Ferret Spotlighting In The Aubrey Valley Part 2

Hey Readers!

Here is Part 2 of my Black-footed Ferret spotlighting journey.  Enjoy!

Last time on Adam's Command:

My Dad and I joined up with the AZGFD to attend a Black-footed Ferret Spotlighting Event in Seligman, AZ.  We found an Ord's Kangaroo Rat, two rabbit species, and a possible American Badger but no ferrets!  We did get to see the only ferret that had been captured, anesthetized, and vaccinated.  After a long night's morning, we retreated into our motel room not to wake until 2 pm...


                                                                         - Day 2 -

Feeling slightly refreshed, we decided to return to the Aubrey Valley to check it out during the day.  We especially wanted to see Gunnison's Prairie Dogs, the Black-footed Ferrets' primary prey.  Take a look at these photos of the valley...

This long stretch of cliffside outlines the northern border of the Aubrey Valley.   

We were in the valley no more than 5 minutes until we spotted our first Gunnison's Prairie Dog!  It was standing in its hind feet to scan the area for predators such as Red-tailed Hawks and Golden Eagles.

We saw multitudes of these glorified ground squirrels scattered along the road.

The iconic pose of the Gunnison's Prairie Dog

We also found a small herd of Pronghorn - all of whom were female.  I recently learned that Pronghorn mothers eat their young's feces!  I was very confused as to the reasoning behind this behavior until my geography teacher explained why.  Towards the end of the ice age, Pronghorn were the American Cheetah's primary prey.  These cats had an excellent sense of smell, and guess what?  They could smell junior antelope's poo from afar!  Thus, Momma Pronghorn thought it would be safer to eliminate the odor altogether!  Also, Pronghorns are very flighty and can run up to 60 mph.  Nothing else in North America can run nearly that fast, oh, except for the now-extinct American Cheetah!              

Bird wise, Horned Larks were abundant as were Common Ravens and Western Meadowlarks.  I also encountered Loggerhead Shrikes, one my all-time favorite birds.  The most interesting species present, however, were the Sage Thrashers.  Seven of them to be exact!  It was pretty interesting to see so many at once.  I didn't realize how gregarious they could be during migration.  The Aubrey Valley has been designated as an IBA (Important Bird Area). It is home to a significant route for migrating raptors.  Jennifer Cordova mentioned that a kettle of over 150 migrating Turkey Vultures had been seen recently.

These Horned Lark tracks were abundant in the soft sandy soil

I also found this interesting Darkling Beetle.  These are the classic "stink bugs" from our early years.  I almost always stop for non-bird animals unless there's a potential lifer nearby!

The deadly "headstand' of foulness

Darkling Beetles have fused elytra - they can't fly

The main road to Pica Camp - the grand cliffside in the background

One of many prairie dog burrows

After our productive stop in the Aubrey Valley, my Dad and I decided to get a few more hours of sleep before resuming the nightly grind.  After our nap, it was 8pm and we headed west to the AZGFD processing trailer to receive info on our new route and also to get a map and observation form.  We were there earlier than most of the other volunteers.  We kept awake by drinking soda and snacking.  We encountered nothing unusual until about 11pm when we reached an area with sparse junipers.  I heard a faint clicking sound in the sky above us.  It was a bat!  My Dad also got to hear it.  I never tire of hearing or seeing bats.  They are difficult to study and not frequently seen.  Later, I asked Jen Cordova what if could have been; she said that the typical vocalizing bat here is the Big Brown Bat.

We traveled far and wide in our search for the elusive Black-footed Ferret and decided to call it quits at 4am.  Little did I know that no one else had seen any ferrets whatsoever that night also.  As we were leaving, I kept spotlighting the roadside and I saw a strikingly patterned pocket mouse run into a  burrow!  I left the car with my cordless spotlight and checked out the holes it could have entered.

One of several burrow entrances that the pocket mouse uses

According to habitat, location, and the pattern of the animal, Silky Pocket Mouse would be the only eligible candidate.  This was the last animal of the trip.  The total counts for ferrets were devastatingly low, but is mostly due to the fact that numbers are down in the spring typically.  I could do this again in the summer or fall when its warmer.  I full-heartedly hope that the species is doing well here and in the other states and I fully intend to capture one next time!!!

Godspeed and good birding,

- Joshua

Ferret Spotlighting In The Aubrey Valley Part 1

Hey Readers!

It's been a long time since my last post and between then and now, I have been pretty busy!  I finished my final year of high school last week and have since focused mainly on my college class and have also been planning to volunteer with the AZGFD.  I found out about a Black-footed Ferret Spotlighting Event that was being hosted by the Game and Fish from March 24-26.  The purpose of the event was to vaccinate ferrets and also to collect new information on wild-born individuals.  The dates didn't coincide with anything my family had going and my Dad was able to get the time off work to be with me! Fully motivated, I whipped up a target list of mammals and owls for the Aubrey Valley and gathered up my gear!

(Warning!  If you are easily disgusted by animal innards, then go no further!)

A clever sign which graced the front door of the AZGFD field house!

Now, here's a little background story...

Black-footed Ferrets are a species of large weasel that used to occupy large swaths of grassland in North America.  They heavily relied upon prairie dogs for food and once ranchers started to exterminate prairie dogs, the ferret populations fractured and experienced a steep decline.  In fact, until 1981, they were thought to be extinct!  That year, a woman from Wyoming found a dead ferret that her dog had killed!  Biologists then discovered a tiny population of Black-footed Ferrets in the area (only a few dozen) and captured all of them to launch an intensive captive breeding program.  That program was successful, and many ferrets have been reintroduced to several states including Arizona.

I developed a sore throat and bad congestion the morning of the day that we were to leave for the trip.  I caught the cold that had been going around the house.  I couldn't back out of the event at such short notice, so I grabbed a few boxes of tissue and braced myself for the long hours and the bitter cold...

 My Dad and I departed for Seligman, AZ from New River at 5pm to arrive by 7:45.  The AZGFD was holding a new volunteers' meeting at their field house in Seligman.  We arrived in plenty of time and completed all of the paperwork and the training workshop.  There were around 15 volunteers crammed into the tiny field house along with one fiesty kitten!

A plethora of posters and charts covered the walls of the field house!

After the hour-long meeting, we drove several miles west to Pica Camp in the Aubrey Valley.  On the shoulder of the highway, the AZGFD had set up a processing trailer where captured ferrets were to be immunized and examined by vets.  It was there that we were given the ferret traps, reflectors, map, and GPS that would be used if a ferret was found.

Excitedly, we drove out to the stretch of road which we were assigned by the biologists!  The road  extended several miles west of Pica Camp.  I used my favorite spotlight (an old Coleman model) to survey the sides of the road.

The sparse landscape that we surveyed.

From what I could see, the landscape didn't consist of much more than open grassland with the occasional yucca.  It wasn't long until I found my first wild animal of the night - a Desert Cottontail. Its eyes gleamed a soft pink color as it hopped around in confusion because of the bright light.  I went
on to see over 20 of these rabbits that night.  There were also a lot of Black-tailed Jackrabbits.  They are a large and lanky rabbit and were definitely created with speed and agility in mind!  The Jackrabbits went crazy every time I shined the spotlight on them.  They would run around in circles and sometimes even crouch down and flatten their big ears against their backs to hide!  Don't worry, I didn't harass them too much!  My highlight of the night was a beautiful Ord's Kangaroo Rat which swiftly scrambled into its burrow beneath a soaptree yucca before any photos could be taken. Of all of Arizona's mammals, the one that I most wanted to see was this species, my first Kangaroo Rat!

My Dad

After Ord's K-Rat, I didn't see much of anything until the early morning.  Then we got a call.  It was Jennifer Cordova, the project coordinator, and she was inviting us back to the processing trailer to meet the first ferret of the night!  My Dad drove quickly back to the trailer and we arrived just after they had finished anesthetizing and immunizing the ferret.  Inside the trailer sat the two biologists in charge and the proud captor of the ferret.  With a degree of reverence, we all watched intently as the ferret began to awaken from the anesthesia.  A few minutes later, another biologist and the volunteer who caught the ferret took the animal away to be released back into the burrow in which it was trapped.  The sad news is that it was the only ferret trapped during the two nights we attended.  Of course, we didn't know that and were destined to spend another harsh night out in the Aubrey Valley!

I avoided the use of flash so I wouldn't stress him.

After the ferret was long-gone, we returned to our previous location and got back in the groove of spotlighting.  Soon after arriving, we spied a flash of emerald green eyeshine in a ravine.  We drove up a little closer but eventually lost it.  I noticed that its head was halfway above ground and my Dad noticed that its eyes were wide apart.  This could only mean that it was an American Badger!  In fact, many people had seen them that same night.  The badger concluded my list of species for the first night.  

We returned to the trailer, exhausted, at 6am to turn in our time sheet.  I noticed two dead badgers in the bed of a warden's truck!  I asked what happened, and the biologist said that the warden had shot the badgers because populations have been too high and also because they have been know to prey upon ferrets.  One of the scientists then proceeded to conduct a full on autopsy on one of the Badgers to collect tissue samples.  Those samples would then be sent to a lab to be checked for Canine Distemper or Plague - two diseases which affect Black-footed Ferrets.

This animal's canine teeth were huge for its size!

Heather, an AZGFD biologist, examines the badger's claws.

Although we didn't find any ferrets that night, we both still thoroughly enjoyed the search.  It was a new experience and most importantly, my first time working with the Arizona Game and Fish Department!  My Dad and I then retreated to our little hotel room in Seligman and collapsed from exhaustion.  It is after then that the next and final chapter of this story will be told!

Godspeed and good birding to you all,

- Joshua Smith