[Comments in brackets are by Jeannine and Duane]
———————————————————————————-
From the Northern Crew:
Greetings from the North!
The Susquehannock Crew has been busy working on FLIR surveys each night. So far, we’ve completed 19 of 21 first round surveys. Some nights we see a lot of deer and other nights hardly any. Along with deer, we see lots of grouse, woodcock, and porcupines, as well as an occasional fox, fisher, and bear.
We’ll continue to work most nights to ensure that we finish our second round of surveys before the crew moves on to their next adventure.
-Tom
Northern Crew Leader
PA Game Commission
———————————————————————————-
From the Southern Crew:
Hello all!
Alas, the season finale of our deer trapping escapades has come! It’s been a bittersweet season to say the least. We’ve labored through the ups and downs that come with trapping and poured literal blood sweat and tears into the outcome. On our last week we managed to wrap it up with a fawn and very nearly got a collar-able deer on the last day, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I was very happy to be lead on our last official deer of the season though- I almost forgot how much fun it was to be in there firsthand!
There was a peculiar final bout of snow last week before we closed our Clover traps for the year. It certainly didn’t linger for very long, but it made for another beautiful day in the field.
Last week we mainly focused on trapping, with just a day or two of FLIRs. We’ll be back on the surveys in full force from now until they’re completed, in addition to moving all our field equipment back into storage. TONS of porcupines on the move as we’ve been searching for deer in the thermals, and before we pulled the cameras down for our rocket nets and Clovers, we had another bear sighting!
I hope everyone is enjoying the spring weather! If you look a little closer at the ground as you walk… you might even see the occasional early spring ephemeral blooming. I’m still on the lookout for trilliums in Bald Eagle and Rothrock- if anyone knows of any, could you let an enthusiast know for the photographic opportunity?
-Michaela
Southern Crew Leader
PA Game Commission