November
Stories 33-36: It Takes a Flock – Wildlife Partners from Indiana and Beyond
Story 33: Protecting Packrats
Allegheny woodrats are often called packrats because of their unique behavior of collecting and storing food items such as acorns, fungi, and other plant material.
(Photo: an Allegheny woodrat in its nest surrounded by acorns and other cached material.)
Once found throughout south-central Indiana, Allegheny woodrats are a state-endangered species found only along a 40-mile stretch of cliffs bordering the Ohio River.
(Photo: Allegheny woodrat habitat along the Ohio River.)
In 2009, a captive-breeding program was established at Purdue University with 12 wild-caught woodrats collected from Indiana and Pennsylvania.
(Photo: the captive breeding facility at Purdue University.)
During 26 months of captive breeding, 19 litters and 43 pups were produced.
(Photo: an Allegheny woodrat mom with her pups.)
Twenty-seven woodrats were released across four sites that had declining populations. Woodrats captured 10 years later indicated that these management efforts were still paying off, with genetic diversity still above pre-release levels.
(Photo: a "soft-release" enclosure to help newly-released woodrats adapt to their surroundings in relative safety.)
A new captive breeding program is set to begin in 2023. Indiana and Pennsylvania are slated to provide the first generation of breeding woodrats.
(Photo: an Allegheny woodrat.)
Release of captive-bred woodrats will follow procedures established in earlier efforts to maximize survival, including release at sites currently unoccupied by wild woodrats, soft releases into enclosures, providing an acorn cache for the first winter, and post-release monitoring.
(Photo: an infrared camera captures social interactions between a newly-released woodrat within a "soft-release" enclosure and two wild woodrats.)
These conservation actions will help ensure the best possible future for Allegheny woodrats in Indiana and across Appalachia.
(Photo: an Allegheny woodrat peeking out of its nest box.)
Learn more about partners across the Midwest helping Allegheny woodrats survive through the new reintroduction program beginning in 2023...
State fish and wildlife agencies in Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania will provide adult woodrats for captive breeding, ensure safe release of litters produced, and provide post-release monitoring.
The Maryland Zoo and Toledo Zoo will lead captive breeding efforts.
Towson University is in charge of genetic analyses of samples collected from woodrats.
Biologists, veterinarians, and other wildlife professionals in the highlighted states will provide additional support and expertise.
Donations to the Indiana Nongame Wildlife Fund will pay for soft-release enclosures and acorns to increase survival of newly-released woodrats and trail cameras to monitor their activity.
Learn more about the Indiana DNR's captive breeding program in this journal article from Zoo Biology...
Story 34: Helping Hellbenders
During the last 15 years, the Indiana DNR and Purdue University have been working to recover the only remaining population of state-endangered hellbenders in the Blue River in southern Indiana.
(Photo: checking out hellbender eggs at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.)
Early efforts focused on understanding hellbender ecology, habitat use, movements, and population status where the salamanders persisted.
(Photo: hellbender eggs.)
Recent priorities have shifted toward conservation and recovery.
(Photo: an underwater view of artificial stream habitat used to rear juvenile hellbenders for release.)
2017 marked a new phase of hellbender recovery with the release of 80 captive-reared juveniles into the Blue River.
(Photo: Division of Fish & Wildlife and Purdue University personnel prepare a captive-reared juvenile hellbender for release into the Blue River.)
Each year since, the DNR, Purdue, and other project partners have released juvenile hellbenders into the Blue River to boost populations.
(Photo: Mesker Park Zoo houses a "raceway" designed for captive breeding by adult hellbenders.)
To date, nearly 500 juvenile hellbenders have been released into the wild!
(Photo: a hellbender moving into a protected rock outcrop where it can safely make its home.)
Help for the hellbenders of Indiana's Blue River has come from many public, private, and not-for-profit organizations across the Midwest...
Purdue University: coordinated and conducted hellbender research and recovery efforts; established the Help the Hellbender cooperative partnership.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Indiana Division of Fish & Wildlife: provide funding through the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program .
Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo — Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden — Indianapolis Zoo : rear hellbenders from eggs to juvenile stage before their release into the wild.
Purdue University Extension — DNR State Parks — Columbian Park Zoo , other Indiana Zoos: conduct outreach to educate the public about hellbenders and how to help conserve natural resources to benefit their recovery.
Soil & Water Conservation Districts (Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, and Washington counties) — Natural Resources Conservation Service — Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy : work with landowners to implement land use practices that will improve water quality in the Blue River watershed.
Indiana Department of Environmental Management : provides support for understanding the health of potential release streams, regularly monitors water quality in the Blue River watershed, assists with monitoring the impacts of a large conservation program aimed at improving water quality in the Blue River watershed.
Watch hellbenders in their natural habitat in The Last Dragons...
The Last Dragons - Protecting Appalachia's Hellbenders
Thank you to all the partners who have helped restore hellbenders to Indiana's Blue River...
Story 35: Shrubs for Shrikes
Shrubs for Shrikes is a partnership created by the DNR's ornithology program that works with private landowners to improve habitat for the state-endangered loggerhead shrike.
(Photo: a loggerhead shrike.)
Loggerhead shrikes prefer nesting in places with thick cover to hide from predators. Early in the nesting season, cedars are excellent for providing this cover and can be especially important for protecting baby shrikes that have recently left the nest. Baby shrikes are not strong fliers or smart about predators (like hawks), so having a safe place to hide near good foraging areas is a huge help for shrike families.
(Photo: a young shrike perched on a fence next to a cedar bush planted by the Shrubs for Shrikes program.)
Planted cedars also provide homes for other native species such as robins, mockingbirds, and mourning doves.
(Photo: Staff from partner organizations plant a new cedar.)
Planning for Shrubs for Shrikes began in 2019, with the first cedar bushes planted in spring of 2020.
(Photo: a juvenile female shrike being released at Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area.)
To date, 18 landowners in Daviess, Lawrence, Orange, and Spencer counties have participated, resulting in 70 native cedar bushes being planted on farms which have recently hosted loggerhead shrikes.
(Photo: a loggerhead shrike with color leg bands. Bands help biologists track shrikes to learn more about their survival and reproduction.)
In 2022, a pair of shrikes nested in a planted cedar for the first time! Even more exciting, the nest was successful! Three young shrikes fledged, all of which were color banded so we will recognize them if they return to nest in the future.
(Photo: a biologist places color bands around the leg of a young shrike.)
Watch loggerhead shrikes in their natural habitat using farmland and cedar trees planted by the Shrubs for Shrikes program...
Loggerhead Shrike 40 Stories Clips
Learn more about loggerhead shrikes...
Shrubs for Shrikes is made possible by the Indiana Audubon Society , the Division of Fish & Wildlife private lands program , the US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program , the Indiana Nongame Wildlife Fund , and...
...most importantly, THE PARTICIPATING LANDOWNERS. THANK YOU!
The Indiana Audubon Society administers the “Adopt a Shrike” program. Each adoption of $50 contributes toward the creation of shrike habitat. The DFW Private Lands Program contracts with participating landowners to maintain cedar bushes for at least 10 years. Landowners receive a one-time payment of $250. The USFWS Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program pays for the planting of cedar bushes and installation of a fence to protect the bushes from livestock. The Indiana Nongame Wildlife Fund pays for the cedar bushes and watering bushes periodically for their first eight months to boost survival. Participating landowners host a cedar tree in their pasture fence line for a minimum of 10 years.
Story 36: Flexing Indiana's Mussels
Indiana DNR aquatic biologists oversee mussel reintroduction and restoration work among three partners...
And just what exactly is a gravid female mussel? And what are glochidia?
Gravid mussels are females with fertilized eggs that have developed into viable larvae within water tubes of gills. The viable larvae are called glochidia.
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US Geological Survey, Great Lakes Science Center : (1) Perfecting in-vitro mussel propagation techniques. This allows mussels to be developed in petri dishes instead of on a host fish. (2) Collected gravid female fatmucket mussels and extracted glochidia for in-vitro trials. (3) Once perfected, these techniques will be used in conjunction with work being done by the National Park Service to help restore mussel populations in the East Arm Little Calumet River drainage.
Indiana Dunes National Park : (1) Restoring mussel populations in the East Arm Little Calumet River drainage. (2) Five species (white heelsplitter, fatmucket, plain pocketbook, spike, and round pigtoe) were collected for survivability trials in several reaches of the East Arm Little Calumet River drainage. (3) Gravid female fatmucket and plain pocketbook mussels were collected and glochidia extracted for multiple rounds of propagation of both species at Indiana Dunes National Park labs.
Indiana Chapter, The Nature Conservancy : (1) Reintroducing kidneyshell mussels in the Wildcat Creek drainage. (2) Collected gravid female plain pocketbook and kidneyshell mussels for propagation at the Kentucky Center for Mollusk Conservation. Juvenile mussels produced were used for multiple rounds of "silo" studies to determine the best locations within the Wildcat Creek drainage for reintroductions. (3) Helped place young kidneyshell mussels (1.5-2.5 years old) raised in Kentucky and Indiana at reintroduction sites in Indiana.
A partner from The Nature Conservancy placing a kidneyshell mussel at a reintroduction site in Wildcat Creek.
Tagged kidneyshell mussels placed at a reintroduction site in Wildcat Creek.
Baby mussels are placed in "silos", such as this one in Wildcat Creek, where they are monitored for survival and growth. Results of these studies help determine areas to reintroduce mussels.
Juvenile kidneyshell mussels in a "silo".
Partners check the viability of mussel glochidia (the microscopic larval stage of some mussels).
A gravid female fatmucket mussel.
To learn more about the DNR's mussel reintroduction and restoration efforts and additional partners, check out the story below...
508-compliant text from above graphic:
Freshwater Mussel Conservation: Mussels are vital to the health of freshwater ecosystems because, as filter feeders, they remove contaminants, suspended materials, bacteria, and algae from the water. They stabilize the bottom and help to mix it as they burrow, thereby increasing the amount of dissolved oxygen. Despite their importance, mussels are one of the most imperiled taxa in North America, with about half of Indiana’s 80 native species having disappeared from the state or listed as endangered or of concern. Mussel conservation has been a focus of Indiana DNR’s endangered species program since its inception in the early 1980s. Initial work emphasized inventories of the state’s major rivers such as the Wabash, Ohio, Tippecanoe, and White systems. Since 2001, the Indiana DNR has leveraged federal funding with a broad suite of partners to initiate proactive measures to restore the state’s freshwater mussels.
Projects: (1) Restoring kidneyshell & wavyrayed lampmussel in the Upper West Fork White River, (2) A stewardship program and outreach campaign for endangered mussels in the Tippecanoe River, (3) Statewide modeling of mussel habitats in Indiana, (4) Translocation of clubshell & northern riffleshell from Pennsylvania to Indiana, (5) Augmenting snuffox populations in the Tippecanoe River.
Since 2015, nearly $700,000 has been budgeted for freshwater mussel conservation projects in Indiana: Federal (62%) $424,515, Partners (35%) $238,594, State (3%) $18,238.
Partners: US Fish & Wildlife Service, Purdue University, Manchester College, Northern Indiana Public Service Company, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Indiana Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, Muncie Bureau of Water Quality.
Photo Captions (top to bottom): (1) Nearly 3,150 endangered clubshell were collected in Pennsylvania to re-establish a population in the Eel River, (2) The Nature Conservancy and Manchester University students and faculty place northern riffleshell in the Tippecanoe River, (3) Propagated juvenile snuffbox, (4) Snuffbox propagation conducted at a streamside laboratory on the Salamonie River.
Indiana Nongame Wildlife Fund
