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Response to Rogers and Mansfield (2011) and Stringham (2011)

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Response to Rogers and Mansfield (2011) and Stringham (2011) Human–Wildlife Interactions 5(2):192–196, Fall 2011 (Editor’s note: Following is the author’s rebutt al of responses made by Lynn L. Rogers and Susan A. Mansfi eld (2011), and Stephen Stringham (2011) to his commentary, “Wildlife habituation: advances in understanding and management application”, which appeared in Human–Wildlife Interactions 5:9– 12.) Response to Rogers and Mansfi eld (2011) and Stringham (2011) VALERIUS GEIST, P.O. Box 1294, St. M, Port Alberni, British Columbia, V9Y 7M2, Canada [email protected] Three valued colleagues, extremely then let them touch and lick a piece of rock knowledgeable of bear behavior, have taken salt I held in hand. This they licked eagerly, at exception to some of my writing. I am grateful which time I placed my fi ngers on their nose to be able to reply. There are a number of and then proceeded to systematically touch points of contention. Regarding habituation, and stroke their faces till they allowed me to I am well aware of the defi nitions proposed, clear hair off the small aluminum ear-tags that but I fi nd them wanting. How does “a waning park wardens had placed there earlier, usually of responses to a repeated, neutral stimulus” when the sheep were lambs. They tagged adult diff erentiate adequately between habituation sheep by slipping the ear-tag over the lower and taming? Put another way: how could one ear and clamping down, releasing the pliers at disprove the claim of Rogers and others that once as the sheep bounded back, shook its head they are working not with habituated, but with and came back and resumed licking the salt. tame bears? Bears do tame, aft er all, quite easily. I tagged lambs by hunching beside a female But if they tame, then how does that diff er from while it licked salt. As the lamb approached, habituation? I touched it on the breast until it accepted the I experienced working not only with human hand, then it was gently lift ed up right habituated, and also with thoroughly tamed, but beside the female’s head. No lamb protested. free-ranging mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis). Tags were clamped into the ears, and the lamb Further, the animal may continue exploring the was slowly and gently released, the female observer not only when habituated, but also licking salt all the while. Thus, no drugs, traps, when tame. Therefore, even tameness may be or wrestling to the ground of panic-stricken a state of unconsummated exploration. I have animals was necessary. I could freely walk up observed free-roaming sheep in 4 stages of to the tame sheep and touch them. That is why acquaintance: (1) those that I saw at a distance I know, for instance, that bighorns are ticklish. with spott ing scope and binoculars; (2) those The tame sheep, otherwise, went about their that I habituated to my presence till they ignored daily business much as they had when merely me and went about their daily lives (very much habituated. as Rogers and Mansfi eld described it for their This continued for nearly 2 years, but, then, work with black bears [Ursus americanus]); (3) sheep began a new phase of interaction: they those that I tamed systematically; and (4) those started including me into their social system, that proceeded to address me as a conspecifi c. with the females treating me as a super-female, It may be worth examining this 4-stage and the rams as a rival. This last phase began progression, as it was unexpected. with females and lambs associating with me, First, the changeover from habituation to using me as a center of their activity. This taming was initiated always by the habituated was followed by them taking notice of my sheep. It began when the sheep, aft er observing departures from the herd in the evening, me noticeably, approached me and began followed by an old female running to me then to explore me physically. They sniff ed my blocking my further progress by body contact, clothing, touched it with their muzzle and very much like a lamb blocking a female before licked at it. I allowed this to happen and that suckling. I could play hide-and-seek with the Commentary 193 sheep and discover that they did not simply hop forward and at once continue grazing. follow where I disappeared, but, they had a Aft er that he was just fi ne all day long. Come conception of where I should reappear and they morning, the whole procedure was repeated. awaited me there. They were spatial strategists. This ram surprised and knocked one of my However, they would also track me—their colleagues unconscious. Fortunately, the ram nose to the ground—for hundreds of yards till soon disappeared, never to be seen again. they found my hiding place. Further, bands of Subsequently, I took pains to insure that none females followed me into the valley. Soon aft er of the animals I observed would be anything leaving the open hills, they clustered behind but habituated. There is no way to handle the me and assumed body contact. They could be att ack of any male deer, elk, moose, bison, etc. I, led anywhere, but they broke into a run when thus, do not counsel working with free-ranging, I returned them to within 100 m or so of their tame, large mammals. As an aside, I have no home range. doubt that the proclivity for taming by bighorn Then the fi rst ram addressed me suddenly sheep was known to native people, and this with its head high horn display, one of 2 horn allowed them to mange the sheep. Petroglyphs displays, dominance or status displays. This in the canyons of Utah and elsewhere att est to was a serious challenge. However, in mountain this. sheep, it can be easily terminated by stepping up Diff erent species end habituation diff erently. to the ram and sharply shoving him downhill In my experience, exploration by sheep and so that he stumbles. Stumbling is essential. In whiskey-jacks (i.e., Canada jays [Perisoreus dominance fi ghts, the ram who stumbles aft er canadensis]) was gustatory (how did I taste?). In a clash is the looser. He gives up by turning, free-ranging wolves (Canis lupus) and coyotes feeding, and accepting the full-fl edged, ongoing (Canis latrans), habituation may change to courtship procedure of the dominant, mounting an exploration of an alternative food source, included. A subordinate does not leave the band resulting in an att ack. This was originally aft er loosing status, but remains being treated discovered in coyotes targeting children in as a female by the dominants. urban parks by Baker and Timm (1998), and I was att acked once when I was surrounded independently discovered for wolves by myself by a large, rutt ing band of sheep on a steep (See Appendix B in Geist 2007). Woolpy and slope. I tried to disengage by suddenly turning Ginsburg (1967) found that wolves also did and running down hill and was at once struck their fi nal exploration as an att ack. In short, my by a large ram. My second escape att empt account of habituation is based on contrast with resulted in another att ack. I escaped injury as taming and its consequences. the clash is a twisting downward blow in which Rogers and Mansfi led (2011), and Stringham the horn edge acts much as a hand in a karate (2011) reported that in their professional blow. The horns brushed down my back and experience habituated bears are harmless. the ram slammed his head into the scree. I gave Unfortunately, bears are not always treated him a piece of salt that he could not readily spit with caution and skill as done by professional out, and as other sheep crowded in to partake of observers and viewing guides. Bears in the the salt, I escaped. However, that ram came for Canadian national parks where I worked me subsequently every morning from as far as were routinely molested, especially through nearly half a mile away. He would rear running photography, and had a very high rate of on his hind legs showing readiness to clash. I mortality (Nielsen et al. 2004). For example, a would then step behind a female, allowed the young female grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) showed ram to run past and then rear towards me on up in my study area in the back country of the downhill side. Now, however, I was taller Banff National Park. She did not fl ee from my than he, and I simply stared at him (rams cannot vehicle as other grizzlies did (habituated?). A clash uphill). He would blink, eventually, drop district warden and I were fi shing at a beaver to all fours, give me the head-high display—I pond when we were charged by this female. would not budge—then turn and start grazing She appeared suddenly across a narrows and (peace signal), at which point I stepped forward charged instantly, jumping into the water and and gave him a litt le swat on his bum. He would swimming for us. I escaped by climbing, the 194 Human–Wildlife Interactions 5(2) warden by diving. Shortly thereaft er, she treed 10 rules we follow in showing off our status. this same warden and a horse wrangler. When (Geist 1978b). she appeared a third time, the warden was Because dominance displays are species- carrying a rifl e. A student of mine also was specifi c and quite diff erent from species to treed when he surprised a large male grizzly species, its study in ungulates has the advantage on an elk kill.
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