In this episode of the award-winning Wildtalk Podcast, we talk to Bill Scullon about all things habitat in the Upper Peninsula region of the state, fly away with a discussion about the indigo bunting, and we wrap up the episode with a chat about the red fox. Pete Kailing also stops in to talk about hunting and trapping opportunities and more that are available in the month of May.
Episode Hosts: Rachel Lincoln and Eric Hilliard
Producer/editor: Eric Hilliard
Questions or comments about the show? Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453 (WILD) or email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov.
In this episode of the award-winning Wildtalk Podcast, we talk to Bill Scullon about all things habitat in the Upper Peninsula region of the state, fly away with a discussion about the indigo bunting, and we wrap up the episode with a chat about the red fox. Pete Kailing also stops in to talk about hunting and trapping opportunities and more that are available in the month of May.
Episode Hosts: Rachel Lincoln and Eric Hilliard
Producer/editor: Eric Hilliard
Questions or comments about the show? Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453 (WILD) or email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov.
Announcer:
The Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app is your digital connection to all things hunting and fishing in Michigan. Buy, store and display your hunting and fishing licenses. Check your points and chances for elk and bear. Apply for the draw and view drawing results. Access all the hunting and fishing regulations. View your hunter safety certificate and report your harvest all from within the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app. Just click the app banner at the top of the page for download instructions at michigan.gov/hunting. You know what that sound means. It's time for the Michigan DNR's Wildtalk Podcast. Welcome to the Wildtalk Podcast, where representatives from the DNR's Wildlife Division chew the fat and shoot the scat about all things habitat, feathers and fur. With insights, interviews and your questions answered on the air, you'll get a better picture of what's happening in the world of wildlife here in the great state of Michigan.
Rachel:
Welcome back to another episode of the Wildtalk Podcast. I'm your host Rachel Lincoln, and here with me today to bring you another wild episode is my cohost with the mostest, Eric Hilliard.
Eric:
Rachel, I don't know, I think your intro is wrong. Shouldn't it be the award-winning Wildtalk Podcast?
Rachel:
I think that that's a proper correction. Yes, the award-winning Wildtalk Podcast. Do you want to tell our listeners what the award is?
Eric:
Yeah, we won the award for Best Government Podcast. It was nice to come out on top this year.
Rachel:
It sure was. It's a really special feeling. We obviously love the podcast and so to have other people love the podcast as much as we do, it's really something.
Eric:
It's a major award. We did not get a leg lamp, but we did get a very nice glass award plaque thing.
Rachel:
It is very nice.
Eric:
This show and the award, of course, would not be possible if it were not for our loyal listeners who tune in every month driving us to provide fresh content and information about the world of Michigan's wildlife and what an amazing world it is.
Rachel:
We certainly do appreciate all of our listeners and also all of our Wildlife Division colleagues who come on every month to talk about the awesome work they're doing and also who pitch great topic ideas and listen to the shows themselves. So it really is a team effort, and it's quite an exhilarating and validating and humbling award to win. So thanks to everyone who's listened so far. On this episode, Bill Scullon from the Upper Peninsula region is back to tell us about the wonderful work happening for wildlife above the bridge. Then we'll learn a thing or two about the fascinating indigo buntings and their color-changing abilities. Then we'll shift from blue to red and talk about red foxes and why you might start seeing more of them soon. You want to listen into the whole episode to hear an update from wildlife biologist Pete Kailing who will be joining us to tell us about the hunting and trapping opportunities this month. Of course, you won't want to miss your shot at the Wildtalk Podcast camp mug. But now before we dive into this episode, let's hear a word from our forests.
Speaker 3:
Trees provide for the well-being of our state. That's why we work so hard to keep our forests healthy and abundant, so wildlife has a home and so do people, so that there's clean air and water for everyone and so Michigan's economy can be as strong as the trees that support it because every branch of forestry ensures that future generations will always have a tree for life and forests for a lifetime. To learn how sustainable forestry benefits your life, visit michigan.gov/forestsforalifetime.
Rachel:
Bill Scullon, the field operations manager in the Upper Peninsula is back on the show today to give us an update on all things happening in the wild, wild UP. Bill, it's always a pleasure to have you on. Thanks so much for joining us.
Bill:
It's always a pleasure to be here.
Rachel:
Well, what kind of projects are the UP Wildlife Division staff working on this time of year?
Bill:
Well, we're transitioning from winter work to spring work. We had probably the easiest winter I can remember in my 30 years, so it afforded us an opportunity to get ready for spring season. It was very good for wildlife, for most wildlife species, especially deer in particular. The most difficult challenge we had this winter was conducting our Winter Wolf Survey, which was a track-based survey, so you needed to get snow conditions for that. So that was a challenge, but we were able to wrap that up. Staff spent time getting ready for their habitat plans, buying seed, repairing equipment and getting ready to start turning dirt and improving habitat on the ground, ordering trees, things of that nature. So those things will be kicking off in earnest here pretty quick. They have lots of habitat plans all over the peninsula going on, lots of contract work being planned. What we're excited about is too, is we've had some other things we're trying to do.
Joe Sage and Colter Lubben of our Escanaba office are hosting a Portage Marsh Spring Birding Tour. So May 18th, they'll be having a tour out at the Portage Marsh. It's about a 300-acre area we have just outside of Escanaba. It's on the bay. It's a big migratory bird stopover area, so it's a wetland area. It used to have impoundments. The impoundments have been modified. We pulled down some dikes and let them flow to natural levels of the Great Lakes, but it's a really good area for birding; for shorebirds, for waterfall, for other migratory species. So they're going to host a day out there, which is really cool. So there'll be some information coming out about that. So if you're interested, you can always contact folks at our Escanaba customer service center. So that's an important, a new thing they're going to try and do there.
Rachel:
Portage Marsh is a really cool spot. Are there any particular bird species you guys are expecting to see during that timeframe?
Bill:
I couldn't tell you offhand. I know personal experience out there, you should see a lot of migratory shorebirds. Most of the waterfall will have pushed through the spring seasonal migrations, but you'll see some residents there. You'll start seeing a lot of, the secretive marsh bird species will be there. So if you're lucky, you probably hear them, but you might not see them like an American bittern or something along those lines. So it's a cool spot. It's got a lot of unique habitats out in it, so it affords some cool opportunities.
Rachel:
Secretive starbirds is kind of a funny name for that type of bird. I just immediately assume birds in ninja regalia, but that's not exactly what you mean. Is it, Bill?
Bill:
I think that's half of it. The other half is people don't like to get their feet wet. So the secretive part is you have to go look for them someplace that is maybe not very comfortable. So you have to have the proper attire for it and be a little informed about what you're looking for, where to go. But if you do, there's always cool spots on the Great Lakes regions you can find, neat things to see and appreciate. I think the other big thing we're working on is, it's spring season, it's the time for nuisance wildlife baby critters. So we're really been pushing the messaging on that stuff for people to understand what they can and can't do and shouldn't be doing, especially when it comes to finding young wildlife. We always try to be pretty realistic with folks and tell them that, "Just please don't do that.
Usually it leads to bad outcome for the wildlife that's involved, and also bears are out and emerging. We've had bear reports for a while now, so we're gearing up for bear nuisance season. One of the cool things this year is Coulter Lubben out of Escanaba have worked on a project for us for quite a few years to finally bring it to fruition, but we have a new fleet of bear traps that we're picking up tomorrow, which is really cool 'cause the traps we have and have been using, if you've ever seen these things, they date back to World War II. They're very dated materials, require a lot of maintenance. They work, but there's definitely room for improvement. So now we're going to have a whole new set of fleet of traps for the offices to have. They'd employ easier. They're safer for the bears, safer for us, safer for the public. So we're excited about having that new technology to be able to deploy it in the field and be a lot more efficient in that work. So that's pretty cool to finally get that completed. It's been a long time coming.
Eric:
Just to be clear, when we talk about the traps that we use, we're not talking about big steel jawed traps to trap bears, are we?
Bill:
Yeah, so that's a good point. I hadn't thought about that. I just never think of that context of it. No, actually two traps have been illegal in Michigan for over 100 years, and we do not use leg-hole traps or catch traps for catching bears. We're talking about is a barrel style trap. We put bait in one into this big long tube, and it's designed so the bear goes into the tube, pulls on the bait and the door comes down behind it and closes and catches it inside the tube. Then it's on a trailer, so then you have to haul it and relocate it. We only do this as a last resort or if there's a significant damage that's occurring. Most of the time, 99% of the time we can dissuade a bear through either removing the food or whatever it's coming into.
Usually, it's bird feed, bird feeders, deer feed, dog food, barbecues, garbage, things of that nature, so people can police up that. That usually causes the bear to go on someplace else and the problem solves itself. But occasionally, you have young bears that come out, especially younger males, and they'll cause damage where they're tearing up a site, a garage or something like that. In that case, we have to try and relocate that animal. So this is a humane way of safely and effectively catching a bear and then we relocate it to areas where it's not going to cause a problem.
Rachel:
Yeah, those traps really are special, and they are safe enough that we actually take one to these big career fairs that we do in Southwest Michigan so that seventh graders can see what a bear trap looks like and what some of the work that Wildlife division staff do this time of year. They always want to climb into it, so we keep close tabs on it. So it sounds like there's a lot of great projects on the horizon. If we were reflecting back on some of the great work your team has done recently, what would you say is the biggest accomplishment your region has tackled this quarter?
Bill:
They've all been busy, so it's hard to pick a couple out of the mix. Everyone has their product, everybody's working on lots of stuff. Recently, jane Rohr, our technician out of Newberry and Kristie Sitar, the biologist out of Newberry, were recognized by the Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District and recognized as the 2023 Land Stewards of the Year. So they were given formal recognition for their work with them treating invasives, invasive phragmites, particularly Blind Sucker Flooding; planting wild rice, also, the same flooding in Luce County; coordinating some MUCC volunteer projects where they were removing all of them planting soft mast trees. They also have the Shore to Shore Birding Trail, which is in the east end of UP. It goes from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior. They started that in 2022. They've had multiple events associated with that, that birding opportunity for people.
Then they also support a local 4-H program at the Dequindre area's public schools, and just they've done an outstanding job of being stewards and engagement in the community, the local community talking about conservation. So they were recognized for that, which is a really cool award for them and they've done a lot of work for that. Then John DePew has done a lot of work as of late with bats. He has an assistant technician he had working for him this summer, or this winter, I'm sorry, and they were able to get out and do a lot of bat surveys in hibernaculas, places where bats hibernate in the winter time, and they found three or four new sites in the Keweenaw, which is kind of cool. They got to explore some new spots and find some new places. He's working with a couple of professors from Michigan Tech to look at some technology to map those digitally underground so we can have a more accurate map of the mine works underground.
The reason for that is in one site in particular, we want to try and drill a hole from the surface to the underground works to ventilate it 'cause it makes it cooler. The cooler temperatures affords the bats higher survivability because the fungus that causes the white-nose syndrome doesn't grow in those extremely cold temperatures. So it's a survival adaptation strategy we're trying to employ to try and mitigate the effects of white-nose. What they're seeing preliminary, of course, from this year's winter surveys is that our bat numbers seem to be stabilizing, albeit at a 95% reduction from what they were prior to white-nose. But they have not continued to go to zero like we saw in some of the Eastern states. So that's a positive thing.
So we're glad to hear that and see that, and our staff, all over the place. I'm trying to think of other things they're all working on. We mentioned the Wolf Survey. They've been doing a lot of work on that, a lot of field work and then just handling contracts. We've just completed getting a new dump truck for the region. Don Brown helped us with that one, and that which seems like a fairly straightforward thing, took three years and multiple contracts and lots and lots of time. The reasons why it's important for us is that we share our equipment around the region so we don't have multiple sets of equipment, and we're trying to be as efficient as possible. So we have that one truck that we use to haul our equipment around the region and we schedule it amongst each other so it improves our ability to improve wildlife habitat on the ground. It makes a big difference for us.
Rachel:
Bats, bears and bureaucracy, the three Bs of the UP Wildlife work.
Bill:
It can be that, yes. At least the bureaucracies are constant.
Rachel:
Well, that was really great information, Bill. Thank you so much for sharing. There's certainly no shortage of terrific work happening across the UP. All right, folks, don't fly away or you'll miss all things feathers coming up next.
Eric:
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(singing)
Rachel:
Masters of mirage, color-shifting characters, tricksters in the trees, today we're talking about the indigo bunting.
Eric:
Yeah, they're really good at sending a slow roller down the third baseline also.
Rachel:
On their way to first base would they run or would they fly?
Eric:
I think they would fly, but that brings up an interesting question. So if they get thrown out for a sacrifice bunt but they flew to first, is it also then a sacrifice fly in addition to being a sacrifice bunt?
Rachel:
Questions to ponder. But if they don't get out at first base, does that mean he's indigo to second?
Eric:
Ooh, indigo to second, yes. I think it would also make the bird an indigo stealing in addition to an indigo bunting.
Rachel:
Sure. Okay. I think we have to end this because I'm indigo crazy if we continue on. The indigo bunting is a small songbird that is common and widespread in Michigan throughout the late spring and summer, and they will fill the next few months with cheerful songs. They're sometimes nicknamed the blue canaries because indigo buntings will sing their bouncy tunes from dawn to dusk all over the Eastern North American states. This time of year breeding males can be easy to spot as they appear to be vibrantly blue with a shiny, silvery gray bill, hence, the name indigo bunting. But hidden within their jewel-like blue feathers lies a hidden secret: Their feathers are actually brown. Now their electric blue hue doesn't come from pigment, but from microscopic structures in their feathers that refract and reflect blue light. So their plumage does contain melanin, but that's what gives off the dull brown or black color.
This is the case for all birds that are blue. Well, they're not blue, but they're blue appearing because no birds are actually blue. According to Scott Follett, a wildlife biologist at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, red and yellow feathers get their color from actual pigments called carotenoids, which are in the foods that birds are eating. But blue is different because no bird species can make blue from pigments. The color blue that we see on a bird is created by the way light waves interact with the feathers and their arrangement of protein molecules called keratin. So in other words, blue is a structural color different from keratin structures and reflects light in subtly different ways to produce different shades of what our human eyes perceive as the color blue. So blue feather under ultraviolet light actually will look uniformly gray to human eyes.
Eric:
So like a blue jay would be a gray jay. Is there a gray jay?
Rachel:
There is a gray jay, yeah. That's a species outside of Michigan. But yeah, I just found that to be so fascinating because when you think about birds that are blue, we have quite a few of them in Michigan, blue jays, blue birds, indigo buntings, there's a variety of blue-colored birds, but blue's not real.
Eric:
Blue is an illusion.
Rachel:
It's fake.
Eric:
It's a bluesian.
Rachel:
Bluesian birds. Now only mature males display their bright plumage as it helps to attract mates. The non-breeding males have more of a brown and blue modeled feathering, and females are plain brown color and are seen far less often, with good reason. They do most of the work for caring for the eggs and the young and so they stay hidden in dense thickets. But as the fall approaches and the breeding season ends, the breeding male's vibrant blue color will change from blue to camouflage brown with bluish streaks in the tail feathers. So they will actually make themselves more camouflaged by changing the colors of the feathers and so they can blend in with natural vegetation in the cold winter months. Now in addition to their super cool patterns, indigo buntings can also be identified by their small sparrow-sized shape. They have a short rounded tail and a short, thick conical bill. So a conical bill, it's a chunky bill with a broad circular base that appears to taper to a point. So you can imagine a small cone shape as their bill.
Eric:
Conical bill is the cousin of Pecos Bill.
Rachel:
That's a reference I don't know.
Eric:
So yeah, Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy in folk hero from old, old school. I am not surprised that you do not get the reference, but I hear conical bill and I'm like, "Oh, yeah, Pecos Bill's cousin."
Rachel:
Sure.
Eric:
I also think of a group of people that have multiple friends named Bill and they're like, "Oh, are you talking about short bill or conical bill?" "Oh, I'm talking about conical bill."
Rachel:
Because he has a cone-shaped head.
Eric:
Yeah, exactly.
Rachel:
Well, these conical bills are very strong and they're used for crunching on seeds and hard berries. As a side note, for all of the different types of birds out there, there are only 12 different bird bill shapes. So keep that trivia fact in mind because it would make for a really great mug me trivia question someday. These little birds are a particularly vocal species and will sing all day every day throughout the spring and summer. From the tree tops and shrubs, to the telephone lines or wherever they choose to roost, they are singing. Indigo buntings belong to the genus of birds known as Passerina, which includes family members of other vibrantly-colored birds like the northern cardinal and the rose-breasted grosbeak. The spot in indigo bunting look in reedy or bushy areas, especially where fields meet forest. They love edges, hedgerows or overgrown patches and brushy roadsides.
When they're not singing from the tallest perches in the area, they can often be seen foraging among seed-laden shrubs and grasses. If you're wanting to do some birding this spring to spot these birds or other spring arrivals such as golden-winged warblers, American redstarts or chestnut-sided warblers, we recommend visiting one of the 19 Grouse Enhanced Management Sites across the Northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula. These sites, also referred to as GEMS, are truly the jewels of springtime birding. GEMS are areas of publicly-accessible land managed for wildlife habitat and wildlife recreation, and each area provides abundant food sources and shelter for diverse species including migratory songbirds. While these are primarily used for upland game bird hunting in the fall, they provide excellent birding and wildlife recreation year round.
Each area is complete with walking trails, parking areas, site information and maps, and are accessible to people of varying physical abilities, and these trails are the perfect place for new birders or hikers to explore. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the GEMS program, and that's 10 years of creating wildlife habitat in these areas specifically for grouse and woodcock and other species that benefit from these young forest habitat types. To learn more about Michigan's bird species and where to plan your next birding trip, visit michigan.gov/birding or follow MI Birds, the public outreach and education program created by Audubon Great Lakes and us at the DNR. You can find them on Facebook, Instagram or X. As we venture forth into the wilds of Michigan the summer, keep your eyes peeled for these little blue gemstones and listen along for their songs to continue to brighten our days and inspire a deep appreciation for Michigan's wonders.
Eric:
Keep your baseball glove low to the ground in case they try to trickle one past you.
Rachel:
I wish I had more baseball puns to contribute. A sacrifice bunt might be a hairy situation, but don't go anywhere because all things fur is coming up next.
Eric:
Pure Michigan hunt applications are on sale now. If you want your shot of what is considered Michigan's ultimate hunt, pick up a $5 application or two. There's no limit to the number you can buy. If you're one of the three lucky winners, you'll get a hunting prize package worth thousands as well as licenses for elk bear, spring and fall turkey, antlerless deer and first pick at a managed waterfall area for a reserved hunt purchase. Anywhere hunting licenses are sold or online at michigan.gov/pmh.
(singing)
Rachel:
We are delving into the secret life of the red fox. Red fox are quite common in Michigan and can be found in every county. But despite their ample population and distribution across the state, they do a pretty fantastic job of staying concealed even with their bright fur color. Like many of our more common species, they can thrive in diverse environments. From forests to prairies to subdivisions to downtown areas, they can really live in a variety of places. Now, physically, most red foxes have the iconic reddish to orange pelt, but occasionally, they do boast a spectrum of colors ranging from a pale yellowish to red to a deep reddish-brown with distinct black markings on their legs and a white-tipped tail.
Their scientific name is vulpis, and they are a canine species, one of three wild canines we have here in Michigan. The other two being a coyote and a wolf. They're the smallest canines and weigh between 6 and 30 pounds and are about 20 to 35 inches in length. For reference, that's about the size of a beagle. But fox have really thin, long, slender legs and are actually quite small animals. I know that anytime when I've seen one in the wild, I'm always a little surprised by how small they actually are. Now despite their smaller size, they can make quite a ruckus. Red fox are really chatty critters and they communicate in a variety of ways through vocalizations, facial expressions and scent marking.
Eric:
So is that like the fox equivalent of crop dusting for humans?
Rachel:
It differs in that the fox actually wants others to know who dealt it and also that the smell doesn't come from their lower intestinal tract but from their scent glands. Moving on, there have been 28 different kinds of vocalizations described in red foxes, and every fox has their own individual voice. Vocalizations are used to communicate with foxes that are both nearby and far away, and they have distinct calls to greet one another or let others know there's danger nearby or to attract a mate. Even the babies have their own calls to let parents know that they need something. So we do have an answer to the age-old question, "What does the fox say?" Whatever the situation calls for. As I mentioned, they will also use scent to communicate their scent markings occur through glands all over their body, but also through urine and feces.
Red fox also have excellent senses for vision, smell and touch. In terms of diet, red fox like to eat and they are omnivores, so they'll consume a diverse range of prey from rodents to frogs and toads, birds, rabbits, insects and even fruit. They're very highly skilled hunters and can hear small rodents scurrying along underground or under the snow. These foxes play a crucial role in controlling populations of small rodents like mice, chipmunks and red squirrels, and they may also aid in seed dispersal by eating fruits and distributing their seeds elsewhere. You may have heard foxes in the past few months as they have been particularly vocal during their breeding season from February to April.
Now that season often results in litters of five babies, also known as kits, and the labor of raising those kits is shared as both parents and older offspring will participate in caring for the young, fostering a cooperative family dynamic. Behaviorally, red foxes are solitary, but familial animals. Within their home range is an adult male, one or two females, and they're young. They're den animals and mainly live within dens or depressions in the ground or other burrows within their home range. Now because foxes are adaptable, they can often have dens near our homes and still go completely undetected. I have this at my home. I have a fox that lives somewhere in my very urban subdivision. I've never actually seen it, but I've seen its tracks in the snow walking up my driveway and across my front walkway. Even though I haven't been able to see it yet, I sure do like seeing its little tracks around.
Eric:
You need to get yourself one of those outdoor cameras just simply a fox cam just so you can capture it on video.
Rachel:
I do. I really do need to install something like that. We've got a lot of critters. We'd catch a fox on our camera for sure, but we also have a skunk slinking around. We had a 9-point buck run through our very much fenced-in backyard last summer. Lots of critters.
Eric:
Wildlife, it's everywhere.
Rachel:
Truly. Now, if you are seeing foxes around your home, you may be unintentionally attracting them to your yard through the cascading impacts of setting out bird feeders or leaving trash unsecured. So as birds are attracted to your feeders, they will also attract squirrels or rabbits as seeds fall onto the ground, which basically creates a fox buffet. Unsecured trash cans and free-range chickens can also attract foxes and cause issues for home and livestock owners, so we do recommend taking in your trash and chickens every night. If a fox dens on your property, they will most likely keep to themselves in the den while the mother fox has her kits. However, during the spring when kits emerge from the den and they set out to find dens of their own, they can become very curious and clever animals during this time. After all, about this time of year, they are teenagers, so you might see them out during the day scoping out a new sweet spot to move into to establish their own home ranges.
If you hear or spot a fox in the spring, especially a young fox, you want to make sure that all food sources have been removed around your home and to scare the kits away when you see them. If they feel threatened, they will likely leave your property in search of a safer den site. While it's really cool to have kits near your home for wildlife viewing, it's important for them to retain their natural fear of humans so that young foxes can learn how to establish a new safe home range and forage for their own foods. If you see the fox kits, remember to keep your distance. Do not feed them or attempt to pet them. Make lots of noise by yelling, clapping your hands or banging pots and pans to scare away the fox. Are they super fluffy and adorable and friend shaped? Yes, but does that give you permission to pet them? Unfortunately, no.
Eric:
It's also a really good way to get bit.
Rachel:
It's a tremendous way to contract some kind of disease or infection that you would otherwise be better off not having. You can discourage a fox from denning on your property by making sure you're creating a lot of human activity and disturbance in the area where you've seen them. Running lawn equipment or making a lot of noise around those areas can make the fox uncomfortable, and they may choose to find another den site or relocate their family if they've already had kits. It's also important to note that if you have a fox in the area that you do not allow small pets to roam freely when the fox is present. Just strictly out of a lot of extra precaution, just consider keeping pets indoors or accompany them outside, especially at night when foxes could be more active. In conclusion, the red fox's remarkable adaptability, its clever behavior, diverse diet and complex communication underscore its significance as a highly-successful species we have in Michigan.
Eric:
michigan.gov/dnrtrails is your destination for trail maps, trail etiquette and trail closure information. Trail information for biking, cross country skiing, horseback riding, hiking, off-road, vehicle riding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and even water trails for kayaking and canoeing are available. While you're there, remember to check out information about pet-friendly recreation, track chairs and the Iron Belle Trail, all available at michigan.gov/dnrtrails.
Pete Kailing:
"The spring is fresh and fearless and every leap is new. The world is brimmed with moonlight, the lilac brimmed with dew," wrote American poet Sara Teasdale. I am Pete Kailing, DNR Wildlife biologist, bringing you the May calendar for outdoor sporting action. Spring turkey hunting is going crazy across much of the state. Birds are being taken and the weather has been well, crazy Michigan spring weather. It's been a cool end to April, but the entire month of May is projected to be above average for heat. So it might be frosty now, but get ready for early leaf out and busy bugs just ahead. The gobblers are already busy on any fresh green fields, but quiet with the cool mornings. Be assured those birds are closer than you think, even though they are not gobbling at dawn. Some quiet hen yelps and patient waiting is a good strategy to lure in a lonely time when it's cold out.
Did you know each year the spring turkey season starts on the second to last Saturday in April? You can read about that and more at michigan.gov/turkey. Morel mushroom picking is underway and will just get better with warming weather. Morels prefer air temperature of about 60 degrees with soil temperatures between 45 and 50 to sprout the spores of those tasty treats. If turkey hunting is not your bag, May is a good month to think about archery practice for next fall. Update your bow and accessories and maybe invest in a new 3D outdoor target. It's also not too soon to start getting in shape for fall hunting, especially if you travel to Western states at high altitude, only four months to September, or look for a spring trapper skeet league to join to work on your shotgun shooting skills. Get that in before the lawn mowing takes over your summer, and target shooting is popular in spring.
On state land, please pick up after yourself and you cannot use a tree as a backstop. So bring your own target stand and try and find a berm or ridge as a safe backstop. Please pick up your empties and use target material. Treat state land as your own. Thank you for that. May also means school graduations, kids are home and busy family time. It also means Mother's Day, which falls on May 12 this year. The strategic hunter recognizes that Mother's Day is a surprisingly important date for all hunters. Get the family outside for a picnic or bike ride on a new trail. Bonding with the outdoors and each other only makes the fall hunting season more of a family affair. That's a wrap for May outdoor action. Get some mud on your boots, take a friend, but for Pete's sake, try to keep the mud off the carpet or at least blame the dog if you have one. Till next time.
Rachel:
Now is your opportunity to win a Wildtalk Podcast Camp mug. As a thank you to our listeners, we'll be giving away a mug or two every episode. Our April mug winners are Wade Selly and Samantha Cottle. Check your email as we'll be getting in touch with you soon. They answered the question, what is the oval-shaped membrane that helps the frog to hear, that is especially visible on a green frog. The answer we were looking for is the tympanum or the tympanic membrane. To be entered into the drawing this month, test your wildlife knowledge and answer our wildlife quiz question, this month's question is, how many native crayfish species are there in Michigan? Email your name and answer to us at dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov to be entered for a chance to win a mug. Be sure to include the subject line as Mug Me and submit your answer by May 15th.
Eric:
Good luck, everybody. Hopefully, this question doesn't drive you cray cray. Michigan Conservation officers are working hard to protect and keep the outdoors safe for current and future generations. If you witness a natural resources violation, you can call or text the Report All Poaching hotline 24 hours a day at 1-800-292-7800, or fill out the complaint form available at michigan.gov/rap. If you would like more information on becoming a conservation officer, click on Become a CO at michigan.gov/conservationofficers.
Rachel:
Thank you for joining us on this May edition of the Wildtalk Podcast. Remember, if you have questions about wildlife or hunting, you can call 517-284-9453, or email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov. We'll see you back here in June.
Eric:
This has been the Wildtalk Podcast, your monthly podcast airing the first of each month and offering insights into the world of wildlife across the state of Michigan. You can reach the Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453 or dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov.