Southwest Michigan habitat, pileated woodpeckers and the pine marten

In this episode of the Wildtalk Podcast, we talk to Mark Mills about all things habitat in the Southwest region of the state, fly away with a discussion about pileated woodpeckers, and we wrap up the episode with a chat about the elusive pine marten.      

Episode Hosts: Rachel Lincoln and Eric Hilliard
Producer/editor: Eric Hilliard

• All things habitat
  • Gourdneck State Game Area map
  • Karner Blue Butterflies
  • Wetland Wonders
• All things feathers
  • Pileated woodpecker
  • The Amazing Secrets of Woodpecker Tongues
  • Nest box instructions
  • Winter Finch Forecast
  • Snowbirds article
• All things fur
  • Pine Marten

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 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:

Hello wildlife enthusiasts and welcome to the wintry edition of the Wildtalk Podcast. This is your host, Rachel Lincoln, and returning to join me today is the man who keeps the dialogue witty and our audio sounding smooth, Eric Hilliard.

Eric:

Smooth audio should be the goal every time.

Rachel:

Can you believe that this episode is the last episode of 2023? It's the end of season six, isn't that incredible?

Eric:

Next month is 2024.

Rachel:

I love the sound of 2024 for some reason because it's such an even number in the middle of a decade. It's just a very pleasing round number to me.

Eric:

Did you watch the show 24 when it was out?

Rachel:

Oh, I did. I grew up on Jack Bauer.

Eric:

I bet you that that's probably why you're having an affinity with 2024.

Rachel:

Could be. It was the show my parents watched and I wasn't quite allowed to watch it, but sometimes I can get away with staying up a little extra late to catch a few minutes of it. So maybe there's some weird nostalgia wrapped up into it, but either way, I look forward to next year.

Eric:

I didn't even watch the show 24. When I say 2024, that's what pops into my head is that show.

Rachel:

Hopefully it'll be a good year for the podcast.

Eric:

Yeah, I think season seven, I foresee good things on the horizon. Our listeners should definitely keep tuning in.

Rachel:

Well, it is a winter month, so it'll only seem right to talk about winter topics such as what the heck birds are doing right now who don't migrate during the wintertime. Then we can dive into one of Michigan's more elusive mammals, the American marten. And then of course later on you'll have a chance to win a Wildtalk podcast camp mug. Now before we dive into all things habitat with the Southwest region manager, let's hear a word from our forest.

Speaker 4:

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:

Today we are joined by Mark Mills, the regional wildlife manager of the Southwest region, to chat about the awesome work going on across the southwest counties. Thanks for joining us today, mark.

Mark:

Well, thanks for the invite to come and talk about what we do.

Rachel:

Well, what would you say is the biggest accomplishment your region has tackled this past quarter?

Mark:

Of course, one of our massive annual efforts is closing out our budgets from last year and our work plans and setting up budgets and work plans for the next fiscal year, which starts in October. It's hard because funds are always variable. You never know what is going to be available to us and the staff just continue to find ways of being creative to apply those funds to the ground to get the maximum benefit for wildlife, especially on state game areas. And that's one thing I'm especially proud of this region and the way that the staff work together is they really take a landscape level approach. They really stick to the priorities, the habitat and the species priorities that we've identified for the region and that shows in their budget requests and it shows in the creative ways that they approach on the ground problems like how do we get fire on the ground? How do we get these timber sails to improve wildlife habitat?

And it shows in the budget and it shows that they're very conscientiously approaching what we do every day to make sure that we're maximizing, we're squeezing every benefit out of those funds available to us that we can. And I think that's something that shows the hard work and very thoughtful nature that the region brings to efforts like that.

Eric:

They're like the coupon clippers of government agencies looking for ways to stretch the dollar and get the most bang for the buck.

Mark:

Absolutely. And that involves many different partners like National Wild Turkey Federation, local conservation districts. We're often working with local conservation districts and other groups you might expect us to work with and sometimes groups you don't expect us to work with, like the city of Portage where we have Gourdneck State Game Area because the city's now deployed trash barrels and is picking up the trash. That's a very simple thing, but it surely helps to make those sites more inviting and that partnership just increases what we can do and the quality of the opportunities offered to members of the public.

Rachel:

What's up next on the [inaudible 00:05:58]? Any big projects coming up this winter?

Mark:

There's a few projects coming up and it may seem like a weird time to be going to bid on large projects, but we're finding that you have to hit the market earlier. You miss the boat and prices go up. So again, talking about staff being conscientious, we have spent considerable effort to move some project forward on some sites, especially waterfall areas. So for instance, Maple River at the State Game Area up there, we have some [inaudible 00:06:32] that are being reconditioned essentially or rebuilt, and that involves a process of engineering. It involves a process of taking those designs and releasing them onto the market to obtain bids. Projects like that, we have multiple that are coming through. It's ideal for them to hit the market in January even though we really don't really start working on them until May. And those are some of the big efforts and the types of things that we're trying to push forward in what many people might expect to be our off season. It really isn't.

It's just as busy. The work looks a little different sometimes, but those are the types of projects we're really trying to push forward now and we continue to do habitat work through the winter. We have areas that we can't effectively do the habitat management that we might want to in the summer when it's probably most comfortable to do it because of the presence of endangered species like Mississauga Rattlers or Karner blue butterflies. So we go out and do that work in the winter when those species aren't out and about and we don't have to be as concerned.

Rachel:

What kind of winter activities do you do for Karner blue butterflies?

Mark:

For Karner blue butterflies we have sites across Allegan State Game Area and Flat River State Game Area. And one of the ways that we manage the habitat for those species and for other species that live and thrive in those same types of habitats. Oak Savannah specifically, we'd like to mow openings and make sure we're removing woody vegetation that benefits the Karner blue butterfly because it gives them open areas where the flowers that they feed are and can thrive. But it also creates wonderful habitat for redheaded woodpeckers who key in on those Savannah spots and wild turkeys and white-tailed deer. So work that we do from a multitude of different species, we have to do it in a different way in order to protect and enhance the habitat for those endangered and threatened species as well.

Eric:

So really when you clear all that stuff out, it's almost like you're setting the table for wildlife and everybody's invited and thriving and they get to feast on the things that they feast on and feel at home due to the work that your staff is doing there in the southwest.

Mark:

That's always our goal.

Rachel:

Yeah, I always think it's really interesting to hear biologists are mowing now for butterflies. It seems like such a funny concept, but truly some of the best management for these endangered or vulnerable species happens during the winter time, so it's a critical time of year for you guys. Are there any notable individual achievements made by members of your team that you'd want to highlight?

Mark:

The Muskegon State Game Area staff and the [inaudible 00:09:29] farm unit staff at the Allegan State Game Area. We are in the midst of a managed wetland planning effort and that's something that others have talked about and there's information online, but Greg and Nick [inaudible 00:09:45] at Muskegon have all been integral in having those conversations. Again, they're in the midst of it and there's more to be done, but that engagement has been very interesting and I think helpful for us to walk through. And down at Allegan, it's primarily Don Poppy, the wildlife biologist, Mike Richardson, the wildlife technician and a couple of the wildlife assistant, Jake Crawford and Dean Borman that have been mostly engaged in that process. So I think it's important to recognize that a lot of times we get attention for going out and doing big things on the landscape, but we don't highlight or value the effort that goes into planning those activities and those programs.

So managed wetland areas, there's seven of them across the state, some in Southeast region, and two in Southwest. There's a lot of planning and effort and future direction that we're trying to provide for those areas. A shout-out to Ken [inaudible 00:10:53], he is the private lands wildlife biologist covering all of Southwest region. He has been implementing some very, very cool project on the ground with multiple different partners that I think deserve to be highlighted. We can't highlight them all. Some of them are more traditional style projects, grassland installations, and then he's been the point on that for the region. Two other projects like a property that's surrounded by neighborhoods in Kalamazoo that's owned by a church that the church just had a heart for wanting to restore that habitat and open it up to their neighbors to use because there was no park nearby. And so Ken has been instrumental in assisting that effort to provide a native landscape for over 1000 homes to help enjoy and partnership with those property owners.

That's really cool. It's not something that is typical that we've done in the past, but Ken grabbed onto it, saw the vision and has helped to see that vision through. In addition, Ken continues to work hard on all sorts of other projects, whether it's supporting and looking for unique ways to help get deer that are harvested into the food bank system, help those who are underserved, working with a summer camp for you to help provide some neat outdoor related items and encouragement to those kids to enjoy the outdoors and to value all of those things that really fall within the mission of our department. So Ken continues to consistently think outside the box and approach problems that he sees across the landscape in unique ways.

Eric:

So what you're saying is he's a real [inaudible 00:12:51] kind of guy.

Mark:

I can't argue with that. Ken is our Energizer bunny.

Rachel:

Kenergizer bunny.

Mark:

He's a Kenergizer bunny. There you go. He just has a K on his chest, not the E.

Rachel:

It sounds like he's doing a lot of awesome work and I bet you could say the same for all of your staff who are always busy taking on additional projects and doing different things for conservation. So it's really cool to have such an awesome team of people who do a lot of great work.

Mark:

I agree and I cannot say enough of how much of a blessing it is to lead this region and the staff in this region. It's a wonderful team, just an honor to work with them.

Rachel:

All right, well thanks so much, Mark. It's always a joy chatting with you and having you on the podcast and we appreciate you taking the time to tell us about the awesome work your staff have been up to. All right, folks, don't fly away or you'll miss all things feathers coming up next.

Announcer:

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Rachel:

Today we're talking about the pileated woodpecker, the scientific name Dryocopus pileatus is a large and striking bird native to North America. It stands as the crowning glory of the woodpecker family because these birds are pretty large and they're recognizable by their bold, black and white plumage with a vivid red crest on top of their head.

Eric:

It's kind of like the big brother of all the other woodpeckers.

Rachel:

There is some debate over what to call this woodpecker, be it [inaudible 00:14:58] woodpecker or pileated woodpecker. I myself have always been a pileated woodpecker type of person, but it is up for contentious debate. So it would be interesting to know what camp people fall into pileated versus [inaudible 00:15:13] and then overlap that with piping clovers if you're a clover person or a plover person. And I wonder if there's some kind of Venn diagram that could occur over how people pronounce bird words. Males and females are roughly about the same size. There's not a lot of difference in size between the sexes. Typically, they're about 15 to 19 inches in length with a wingspan of 26 to 29 inches wide. So they're not small birds and they're comparable to the size of crows.

And the best way to tell the difference between males and females is that males have a red mustache, which is actually a red cheek stripe that looks like it starts in the corner of their bill and runs down their neck, but also it looks like a mustache. So they're about the same size. They have the same red crest on top of their head. You'll see them interchangeably throughout the year, but if you can get some binoculars to check out their heads, you'll see a definitive red mustache and it's really cute.

Eric:

That sounds like a very interesting facial [inaudible 00:16:20] mole.

Rachel:

They're fancy birds. Now like other woodpeckers, pileated woodpecker have an undulated flight path or flight strategy, which means they don't really fly in a straight line like a crow does. Instead, they will open up and flap their wings to fly higher during powered flight and then they'll pull their wings tightly into their bodies and dip lower and then rise again. So it's kind of like they're on a mild roller coaster, but it's interesting and it's an easy way to identify woodpeckers as they're flying through an open space like in your backyard or if you're watching birds in a forest, you can see this kind of swooping flight pattern that indicates it's a woodpecker and then just due to its sheer size, you can easily identify it's a pileated woodpecker. Pileated woodpeckers are mostly found in forest, though the forest can be evergreen or deciduous or a mixed type of forest as long as there are large dead trees or downed trees.

These dead trees are an essential item for woodpeckers because you can think of them as a woodpecker bed & breakfast as these birds will both eat and live within these dead trees. And so it's a necessity to have them in the area for woodpeckers. Male pileated's will excavate the nest cavities and females will help a little bit more towards the end, but they're the primary nest builders for the [inaudible 00:17:42]. And the entrance hole to their net tend to be oblong rather than the circular shape as most woodpecker holes are and they're fairly large. So you can tell there's a pileated woodpecker in the area based on how large and oblong these holes are. And for the finishing touches for their nest cavities, the bird will climb all the way into the hole and chip away at it from the inside, and then periodically the adult will pick up several chips from the inside of that cavity into its bill and toss them from the cavity entrance.

And so occasionally you can see them building their nest, not by hearing them or observing them with your eyes, but you'll see large wood chips falling onto the forest floor while they're excavating out their cavity. This nest construction can take three to six weeks and these nests are rarely reused in later years. Instead, other creatures will come and take up residency in these nesting cavities, allowing woodpeckers to play an incredible role in our ecosystems as they're the primary carpenter of homes for so many other species. So after they've abandoned one of those nest sites or one of the places where they've been foraging for food from in these tree cavities, then that cavity will become a vital shelter for other wildlife species, other birds like swifts and owls, even wood ducks, and then even some mammals like bats and pine martens. So they do the work of creating this holes, they nest within them and then they vacate them about a year later and other critters move in. So it's a cool little cycle of home sharing.

Now, in addition to being awesome and making giant holes in trees and leaving behind homes for other critters, they're also expert forages. So they use their extremely strong chisel like bills to excavate large rectangular or oval-shaped holes and trees in search of carpenter ants, caterpillars, wood boring insects and other small insects that dwell in those dead and down trees. And their long barbed tongues are the perfect tool for how to extract their prey from deep within the tree bark, so they somehow can hear where these insects are at, they dig a hole, they scoop them out with their barbed tongue.

Eric:

How long is the tongue? Is it relatively short compared to a hummingbird for example?

Rachel:

That is a great question. Let's look it up right now. Oh my gosh. Okay, so find some additional credible sources here. But the first source says that woodpecker tongues vary in length depending on the species. Large species such as the pileated woodpecker can have tongues about five inches long, five inches. That's a third of its full body lines.

Eric:

That's pretty impressive.

Rachel:

An interesting article by American Bird Conservancy talking about the amazing secrets of the woodpecker tongue and the photos in here are just incredible. A woodpecker's tongue is so long it needs to be coiled around the back of its skull. So there's a picture in here when the tongue is in its mouth, it goes down below the back of its skull around to the front of the skull and then kind of sits in the inside of the top portion of the beak, and then when it ejects the tongue out to grab a grub, it pulls it all the way through around its head and shoots it out from its front of its beak. That's bananas.

Eric:

So it's like a retractable dog leash basically.

Rachel:

Exactly. That is the way to think of a woodpecker tongue. Well, this is a really neat article about all things woodpeckers and the structure of their bill. We could link to this in our show notes. It's the amazing secrets of woodpecker tongues from the American Bird Conservancy, and if you're interested, I recommend giving it a look. It's really interesting.

Eric:

That was a cool little rabbit hole. Woodpecker tongues are incredibly fascinating, but the other thing I want to know about is the woodpecker brain. I mean, I know if I moved my head as fast as woodpecker heads move, and if I was smashing the front of my face into something like wood while moving that quickly, I feel like my brains would get scrambled inside of my skull. How in the heck do woodpeckers not scramble their brains?

Rachel:

Yeah, that's a great question and your brain would be scrambled. So interestingly, not only is smacking their beak against a hard service seems like it would be super painful, but the sheer amount of force that the head endures is a whopping 1,500 G-force unit. Now for comparison, a typical roller coaster that we would go on, we only experience 5 G-force units and so woodpeckers with their constant thrumming, it just seems like an imaginary number of G-force that is happening in their head. So there's a couple different theories about how they manage to bang their head away on a piece of wood that quickly and not get brain damage. The key to the woodpecker survival lies mostly in how it converts the energy that it absorbs. So when a woodpecker strikes a tree, the impact energy, so the energy that is created during that collision is converted to strain energy in the body.

So basically energy's created and then it shoots the strain energy throughout its entire body. It's not just consolidated in its head. And too much strain in the head can be catastrophic, but the woodpecker's incredible anatomy, which includes a specialized beacon skull, will redirect 99% of that strain energy into the rest of its body instead of its head. As if that's not interesting enough, the small amount of strain that is left within the head is quickly dissipated in the form of heat. So the process protects the brain from damage, but it also causes the temperature inside of its skull to rise quickly, which is why woodpeckers often take frequent breaks when they're pecking away, so that way the whole body doesn't overheat because its whole body is involved in the fight to protect its brain from damage.

So it's a crazy system that's happening and we study that, human study the impact that's occurring and how they're able to drum away without getting brain damage because we might be able to apply some of that science to our everyday life so we can improve vehicles and what happens to us when we get into a vehicle collision, that kind of force that's created there, airplanes, places where those kinds of catastrophic type movement hits unmovable object and how we can create safety measures to prevent catastrophic impacts is something we study.

Eric:

Fascinating.

Rachel:

Then another theory is that the brain is also tightly packed in their skulls, so it prevents the organ from banging around, so it sits in an angle toward the back of its head. So there's a flat surface that faces the front where the majority of that blow hitting the tree is coming from, so it absorbs all of the energy. So it's a mix of redirecting energy throughout the whole body so that it's not just the head absorbing all of the force paired with a tightly packed brain so that it's not really rattling around. And then there's also potentially a flat surface at the front of the head to absorb that remaining force. Really interesting little structures they've got going on.

Now these birds are truly magnificent and you can spot them in forested areas and you can also help them. There's some things you can do to help woodpeckers as well as bats and owls and small mammals and a whole other slew of insects and pollinators by leaving those mature or dead trees standing in places as long as it's safe for them to do so. Like we mentioned a few minutes ago, dead trees, downed logs are homes and places to feed from for so many different wildlife species, and so just by leaving them be to naturally rot and decompose without assistance can be super helpful to some of your local native wildlife populations.

Another way to help pileated woodpecker is to simulate a tree cavity. A fall of the dying trees have been removed. You can also simulate a dying treaty by putting up a nest box that can attract a breeding pair. Now the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a downloadable template for how to make a nest box with excellent directions for how and where to create and hang the nest box, and we will link to that in the show notes. But the nest box must be constructed and put up before the breeding season, which takes place from about May to mid-July. While I was reading the instructions, I did have to laugh though because I found it really interesting that after you build and install the nest box, you have to completely pack the box full of sawdust and tamp it down because woodpeckers like to excavate their own nest cavities.

So you build it, but then there's still an element of they have to excavate it themselves in order to feel comfortable living there. I don't know. It's not like if you build it, they'll come situation, they have to do it themselves in order to live there.

Eric:

You know what that reminds me of is the old cake mixes. When they first started making cake mixes, all you did was added water to the mix, beat it up, throw it in the oven, and people wouldn't buy it because they basically had powdered eggs in the cake mix. So what they did was they took the powdered eggs out and then they made it, oh, you got to add some eggs to this. And because people felt like they were baking more by adding an egg, then it started selling like hot cakes. It's basically like the cake mix of the woodpecker world, only for them, instead of adding eggs, they have to remove the sawdust that you threw in there.

Rachel:

Yep. I thought it sounded a little silly, but then maybe that's it. Maybe they do need to feel like they work to create this nest cavity. Or maybe if you put it up there all ready to go, other species will move in before the pileated woodpeckers get in there. I'm not sure, but I found it to be a really silly fact. So if you do build a nest box, make sure you get some sawdust and extra shavings and pack it full so that you have optimal chances of finding a nesting pair.

Now these woodpeckers are found year round in Michigan. They do not migrate. So during the fall we may hear them chiseling out roosting cavities that are snug little hollows where they will shelter during cold winter nights and their winter overnight shelters are often within about six feet of the ground, so they're much lower than the nesting cavity likely so that they don't have as much wind or cold temperature changes because they're closer to the ground. But it's interesting, they're one of the few birds that will change the locations of where they will roost overnight to survive through the winter months better. Those same woodpeckers will live in those same roost holes nightly, and they may use it all winter long.

But in addition to winter nesting cavities, they also are a sturdy bird and they are well insulated and pretty well-equipped to endure these winter conditions. So in the cold months, they do rely on the same foraging skills that they honed in during the warmer season to find insects that are hidden within tree bark, and that adaptability is pretty crucial to their survival because it showcases the resiliency of woodpeckers in the face of these winter conditions. So they're remarkable birds and they're here year round, so they're a great bird to go watch during the wintertime.

There are also a lot of really excellent other birds to watch this winter, including some that are only here for the next couple of months. So as Michigan welcomes many new visitors from the north, you'll want to get out and do some winter birdwatching and one place that provides some awesome information about what birds to expect and what birds to look for is the Winter Finch Forecast provided by the Finch Research Network, and they predict what finches are going to be here and where they're going to be. A winter finch forecast predicts that purple finches, common and hoary redpolls will also arrive. Pine siskins and the nomadic white winged crossbill will move through the region this winter. And as crops of berries and seeds and cones deplete throughout the wintertime, we could see some later movements of the evening grosbeaks, pine grosbeaks and red crossbills into the Great Lakes region.

Though most of those movements will likely occur west of Lake Superior. These birds depend on cone and berry crops of the boreal forest for food each winter and when there is not enough food, which up north of Michigan is where we would be talking about, they will migrate outside of their usual wintering grounds. And this unusual migratory movement is called an eruption, which will bring the northern finches south into lower Ontario, the Great Lakes and beyond. Now, these eruptions don't happen every year, which makes winter finch sightings this year particularly magical. And if you're interested in learning more about how to identify these birds and read about where to expect finches, then I recommend you check out the Snowbird article that we're going to plug too in the show notes and also read the Winter Finch Forecast because a lot of good bird information, good opportunity to get outside this winter to go see really pretty birds. I hope you've enjoyed this deep dive into pileated woodpeckers and get a chance to get outside to see some winter birds this year. You want to stay tuned, next up is all things fur.

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Rachel:

The American marten which is also known as the pine marten is a captivating and elusive member of the weasel family, which are also called mustelids found in the forests of Northern Michigan. Jesse Lincoln, who we just had on the podcast last month, got to have a really interesting encounter with an American marten and a black bear. He was doing some of his survey work where those two species overlap and he spotted a black bear on the ground and an American marten in the tree above, the black bear chirping away at it like they were best friends, just having a conversation.

Eric:

If you approach them to be their third friend...

Rachel:

Do not recommend.

Eric:

Yeah, the definition meet cute would be a little bit different in that scenario potentially.

Rachel:

Oh yeah, speaking of me being cute, American martens. So they have this really long sleek body of this really soft, luxurious fur pretty closely resemble a slim domestic cat. So they do have cat-like features to them. They have a slender physique with sharp retractable claws and really keen senses that make them agile hunters and adept climbers. So they most often are living and found within trees and rarely found on the ground. Their fur which is mostly dark brown on the sides except for a tawny or orange patch covering their throat and chest. And that tawny patch could be anything from a yellowy sort of vanilla type color to a bright orange. There's a lot of variety that can happen with that patch, which makes them really unique critters. In addition to those dark brown sides and the orange patch on their throat and chest, they also have these cat-like ears that are rimmed with white. And head to tail, they measure between 22 and 26 inches and their bushy tails make up about six and a half to eight and a half inches.

So they're relatively small animals, but they have a really bushy tail, which is the easiest way to distinguish them from a fisher or a mink, which are other two weasel species in Michigan that looks similar, but you can tell American martens by its size, but also from its bushy tail that it has and that they're relatively small. They typically weigh only between one and a half to three pounds. So really small slender house cat-ish, kind of how I would describe them. Martens are well adapted for life in the northern woodlands, mostly areas consisting of Douglas firs, spruce trees, mixed hardwood forests, and they will completely avoid open areas, especially areas that have been recently clear cut or recently burned. They like thicker vegetation, old growth vegetation. They can crawl up to the top of these trees and live within the canopy.

They're solitary and territorial animals with males covering larger territories than females will. And the breeding season typically occurs in July and August, although the fertilization doesn't immediately occur. So females will delay implantation and development for about six to eight months so that the kits will be born in March or April. So both the breeding season and the delivery and kit rearing season will occur when food sources are abundant. So it's somewhat unusual in mammals, but it's really interesting that during their times of most activity during the breeding season and the birthing season, they will only do when food sources are abundant to cover the energy that they are expending. There's usually three or four kits to a litter, and they're born in these well hidden dens and they're often born blind and deaf and have very sparse errors on them. So there's not much to a baby marten until about three or four months later when the juvenile will reach adult size and then start to move out on its own.

Eric:

It probably looked more like a naked mole rat when they're born.

Rachel:

That's the image that I conjured up, very naked mole rat like until their hair comes in and their eyes form and then they become this really cute little gritter. Looking up a picture.

Eric:

Of a naked mole rat. Yes. Oh my gosh. They are hideous. There you go. Can you even see that?

Rachel:

Oh, I can. I wish I couldn't though.

Eric:

Things nightmares are made of.

Rachel:

Well, diet plays a crucial role in the American marten survival and as opportunistic hunters, they feed on a diverse range of prey, including other small mammals, birds, insects, and fruits. And their adaptability in diet is essentially for thriving in Michigan's varied ecosystems from dense coniferous forests in the upper peninsula to mixed hardwood forests in lower peninsula. They can find a variety of different foods in all of those different regions that they live in. The history of American martens in Michigan is really intertwined with the state's expansive forests. They were once abundant, but martens spaced population declines in the 19th and 20th centuries due to unregulated trapping and habitat loss. It's a similar story to so many other Michigan species. But with conservation efforts including habitat protection and a reintroduction program, they've contributed to the recovery of American martens in recent years. And today, Michigan is home to a marten population that's viable enough for us to now have regulated trapping to occur annually, which really is a testament to the state's commitment to preserving its diverse wildlife species.

Marten trapping can occur in zone one, which is the upper peninsula, starting today, December 1st through December 10th, and trappers can harvest two martens in a trap year with their fur harvester license and their marten kill tags. Now, fur harvester licenses and the free marten kill tags are available through the last day of the trapping season, and they can be purchased from DNR customer service centers online at michigan.gov/dnrlicenses or through the Hunt Fish app. You do need a physical kill tag to put on the animal after harvesting, and so it would be best to go pick up the marten kill tags in store as opposed to ordering them online so that you don't have to wait for shipping to take place because you need to have those kill tags in hand if you're going to go out and trap for a marten.

It is a requirement of all harvested marten to be tagged immediately after harvest and then registered at a DNR office by December 13th. While registering the animal, the DNR will attach an official seal to the pelt and the location of take data harvest in the manner of harvest will be recorded when the animal is sealed. The skull will also be collected to determine the sex and the age of the specimen, so that's why we collect that information. It just helps to understand the marten population and how to provide best management for it moving forward.

Eric:

I know that the seal is just a tag with information that we put on it, but when you talk about us placing a seal on the marten, I just love to visualize an actual seal, like a biologist hauling in a seal and laying it on top of the marten ceremoniously. Bring forth the ceremonious seal.

Rachel:

The great ceremony seal. So if you're planning on going out to do any trapping for marten, just know you do have to register the animal after harvest. And if you need to know the location of registration stations, you can find those online at michigan.gov/trapping. Stick around, up next we have a question to answer from the mailbag.

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 it's time to reach into the mailbag and see what we've got.

Speaker 6:

Hi. When trying to identify oak trees, some of the leaves at the top of the tree have pointed ends like red oak trees, and the bottom leaves are all rounded like white oak trees. So how do I identify it?

Rachel:

We reached out to our Forest Resource Division staff and they believe that the leaves are most likely from a red oak variety. Now, some red oaks can have distinctive points and rounded tips, and occasionally it can hybridize, but the most likely explanation is that it is from a red oak species. Remember, if you've got a question that you would like to hear answered on air, record a voice memo on your phone and email it to us at DNR-wildlife@michigan.gov. Your questions could be featured on the mailbag.

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 CO at michigan.gov/conservationofficers.

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 November mug winners are Denny McMahon and Aaron Gasper, check your email as we'll be getting in touch with you soon. They answered the question, how many miles per hour can an adult moose run? The answer is 35 miles per hour. Now, a lot of you responded with 55 miles per hour, which is almost right. The answer is actually 35 miles per hour or 55 kilometers per hour, and we realized that we had a mistake on our moose page that listed moose ran at 55 miles per hour, which is incorrect. So for those of you who submitted a response with 55 miles per hour, we did keep you in the random drawing and now we've corrected our moose page, but the correct answer is 35 miles an hour. So congratulations, Denny and Aaron. Now to be entered into the drawing for this month, test your wildlife knowledge and answer our wildlife quiz question. This month's question is, what is Michigan's state reptile?

Eric:

Bearded dragon.

Rachel:

It is not bearded dragon, but I like the enthusiasm in which you thought it was. 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 January 15th. We'll announce winners and the answer on next month's podcast, so be sure to listen in and see if you won and for the next quiz question. Good luck everyone.

Well, thanks for joining us on this December edition of the Wildtalk 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 next year in 2024 for another great year of the Wildtalk podcast.

Announcer:

This has been the Wildtalk 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.