Pennsylvania Game News - January 2010 - 11

County maternity site. A female banded there in 2007 was recaptured in Aug. ’08 and discovered again in a Pendleton County, West Virginia, cave in Mar. ’09. The cave is 107 miles from the summer roost. Seven Pennsylvania counties are known to have summer Indiana bat roosts: Adams, Armstrong, Berks, Bedford, Blair, Greene and York. The range of the threatened Allegheny woodrat is — or was — comprised of the rockier sections of states from southern Connecticut to northern Alabama. The species is now extirpated or declining over at least 35 percent of its range due to development and forest fragmentation, loss of mast-producing trees, and a raccoon parasite. The current decline was first noted in the late 1970s in Pennsylvania and New York. In an effort to re-evaluate 10 percent of Pennsylvania sites known to have been active within the past 15 years, PGC surveys conducted at 27 sites found 10 active sites, 12 inactive sites and 5 with suitable habitat but no woodrat sign. An agency Allegheny woodrat management plan draft will be revised pending results of efforts. The barn owl is a species of concern that has great management and recovery potential. Found in agricultural fields, grasslands and other open areas, these owls often nest in barns, silos and manmade nest boxes, because large, dead trees are increasingly difficult to find. Biologists launched an initiative focused on assessing foraging, nesting and roosting habitats where barn owls exist (or existed in the past), erecting nest boxes in suitable habitat, and documenting productivity. In 2008, biologists visited 214 barn owl sites and banded 153 owlets from 37 nests. Prior to 2008, there were no known barn owl nests in the Northwest Region, but that may change as the result of the June 2009 release of seven barn owls in Erie County. Nighthawks are nocturnal insect-eating birds that are declining as migrants and breeders here. They do not build nests; two eggs are laid directly on the ground or on gravel roofs. In the spring of 2009 35 gravel roofs and 4 artificial nest pads in the Northwest Region were monitored, and 7 nighthawks were observed, but no nests were found. To minimize the impact of disease on wildlife populations, prevention or early detection of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids continues to be a high priority. This year 4,224 hunter-killed deer and 41 elk were tested, as well as 14 elk and 52 deer that were CWD suspects. In addition, 99 roadkilled deer were tested in the counties that border West Virginia, because CWD exists there, just 23 miles from our border. Fortunately, no evidence of CWD was found in any of these samples. Feral swine reports were received sporadically over the year. Even some of the swiftest responses to these sightings by PGC personnel were frustrated by the mobility and large home ranges of the swine. However, eight pigs were killed and tested by PGC, and others were handled by USDA Wildlife Services (WS) and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA). We found that there was almost certainly illegal importation of these non-native and invasive animals, and some of our testing suggested that some of these swine had been exposed to diseases that are dangerous to domestic and wild species. To educate more people on the value of wildlife, the use of Citizen Advisory Committees (CACs) continued. We completed five CACs, in WMUs 1A, 2E, 3A, 4A and 5B, to assess the level of deer-human conflicts and the desire of citizens for more, fewer or the same number of deer. Various groups representing the interests of hunters, farmers, foresters, homeowners, public landowners, motorists, and others participated in these committees. In addition to CACs, seminars were given to organizations interested in learning more about the PGC’s deer management program and assistance programs, and a guide to deer management in developed areas was completed. The PGC also held six open houses this year, to give people the opportunity to learn more about deer and deer JANUARY 2010 11

Pennsylvania Game News - January 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - January 2010