The Michigan DNR's Wildtalk Podcast

Southwest Michigan, piping plovers and huge squirrels

• Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division • Season 6 • Episode 8

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In this episode of the Wildtalk Podcast, we talk to Kristin Wildman about all things habitat in Southwest Michigan, fly away with piping plovers as we talk all things feathers, and talk about Michigan's largest squirrel in our all things fur segment.

Episode Hosts: Rachel Leightner 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@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, feathers and fur. With insights, interviews in 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:

Hi everyone, and welcome to the August episode of the Wild Talk podcast. This is your host, Rachel Lightner, and joining me today is our show producer and co-host extraordinaire, Eric Hillard.

Announcer:

I can't believe you managed to drag me out of the shadows into the light of day.

Rachel:

Oh, I'm so happy we were able to. You work such magic behind the screen, so thanks for joining us on the microphone today.

We have a fresh episode. We'll chat with Kristen Wildman, the field operations manager from the southwest region, we'll learn about a scurrying little shorebird that nests in a few locations along the Great Lakes, and we'll chat about the largest squirrel species we have in Michigan. Of course, you will want to listen in through the whole episode for your chance to win a Wild Talk Podcast camp mug. But first, a word from our forest.

Announcer:

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/forestsforalifetime.

Rachel:

Welcome to the All Things Habitat segment. We are joined by Kristen Wildman, field operations manager, to chat about the awesome work going on in the southwest region. Thank you so much for joining us today, Kristen.

Kristin:

Thanks for having me.

Rachel:

Now you are relatively new to the role of the field operations manager. Congratulations on the position. Tell us a little bit about your backstory and when you moved into this role.

Kristin:

Yeah, so I started as a wildlife biologist with the Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division a long time ago, longer than I care to say, but I did ... I was a wildlife biologist in the field, southern Michigan for 11 years. And then I moved to our public Land Administration unit in the wildlife division. As a wildlife biologist there, I was focusing mostly on land issues like land acquisition, disposal, appropriate use, permitting and all the things that go along with that for the wildlife divisions land portfolio.

And then while in that position, for five years, I had a few opportunities to act in some other roles in our division. So I got some experience with our rare species group and experience in our program support group. And just a few months ago, I guess in late March, is when I started as a field operations manager. And so I'm very pleased to be in this position. It's a position that supports our field staff at our field offices, our biologists, technicians and assistants and non-career employees. And so I'm very happy to be in a position that directly supports them every day. That's

Rachel:

Awesome. And we are certainly very happy you're in that role too. Now that you've been there since late March, what would you say is the biggest accomplishment that your region has tackled this quarter?

Kristin:

I've got to tell you, I'm new. I'm new to this region, I'm new to this position, but I am blown away by the amount of prescribed fire this region has gotten on the ground working with of course our colleagues in the Forest Resources division. Our region in Southwest has burned 2,300 acres per with prescribed fire. And this is done of course for habitat maintenance management enhancement. These are in natural communities as well as other habitat types. And I'm just blown away again by this accomplishment. And they're continuing to be able to get this type of habitat work done on the ground. So there was even a prescribed fire last week in one planned for this week, but it did get canceled due to air quality.

And so that's another thing I want to add. Our Southwest region staff has also participated and supported our department in wildfire response and standby as well. Everybody knows that the wildfire season has been bonkers this summer and I'm so pleased that our staff have the qualifications and dedication to assist in those efforts.

Eric:

Yeah, that's really impressive that they're able to burn that many acres, especially with a lot of the issues that we've been facing with the dry season. We've had wildfires in other places, so the fact that we could set these intentional fires a according to the way that they should be done without him spreading beyond the bounds of where they should be and everything is incredibly impressive, especially when it's so vital to the habitat work that we do for wildlife here in Michigan.

Rachel:

And that is a lot of work to get done over the summer. So what's up next? What's the biggest project on the horizon?

Kristin:

Well, honestly, the biggest project next is our budgets. The end of the fiscal year for the state of Michigan is coming up. The new fiscal year begins October 1st. And so this is the time of year where we all have to do the not so fun work of sitting down and looking at budgets, plans, available monies and funding, eligible funding for the type of work that we need to get done on the ground to accomplish wildlife habitat management in the next fiscal year. And so not so fun but a big deal. So if you run into any biologists, technicians, or assistants that don't look so happy, they've been sitting in front of computers and number sheets.

Eric:

And so this year, is there an increase in the budget overall, a decrease in the budget? Are we staying the same? What can your unit expect overall?

Kristin:

We are being asked just like last year to reduce our budget. And so it takes getting creative, it takes identifying efficiencies and partners and really looking for solutions to continue to get the kind of great work done on the ground that we're used to. And so it's always a kind of sad and stressful season when we're trying to do more with less. And that is the case this year and that's not unusual.

Rachel:

Well, I'm sure you'll be able to continue to do great work. And speaking of great work, are there any impressive individual contributions coming out of your region this quarter?

Kristin:

Yeah, I mean there's so many, it's hard to list them all and I won't get around to acknowledging all the great work that our employees have done in the southwest region this last quarter. I do want to mention that we have staff at the Allegan State game area and Flat River state game area that have been working with our partners at Michigan Natural features inventory to survey and monitor populations of the federally endangered karner blue butterfly. And that's a species that the wildlife division is working to manage and conserve and it does currently exist on those areas. And so it can kind of be a heartbreaking endeavor to work on endangered species management and I'm really proud of the work that our staff and partners do to continue to try to keep that species on the planet and in Michigan.

Additionally, we've got two of our division staff wildlife technicians, Nate DeVries and Michael Richardson, are assisting in Canada with goose banding efforts. So we do occasionally provide assistance to international partners to complete goose banding for a better understanding of Canada Goose populations across their range, which is, of course, international. And so we do have two technicians providing assistance in Pook if I'm saying it correctly in Ontario, Canada, and they've been up there for almost two weeks. The state are doing that and we're very proud to have them represent our state on that banding team.

We've also had some great success at the Gourdneck State game area with Rachel Lightner right here and wildlife technician Nate DeVries and wildlife biologist Don Poppy, coordinating with the city of Portage and MUCC's on the ground programs to do conservation projects and education events. And they've been well received, well attended, and we really look forward to seeing that program continue and grow. It's been a wonderful partnership and it's been great to see.

And then one more ... I have a huge list and I won't get to all of them, but one more I'll add is we have a wildlife biologist, Ken Cusson, who has taken the lead on helping our division and region partner with and sponsor a Five Star Life's summit camp and we've provided supplies and assistance to this camp that's located in Cass County, Michigan and serves tens of thousands of children from Michigan and northern Indiana. It's been a wonderful opportunity for us to support the next generation and just so pleased and happy to be part of this region now.

Rachel:

Yeah, that is a long list of tremendous work that's getting done, both for individual species but also for the future of conservation. So well done to your team and thanks for sharing all of that awesome information. It's really excited to see these projects happening and being able to shed some light on the staff that do that work because it is really great work.

Thank you, Kristen, for joining us. It is always a joy to chat with you, so we really appreciate you coming on and spending a few minutes to tell us about the awesome work that's happening for wildlife in the southwest region.

Kristin:

Thank you for the invitation. I love being here and I'm a big fan of the show.

Rachel:

Don't fly away or you'll miss all things feathers, which is coming up next.

Announcer:

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Rachel:

Welcome back. We're headed for the dog days of summer and hopefully by now you've had a chance to spend some time on the shores of our Great Lakes. If you visited Lake Michigan near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore in Leelanau County, you may have noticed an adorable little shorebird scurrying about near the shoreline. This small ground nesting bird is truly special to Michigan because the Northwestern Lore Peninsula is one of the few places in the United States these birds can live. Have you guessed what bird species we're talking about today? You're pretty smart, so you probably can. Today we're talking about the little round and oh so clever piping plover.

Eric:

I love that name, piping plover. I picture a bird that's a bit like a hobbit. Relative to their size, they have ... I would say those feet are hobbit-like.

Rachel:

Okay. Are they covered in hair?

Eric:

No. No feathers either.

Rachel:

Okay. Well I still like to imagine they wear little green capes and carry around pieces of lembas bread with them.

Eric:

I dig it.

Rachel:

Piping plover is actually, so there's some contention over how to pronounce it. Some pronounce it plover while others pronounce it pluver. So there is a divisive word we've got here. I have always said plover, but we did do a Twitter poll a while ago and it pretty much came back split in half that it is pronounced plover and/or plover. Are you a plover or a pluver guy?

Eric:

I've always been a plover person, but maybe like a mating pair of plovers call each other pluvers. That's possible.

Rachel:

I can get down with that. Okay. I like it very much. Well, these birds are very small. They're very round. They're like a little pudgy bird. They're like the definition of burb. If you think of burb, this is the image that conjures up in your mind, and they do have sandy-colored backs with a white belly. They do have short, skinny, bright orange legs and a short orange bill with a black tip.

So during the plover breeding season, when we see them in Michigan from late April to early August, the adults will have a black forehead band between the eyes and a single black band around the neck that looks like a collar. And the sandy colored feathers help them to blend into the sand perfectly. They're essentially hiding in plain sight. It makes them really difficult to observe when they're hunkered down, but the key is to look for those bright orange legs scuttling across the sand.

Eric:

I can almost picture them talking to each other like in little British accents also. "Oh, come here, my plover."

Rachel:

I feel like there is a comedy sketch to make out of this.

Now, across the United States there are three small populations and separate breeding grounds, one in the Great Plains, one on the Atlantic coast, and one right here in the Great Lakes. Now, each population will separate for the breeding season, but they'll all come back together for the winter on the Gulf Coast during those colder months.

Here in the Great Lakes region, piping clovers are listed as an endangered species due to habitat loss, disturbance and predation. But the Great Lakes continues to provide suitable habitat for these birds, so we estimate there's about 75 to 80 nesting pairs in the Great Lakes area, which is not a lot. It is not a lot.

We think that the numbers are growing. We do have monitors out there who count the nests and the birds every year. And so we think that we're increasing in nesting pairs, but still is very minimal. So these plovers nest only on beaches and they actually prefer beaches with gravel, especially in the Sleeping Bear Dunes national lake shore.

Now, male plovers will scrape away sand to make a small depression that's only about four inches wide and a half an inch deep. So it's a pretty low-key, low maintenance nest, though they may line it with small pebbles or bits of shells, which is so endearing and adorable. I love it.

Eric:

Here, let me decorate this place for you, and they just go to work.

Rachel:

Yeah, I like to imagine they pick very specific shells and maybe because they're on the Leelanau County Lakeshore where petoskey stones are at, maybe they find dainty petoskey stones to line their pad for their lady friends.

Eric:

And maybe ... I can just imagine the number of potential mates that come by and they're just like, "I do not dig your sense of style at all. I don't know what you were thinking when you decorated this nest the way you did, but I am moving on."

Rachel:

Yeah, there's got to be studies out there like breeding pair selection based on interior design of sand nests. Adorable.

Well, if you do see plovers this time of year, so in early to mid-August, you are likely seeing one of the males and some of their new offspring.

Now, in mid-July, the females begin forming flocks and migrating south and they will leave their mates to watch over the chicks until they learn to fly. Once the chicks are independent, which typically happens in late July, the males and the chicks will also begin to leave sleeping bare dunes. By late August, they have all left their winter homes and we will not see them again until next April, so you've still got a few weeks if you wanted to go out and do some observing of our piping plovers.

Now, if you are hoping to see a plover before they make that departure, you'll want to hustle to the lake shore and bring a pair of binoculars and some patients remember, piping plovers are extremely well camouflaged in the sand, so you want to keep an eye open, but also your ears. They will peep or pipe, hence the name. It's actually not a small Bilbo Baggins pipe that they have. It's the noise that they make.

Now if you hear a plover, you'll want to freeze and look around for any movement. Do not get too close. Because plovers nest in the sand, their eggs are vulnerable to being stepped on. Now, Eric, do you remember earlier in the show when we called these birds clever?

Eric:

Yes.

Rachel:

Now listen to this. If you do get close to a nest, the adult plover may start frantically calling or feigning and injury like it has a broken wing in an attempt to lure you away from the nest. It's basically saying, "Oh, I'm injured and easy prey, come chase me this way," and it will hustle you away from its nest to keep it safe.

Now, this endangered bird does receive special accommodations from the DNR, the US Fish and Wildlife Service Universities and conservation organizations. Sleeping Bear Dunes has an active plover monitoring and protection program and those wildlife monitors are watching for birds to return and set up their nests in early April.

Once the plovers have established a territory, staff and volunteers will rope off those nesting areas to build enclosures made of wire and fencing around the site, and this will prevent disturbances and predators like dogs, crows, other shorebirds, mammals like raccoons, and humans, which may destroy the nest and eggs.

And yes, I did say dogs are predators. They're in fact one of the leading predators of piping plovers because one of the easiest things you can do to help protect this endangered bird is just by keeping your dogs on a leash when you go to these beaches in the area. You can also assist these birds by observing them from a distance and staying outside the closed off areas if you do visit Sleeping Bear Dunes anywhere from May through August.

And if you want to do a little more to further the conservation for these birds, you can learn more about the piping clover project or become a volunteer for the piping clover patrol by calling the Sleeping Bear Dunes headquarters. And we can put a link in the show notes to the piping clover project website.

Stick around. Coming up Next is All Things 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, a pier, 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:

Let's switch gears and talk about mammals, specifically one of the most widespread squirrel species in North America and the largest squirrel species in Michigan, the Marmota monax. The mar ... I can't say ... the Marmota monax or more commonly known as the woodchuck, the groundhog, or the whistle pig. The woodchuck is widespread throughout the United States and Canada. It is part of the Sciuridae family, which is the squirrel family, with the other eight species of squirrels we have in Michigan, and it is certainly the largest. It weighs between five and 11 pounds, but I know that I have seen plump woodchucks that likely weighed over 11 pounds.

Eric:

Oh yeah, I've seen some massive woodchucks in my day.

Rachel:

Now, their heads are wide and flat on top and they have a chunky body set on some really short, powerful legs that are well-equipped for digging. And despite walking on four legs, they're often seen standing on their back hind legs, making them look pretty tall. Their fur can vary greatly in color, but typically ranges from like a dark gray to cinnamon to dark brown, and their body is covered with these white-tipped guard hairs, which give them a grizzled appearance. And although males and females are the same color, males are often larger than females.

Eric:

What's hilarious is just the expression that always seems to be on a woodchuck's face. If you happen to get close enough to one where it can look at you, it just looks at you so judging and like it's disgusted with you as a human being. Its mouth is just open a little bit and it's kind of got this permanent scowl to me and I just feel like I'm being judged whenever I get up close to a woodchuck.

Rachel:

The judging whistle pig. They look like they know something. They've seen something, they know something. Now, these woodchucks are classified as rodents and the defining characteristic of all rodents is their ever-growing pair of curved incisor teeth. So those teeth continuously grow, but they do get worn down from constant gnawing and chewing. Now, uncharacteristically of other rodents, woodchucks typically have white teeth and other rodent species have a more orangey colored tooth. They are solitary daytime species that can be observed foraging for food or even sunning themselves.

Now, groundhogs love to dig, and they primarily live in their boroughs under the ground. They'll construct huge summer dens that usually have multiple entrances and tunnels and winter dens where they will hibernate until the spring season arrives. Groundhogs are true hibernators, so from October to March, they will hide away in their underground winter dens and live off of fat reserves that they put on during the fall foraging and only very minimally do they wake at all. They typically sleep through the entire period.

True to their nickname, the whistle pig can in fact whistle. Now, these whistle pigs will communicate with sound as well as sight and smell, secretions from facial and anal glands are used to demarcate territorial boundaries. That's how they establish where they live and where their movement will take place. Woodchucks will also make vocal sounds such as hissing, growling, shrieking, the whistling, teeth chattering, and they'll use their sight to detect predators and then use sounds to alert other woodchucks in the area.

Now, groundhogs can be found in a wide variety of low elevation habitats, everything from forests, wood, lots, fields, prairies like hedgerows in our backyards, in urban subdivisions, and even large apartment complexes with small strips of trees or overgrown grass. They can thrive in just about any urban or suburban area that has even a small space for food foraging.

They are herbivores that feed mostly on grasses and herbaceous plants, things like dandelions, flowers, clovers, but they will also eat bark and leaves when green vegetation is unavailable. During the spring and summer, when groundhogs are most active, they can become a nuisance though to home and garden owners, as they will eat those landscaping plants and garden plants and dig large holes that can cause structural damage.

One of the best ways to avoid damage caused by woodchucks is to take action before their action starts, so exclusionary fences that will prevent them from entering an area that are at least three feet tall of like a thickish wire and then buried into the ground at least 12 inches can prevent woodchucks from gaining access. And again, even if you do live in those really urban areas where you don't expect woodchucks to be, oftentimes they move into those areas because there's ample food sources. So maybe take these action early on in the spring. We're well into summer at this point, but if you start to experience any problems with woodchucks or even other small mammals like rabbits and chipmunks, exuding them with the fence is a really helpful tool.

Eric:

Much more effective than no woodchucks allowed signs or something like that.

Rachel:

I would love to see those signs. Now, if woodchucks have already moved in, you can place an ammonia-soaked towel near its den. They don't like the smell of ammonia. So anything that's got like a pure ammonia sprayed onto it or even used cat litter can be effective because basically you're just looking for something that sells strongly of ammonia and that will encourage the woodchuck to leave and find a new home.

Or if you live in an area where firearms are allowed, groundhogs may be taken year round. And you can see the full details in the Michigan hunting regulations, and we will link to that information in the show notes.

Now, the one thing that you cannot do if you're experiencing problems with groundhogs is trap and relocate them off of the property they were trapped on. Relocation by a homeowner is not a legal method for removing woodcucks. Now to learn more about how to handle conflicts with groundhogs on your property, visit michigan.gov/wildlife.

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.

Rachel:

Now is your opportunity to win a Wild Talk podcast camp mug. As a thank you to our listeners, we'll be giving away a mug or two every episode. Our July mug winners are Sam Hussein and Mike Mulder. Check your emails. We'll be getting in touch with you soon. They answered the question, what native plant species do karner blue butterflies lay their eggs on? Karner blue butterflies lay their eggs on wild lupin, which is a vibrantly blue flower that blooms in April to June, and it's very beautiful.

To be entered into the drawing this month, test your wildlife knowledge and answer our wildlife quiz question. This month's question is, what are the eight species of squirrels that live in Michigan? Email your name and answer to us at DNR-wildlife@michigan.gov to be entered for your chance to win a mug. Be sure to include the subject line is mug me and submit your answer by August 15t. We'll announce the winners and the answers on next month's podcast, so be sure to listen in to see if you've won and for the next quiz question. 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/wrap. If you would like more information on becoming a conservation officer, click on Become a CEO at michigan.gov/conservationofficers.

Rachel:

Well, thanks for joining us on this August 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 will see you back here in September.

Announcer:

This has been the Wild Talk Podcast, your monthly podcast airing the first of each month in 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.