1-28-15 Observation

     On one of the warmest days of the month I knew I had to get out to do some observing. I don't know if it was because of the warm weather but the wildlife seemed to be everywhere today. When I first sat down it was partly cloudy, 50 degrees with a brisk wind from the South. I sat down next to a scrubby evergreen on the edge of a corn field next to a stand of timber with a small clearing running against part of the fenceline. If you read my 1-22-15 blog, I was sitting very close to where I saw the buck about a week ago. I was setup by 3:20 and immediately the song birds began fluttering throughout many of the trees around me. In the distance I heard the crow of a pheasant as the wind died down significantly. With out the constant hush of the wind in the trees, a few minutes before four O'clock I sensed the faintest of noises coming from the North. Slowly I stood up and kept my eyes peeled on the edge of the woods. After a few moments I heard a few footsteps and I pinpointed where they were coming from. I saw a brown figure start moving which I soon realized was a deer. One foot at a time the doe stepped from the grass and into the corn field but before long I noticed the deer had somewhat of a calm nervousness about her. She began looking around and carefully walked right back from where she came from, there is a good chance she had caught my scent in the wind. I sat back down and took in the sights and sounds of the chattering squirrels and birds. I can't quite put a finger on it but today when I looked around, the fields and the treetops had a beautiful golden tint to them. Half an hour after seeing the deer walk away I heard a snort from a deer deep in the valley. Certainly a deer had come across my scent and was alerting all other deer in the area of my presence. A little while longer I heard movement to the South, as I stood up I saw a couple turkeys darting away disappearing behind the tree trunks. There could have been close to a dozen of the big birds but they never came into full view. As I sat next to the scrubby evergreen with the last half hour of sunlight fading away I heard geese honking far away, squirrels barking at intruders, raccoons fighting each other for possible mates, and as I walked across the top of the muddy cornfield I could hear the howling of coyotes fill the air for miles. Each one of these species interacting with their own kind but playing a very large part in the environment.

1-27-15 Research

     Over the last several years I have learned that as the seasons change so do the patterns of the animals. The daily life of a deer can drastically change within as little as a couple weeks. Today I will be looking at how deer respond to their environment during the January and February months. The interesting part about Iowa winters is that sometimes we have very cold stretches with lots of snow or we can have stretches of very mild weather. Deer act completely different in these two separate scenarios. In extreme cold the deer spend their time eating in the morning and afternoon and bedding down at all other times to conserve energy. If the snow gets deeper than 18 inches the deer have a lot of troubles moving. Because of their sharp hooves the deer sink in the snow with every step causing them to move as little as possible when deep snow occurs.  January and February is the least active time of the year for deer. Due to the extreme activity during the rut in late fall and early winter, the deer are only attempting to gain back their stores of fat through constant caloric intake in these cold months. Here in Iowa the hunting seasons ends after the tenth of January which allows the deer to become much more relaxed around human presence. Also, the deer's metabolism rates are lowered significantly meaning far less activity from the deer. After the rut the levels of testosterone decrease which results in the bucks' antlers falling off usually in January or February. Because deer are really only worried about finding food, most of the deer will be very tolerant of each other and so there is a great chance that herds of deer will gather in the same area. For a whitetail deer these first two months of the year are simply a time for survival.
     With this understanding I will be able to think like a deer in the field. I can predict their daily movements easier and gain more knowledge as to why these animals are acting the way they are. This research also helps me to begin to see the larger puzzle on how the environment that I am studying works together. Understanding the behavior of whitetails in the winter months is just a very small piece of a much larger picture that I hope to comprehend at the end of this course.

Way of the Whitetail  Dr. Rue III

1/23/15 Research

     To begin my research I decided to look at the impact of whitetail deer in forest understory communities. I found a paper published by the botany department at the University of Wisconsin. The first finding that they discussed was the relationship of deer populations to the number of different types of young trees in an area. What the group found was that if there was a very low or very high density of deer there were fewer of these seedlings, but an intermediate number of deer in an area had a much higher amount of seedlings in that area. The group then looked at the deer's browsing impact on herbs. What they found was that as browsing intensity increased, the herb populations decreased while ferns, hedges, and grasses populations continued to grow. Next the paper looked at the indirect affects of deer browsing. For example deer browsing affects other species that also use the same plants for food. Insects were often times impacted the most because of the need for one or few species of vascular plants. Finally it became apparent that the deer browsing could ultimately impact the entire habitat, changing the ecology of an area overtime. This research shows how a species like a deer can have a major impact on an entire ecosystem. The affects of the white tail deer can shape the land, change the plant diversity and alter other animal populations over time. 

http://www.botany.wisc.edu/waller/PDFs/Rooney.2003.DirectandIndirectEffects.pdf

1-22-15

     I had no idea what to expect today as I headed out into the field. I was going into the timber from a direction I rarely go and I was unsure of where I would find myself. Almost immediately after going into the woods I heard commotion in the creek bed below me as two deer jumped from their nap. Halfway up the hill one of the deer stopped and I could barely outline his tail between the dozens of trees in between the two of us. The deer stood motionless for five minutes meaning if I made any movement I would be seen and the deer would be headed for the next county. As the deer started to turn to walk away I was able to glance at a beautiful pair of antlers on top of his head. I did not have any expectations of seeing him again but as I reached the place I wanted to sit for the evening I heard footsteps over the hill. I crept up and peeked over the hill and there stood a young deer standing 30 yards away watching me intently. I stood there taking pictures for a few minutes before I heard more footsteps and the buck I had seen walk away minutes ago was walking out into the field towards me. For five minutes or so the two deer walked around chewing on various plants before finally being spooked enough to run down the valley away from me. I would assume that the younger deer was a button buck due to the shortness of the snout and the fact that he was with another buck. From my experience, bucks tend to stay together throughout the year other than during the rut. I took a seat along a fence line and watched for any movement for the last hour and a half of light. During that time I saw a Bald Eagle and some sort of large bird most likely a hawk or an owl. As the sun set over the horizon I heard a small mammal running towards me. I saw a flash of orange jump in to a tree and race into a nest near the top. A squirrel was arranging his bed for the evening. As I got up to leave I began to walk where I saw the two deer earlier. I immediately heard the crashing of leaves and the white flag of a deer's tail bounding away from me. Today was an incredible day to be in the woods. To have a chance to be so close to this buck, which is bigger than most men, without disturbing him was quite an experience.

Roosting Gobblers 1-15-15

     Today I decided to head into the woods yet again. I headed out towards Dexter to sit in a stand normally used for deer hunting. I looked over a harvested corn field that is surrounded by timber. The temperature was in the low 40's at 4:00, there was not a cloud in the sky, but a few brisk gusts of wind kept the evening cool. After waiting nearly an hour with little activity I began to hear coyotes howl in the distance. Listening to coyotes filling the air with their shrill cries makes your connection with the outdoor feel much more wild. As the sun began to clear the western horizon I heard the flapping of wings deep in the woods. Each night right around sunset turkeys roost in trees, and tonight the local turkeys were flying up to roost within 200 yards of where I was sitting. I counted 10 different flights occur from 5:05 to 5:18 and I saw two brown flashes streak through breaks in the timber while a couple turkeys made their way to their roost. The next question I want to answer is whether or not the turkeys roost in the same trees nightly and if not, are the trees in the same area?

1-15-15 Field Study

     Today I began my field research. I drove down to a farm near Pleasantville just as the sun's first rays began to creep over the eastern horizon. Today was the first warm day of a long warm front here in Iowa. Often times larger mammals such as deer and turkey do not need to search for food in weather like this, which may account for why I did not see any of those species. I found myself situated between a few different types of habitat: a bean field, a brushy hillside, and a stand of timber. As the sun continued to rise numerous species of songbirds began to sing their various tunes. Five or six squirrels were quite active climbing trees, chasing each other, and basking in the sun's warmth. At one point a pair of these squirrels went screaming up a tree barking at each other, as they met they rushed each other, and like in a cartoon, they turned into a two-headed ball of fury. After a few moments the loser of the two males flew down the tree and left his rival to reign over this prime habitat. A few inches of snow still remained on the ground and the tracks of rabbits, deer, mice, and more could be found. Evidence that these animals all survived the sub-zero temperatures of the previous week.  Crows could often be heard in distance, once flying directly over head. These migratory birds seem to do nothing but yell at each other, but like any other animal in an ecosystem they provide an important piece of the environmental puzzle. After the first day in the field and witnessing animal interactions, I know I will begin to see a bigger picture evolve in the relationships of wildlife.

Introduction

      For this class I will be researching the interactions between organisms found throughout Central Iowa. I will be spending time in the woods each week studying the plants and animals that thrive in Iowa's timbers, prairies, and farmland. Two of the species that I will focus on are turkey and deer. These animals, due to their size have the capability of having a larger impact on their surrounding environment. I will be documenting evidence of their movements and interaction with the ecosystem. Along with field research I will be researching text and researching the internet for relevant information surrounding these environments. I will also be interviewing people that have connections in this field. The chance to do my own field study in high school was my main motivation for pursuing this class. I have spent 12 years learning in the classroom and I now have the chance to use that knowledge in the real world which is a fantastic opportunity. I hope that this course gives me experience that I can use to help myself in my career pursuit for years to come.