September/October 2011 CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION BUREAU OF NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISIONS OF WILDLIFE, INLAND & MARINE FISHERIES, AND FORESTRY September/October 2011 Connecticut Wildlife 1 Volume 31, Number 5 ● September / October 2011 FromFrom thethe Connecticut Director’sDirector’s Wildlife Published bimonthly by DeskDesk Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources Wildlife Division No season better represents Connecticut than fall. Whether your passion is www.ct.gov/deep the panorama of color from a ridge top vista, the cold running waters of a Commissioner local stream, or stomping about in the woods, the crisp fall air is an awe- Daniel C. Esty Deputy Commissioner inspiring time to go afield. Susan Frechette Chief, Bureau of Natural Resources Fall treasures fill all the senses. Where better to see the splendor of nature William Hyatt than in the spawning colors of a male brook trout or in the whirling dervish Director, Wildlife Division of tens of thousands of tree swallows as they congregate in mass at sunset Rick Jacobson in the lower Connecticut River valley. For many, the sounds more than Magazine Staff the sights of flocks of ducks and geese, quacking and honking on their Managing Editor Kathy Herz southward journey, define the season. Production Editor Paul Fusco Contributing Editors: George Babey (Inland Fisheries) Perhaps Henry Ford put it best when he said “Chop your own wood and it Penny Howell (Marine Fisheries) James Parda (Forestry) will warm you twice.” There is a thrill that is hard to miss with the sound Circulation Trish Cernik of an ax biting into a round of oak, followed by the satisfying crack as the wood splits. And, it all comes with the sense of completeness knowing that Wildlife Division soon you’ll be enjoying the warmth and rich aroma of a roaring fire. 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106-5127 (860-424-3011) Office of the Director, Recreation Management, Technical Assistance, My hope is that everyone could experience pure joy of a dog anxious to Natural History Survey point a bird, or a young hunter side-by-side with a parent, breathless as a Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area P.O. Box 1550, Burlington, CT 06013 (860-675-8130) deer steps into sight. Wildlife Diversity, Birds, Furbearers, Outreach and Education, Habitat Management, Conservation Education/Firearms Safety, Connecticut Fall is a wondrous time to be outside. Don’t miss it – it’ll be gone before Wildlife magazine you know it. Franklin Wildlife Management Area 391 Route 32, N. Franklin, CT 06254 (860-642-7239) Migratory Birds, Deer/Moose, Wild Turkey, Small Game, Wetlands Rick Jacobson Habitat and Mosquito Management, Conservation Education/Firearms Director – Wildlife Division Safety, Wildlife Diversity Eastern District Area Headquarters 209 Hebron Road, Marlborough, CT 06447 (860-295-9523) State Land and Private Land Habitat Management Connecticut Wildlife magazine (ISSN 1087-7525) is published bimonthly In this issue . by the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection Wildlife Division. Send all subscription orders and address changes to A Cougar’s Incredible Journey Connecticut Wildlife, Sessions Woods WMA, P.O. Box 1550, Burlington, CT 06013. Subscription rates are $8 for one year, $15 for two years, and Tree Stand Safety $20 for three years. No refunds. Periodical postage paid at Burlington, Striped Bass: a Connecticut Comeback Story CT, and additional entry offices. Postmaster: Please send all address changes to Connecticut Wildlife, P.O. Box 1550, Burlington, CT 06013. Banding Together for Purple Martins Web site: www.ct.gov/dep/wildlife Year of the Turtle: Where Do Turtles Go in Winter?, Kid’s E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 860-675-8130 Art Contest Winners, Snapping Turtles, and Northern The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program was initiated by Diamondback Terrapins sportsmen and conservationists to provide states with funding for wildlife management and research programs, habitat acquisition, Bat Facts and Fables wildlife management area development, and hunter education programs. Menagerie at the Beach Connecticut Wildlife contains articles reporting on Wildlife Division projects funded entirely or in part with federal aid monies. Semipalmated Sandpipers The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and service provider. In Urban Red-tailed Hawks conformance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, DEEP makes every A Healthy Obsession with Oak effort to provide equally effective services for persons with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities who need this information in an alternative format, to allow them to benefit and/or participate in the agency’s programs and services, should call 860-424-3035 or E-mail the ADA Coordinator, at DEP. [email protected]. Persons who are hearing impaired should call the State of Cover: Connecticut relay number 711. Copyright 2011 by the Connecticut Wildlife Division. The Wildlife Division grants Connecticut hunters have the opportunity to harvest wild turkeys permission to reprint text, not artwork or photos, provided the Wildlife Division is credited. Artwork and photographs printed in this publication are copyrighted by the during the fall archery and firearms hunting seasons. CT DEEP Wildlife Division. Any unauthorized use of artwork and photos is prohibited. Please contact the managing editor at the Sessions Woods office to obtain permission Photo courtesy of Paul J. Fusco for reprinting articles. Printed on recycled paper 2 Connecticut Wildlife September/October 2011 COPYRIGHT LUE & KRYSTAL VANG, WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES OF NATURAL WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT TO THANKS WITH SPECIAL VANG, LUE & KRYSTAL COPYRIGHT A trail camera captured this image of a cougar traveling through private land in Clark County, Wisconsin, on January 18, 2010. No DNA samples were collected at this site. However, based on other nearby sightings and DNA evidence collected at several locations, biologists agree that the cougar is possibly the same individual that eventually traveled all the way to Connecticut by June 2011. Cougar Makes Incredible Journey from South Dakota to CT Written by Paul Rego, DEEP Wildlife Division he DEEP Wildlife Division has After many years with no verifica- captive source. The nearest wild estab- received numerous reports of tions of cougars, the DEEP Wildlife lished populations are in Florida and the Tcougars for decades. Many of Division received a report of probable Dakotas, approximately 1,200 and 1,600 these have been investigated and none evidence of a large cat in Greenwich, miles distant, respectively. And, although could be confirmed by tangible, physical including a blurry photograph. Within a young cougars normally disperse from evidence. Identification through tracks week, 35 miles farther east in Milford, the area in which they are reared, they or photographs had shown many of these the body of a cougar was being examined travel comparatively short distances. In sightings to be cases of mistaken iden- where it was struck and killed on the addition, no cougar had been known to tity, mainly bobcats, coyotes, and even Wilbur Cross Parkway. The vehicle-kill travel more than 1,000 miles. In Florida, house cats. This same scenario has been was the first confirmation of a cougar in young male cougars disperse an average experienced by states throughout the East the state in more than 100 years, leading of 40 miles and females an average of 12 – sightings but no confirmation. Florida to obvious questions about the animal’s miles. Research in South Dakota found is the only eastern state with a cougar origin. A broad and intense investigation that males dispersed an average of 160 population. A small number of cougars ensued, and, eventually, the story of an miles and females an average of 30 miles. have been documented in the eastern amazing behavioral feat emerged. The longest documented dispersal was states, but many of these were known by a young male cougar that traveled 640 or suspected to be from captive sources. Where Was this Cougar From? miles from South Dakota to Oklahoma. Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wild- Prior to detailed examinations of the life Service conducted a thorough review cougar, it seemed that the most likely ex- An Extensive Investigation of cougar status in the East and deter- planation for this unexpected occurrence The investigation began with a mined the Eastern cougar to be extinct. was that the cougar originated from a preliminary examination of the dead September/October 2011 Connecticut Wildlife 3 Travels of the Connecticut Mountain Lion Photograph (most Black Hills, SD First Confirmed Sighting Confirmed Sighting Struck by vehicle likely same individual) June 11, 2011 Breeding Population 12/11/09 5/20/10 12/10 North Dakota QUEBEC Maine Minnesota ONTARIO VT South Dakota NH Wisconsin New York MA Michigan CT RI Iowa Nebraska Pennsylvania NJ Ohio Illinois Indiana MD DE WV Kansas Missouri Virginia 1,800 Miles from Black Hills, South Dakota, Breeding Population to Connecticut cougar. It was a young male, estimated American cougars and from subpopula- miles from Wisconsin to Connecticut to be two to five years old. There was no tions of cougars in North America. Many without being detected and why did this evidence of a collar and it had not been captive cougars in the pet trade have individual disperse so far east? Biologists declawed or neutered. Outward injuries South American genetics and a positive believe that the cougar traveled east- were consistent with it being killed on the match would have suggested captive ward from its last confirmed location in road. Environmental Conservation Police origin. The surprising result was that the northern Wisconsin through the Upper immediately began a search for facilities cougar’s DNA matched the subpopulation Peninsula of Michigan, then through that may have legally possessed cougars in the Black Hills of South Dakota. lower Ontario and into southern New and possible leads for illegal possession.