[Comments in brackets are by Jeannine and Duane]
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From the Northern Crew:
Greetings from the Susquehannock!
This past week brought some much-needed thawing of ice and snow. Although there is still plenty of snow remaining. Deer activity seemed to be picking up in the areas we have traps, but then it slowed down again. Conditions for accessing new parts of the study area are gradually improving and hopefully we will be able to break into some new territory this week without getting stuck too often.
Last week we captured deer, 1 new and 1 recapture. We had a couple adult deer in traps that were tied open because we couldn’t reliably get to those traps. Hopefully, this week we will catch those deer.
Some of our radio-collared deer have traveled miles away from their usual haunts and we are hopeful that they will return and bring the other deer back with them as conditions within the study area improve.
Until next time. Enjoy the warmer weather!
-Tom
Northern Crew Leader
PA Game Commission
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From the Southern Crew:
Hello all!
The warmer weather has regrettably hindered our trapping success this past week, but we still managed to pull through with another 2 captures!
After many days of inconsistent movement at most of our rocket net sites, deer have finally started to nail down a dependable pattern for us! The raccoons have laid claim to a portion of the bait (I’ve started calling that “the bandit’s share”) but it looks like they can coexist. Hopefully our patience in getting deer used to a routine will pay off soon as we sit at these sites this coming week.
This week will also be warmer than I’d like, but fingers crossed we can overcome it! With any luck, this is a false spring soon to be followed by true winter weather again. There’s still plenty of interest in our baited trap sites. Deer are visiting most sites on a daily basis. Perhaps now it’s just a matter of time before our patience will prevail in this deer vs. trapper chess game.
-Michaela
Southern Crew Leader
PA Game Commission
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