Combined Effort Results in Success at Rodent Bait Station Placement Work Party

By: Bob Eriksen, NWTF Regional Biologist

 

On a cloudy Sunday morning in mid-November members of three local chapters and a local hunting club joined forces to work for the wild turkey. Nearly twenty volunteers sweated, lugged and hauled more than seven hundred bait stations into an Adams County orchard in an effort to reduce one mortality factor that has affected wild turkeys in Turkey Management Area 7B (TMA 7B) and other areas of the Commonwealth. The fellowship was great, the refreshments good and the work accomplished amazing.

 

Between 1999 and the spring of 2002, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) undertook a study of wild turkey populations in the vicinity of Michaux State Forest in TMA 7B. Under the direction of PGC Wild Turkey Biologist Mary Jo Casalena, four technicians and a Penn State graduate student spent countless hours trapping, banding and monitoring telemetry equipped wild turkeys in Area 7B. The objectives of the study were to determine the major factors affecting wild turkey numbers in the region, study survival and reproductive success and develop an approach for managing turkey flocks in Area 7B more effectively. Wild turkey numbers in the area declined in the early 1990’s and populations remain at relatively low levels today.

 

Almost three years of data has been analyzed and the final report is being prepared. A number of mortality factors are affecting the local turkey population. Some are having a major impact on wild turkey survival and overall numbers. Others factors are minor in their impact. One of the lesser mortality factors documented during the study was accidental pesticide poisoning of wild turkeys in local orchards. A small number of radio-tagged wild turkeys died of accidental pesticide poisoning, but there may be a method of reducing the risk of accidental poisoning so that few birds are lost to this type of mortality.

 

Orchards are affected by a number of pest species. Some of the pest species are insects, others are mammals and birds. Small mammals such as meadow voles (field mice) and white-footed mice are a major problem for orchard owners in the winter months. These small animals burrow under the snow and chew on the bark of fruit trees through the winter months. In some cases fungal, viral or bacterial infection can get into the trees through the damaged areas and affect the survival of the trees. Often, the bark damage from these rodents is so severe that the trees are effectively “girdled” and mature trees die.

 

Orchard owners cannot afford to lose mature, productive trees so they treat the orchards with certain pesticides to control the numbers of small mammals. The most common method of treatment is to broadcast spread a compound known as zinc phosphide (ZP) in the orchard in the fall before the snow begins to fall. Rodents that consume the pesticide die and the reduced numbers of rodents cause less damage to the orchard. Broadcasting is a legal and accepted method of applying pesticides to orchards. Most of the time there is little trouble with accidental poisoning of other non-target species and very little risk of secondary poisoning. In general, wild turkeys do not frequent the orchards in the fall as often as they use orchards in the spring and summer months. However, when conditions are right, wild turkeys may use the orchards at the time treatment takes place. This usually occurs when there is little mast and wild turkeys are still foraging in orchards in November and December. Zinc phosphide is gray in color may be picked up by turkeys as a form of grit. Under these circumstances the birds may eat enough zinc phosphide to die of accidental poisoning.

 

To guard against the potential risk of accidental pesticide poisoning of birds, some states recommend that rodenticides be placed in bait stations instead of being broadcast across orchards. In one or two states, the use of bait stations is mandated by law. Rodent bait stations may be constructed from PVC pipe, fashioned from wood or be as simple as placing small pieces of plywood on the ground. The pesticide is placed under the object where it is not accessible to birds, but the rodents will still find and consume it. Meadow voles and mice like to burrow under objects placed on the ground so almost anything left of the ground will attract them.

 

Only a handful of turkeys in the recent study died of pesticide poisoning. But that small number was enough to make local orchard operator and avid turkey hunter Barry Fitz, stand up and take notice. Accidental pesticide poisoning is one minor form of mortality that can be controlled to a degree. Mr. Fitz contacted Game Commission personnel to volunteer Strausbaugh’s Orchard as a test location for the use of bait stations. He then secured a large number of used automobile and small truck tires which were cut in lengthwise (right down the middle of the tread). All that remained was to put together a labor force to distribute the tires throughout the orchard. That is where NWTF volunteers came into the picture.

 

On that cloudy November Sunday, members of the Fort Chambers, Michaux- Yellowbreeches and Mason-Dixon local chapters, the Pennsylvania State Chapter and a local hunting club gathered together for a labor of love in the name of the wild turkey. A large stake body truck and four pick-ups were loaded and reloaded several times with tires. Volunteers rode in the back of pick-ups and threw tires out into the rows as they counted trees. The tires were distributed at the rate of one tire per ten trees. The group of nearly twenty wild turkey enthusiasts worked hard for most of the day; effectively placing bait stations throughout most of the 25,000 tree apple orchard. There were a couple of short breaks for coffee, apple cider, cookies and doughnuts. At the end of the day everyone was tired but satisfied with a job well done. Orchard employees placed the pesticide under the tires later in the month.

 

Apple orchards dot the hillsides in many areas of Pennsylvania. The orchards are an important part of the local economy in the area around Michaux State Forest. Wild turkeys are an important asset to the region as well. The Pennsylvania State Chapter and the local chapters in this area are working hard to improve conditions for wild turkeys in TMA 7B. Mr. Fitz is hopeful that other local orchard owners will see the results of this effort and be challenged to place bait stations in their orchards. If that happens, local chapter volunteers will be there to help. Our chapter network is comprised of an amazing group of individuals willing to give something back to the wildlife resource they place in such high regard. Turkey hunters always go the extra mile to work for the wild turkey and it is a privilege to help to coordinate projects like this one. Well done, once again, Pennsylvania turkey hunters!  

Send mail to panwtf@go2pa.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2003 Pennsylvania Chapter- National Wild Turkey Federation
Last modified: November 20, 2003