions; endcmism of faunal regions characteristically exceeds 70%. Small and geologically young oceanic islands are depauperate; larger and older islands are more species-rich. The number of endemic species is correlated with island area; however, continental shelf islands less than 125000 km2 do not have endemic species, whereas isolated oceanic islands as small as 47 km2 often have endemic species. Geologirally old oceanic islands have many endemic species, whereas young oceanic islands have few endemic species. Colonization across sea channels that were 5-25 km wide during the Pleistocene has been low, with a rate of about 1-2/500000 years.
    [Show full text]
  • Checklist of the Mammals of Indonesia
    CHECKLIST OF THE MAMMALS OF INDONESIA Scientific, English, Indonesia Name and Distribution Area Table in Indonesia Including CITES, IUCN and Indonesian Category for Conservation i ii CHECKLIST OF THE MAMMALS OF INDONESIA Scientific, English, Indonesia Name and Distribution Area Table in Indonesia Including CITES, IUCN and Indonesian Category for Conservation By Ibnu Maryanto Maharadatunkamsi Anang Setiawan Achmadi Sigit Wiantoro Eko Sulistyadi Masaaki Yoneda Agustinus Suyanto Jito Sugardjito RESEARCH CENTER FOR BIOLOGY INDONESIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES (LIPI) iii © 2019 RESEARCH CENTER FOR BIOLOGY, INDONESIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES (LIPI) Cataloging in Publication Data. CHECKLIST OF THE MAMMALS OF INDONESIA: Scientific, English, Indonesia Name and Distribution Area Table in Indonesia Including CITES, IUCN and Indonesian Category for Conservation/ Ibnu Maryanto, Maharadatunkamsi, Anang Setiawan Achmadi, Sigit Wiantoro, Eko Sulistyadi, Masaaki Yoneda, Agustinus Suyanto, & Jito Sugardjito. ix+ 66 pp; 21 x 29,7 cm ISBN: 978-979-579-108-9 1. Checklist of mammals 2. Indonesia Cover Desain : Eko Harsono Photo : I. Maryanto Third Edition : December 2019 Published by: RESEARCH CENTER FOR BIOLOGY, INDONESIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES (LIPI). Jl Raya Jakarta-Bogor, Km 46, Cibinong, Bogor, Jawa Barat 16911 Telp: 021-87907604/87907636; Fax: 021-87907612 Email: [email protected] . iv PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION This book is a third edition of checklist of the Mammals of Indonesia. The new edition provides remarkable information in several ways compare to the first and second editions, the remarks column contain the abbreviation of the specific island distributions, synonym and specific location. Thus, in this edition we are also corrected the distribution of some species including some new additional species in accordance with the discovery of new species in Indonesia.
    [Show full text]
  • 2015 Disease Summary
    SUMMARY OF DISEASES AFFECTING MICHIGAN WILDLIFE 2015 ABSCESS Abdominal Eastern Fox Squirrel, Trumpeter Swan, Wild Turkey Airsac Canada Goose Articular White-tailed Deer Cranial White-tailed Deer Dermal White-tailed Deer Hepatic White-tailed Deer, Red-tailed Hawk, Wild Turkey Intramuscular White-tailed Deer Muscular Moose, White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkey Ocular White-tailed Deer Pulmonary Granulomatous Focal White-tailed Deer Unspecified White-tailed Deer, Raccoon, Canada Goose Skeletal Mourning Dove Subcutaneous White-tailed Deer, Raccoon, Eastern Fox Squirrel, Mute Swan Thoracic White-tailed Deer Unspecified White-tailed Deer ADHESION Pleural White-tailed Deer 1 AIRSACCULITIS Egg Yolk Canada Goose Fibrinous Chronic Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Canada Goose, Mallard, Wild Turkey Mycotic Trumpeter Swan, Canada Goose Necrotic Caseous Chronic Bald Eagle Unspecified Chronic Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Mute Swan, Redhead, Wild Turkey, Mallard, Mourning Dove Unspecified Snowy Owl, Common Raven, Rock Dove Unspecified Snowy Owl, Merlin, Wild Turkey, American Crow Urate Red-tailed Hawk ANOMALY Congenital White-tailed Deer ARTHROSIS Inflammatory Cooper's Hawk ASCITES Hemorrhagic White-tailed Deer, Red Fox, Beaver ASPERGILLOSIS Airsac American Robin Cranial American Robin Pulmonary Trumpeter Swan, Blue Jay 2 ASPERGILLOSIS (CONTINUED ) Splenic American Robin Unspecified Red-tailed Hawk, Snowy Owl, Trumpeter Swan, Canada Goose, Common Loon, Ring- billed Gull, American Crow, Blue Jay, European Starling BLINDNESS White-tailed Deer BOTULISM Type C Mallard
    [Show full text]
  • Mammal Watching in Northern Mexico Vladimir Dinets
    Mammal watching in Northern Mexico Vladimir Dinets Seldom visited by mammal watchers, Northern Mexico is a fascinating part of the world with a diverse mammal fauna. In addition to its many endemics, many North American species are easier to see here than in USA, while some tropical ones can be seen in unusual habitats. I travelled there a lot (having lived just across the border for a few years), but only managed to visit a small fraction of the number of places worth exploring. Many generations of mammologists from USA and Mexico have worked there, but the knowledge of local mammals is still a bit sketchy, and new discoveries will certainly be made. All information below is from my trips in 2003-2005. The main roads are better and less traffic-choked than in other parts of the country, but the distances are greater, so any traveler should be mindful of fuel (expensive) and highway tolls (sometimes ridiculously high). In theory, toll roads (carretera quota) should be paralleled by free roads (carretera libre), but this isn’t always the case. Free roads are often narrow, winding, and full of traffic, but sometimes they are good for night drives (toll roads never are). All guidebooks to Mexico I’ve ever seen insist that driving at night is so dangerous, you might as well just kill yourself in advance to avoid the horror. In my experience, driving at night is usually safer, because there is less traffic, you see the headlights of upcoming cars before making the turn, and other drivers blink their lights to warn you of livestock on the road ahead.
    [Show full text]
  • Inventory of Mammals at Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, and Sunset Crater National Monuments
    National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Inventory of Mammals at Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, and Sunset Crater National Monuments Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SCPN/NRTR–2009/278 ON THE COVER: Top: Wupatki National Monument; bottom left: bobcat (Lynx rufus); bottom right: Wupatki pocket mouse (Perogna- thus amplus cineris) at Wupatki National Monument. Photos courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey/Charles Drost. Inventory of Mammals at Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, and Sunset Crater National Monuments Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SCPN/NRTR—2009/278 Author Charles Drost U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Biological Science Center 2255 N. Gemini Drive Flagstaff, AZ 86001 Editing and Design Jean Palumbo National Park Service, Southern Colorado Plateau Network Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona December 2009 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Technical Report Series is used to disseminate results of scientific studies in the physical, biological, and social sciences for both the advancement of science and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The series provides contributors with a forum for displaying comprehensive data that are often deleted from journals because of page limitations. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner.
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Riley Hunting Guide
    FORT RILEY HUNTING GUIDE The Fort Riley Military Reservation is located in northeast Kansas between Manhattan and Junction City. About 71,000 of the installation's 101,000 acres are managed for multiple-use, including wildlife management. Hunting is allowed on Fort Riley when compatible with the post's primary mission of military training. Fort Riley has a diverse and abundant wildlife resource, which is a product of the post's good habitat conditions. Native tall-grass prairie is well interspersed with riparian and upland woodlands and shrublands creating diverse habitat conditions. Coupled with this native habitat is almost 1,600 acres of land leased for agricultural crop production on the installation's perimeter boundary. Another 700 acres of wildlife food plots, ranging in size from 1/2 to 15 acres, are planted in the interior of the Post each year. Nine principal game species are available to the Fort Riley hunter: bobwhite quail, ring-necked pheasant, greater prairie-chicken, mourning dove, wild turkey, white-tailed deer, elk, cottontail rabbit and fox squirrel. In addition to these species, good populations of raccoon, bobcat and coyote exist on Post. Waterfowl hunting opportunities can be fantastic along the rivers when the ponds and shallow water wetland areas start freezing over, as well as most Central Flyway "puddle" ducks can be found on Fort Riley's numerous ponds and lakes during the fall migration. REGULATIONS On Fort Riley, all State of Kansas and federal hunting regulations (bag limits, season lengths, hunting hours, methods of take, etc.) are in force unless otherwise noted in the Fort Riley Hunting and Fishing Regulations, FR Reg.
    [Show full text]
  • Tamias Ruficaudus Simulans, Red-Tailed Chipmunk
    Conservation Assessment for the Red-Tailed Chipmunk (Tamias ruficaudus simulans) in Washington Jennifer Gervais May 2015 Oregon Wildlife Institute Disclaimer This Conservation Assessment was prepared to compile the published and unpublished information on the red-tailed chipmunk (Tamias ruficaudus simulans). If you have information that will assist in conserving this species or questions concerning this Conservation Assessment, please contact the interagency Conservation Planning Coordinator for Region 6 Forest Service, BLM OR/WA in Portland, Oregon, via the Interagency Special Status and Sensitive Species Program website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/sfpnw/issssp/contactus/ U.S.D.A. Forest Service Region 6 and U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management Interagency Special Status and Sensitive Species Program Executive Summary Species: Red-tailed chipmunk (Tamias ruficaudus) Taxonomic Group: Mammal Management Status: The red-tailed chipmunk is considered abundant through most of its range in western North America, but it is highly localized in Alberta, British Columbia, and Washington (Jacques 2000, Fig. 1). The species is made up of two fairly distinct subspecies, T. r. simulans in the western half of its range, including Washington, and T. r. ruficaudus in the east (e.g., Good and Sullivan 2001, Hird and Sullivan 2009). In British Columbia, T. r. simulans is listed as Provincial S3 or of conservation concern and is on the provincial Blue List (BC Conservation Data Centre 2014). The Washington Natural Heritage Program lists the red-tailed chipmunk’s global rank as G2, “critically imperiled globally because of extreme rarity or because of some factor(s) making it especially vulnerable to extinction,” and its state status as S2 although the S2 rank is uncertain.
    [Show full text]
  • Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel Or Chipmunk? by Lynne Brosch
    Who Is Your Pest? Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel or Chipmunk? by Lynne Brosch Recently as I went around the lake doing talks on pest management, I had several complaints about chipmunks. People describe a lot of digging and eating of plants by these chipmunks. As I began thinking about putting out some information on how to handle the situation I thought about the golden-mantled ground squirrel, I watched eating garden plants voraciously on the Baldwin Estate grounds just yesterday. Perhaps gardeners need to know who they are dealing with. The golden-mantled ground squirrel looks a lot like a chipmunk. It has a large white stripe bordered by black on each side. The main difference between this squirrel and a chipmunk is that its stripes don’t go all the way to the face and it is a slightly larger animal. It lives along the west coast in coniferous forests and mountainous areas. It likes to eat plants, seeds, nuts, fruit and some insects. It lives in an underground burrow usually near trees or logs. Chipmunks have very similar burrows. Most common in the Tahoe basin is the Lodgepole chipmunk. Fencing can be used to protect plants from squirrels and chipmunks, but has challenges in effectiveness because of the excellent digging and climbing skills exhibited by these garden pests. Hardware cloth may be used to exclude animals from flower beds with seeds and bulbs covered by the hardware cloth and all covered with soil. This method of prevention may prove less costly and time consuming than trapping. The most successful method for control of ground squirrels and chipmunks is the use of traps.
    [Show full text]
  • A Checklist of the Mammals of South-East Asia
    A Checklist of the Mammals of South-east Asia A Checklist of the Mammals of South-east Asia PHOLIDOTA Pangolin (Manidae) 1 Sunda Pangolin (Manis javanica) 2 Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) INSECTIVORA Gymnures (Erinaceidae) 3 Moonrat (Echinosorex gymnurus) 4 Short-tailed Gymnure (Hylomys suillus) 5 Chinese Gymnure (Hylomys sinensis) 6 Large-eared Gymnure (Hylomys megalotis) Moles (Talpidae) 7 Slender Shrew-mole (Uropsilus gracilis) 8 Kloss's Mole (Euroscaptor klossi) 9 Large Chinese Mole (Euroscaptor grandis) 10 Long-nosed Chinese Mole (Euroscaptor longirostris) 11 Small-toothed Mole (Euroscaptor parvidens) 12 Blyth's Mole (Parascaptor leucura) 13 Long-tailed Mole (Scaptonyx fuscicauda) Shrews (Soricidae) 14 Lesser Stripe-backed Shrew (Sorex bedfordiae) 15 Myanmar Short-tailed Shrew (Blarinella wardi) 16 Indochinese Short-tailed Shrew (Blarinella griselda) 17 Hodgson's Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus caudatus) 18 Bailey's Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus baileyi) 19 Long-taied Brown-toothed Shrew (Episoriculus macrurus) 20 Lowe's Brown-toothed Shrew (Chodsigoa parca) 21 Van Sung's Shrew (Chodsigoa caovansunga) 22 Mole Shrew (Anourosorex squamipes) 23 Himalayan Water Shrew (Chimarrogale himalayica) 24 Styan's Water Shrew (Chimarrogale styani) Page 1 of 17 Database: Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, www.jetwingeco.com A Checklist of the Mammals of South-east Asia 25 Malayan Water Shrew (Chimarrogale hantu) 26 Web-footed Water Shrew (Nectogale elegans) 27 House Shrew (Suncus murinus) 28 Pygmy White-toothed Shrew (Suncus etruscus) 29 South-east
    [Show full text]