Summaries of Wildlife Research Findings 2017 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Populations and Research Unit SUMMARIES OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH FINDINGS 2017 Edited by: Lou Cornicelli Michelle Carstensen Michael A. Larson Nicole Davros Bruce Davis Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Fish and Wildlife Wildlife Populations and Research Unit 500 Lafayette Road, Box 20 St. Paul, MN 55155-4020 (651) 259-5202 ©August 2019 State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources For more information contact: DNR Information Center 500 Lafayette Road St. Paul, MN 55155-4040 (651) 296-6157 (Metro Area) 1 888 MINNDNR (1-888-646-6367) TTY (651) 296-5484 (Metro Area) 1 800 657-3929 http://www.mndnr.gov This volume contains interim results of wildlife research projects. Some of the data and interpretations may change as a result of additional findings or future, more comprehensive analysis of the data. Authors should be contacted regarding use of any of their data. Printed in accordance with Minn. Stat. Sec. 84.03 Equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from programs of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is available to all individuals regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, age, sexual orientation, membership or activity in a local commission, or disability. Discrimination inquiries should be sent to MN DNR, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4031; or the Equal Opportunity Office, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC 20240. Printed on recycled paper containing a minimum of 30% post-consumer waste and soy-based ink. TABLE OF CONTENTS WILDLIFE HEALTH GROUP .......................................................................................... 1 CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE SURVEILLANCE IN MINNESOTA’S WILD DEER HERD ....................................................................................................................... 2 INVESTIGATION OF MOVEMENT DYNAMICS OF WILD DEER IN SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA TO UNDERSTAND POTENTIAL SPREAD OF CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE ............................................................................. 16 CAUSES OF NON-HUNTING MORTALITY OF ADULT MOOSE IN MINNESOTA, 2013 – 2017 ............................................................................................................ 30 SURVEILLANCE FOR HIGHLY PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA IN MINNESOTA’S WILD BIRDS IN 2017-18 ............................................................... 41 ABSTRACT: AVIAN INFLUENZA PREVALENCE AND VIRAL SHEDDING ROUTES IN MINNESOTA RING-BILLED GULLS (LARUS DELAWARENSIS) ...................... 49 ABSTRACT: EMERGENCE OF THE ARTERIAL WORM ELAEOPHORA SCHNEIDERI IN MOOSE (ALCES ALCES) AND TABANID FLY VECTORS IN NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA, USA ................................................................... 50 ABSTRACT: APPLYING A BAYESIAN WEIGHTED SURVEILLANCE APPROACH TO DETECT CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IN WHITE-TAILED DEER ............... 51 ABSTRACT: CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE DETECTION AND MORTALITY SOURCES IN A SEMI-PROTECTED DEER POPULATION ................................... 52 ABSTRACT: A TECHNIQUE FOR DEPLOYMENT OF RUMEN BOLUS TRANSMITTERS IN FREE-RANGING MOOSE (ALCES ALCES) .......................... 53 ABSTRACT: EXPANDING GIS ANALYSES TO MONITOR AND ASSESS NORTH AMERICAN MOOSE DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY ............................................ 54 ABSTRACT: CALIBRATION OF A RUMEN BOLUS TO MEASURE CONTINUOUS INTERNAL BODY TEMPERATURE IN MOOSE ..................................................... 55 WETLAND WILDLIFE GROUP..................................................................................... 56 FALL MOVEMENTS OF MALLARDS MARKED IN MINNESOTA ........................... 57 DEVELOPING METHODOLOGIES FOR PREDICTING THE LOCATIONS OF WOOD DUCK BREEDING HABITAT COMPONENTS IN MINNESOTA ................. 65 FARMLAND WILDLIFE GROUP .................................................................................. 88 EVALUATING INSECTICIDE EXPOSURE RISK FOR GRASSLAND WILDLIFE ON PUBLIC LANDS ...................................................................................................... 89 NESTING AND BROOD-REARING HABITAT SELECTION AND SURVIVAL RATES OF RING-NECKED PHEASANTS IN PRAIRIE RECONSTRUCTIONS IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA ................................................................................. 104 ASSESSING THE CONTRIBUTION OF HARVEST MORTALITY TO OVERALL MORTALITY RATES OF GRAY AND FOX SQUIRRELS ON PUBLIC LANDS IN MINNESOTA ........................................................................................................ 119 BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES OF FEMALE ELK TO HUNTING IN NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA ......................................................................... 132 HUMAN DIMENSIONS SURVEYS ............................................................................. 138 THE 2017 WATERFOWL HUNTING SEASON IN MINNESOTA: A STUDY OF HUNTERS’ OPINIONS AND ACTIVITIES ............................................................. 139 THE 2016 RUFFED GROUSE HUNTING SEASON IN MINNESOTA ................... 143 FOREST WILDLIFE GROUP ...................................................................................... 146 NEONICOTINOIDS ON THE LANDSCAPE: EVALUATING AVIAN EXPOSURE TO TREATED SEEDS IN AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPES ...................................... 147 EVALUATION OF DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A CAMERA-BASED MULTI- SPECIES OCCUPANCY SURVEY OF CARNIVORES IN MINNESOTA .............. 176 ECOLOGY AND POPULATION DYNAMICS OF BLACK BEARS IN MINNESOTA ............................................................................................................................. 196 REDUCED NATURAL FOODS ALTER BOTTOM-UP PRESSURES ON AMERICAN BLACK BEARS ..................................................................................................... 217 USING LIDAR DATA TO QUANTIFY FOREST STRUCTURAL HABITAT VARIABLES IMPORTANT TO FISHERS AND MARTENS ................................... 230 ESTABLISHING THE FEASIBILITY OF MAKING FINE-SCALE MEASUREMENTS OF HABITAT USE BY WHITE-TAILED DEER IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA, WINTER 2017–2018 ............................................................................................. 243 WINTER SURVIVAL AND CAUSE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY OF WHITE-TAILED DEER IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA: UPDATING WITH GPS COLLARS ............ 256 WINTER NUTRITIONAL RESTRICTION AND DECLINE OF MOOSE IN NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA, WINTERS 2013–2018 ..................................... 265 SHARP-TAILED GROUSE RESPONSE TO FALL PRESCRIBED FIRE AND MOWING .............................................................................................................. 282 SURVIVAL, NEST SUCCESS, AND HABITAT SELECTION OF SHARP-TAILED GROUSE IN EAST-CENTRAL MINNESOTA – FINAL PROJECT REPORT ......... 296 USE OF MANAGED FOREST WILDLIFE OPENINGS BY AMERICAN WOODCOCK ............................................................................................................................. 316 ABSTRACT: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRASSLANDS, CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM (CRP) ENROLLMENTS, AND GREATER PRAIRIE- CHICKEN (TYMPANUCHUS CUPIDO PINNATUS) POPULATIONS IN MINNESOTA ........................................................................................................ 322 PUBLICATIONS LISTS .............................................................................................. 323 WILDLIFE HEALTH PROGRAM ........................................................................... 324 WETLAND WILDLIFE GROUP ............................................................................. 325 FARMLAND WILDLIFE GROUP ........................................................................... 326 HUMAN DIMENSIONS SURVEYS ....................................................................... 327 FOREST WILDLIFE GROUP ................................................................................ 328 Wildlife Health Program Wildlife Populations and Research Group 5463 - C West Broadway Forest Lake, Minnesota 55025 (651) 296-5200 1 CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE SURVEILLANCE IN MINNESOTA’S WILD DEER HERD Erik Hildebrand, Michelle Carstensen, Chris Jennelle, Margaret Dexter, Lou Cornicelli, Patrick Hagen, and Kelsie LaSharr SUMMARY OF FINDINGS Fall 2017 marked the first time mandatory testing for chronic wasting disease (CWD) was utilized as a precautionary sampling method for hunter-harvested white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in high risk areas of Minnesota. This testing occurred during opening weekend of the firearms deer season, November 4-5, 2017, in 21 deer permit areas (DPAs). Testing in north-central Minnesota was centered on a recently discovered CWD-positive deer farm in Crow Wing County. A total of 7,945 deer were tested and no CWD was detected. Similarly, testing in central Minnesota was centered on a second CWD-positive deer farm in Meeker County. A total of 2,623 deer were tested and no CWD was detected. In southeast Minnesota, 1,341 deer were tested in DPAs surrounding the CWD Management Zone (DPA 603), and 1,185 deer from within DPA 603. Six new cases of CWD were confirmed within DPA 603, bringing the total number of infected deer to 17 from fall 2016 to present. Bans on recreational feeding and attractants were enacted in 16 counties to curtail transmission and disease spread. In late 2017, a third positive deer farm was detected in Winona County; upon depopulation of this herd, there was a 100% infection rate. Surveillance conducted