The Results are in!
If you are a fan of wild critters, especially wolverines and other rare forest carnivores, you may have been following the work we did this last winter. Idaho Fish and Game researchers Lacy Robinson and Michael Lucid went looking for rare carnivores in the Selkirk Mountains and the Scotchman Peaks area of the West Cabinets.
The two mustiled hunters got help from local snowmobile enthusiasts in areas where the machines are allowed, but when they needed a little help looking for wolverines in the Scotchman Peaks, they turned to the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. A number of enthusiastic FSPW volunteers helped install, monitor and remove “traps” designed to catch wolverines on film and snag hair for DNA tests.
The early results were mixed, but still exciting.”We didn’t photograph any wolverines,” says FSPW program coordinator Sandy Compton, ” at least not in the Cabinets, but we did catch a lot of their cousins.” In the Scotchmans we found a lot of fishers, as well as pine martens and weasels, and the occasional surprise visitor. And in the Selkirks and Purcells, they found…….well, you will just have to come to the presentation to find out!
Robinson and Lucid will give a report on their rare carnivore study at the East Bonner County Library on Thursday, May 12, beginning at 6 p.m., a great opportunity to find out what they found out and also to get a look into the minds of mustelid hunters, a special breed in themselves.
What: 2011 Rare Carnivore Study Report
Where: East Bonner County Library, Sandpoint, Idaho
When: 6 p.m., Thursday, May 12
Who: Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists Lacy Robinson and Michael Lucid and Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness
