All Outdoors, July 23, 1999

1. Bat killers get jail time
2. Venison subsidy succeeds
3. Biologists seek help tracking dove disease
4. Outdoor Calendar

News contact: Jim Low, Jefferson City, Missouri, (573) 751-4115
Available via Internet at: http://www.mdc.mo.gov/news/out

"It is astonishing how many people cannot, or will not, hold still. I could not, or would not, hold still for thirty minutes inside, but at the creek I slow down, center down, empty . . . I retreat--not inside myself, but outside myself . . . " Annie Dillard

1. Bat killers get jail time

Two men discover that wantonly killing wildlife isn't cool.

EL DORADO SPRINGS, Mo--Two days of batty havoc resulted in 30 days of jail time for two Cedar County men.

Ryan Burns of El Dorado Springs and Joseph Volb of Jericho Springs were charged with disturbing and killing gray bats in El Dorado Springs last April. The two, both 18 years old, received 30-day sentences for their guilty pleas to misdemeanor charges of trespassing in a protected species area and taking, possessing and transporting an endangered species.

Floyd Jackson, 22, of El Dorado Springs is awaiting trial on similar state and federal charges. The case of a 15-year-old juvenile involved in the incident has been assigned to juvenile court.

Cedar County Senior Conservation Agent Quentin Walsh, who investigated the incident, says boredom appears to have been the motive for the young men's actions. Walsh says virtually everyone in the town knew about the bats, but until last April no one disturbed them. The agent paints a grim picture of the damage done to the bats.

"I received a complaint that four young people had killed and captured some of the bats that lived in the cave that runs underneath the town," says Walsh. "So I went with a city police officer to Jackson's apartment. They had released a number of live bats in the apartment and we found some dead bats whose heads appeared to have been cut off with scissors or bitten off. Later that day I went to the cave and collected about 31 bats that had been killed."

Conservation Department bat expert Rick Clawson says the cave was likely what biologists call a "bachelor site," because the population appeared to consist of males and year-old females. He said male and female bats hibernate together in winter. In the spring, females and their young congregate at "nursery" sites, while the males and females too young to breed roost in other caves.

Clawson, a wildlife research biologist, says the disturbance of the bat colony is distressing because it detracts from efforts to restore the endangered bat species' numbers. He says caves and other structures suitable for gray bat habitat are limited.

Only about 100 of Missouri's more than 5,000 caves have the large passages and domed ceilings the bats use to trap body heat and create a warm environment. Several caves with those features have been flooded by construction of reservoirs or are used by humans as commercial tourist attractions. Those habitat losses have caused reductions in the gray bat populations. The tunnel in El Dorado Springs is one of a few manmade structures with the conditions gray bats need and has been helpful in providing badly needed habitat.

"Over the past 15 years we've worked with the Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service educating the public on the importance of not disturbing hibernating and roosting bats," says Clawson. "We've also been installing gates on some caves used by endangered bats to reduce disturbance."

Those efforts, Clawson says, are helping to restore gray bat numbers. "Bats produce one offspring a year, so their continued recovery depends on our ability to keep them protected."

Clawson says any actions that jeopardize the bat population also threaten the health of cave ecosystems. He says the ecology of many caves is based on the guano, or droppings, that bats deposit. The droppings nourish plants and organisms that are the foundation of the food chain in some caves.

Bats also benefit humans by helping to control insect populations. At night, while birds sleep, bats prey upon a large group of insects that include moths and mosquitos.

Clawson says he is optimistic that gray bats will return to the El Dorado Springs tunnel. He says the gray bat could be an endangered species success story, because it has responded well to efforts to protect it. Clawson hopes the incident in El Dorado Spring will help teach the importance of protecting bats and the need to be responsible stewards of our natural resources.

- Arleasha Mays -

2. Venison subsidy succeeds

An insurance company's offer to help hunters pay the cost of donating meat to needy Missourians drew strong participation in its first year.

COLUMBIA, Mo.--Shelter Insurance Company paid Missouri deer hunters $5,680 to help process some of the venison donated to the Share the Harvest program in the 1998 deer hunting season.

In recent years Missouri deer hunters have been donating more than 20,000 pounds of venison that charitable agencies make available to needy families. Last year Shelter paid $20 toward the processing of any whole deer that hunters donated to Share the Harvest. Almost 300 hunters took the company up on the offer. Shelter plans to repeat the program for the 1999 deer hunting season.

Share the Harvest was begun seven years ago. It is run by local organizations that find at least one meat processor and one charitable agency, usually a food pantry, Salvation Army or ministerial group, that will cooperate. After receiving approval from the Conservation Department, the partners are ready to receive meat from hunters.

"We had 77 charitable agencies and 90 venison processors participating in 1998," says Dave Beffa, Protection Division field chief with the Conservation Department. "We are pleased to have Shelter Insurance helping with the program. Participation is bound to grow this year, too."

Hunters who want to donate whole deer to the program ask approved meat processors for a Processing Payback coupon. Processors have only to sign coupons and give them to hunters. Hunters present coupons and receipts from meat processors at Shelter Insurance offices, and Shelter mails checks for $20 to the hunters.

Processing typically costs $40 to $50 for skinning, boning, cutting and grinding, so the offer will cover about half a hunter's processing cost. Hunters must donate their whole deer to be eligible for the $20 reimbursement.

Deer must be legally harvested in Missouri between Oct. 1, 1999 and Jan. 15, 2000 according to all rules and regulations of the Conservation Department. Coupons must be presented to Shelter offices before May 31, 2000.

Shelter Insurance's subsidy accomplishes a couple of things. It helps needy people, and it also encourage hunters to harvest more deer. As hunters fill more of the multiple deer permits issued by the Conservation Department, deer/auto damage claims should go down.

Hunters interested in donating venison should check first with the packing house they use. If their regular processor is not participating in Share the Harvest, a conservation agent may be able to direct them to a processor that does participate.

- Jim Auckley -

3. Biologists seek help tracking dove disease

Harmless to humans, this malady spells lingering death for birds.

JEFFERSON CITY--Missouri Department of Conservation Wildlife Biologist John H. Schulz knows that many mourning doves fall prey to trichomoniasis during sweltering, dry weather like we've had this summer. Now he wants to know what long-term effects the disease has on the dove population. To find out, Schulz has started a four-year research project.

During last year's dove hunting season, Schulz and other researchers began gathering samples from doves that may have been infected with trichomoniasis. Most of the sampling took place at check stations at the James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area. Samples also were taken from infected doves found at bird feeders across the state. Similar samples will be taken through the year 2002.

"I need for folks to be on the lookout for doves displaying symptoms of the disease," says Schulz. "Infected doves appear to have difficulty flying, act listless and may have swollen necks. Anyone who sees mourning doves around bird feeders fitting this description should call me. Dead birds should be placed in plastic bags and kept cool, but they should not be frozen. Freezing renders them useless for diagnosis."

The object of the dove research is to develop a way to monitor the presence and severity of the disease. Such a monitoring method would enable the Conservation Department to better predict how the dove population is affected by the disease under a wider variety of environmental conditions.

Trichomoniasis is an often-fatal disease of the upper digestive tract of mourning doves. It is also known to afflict pigeons, chickens, turkeys and birds of prey. The disease causes sores in birds' mouths and throats, making it difficult for them to swallow or drink.

The sores are formed by a single-celled protozoan parasite called Trichomoniasis gallinae. Given the right weather conditions, Trichomoniasis spreads when healthy birds come in contact with food or water contaminated by infected birds.

The ability of the disease to be transmitted through water accounts for the increased incidence of trichomoniasis during hot, dry conditions Schulz says. Drought forces birds to use a few watering sites, and the larger the number of birds gathering at a drinking supply, the greater the risk of disease transmission.

The severity of trichomoniasis depends on a bird's susceptibility to the disease and the strain of the disease attacking the animal. Trichomonas gallinae's can vary in virulence from year to year, much like the flu. When what biologists describe as a "hot" or "pathogenic" strain occurs, the potential of the protozoan to be widespread increases.

Missourians who find or see mourning doves with symptoms of trichomoniasis can call Elena Seon at (573) 882-9880 ext. 3287.

- Arleasha Mays -