Back From the Wilds: Fawn-Predator Study

Back to blogging from my Brandon township  home. For the past 4 days I had been away in the UP with the Michigan Outdoor Writers Association. As part of that event I spent a day in the field with wildlife graduate students from the University of Mississipi College of Forest Resources. They are working with our DNRE on  a study of fawn survival in Michigan. The study includes fact gathering on predators, weather and habitat. But to conduct the study you need particpants: coyotes, bobcats, wolves and bears. They must be captured first.  GPS and radio-telemetry collars are placed on  captured predators after DNA samples are taken and measurments and general health is documented.  Pregnant does are fitted with vaginal inserted transmitters (VIT's). These tiny devices are expelled with the birthing of the fawn and send a radio signal that lead researchers to the fawn which is then outfitted with a small temporary tracking collar. The photos are of an adult coyote captured in Delta County last Saturday morning and then released to pursue his ways with a radio collar.