NC Candid Critters

Fall 2018 Newsletter

The Winter Season is Complete!

Candid Critters citizen scientists have done a GREAT job deploying cameras and capturing wildlife photos across the state! With your help, we have provided important information about local wildlife whereabouts to scientists all over North Carolina.

So, what have we seen from winter deployments thus far? For one, here are the top ten animals spotted on our camera traps:

Based on current submissions (keep uploading your winter photos, you awesome citizen scientists!), 21 volunteers set 30 camera traps this winter season! These traps have captured OVER 2,300 DETECTIONS of 17 species across the state, including photos of many animals in the snow!

Coyote, Madison County, NC

If you would like to see everything our camera traps have found, eMammal allows you to download data from the project here, or you can view Candid Critters’ favorite photos on our project’s Best Pictures Page.

Here come the babies!

Spring: a time for celebration of plenty, life, and seasonal rains. This celebration is accompanied by many new baby animals, too: chipmunks, foxes, otters, black bears, beavers, white-tailed deer, skunks, and raccoons all give birth to their young in the spring.

Northern raccoons, Watauga County, NC

Many animals time the birth of their offspring during the spring, as this is a time when resources are abundant. Females have not just one but two or more mouths to feed, and their young often cannot fend for themselves. For mammals, mothers need to consume a lot more food in order to provide their babies milk. For birds and other non-mammals that take care of their young, parents must hunt and scavenge for a lot more food in order to feed their growing offspring. Thus, the abundance of resources that appears at the arrival of spring is often necessary for the survival of the next generation. Furthermore, the early weeks and months of a youngster’s life is its most vulnerable time, and, so, with warm weather and plentiful food through summer and into fall, these babies don't have to experience really harsh weather until they're almost a year old.

On our camera traps, we get to see the arrival of new babies every spring. Small fawns, whenever they aren’t hidden away by their mothers, can be spotted scurrying between the trees. Bear cubs, usually born two to three at a time, can be found playing as they follow their mom as she forages the forest floor. If you like seeing baby animals, then you should set a camera trap with us this upcoming spring!

Black bear with two cubs, Pender County, NC

Candid Critters truly enjoys seeing the wildlife photos our citizen scientists get from their deployments - even when it’s cold! Remember, you can choose pre-selected sites from our Site Selection Map, or can set a camera at location of your choosing by submitting a Site Description Form. Either way, please make sure you follow the project’s Deployment Schedule when setting your camera.

Also remember that you do NOT need to return cameras at the end of each season - you can hold onto them so you can set up more camera traps for Candid Critters! However, if you don’t plan on using your camera again, please return it to the library from which you borrowed it.

What’s New in Critter Country?

Help us learn more about wildlife on private lands!

Candid Critters has partnered with private landowners around the state who are interested in learning more about the wildlife that can be found on their property. Setting cameras on private properties can help scientists learn how animals are responding to different land and wildlife management practices, as privately-owned lands are governed differently than public parks and gamelands. For example, we can discover how deer are responding to various hunting pressures across public and private properties, and if animals use private properties the same way, or differently.

If you’d like to help us find out what animals can be found on private lands, choose one of the private land sites on the Site Selection Map!

Several new libraries have joined the Candid Critters Team!

Candid Critters has been working with many new libraries across the state to help make our cameras more accessible to our citizen scientists. Check out the list below to see if a new participating library is somewhere near you!

• Carteret County Public Library (1702 Live Oak Street, Suite 100, Beaufort, NC 28516)
• Pamilco County Public Library (603 Main Street, Bayboro, NC 28515)
• Natural Resources Library (2800 Faucette Drive, Raleigh, NC 27695)
• Bath Community Library (102 S. Harding Street, Bath, NC 27808)
• BHM Regional Library Headquarters (158 N. Market Street, Washington, NC 27889)
• Hazel W. Guilford Memorial Library (524 East Main Street, Aurora, NC 27806)
• Robersonville Public Library (119 South Main Street, Robersonville, NC 27871)
• Ocracoke Community Library (2225 Back Road, Ocracoke, NC 27960)
• Hyde County Public Library (33460 US 264, Engelhard, NC 27824)

If you are currently listed as borrowing from a different library and would like to switch to one of the libraries listed above, please email us at info@nccandidcritters.org to get your assigned library changed.

Our semi-annual webinar is approaching!

Keep an eye out for the continuation of our webinar series scheduled for the end of March! As always, Candid Critters staff will come together to update you the project, provide insights into wildlife findings, and, of course, act out a silly skit for common volunteer reminders!

The webinar will be played LIVE from our studio at the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. Stay up-to-date on Candid Critters’ Facebook, Twitter, and emails to learn more about the details of this event.

Reminders

If you haven’t already, remember to reset your eMammal password!

Want to learn more about wildlife? Check out our blog!

Critter Catwalk!

Take a look at some of our favorite photos from this season!

Coyote, Dare County, November

North American elk, Haywood County, October

Grey fox, Pender County, November

Feral swine, Macon County, October

Roland’s Quiz

Red Fox, Grey Fox

Many Candid Critters citizen scientists begin working on the project by setting a camera in their backyard. More often than not, these deployments show squirrels, deer, raccoons, and other wildlife that many of us see frequently near our homes. Of course, this leaves us wondering how much wildlife like to use these suburban areas, and if there are species that are able to use these habitats better than others.

This is one of the thoughts on the minds of Candid Critters scientists as they set off to study the project’s data. In the figure below, there is a large disparity in the use of forested, open, and human-developed habitats by red and grey foxes. Developed habitats include areas that have a significant human presence, such as neighborhoods. As you can see, one of these species (either the red or grey fox) tends to be found often in developed areas, while the other species tends to very rarely be found near human development.

Which species do you think is more often found in developed habitats: red fox or gray fox? Check out the last section of the newsletter to find out the truth!

Citizen Science Spotlight: Lester Exton 

This season, we want to recognize yet another super volunteer, Lester Exton! Lester has been participating in Candid Critters since February 2018, and has set over 35 camera traps across 7 different counties - wow! Lester is a disabled combat veteran who served in the United States Marine Corps from 1998 to 2006. After his second enlistment as a Marine, he joined the United States Army and continued to serve his country until he retired in 2008. Since then, he's lived in North Carolina where his focus has been on his health and wellness. Lester earned an associates degree in Computer Information Technology from Coastal Community College in August 2017 and has recently completed the Master Gardener Program at N.C. State University. Lester was honored as a Wounded Warrior Alumni, and in his spare time, he enjoys working with other veterans and challenging himself with the North Carolina One Hundred Mile Challenge.

One of our favorite photos from Lester - a great capture of a coyote in the midst.

Lester’s favorite wildlife photos came from a camera trap he set on October 10, 2018 on his own land. He captured a fantastic photo of a large coyote (seen above), which has been his favorite so far. Lester would love to be able to see an alligator at some point on one of his camera traps. Just like us, Lester is looking forward to the spring deployment season. We thank Lester for all of his survey efforts for Candid Critters!

About the Project

North Carolina’s Candid Critters is a three-year statewide camera trap survey made possible by a collaboration between NC State University, NC Museum of Natural Sciences, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, State Library of NC, NC Cardinal, Public Libraries of North Carolina, and Smithsonian.

If you would like to join our project and help us learn more about the wildlife in our state, please visit NCCandidCritters.org.

Funding for the NC Candid Critter Program was partially provided through a Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Grant. The purpose of this Act was to provide funding for the selection, restoration, rehabilitation and improvement of wildlife habitat, wildlife management research, and the distribution of information produced by the projects. Funds are derived from an 11% Federal excise tax on sporting arms, ammunition, and archery equipment, and a 10% tax on handguns. The program requires the state (NC Wildlife Resources Commission) to cover at least 25% of the project costs; the Grant provides the remaining 75% of the project expenses.

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Northern raccoons, Watauga County 

Thanks again to all of our wonderful citizen scientists!

Roland's Graph Quiz Answers

If you guessed that grey foxes were more often found in developed areas, you would be right! As you can see in the graph above, there were many more grey foxes seen in developed areas in Raleigh, NC than red foxes.

So why do some species use suburban areas, while others do not? There are several scientific theories behind this phenomenon. With mammals, the biggest factors are diet and sociality (tolerance of conspecifics). There is a lot of diverse and highly concentrated food in suburban areas, so those species that can eat a wide variety of items are more likely to occupy these regions. Furthermore, animals that don’t mind too much hanging out with other members of their species will do well in suburban areas, since the concentration of individuals in these dense locations tends to be higher. This makes sense as to why, raccoons – a species that eats almost anything and is often found hanging out with other members of its species – are much more commonly seen in suburban settings than, say, bobcats (a solitary animal that only eats meat). Other factors include size (smaller animals are more likely to inhabit suburban areas) and the amount the species is persecuted (such as hunting, trapping, etc.) by humans.

It may be unsurprising to hear that animals that are more likely to inhabit human-developed habitats are, overall, less in danger to population decline than animals that avoid humans. As the human population grows, natural habitats are converted to developed lands, which means that animals unable to cope in developed  environments have no choice but to occupy the few protected natural areas remaining. This is the main reason why many scientists are advocating for habitat conservation, as there are many, many species that are unable to live without areas that are untouched by human infrastructure. This is one of the main reasons why maintaining habitat cover and wildlife corridors between and within urbanizing areas is so important. You can have a pile of food in the middle of your neighborhood, but if it is out in the open and hiding cover is not near, there are even many social and dietarily-broad mammal species that still won’t go there.

If you are interested in joining the fight for conservation, one way to help out is to support your local nature parks, or join an organization that promotes habitat preservation. For more information on how you can help wildlife, we’ve listed a few resources here:

1. North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission: www.ncwildlife.org/conserving
2. International Union for Conservation of Nature: www.iucn.org
3. The Nature Conservancy: www.nature.org
4. World Wildlife Fund: www.worldwildlife.org
5. National Park Service: www.nps.gov
6. National Audubon Society: www.audubon.org

Citations

Lowry, H., Lill, A. and Wong, B.B., 2013. Behavioural responses of wildlife to urban environments. Biological reviews, 88(3), pp.537-549.

Parsons, A.W., Forrester, T., Baker-Whatton, M.C., McShea, W.J., Rota, C.T., Schuttler, S.G., Millspaugh, J.J. and Kays, R., 2018. Mammal communities are larger and more diverse in moderately developed areas. eLife, 7, p.e38012.

Thanks for reading!

White-tailed deer, Craven County

North Carolina's Candid Critters

11 W. Jones St, Raleigh, NC 27601

www.NCCandidCritters.org

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