Snapshot Wisconsin November News

Snapshot Wisconsin November News

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Science Update - Bobcats

Thank you to our trail camera hosts who classify their photos in their MySnapshot account.  This month's science update is all about Bobcats!  

As of May 2017 Bobcat photos were captured in survey blocks in the Black River Falls (102) and Clam Lake (57) elk areas, and in the following counties: Sawyer (20), Iowa (12), Jackson (8), Trempealeau (4), Iron (3), Vernon (3), Waupaca (3), Grant (2), Juneau (1), Lincoln (1), Oconto (1), Oneida (1).  Note that this is not representative of bobcat populations because we do not have an even distribution of trail cameras across all counties.

Bobcats were detected most often on Snapshot Wisconsin trail cameras in March and October. The lowest amount of activity was in April through July. Bobcats were detected least often between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. and were detected fairly evenly at other hours of the day and through the night.

Six survey blocks had photos with young bobcats. When multiple bobcats are pictured it can be difficult to tell juveniles from adults.  It is also difficult to tell if we’re seeing the same individual bobcat or different bobcats on the same camera, since it is hard to tell individuals apart based on leg striping and body marking patterns.

Adult Bobcats

Image set 1. Example Snapshot Wisconsin photos with bobcats pictured clearly: A) Black River Falls 22-FEB-16, 09:47:07; B) Black River Falls 21-JAN-16, 01:12:57; C) Grant County 07-JAN-17, 07:56:10; D) Black River Falls 18-AUG-16, 17:48:25.

Bobkittens

Image Set 2. Photos with bobcat young present from each of the sites where kittens were detected: A) 3 bobcats, age difficult to determine, Black River Falls, 26-FEB-17, 21:17:45; B) 1 adult and 2 kittens, Black River Falls, 06-AUG-15, 03:25:12; C) 1 adult and 1 kitten, Black River Falls, 26-SEP-15, 16:52:00; D) 4 bobcats, age difficult to determine, Clam Lake, 08-OCT-15, 20:06:42; E) 1 adult and 2 kittens, Iowa County, 14-JAN-17, 06:54:41; F) 4 bobcats, Iowa County, 01-MAR-17, 09:02:03.

Bobcat MonthlyBobcat Hourly

Image Set 3. Bobcat Activity Patterns

Team Member Profile - Vivek Malleshappa

Vivek Malleshappa

Vivek is a Natural Resources Technician/Educator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. His primary responsibilities include preparing Snapshot Wisconsin data for classification/analysis and volunteer outreach. His interests lie in large mammal ecology and conservation. He received his Master’s degree in Environmental Science from the University of Wisconsin Madison and his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering from Vishweshvaraya Technological University, Karnataka.  In his free time, he likes to bike, hike and watch birds.

 

Elk Monitoring Volunteers Needed!

If you live near or frequently visit the Black River Falls area please consider signing up to help monitor elk cameras.  We are expanding the elk monitoring area in Jackson County in order to better cover the area where the elk are located.  Please email us at DNRSnapshotWisconsin@Wisconsin.gov with the subject line "Black River Falls Elk Monitoring" for more details.  We need private landowners as well as those willing to monitor cameras on public land.  

Elk - Jackson Co

Zooniverse Updates - Season 5 Complete!

Sawyer Co Wolf

Thanks to everyone who has classified photos on our Zooniverse site Season 5 is now officially complete!  We are busy uploading new photos for Season 6.  We will send out a quick announcement when the new season launches, hopefully before Thanksgiving.  

We have a big back log of photos to work through so we have made some changes to the photos sent to Zooniverse including  reducing the retirement rules for photos of deer and squirrels.  

Recently on the Blog

 In case you missed it we had some interesting blog features over the last month:   

Vivek's Citizen Science and Camera Trapping Experiences:

Our newest team member shares some of his previous experiences with Citizen Science and Camera Trapping in India and Ecuador.

The science behind eyeshineFind out why some critters eyes seem to glow in night time photos.  

Whimbrel - India

Recent Events - 4H Fall Forum

4-H Fall Forum 2017

The Snapshot Wisconsin team recently attended the 4-H Fall Forum in Green Lake.  We had a great time at the event talking to 4-H kids and leaders about how to get involved in Snapshot Wisconsin.  

If you are involved in a group such as 4-H and are interested in hosting a Snapshot Wisconsin camera please signup!  We consider groups such as 4-H to be educators and we are open statewide for applications from educators.

Spotlight Photo of the Month

We will share one awesome animal photo each month.  To enter one of your favorites from a Snapshot Wisconsin camera please send the image as a jpeg attachment with the animal classification, county location and date taken along with the reason why you love the image to DNRSnapshotWisconsin@wisconsin.gov.  

This month's image of a Bull Elk in velvet was submitted by an elk monitoring volunteer who monitors cameras near Clam Lake.  The volunteer likes the photo because of the composition of the image and because he knows that life is not easy for the mature bull due to the marshiness of the area and because he saw wolf tracks while doing his camera checks, yet the bull just keeps trudging along.  

Other interesting photos from our cameras can be viewed on our webpage!

Bull Elk

Contact Information for Snapshot Wisconsin

     Email:DNRSnapshotWisconsin@wisconsin.gov

     Phone: 608-572-6103

     Signup to Host a Trail Camera: www.SnapshotWISignup.org

     Participate on Zooniverse: www.SnapshotWisconsin.org

     Find out more details on our webpage: 

              dnr.wi.gov Keyword "Snapshot Wisconsin        

Thank you to our project partners!

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