The Northern Lower Peninsula, wild turkeys in the spring and the little brown bat

In this episode of the Wildtalk Podcast, we talk about habitat projects happening in Michigan's Northern Lower Peninsula, fly away with a discussion about spring wild turkey behavior, and have a high-flying discussion about little brown bats. 

Episode Hosts: Hannah Schauer and Rachel Leightner
Producer/editor: Eric Hilliard

• All things habitat
  • Michigan elk hunting information
  • Good neighbor authority
• All things feathers
  • Nuisance wildlife information
  • Michigan turkey hunting information 
• All things fur
  • Michigan bat information
  • Rabies information

Questions or comments about the show? Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453 (WILD) or email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov.

Transcript

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 michigan.gov/hunting. You know what that sound means? It's time for the Michigan DNR'S Wild Talk podcast. Welcome to the Wild Talk podcast, where representatives from the DNR'S Wildlife Division chew the fat and shoot the scat about all things habitat, brothers in fur. Everybody 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 to Wild Talk. I'm your host Rachel Leightner, and here with me today is the delightful Hannah Schauer .

Hannah:

Oh, hello, Rachel. Now in this episode we'll be talking about some neat habitat projects in northern Michigan, how to handle trouble with wild turkeys and talking about the little brown bat.

Rachel:

And later in the show we will of course announce the winner of our Wild Talk podcast camp mugs, and then you'll be able to find out how you can win one too. But before we get into the episode, we have an announcement to make. It is bittersweet but exciting. This will be the last episode that Hannah and I co-host together. Oh, shoot.

Hannah:

Can't do it.

Rachel:

I didn't want to kind of upset. After 15 years with the Michigan DNR and all six seasons of the Well Talk podcast, Hannah is leaving us and she's accepted a new position and we'll be moving on to a new, really exciting opportunity. And we are very sad to see her go, but are so happy to have gotten to spend so much time with her creating this podcast that so many people have loved largely because of the tremendous amount of work that she has put in, and we're just really happy for you clearly.

Hannah:

Thank you so much. Yes, clearly. Oh, well, thank you so much, Rachel. I am super excited for this next chapter of my career, but we'll most certainly miss our monthly chats

Rachel:

Together. Of course you will. This is clearly the best part of both of our months, getting around our microphones and chatting all things wildlife has been a really fun time.

Hannah:

Yes, yes it has. So I hope you all enjoy this episode and remember to get out and enjoy all that Michigan's wildlife has to offer. Now, please stick around to hear about all things habitat in the northern lower region.

Speaker 5:

Trees provide for the wellbeing of our state. That's why we work so hard to keep our forest 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/forests for a lifetime.

Rachel:

Today we are joined by Brian Mastenbrook, the Wildlife Regional Supervisor of the Northern Lower Peninsula Region, to chat about his regions and the wonderful wildlife habitat work they're doing up there. Thank you for joining us today, Brian.

Brian:

Thanks for having me. Glad to be here.

Hannah:

So Brian, could you tell us about some of the key projects that Wildlife Division staff have been working on or will be focused on in the coming months?

Brian:

Yeah, I'll talk about what's coming up. We've got three main areas of work that we're going to be doing this summer. One is our regular openings work where we plant food plots on state land food plots, help keep elk where we want the elk to stay and we do it throughout the region. Then to provide other hunter recreational opportunity. That's one thing. A second one is we're getting a new machine, a $300,000. The brand is Fecon. It's the kind of machine that choose to clear power lines and stuff like that. So it chews up trees and it'll allow us to restore a lot of openings that have been growing in with trees for the last 25 years. In the seventies, they used to use chemicals to maintain these openings. We haven't been doing that for a long time. And so now we're going to use this mechanical means to do this.

And this isn't going to be to create food plots. This is going to be to restore native grass openings, shrubs, native trees. And then these openings are used a lot by a lot of game species, woodcock, deer, turkeys and non-game species. Whippoorwills, we're going to be working on big openings a lot. And so what your whippoorwill, night hawks, sharp shined hawks use the edges of these openings. So a lot of benefit and we're really, really excited about that. The kind of third place that we're going to be working is new program for us. It's called Good Neighbor Authority. It's a program that we're working with the US Forest Service on where timbers cut, DNR sets up timber sales on forest service land, and the revenue for those goes into wildlife habitat. And this is a lot of the focus of our work. It's not all we're doing, but it's a lot of it.

Rachel:

Now when you mentioned the pecan, you mentioned removing some of those trees for other trees and plants and vegetation to grow in. What kind of trees will you be removing and what kind of trees do you want to then fill in?

Brian:

Well, we'll mostly be removing cherry, sometimes white pine, red pine, hardwoods. It depends on the site, the opening site a lot. If they're poor sites, then it's going to be the cherry aspen, perhaps of Jack pine event and better sites, that'll be red maple, maybe hard maple, ironwood, aspen. And we really won't, I mean, there might be some projects where we plant some shrubs, maybe hawthorne native shrubs that will produce berries that a lot of animals use. But for the most part we'll just be trying to hit these things every 10 to 15 years and just keep them and a kind of early successional state and they can grow up a little bit. But like I said, they've been growing up for, oh gosh, 40 years now and it's time to reclaim them.

Hannah:

Anything that you wanted to add Brian?

Brian:

Well, just a shout out to the staff who are adaptable, looking at these new opportunities and taking them under wing and kind of reconfiguring what they do to take advantage of this stuff. And we developed, especially the new machine, we developed it the need for it kind of as a region and that's the staff who have said, this is something we need and this is how we need to do it. So this is the kind of crossing the finish line on a long race of working together to figure out what we need and then to ask for it again and again and again and finally get it. I'm just the representative of all the work that's been done, but it's been a lot of really good work on staff's part to do it.

Rachel:

Who gets the first dibs? Who gets the Fecan first?

Brian:

Well, we don't know yet. They're-

Hannah:

Whoever draws the short stick.

Brian:

Well, everyone's submitting what they want to get done, and I have said that the first acre is going to be a $300,000 acre. So whether you want that acre to be on your work area or not is most people do.

Hannah:

Well, thanks so much, Brian. We appreciate you taking the time to tell us a little bit about some of the work that's been happening or will be happening for wildlife in the Northern Lower Peninsula.

Brian:

You're welcome.

Hannah:

Stick around folks as we'll cover all things feathers next.

Announcer:

There are many camping and lodging opportunities available in Michigan State parks. When you choose state park campgrounds, you get more than just a campsite. State parks offer a diverse range of recreational opportunities, including hands-on instructional classes, nature programs, places to fish, boat launches, family friendly events, and much more. Reservations can be made six months in advance. So why wait? Visit midnrreservations.com or call 1-800-44-parks to make a reservation.

Hannah:

Welcome back to Wild Talk. Spring has sprung and with the warmer weather also comes breeding season for many wildlife.

Rachel:

Yes, and wild turkeys are no exception. In fact, male turkeys can become particularly aggressive and territorial this time of year. It's not unusual to have a male turkey attack his reflection in a window through sliding doors or even in shiny car paint.

Hannah:

Wild turkeys can be found in much of the state and prefer open grasslands and forests, but it is not unusual to see them in suburban and urban areas.

Rachel:

Wild turkeys are omnivorous and they will forage in forests and grasslands for insects and berries, seeds, leaves, grasses and acorns and nuts from trees. Agricultural fields are also frequented by turkeys and turkeys also enjoy bird seeded. So it should come as no surprise when we say bird feeders can attract wild turkeys. And you'll want to use caution when feeding songbirds as to not attract those turkeys to your backyard.

Hannah:

If you do have turkeys frequenting your area or turkeys becoming a nuisance, you may need to clean up the seeds and grains that fall under the bird feeders or remove them completely.

Rachel:

And young plants in your garden may also attract a turkey's attention. You can protect gardens with fencing, hardware, cloth, or motion activated scaring devices.

Hannah:

And if turkeys are being troublesome, you can use noise makers like air horns, banging pots or pans, barking dogs or rattling rocks in a glass jar to try and scare them. Pretty much be loud and noisy. Make yourself look big and spooky to try and scare the turkeys away. You can also open and close an umbrella while you're walking towards the turkey, which can also startle and scare it away. Using some of those noise and movement techniques are a good thing to start with.

Rachel:

And another option is spraying a water hose near the turkeys or using a motion detecting sprinkler, which may help keep them away. If the turkeys are attacking their reflections like in the bumper of vehicle or again in a glass door or something, cover or disguise those windows and other shiny objects like hubcaps and car paint.

Hannah:

And if you've tried some of those deterrent methods and have tried to scare them away and remove those food sources and they continue to be problematic or in the area, if you are in an area where hunting is allowed, turkeys may be hunted in certain areas in the spring and in the fall with a valid Michigan turkey license.

Rachel:

Yes, and the time for that is now actually the spring turkey season begins this month for most hunters. So if you have an issue that you'd like to be able to handle yourself, or if you are a turkey hunter, you can pick up those spring turkey licenses while they're still available depending on the county and the season that you're interested in hunting. If you want to learn more about spring turkey hunting opportunities, you can see the spring hunting regulations at michigan.gov/turkey.

Hannah:

And if the turkey is acting aggressively and you live in an area where hunting is not allowed, you should contact your local DNR office for further assistance and mitigation techniques. You can also find more tips and information for nuisance wildlife at michigan.gov/wildlife. Now stay tuned for all things for fur.

Announcer:

Find a new fishing spot. The family friendly fishing waters map shows family friendly fishing locations across the state that are easy to access and have a high likelihood of catching fish. You can filter locations by what type of fish you want to catch or whether you want to fish from a boat appear or the shore. You can even filter by amenities like swimming availability and restrooms as well as entry fees that may apply. To find out more, click on family friendly fishing waters at michigan.gov/fishing.

Rachel:

Welcome back to Wild Talk. Today we're going to talk about some of our favorite little critters, the little brown bat.

Hannah:

Yes, one of my favorites. For those longtime listeners to the podcast, I love to talk about bats. And so today we are going to talk about bats. The little brown bat in particular is widespread throughout the United States and Canada, and this adorable little bat has an olive brown colored coat with a very glossy sheen. And the black ears and membranes are hairless on the little brown bat.

Rachel:

The cute little bugger. The little brown bat gets to be about 3.1 to 3.7 inches in length, so it's not very big, just about three inches with a wingspan of about nine to 10 and a half inches. But they only weigh less than half an ounce.

Hannah:

Little brown bats hibernate in caves and abandoned mines where the temperature stays between 38 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and they need 85% to a hundred percent relative humidity. So they like it to be consistent temperature and pretty humid when they're hibernating. And most little brown bats group or cluster together when hibernating. Now they usually are in groups of like one to 15 bats, but occasionally you might find larger groups.

Rachel:

And they travel a bit In the spring. Little brown bats may travel over 200 miles to get to their summer range.

Hannah:

Yes. Now in the summer, male little brown bats are solitary and roost alone. Females on the other hand form large maternal colonies that can have hundreds of bats. Sometimes the large maternal colonies can be found in manmade structures like barns and houses. And in the areas where manmade structures are less available, they're going to roost in tree cavities or under peeling bark. A female will usually return to the same roost site year after year.

Rachel:

Now, little brown bats forage for insects throughout the night, but are most actively foraging during the second and third hour after sunset. Now, the little brown bat prefers insects with an aquatic larval stage. This would include insects like mayflies, caddisflies and mosquitoes. So thank you little brown bats for feasting on mosquitoes. They consume thousands of prey in a few hours in females can eat more than their weight and insects each night as milk production and flight are very energy expensive.

Hannah:

Little brown bats mate during the late summer, but the female will store the sperm throughout the winter and then the females will become pregnant in the spring after they emerge from hibernation, usually in around April, right about now. Gestation is usually about 60 days, but it will vary dependent on the weather. Cold, rainy weather equals less insects out and about and less food for the bats. So they need to lower their body temperature to save energy, and thus this will slow down the fetal development. So weather in the springtime can have a lot of impact on when those baby bats actually get born. Very fascinating.

Rachel:

That is fascinating. What's also fascinating is that the little brown bats usually have just one pup, and those pups weigh a 10th of an ounce at birth. That's so tiny, and they're born hairless with closed eyes in folded ears. And I'm just picturing like a small little black bean. I think that that's probably what they've got to look like. That's not a fact. That's what it's imagining. The little baby brown back grows quickly though, and they're able to forage on their own after three to four weeks.

Hannah:

Now predation doesn't happen often for little brown bats. However, there are other significant mortality factors that impact these bats. So one of these is not storing up enough fat reserves to last the winter. And as we all know, winter weather is variable. The bat stores as much fat as it can, but if the winter lasts longer than normal, that can impact some of that bat survivability, especially for the young of the year who are less experienced. Now, another big factor is white nose syndrome. It's likely the biggest threat to this bat as this disease has a significant impacts on the numbers of little brown bats as well as many other species. And we've talked about white nose syndrome and some past episodes in more detail. So be sure to go check those out.

Rachel:

And despite their small size, their lifespan is quite large. A wild little brown bat can live up to 34 years, which makes it one of the longest lived mammals in our region.

Hannah:

That's quite a long time lived

Rachel:

The longest lived mammal in our region. That's a long time for such a small critter.

Hannah:

Yes, yes. You think about other small mammals like mice or something that don't last very long at all. Lucky if they make it a few months. So the bats are in a different category.

Rachel:

Indeed, they are. Well, if you enjoyed learning about Michigan's bats and you'd like to learn more and the impacts of white nose syndrome, please visit our website at michigan.gov/bats.

Announcer:

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 Bell Trail, all available at michigan.gov/dnrtrails.

Hannah:

All right, everybody. Now is your opportunity to win a Wild Talk podcast mug. As a thank you to our listeners, we'll be giving away a mug or two every episode.

Rachel:

Our March winners are Eric McGee and Cynthia Moore. You'll want to check your email as we'll be getting in touch with you soon. They answered the question, how many species of frogs and toads do we have in Michigan? The answer is 13 species. And because I really love frogs and toads, I will list them all for you, starting with the American toad, Fowler's toad, Blanchard's cricket frog, the chorus frog, spring peeper, which we should be hearing right now, Cope's gray tree frog, gray tree frog, two different species, the green frog, the bull frog, the northern leopard frog, the pickerel frog, the mink frog, and the wood frog, which we also should be able to hear about this time of year.

Hannah:

Pretty awesome. One of my favorite things about spring is hearing the frogs. Now to be entered into the drawing this month. Test your wildlife knowledge and answer our wildlife quiz question, how many teeth does an opossum have?

Rachel:

In addition to frogs, I also really love possums, and this is a great tribute back to them. So 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 answers to us By April 15th. We'll announce winners and the answer on next month's podcast, so be sure to listen in to see if you've won and for the next quiz question.

Hannah:

Good luck everyone.

Announcer:

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:

Well everybody, thanks for joining us on this April edition of the Wild Talk Podcast. Remember, if you have questions about wildlife or hunting, you can call 517-284-WILD or email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov. We'll see you back here in May.

Hannah:

Rachel will see you back here in May, not Hannah.

Announcer:

This has been the Wild Talk 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.