News from Scientists at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Monday, October 31, 2005
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Meeting with Mexican Representatives In September the Bird Banding Laboratory hosted a two-day meeting with 3 representatives from Mexico -- Ariel Rojo Wildlife Conservation Director with SEMARNAT; Humberto Berlanga, American Bird Conservation Initiative Coordinator with CONABIO, and Eduardo Carrera, Director, Ducks Unlimited Mexico. Lesley Howes from the Canadian Wildlife Service Bird Banding Office also attended as did several representatives from Patuxent and USFWS. The meeting helped educate us on the status of banding in Mexico and helped the Mexican delegates better understand the roles and operations of the BBL They were better able to understand how they might benefit from and interact with our program to establish a banding program in Mexico. All three Mexican attendees have been working hard on educating Mexican hunters about banding and encouraging them to report bands. This is already showing benefits for us, and as word spreads, we expect to see more reports of banded birds from Mexico for both game and nongame species. Wildlife managers and researchers in Mexico, the United States, and Canada will ultimately benefit from the outreach and further band reporting in Mexico. An in-depth tour of the Bird Banding Laboratory provided much needed information to the Mexican representatives on details of the North American Bird Banding Program. They also met with FWS Population Assessment and Waterfowl Harvest Survey sections to further their understanding of some of the uses of the game bird data. Contact Kathleen Klimkiewicz, 301-497-5795, Laurel, MD Smithsonian Mammologist visits Joseph Moore Museum Neal Woodman spent October 27 - 29th at the Joseph Moore Museum at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, inspecting their collection of mammals. He recorded valuable data from historical specimens of Indiana shrews, as well as bats collected on expeditions to Peru and Guyana. The Joseph Moore Museum also houses the skull of a wild panda that was collected in the late 1800s or early 1900s; this is one of a very few such skulls known in US collections. Contact Neal Woodman, Washington, DC, 202-633-1278
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Renovation improvements for squirrel collection A recent HVAC renovation at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, (NMNH) has resulted in significant improvements for the specimens in the Division of Mammals’ squirrel collection. What was once a storage case-filled room, bisected by a hallway, with office cubicles and windows overlooking the west court infill, is now a secure room devoted exclusively for storage and study. The squirrels are now behind locked doors, and the room’s windows are covered against dirt, pest, and light infiltration. The hallway has been moved, eliminating casual foot traffic through collections space, along with the associated risks of food spillage and unauthorized opening of cases and handling of specimens. The move out of the squirrel range began in August, 2004. The rabbits and pikas were prepared for permanent relocation to the Museum Support Center in Suitland, MD (MSC), and the squirrels were moved temporarily to storage cases ringing the 3rd floor rotunda. Robert Fisher ( USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center) led the project, and coordinated work among others in the Division of Mammals, namely Jeremy Jacobs, NMNH, and Suzanne Peurach, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, and a team from the Collections Support Staff, NMNH. A total of 56,325 squirrels, rabbits, and pikas were moved out of the range prior to HVAC renovation. The 12,000 rabbits and pikas are now at the MSC. Nearly 46,000 rodent skins and skulls were moved into the newly-renovated range, including the squirrels from the rotunda and 1,100 specimens that were moved from the rodent range. Additionally, more than 20,000 small mammal skeletons from the East Attic now occupy the new space. In effect, this project required multiple moves: in total, the overall project required the handling of nearly 122,250 specimens, a significant undertaking especially given the timeframes. The squirrels’ return to their storage range (room 400 and associated workroom 400 A) was completed on September 15. Although they are still in old storage cases, decompression and growth space is now available. A next step in curation will be to decompress the collection. Contact Bob Fisher, Washington, DC, 202-633-1275 |
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