Indiana Nature Notes for December

Squirrel!

If you thought that squirrels were a distraction for dogs, you should see the Kankakee Sands staff when someone says, “squirrel!” Whenever we think we see one of the recently-released Franklin’s ground squirrels on the prairie, it’s worth stopping in our tracks to confirm. (Note: we do not chase them, much to the confusion of my dog!)

This past summer, 25 Franklin’s ground squirrel (Poliocitellus franklinii) adults and 16 young were released onto the Kankakee Sands prairie, a joint effort by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Purdue Fort Wayne. The partners have been discussing bringing the state-endangered Franklin’s ground squirrels to their native Indiana range (including the 8,000-acre Kankakee Sands prairie) for several years.

All that weight they put on is to prepare them for a long hibernation. In our Northwest Indiana area, hibernation for Franklin’s typically takes place from early October to early May – that’s a long winter slumber! And you can imagine how much they must eat in order to nearly double in size, especially for those females who are also rearing young – which takes more calories and energy. The omnivorous diet of a Franklin’s includes the parts of plants including roots, tubers, leaves, and seeds as well as eggs, insects, frogs, toads and sometimes even mice.

As part of the reintroduction project at Kankakee Sands Purdue Fort Wayne researchers selected 25 Franklin’s ground squirrels in South Dakota for collection and translocation under a bi-state permit. The ground squirrels passed their veterinarian inspection, and then spent 21-days in quarantine to ensure that they were free from disease. Just before releasing the squirrels into their outdoor acclimatizing enclosures on the prairie, it was noted that several of the females had given birth to litters of young!

So, out of necessity, the females with their young were reared temporarily in the Kankakee Sands office shop in a quiet secluded area. Justin Moore, M.Sc. Candidate at Purdue Ft Wayne, is the lead researcher on the project. He spent every day caring for the squirrels in the shop and tracking those that had been released. Justin says of working with the squirrels, “The reintroduction has gone pleasantly smoothly, and we are very happy with our progress thus far! We are optimistic about the future of this project and believe that this prairie couldn’t be a better home for the critters.”

Many of the ground squirrels were equipped with radio collars so that researchers can collect data on dispersal, preferred habitat and time in hibernation. All this is a part of a larger effort to better understand the Franklin’s ground squirrels and ultimately successfully reestablish them all across their native range of prairie habitat which extendsfrom north central United States to central Canada. Interestingly, Northwest Indiana is the furthest eastern section of their range.

The largest threat to Franklin’s ground squirrels is loss of habitat, specifically prairie habitat. Additional pressure is from their natural predators, such as badgers, coyotes, fox, hawks and snakes. Interestingly, researchers at Kankakee Sands found the remains of one of the Franklin’s beside a badger den at Kankakee Sands!

We are excited to watch as the story of the Franklin’s ground squirrel reintroduction at Kankakee Sands and northwest Indiana unfolds. As Brad Westrich, the DNR state mammalogist, says so eloquently, “By establishing populations on large, managed properties, we can reduce negative environmental pressures and offer a path to recovery.”

Kankakee Sand Project Director Trevor Edmonson shares that his vision for the Efroymson Restoration at Kankakee Sands is “to create a grassland conservation area where all prairie plants and animals can thrive.” And that certainly includes Franklin’s ground squirrels!

Kankakee Sands is excited to be a part of the recovery of the Franklin’s ground squirrels. And we really look forward to hearing the melodic trill of the Franklin’s next spring!

Nature Notes for November

Hitchin' a Ride

At Kankakee Sands we often have visitors ask, jokingly, if they can ride the bison that graze our prairies. Oh gosh, no! That would be terribly dangerous for a human to do!! But… brown-headed cowbirds hitch a ride on the backs of bison regularly!

The brown headed cowbird gets its name from the stunningly beautiful males with brown feathers on their head and a black iridescent body. Both male and female cowbirds have stout black bills, built for cracking seeds. Females are covered from head to tail in soft-colored, buffy brown feathers. When they are all lined on up the spine of the bison, the brown-headed cowbirds look like robin-sized jeweled adornments on the backs of the magnificent bison.

Cowbirds do not make nests of their own to raise their young. Instead, female cowbirds lay one egg in another species’ nest, such as a meadowlark or a red-winged black bird. And because of this nest parasitism behavior, the brown-headed cowbird has a bad reputation!

Sometimes, the brown-headed cowbird egg will be detected amongst the other eggs in the next and will be rolled out by the nest onto the ground. But more often than not, the brown-headed cowbird egg will go unnoticed, and when it hatches before the other eggs (and it always does!), it will get fed more than its nest mates.

Though this may seem like a dirty trick for the brown-headed cowbird to play on other bird species, it is really a brilliant strategy! If the cowbird is reliant on the bison for food, then when the bison roam, so too must the cowbirds. Staying in one place to sit on a nest just isn’t an option for a bird that co-evolved with the bison. So, they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and off they go hitchin’ a ride with the bison!

Fall is a great time of year to see the brown-headed cowbirds. They are known to not only ride on the backs of bison. They also congregate in large flocks of more than 10,000 birds comprised of cowbirds, starlings and blackbirds.

At Kankakee Sands, we have recently created new visitor facilities, including shade pavilions and viewing areas with spotting scopes. We are hopeful that with all the new visitor improvements at Kankakee Sands, viewing bison will be easier and more enjoyable. And when you look through the spotting scopes, be sure to look for the beautiful cowbirds hitching a ride!