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Scientists: Walking in the woods scares game

Bryce — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:47:20 +0000

Researchers at the University of Calgary have been studying the effect human trail walkers have on wildlife in Canada’s parks, and they have found….wait for it…that people scare the animals away from trails.

So while this seems like something we all knew, actually that’s a gross over simplification of what the researchers did. In truth, they discovered the thresholds levels of human activity that cause elk and wolves to change their behavior. And they observed that wolves and elk react differently to people walking on the trails.

By using GPS collars on wolves and elk, and sensors on trails, the scientists found that one hiker an hour kept the animals 50m away from the trail habitat. Two hikers per hour kept the wolves 400m away and the elk began to use the area near the trail as a refuge from predation.

As human traffic on the trails increased to over 2 people per hour, both species stayed 400m away from the trail, resulting in loss of habitat. That’s about a half mile width, or .73 kilometers wide. Over the length of a trail this would add up to some significant square miles. On a busy 5 mile trail, 2.5 square miles of habitat would be lost due to human presence.

So imagine yourself affecting an area a half mile wide as you hunt. A quarter mile all around you.

They didn’t do research on low level traffic like hunting, where you may be the only human who has walked along this certain ridge all year. But if you are in an area where other people hunt every day you might expect that the critters are avoiding the area. The elk are 1200 feet away, so maybe you need to get off the trail by 400m.

Low level trail traffic must not keep elk and deer away from the trail as much. Otherwise we’d never see any game. The study did mention that wolves like to use trails (“linear features”) when they aren’t often used be humans.

Here’s a link to the original research:

Discussion section of Human Activity Differentially Redistributes Large Mammals in the Canadian Rockies National Parks

Fresh hot deals on sporting goods

Bryce — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:00:44 +0000

Here is a link to this week’s new hot deals at the Sportsman’s Guide:

Brand New Deals at Sportsman’s Guide

Wile E. Coyote Pursues Wascally Wabbit

Bryce — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:32:44 +0000

Found an interesting set of trail camera pictures on a Blogger blog. MyTrailCamera captured a coyote pursuing the trail of a rabbit. The pictures were taken 40 minutes apart but you can see the coyote sniffing the ground where the rabbit must have hopped.

Bears Do ‘It’ in the Woods

Bryce — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:21:05 +0000

View bears makin it on Flickr

Originally uploaded by ThePoppa

Bear pr0n!
ThePoppa caught these two bear naked lovers on his trail cam in WV.

Game camera?

Bryce — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:09:07 +0000

See, It’s a game camera, right?

This game camera kit comes fully assembled and ready to go. Features automatic remote Rodent Control(tm). Only $49.95. Squirrel chow sold separately.

Trail cameras

admin — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:32:20 +0000

Trail Cameras are used by explorers, hunters, gardeners and scientists to take pictures of wildlife without a human having to be present. A trail camera takes photos by itself, being triggered when an animal crosses an infrared beam. They are a great way to scout big bucks, or to finally catch the varmint who is raiding your garden. Scientists use trail cameras to take pictures of rare species deep in the rainforest, or to prove that grizzlies really do exist in the Bitterroot valley.

There are both digital trail cameras and regular old film trail cameras.

Burglar caught in trail camera images

Bryce — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:33:40 +0000

Check out this story in outdoor life blogs about how a guy in Ohio caught a burglar parking in his driveway using his trail camera.

Police arrested the burglar and the home owner is pretty happy with his trail cam investment!