Aimee Hurt, with the group Working Dogs for Conservation (Photo by Brian Mann)
Researchers and environmentalists are
experimenting with a new method for collecting
biological samples in the wild. They’re using
trained tracking dogs to sniff out everything
from rare plants to moose pellets. Brian Mann
joined the hunt in New York’s Adirondack Mountains:
Transcript
Researchers and environmentalists are
experimenting with a new method for collecting
biological samples in the wild. They’re using
trained tracking dogs to sniff out everything
from rare plants to moose pellets. Brian Mann
joined the hunt in New York’s Adirondack Mountains:
It’s early, the sun still tangled in the alder trees, when we set off
on foot down a
narrow logging road.
(sound of walking down the road)
Soon, Heidi Kretser with the Wildlife Conservation Society finds the
first evidence that
we’re not alone.
“These are moose tracks.”
New York’s moose population has surged in recent years, to move than
500 animals.
Researchers have been tracking moose using airplanes and radio collars.
But today, were tagging along behind a cheerful black lab mix named
Wicket.
(sound of dog’s collar jingling)
Wicket flashes back and forth across the trail, snuffling eagerly.
She wears a bright
red vest and that tinkling bell is designed to keep her from actually
meeting a moose
head-on.
Her owner and handler, Aimee Hurt, says using dogs to find biological
samples – everything from plants to rare birds – isn’t new.
“I think if you talk to a lot of biologists who’ve been out
in the field for
decades, ‘Oh yeah, my dog figured out that we were looking for —
whatever.’ And they
started honing in on it and helping out. So I really think that dog’s
have been
biologists’ partners for a long time.”
Hurt’s organization – Working Dogs for Conservation, based in Montana
– took the idea
one step further, training dogs in much the same way that police train
K-9 units.
Wicket knows how to find six different kinds of scat, including
mountain lion, grizzly
bear – and now moose
“She is an air-scent dog, which means there’s no tracking
involved — she’s
just sniffing the air for a whiff of scat.”
Heidi Kretser, with the Wildlife Conservation Society, says moose
droppings can tell a
lot about why these Clydesdale-sized animals are returning to New York, what they’re
eating, and how they’ll reshape this forest if their numbers keep
growing.
“By understanding the diet, we’ll get a better sense of what
habitats they
might impact long-term, since they eat 40 pounds of vegetation a day.”
(sound of birds and footsteps)
Wicket leads the team on long ramble through the radiant lime green
forest, and down
across a burbling creek.
(sound of creek)
We see moose sign everywhere – mule-sized tracks, maple trees
stripped of bark. And
then Wicket sniffs out her first pile of droppings.
“Whoopee, good girl. Very nice!”
More poop means better data. So the pellets are trucked away in a
plastic bag for the
trip back to the lab.
For Wicket, the reward is a few minutes of joyous play with a squishy
rubber ball.
(sound of squeezing toy)
“Let’s get to work!” (bell jangling)
Then the team is off again, with Wicket snuffling happily through the
trees. Biologists
hope to use the same method to study other wildlife – from grizzlies
to mountain lions.
For The Environment Report, I’m Brian Mann.