Animals on the edge

Animals on the Edge

By WES 4th Graders

Table of Contents Title of Article

Author

Page #

Introduction

Bradford King & Zach Beevor

4

Annoyed Elk

Jack Conroy

5

Badgers vs Farmers

Michael Rhodes

6

Bats and Pesticides

KD Karns

7

Bears...Their Issues, and Mine

Joseph McJunkin

8

Bobcats vs Fur Trading

Emma Jones

9

Climate Change and the Hummingbird

Wyatt Hansen

10

Coexisting with Cougars

Bradford King

11

The Come Back

Genevieve Jenkins

12

The Curse of Climate Change

Sadie Mae LaPrade

13

Disease Disasters

Maddie McNamara

14

Fox Adapts to Humanity

Sam Horstmann

15

Habitat Loss Affecting Hawks and Raptors

Josie Kitto

16

How Mining Affects the Otter

Chase Brunner

17

Issues Facing the Horned Lizard

Giovanni Nava

18

Lead Kills

Liam Thompson

19

Table of Contents Porcupine...Great Protector of the Woods

JJ Curry Young

20

Put Your Feet in the Snake’s Shoes

Henry Gillett

21

Rapid Roads

Benjamin Beastrom

22

The Road to Extinction

Abby Murphy

23

Snowshoe Hares and Habitat Loss

Ceci Bruno

24

Trouts in Trouble

Harriet Sullivan

25

Unsuspecting Owls

Zach Beevor

26

Why Wires?

Lena Poduska

27

Introduction We are 4th Graders from Wilson Elementary and we are currently in Unit 4, which is all about being a researcher. All of us have been a researcher for a specific animal in Wyoming. We came up with an inquiry to follow for this unit based on environmental issues affecting our animals.

We each chose an issue that affects our totem animal the most and then after we chose our issue, our job was to answer the question we had about our animal.

We had first-hand sources come in as mentors to help us learn. Jason Jones, with the JH Raptor Center talked about issues related to raptors.

Lori Iverson, with the National Elk Refuge described how often solutions lead to new problems. Ross Crandall with Beringia South showed us a series of slides about the impact of gas wells on a variety of species. Gary Kofinas, a professor from the University of Alaska, talked to us about adaptations. Finally, Katie Tozier from the Grand Teton National Park provided us an activity that demonstrated the web of life. We also used secondary sources like online pages and books to find as much information as we could.

We chose the issues we chose because according to our research they were the biggest threats to the animal. We collaborated with the mentors, with Mrs. Jensen, Ms. Gwen, and Mrs. Wood to write ​Animals on the Edge​.

We also made 3D glasses in our computer class that have a frame illustrating the issue affecting our animals, as though we are “seeing” the world through the eyes of our animal. Before we made the glasses, we also made Totem Animal trading cards with our strengths and weaknesses and a picture of our animal on the front of the card.

Annoyed Elk Jack Conroy Introduction

E​lk have always thrived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with a current population of just under 8,000 on the National Elk Refuge. Over the course of the last 20 years, the elk populations have decreased because of the spread of disease. Their population is also impacted by fencing and roads.

The Problem One of the reasons elk have been dying from disease is due to ranching. Humans need ranching to produce the meat they eat.

Ranching isn’t a bad thing, but we should think carefully about the impacts of ranching on wildlife.

CWD, short for chronic wasting disease, spreads very quickly. According to Lori Iverson of the National Elk Refuge, it may be caused by elk feeding on grains and hay used for

cattle. This happens when elk and cattle mix, which is increasingly the case because there is less and less territory for the elk. If an elk dies, the soil around it is contaminated. If another elk grazes around the contaminated, soil they could get CWD. Cattle can also get CWD. Another reason elk are dying has to do with fencing. Ranchers use fencing to keep the cattle in and unwanted animals out.

If an elk gets his leg stuck it can get seriously hurt and the wound could get infected. The elk could die.

Fence gets in the way of the elk’s migration and the elk are unable to reach their winter feeding grounds.

The elk can die of starvation.

What Is Being Done In discussing the issue with Lori Iverson, one solution

to help the elk move safely are elk jumps. These are gateways in fences designed to make it so the elk can pass through the fencing and migrate without danger. The elk can jump over the fence. This makes me think if we have a solution could it make a problem? “One solution can lead to another problem,” says Iverson. This is what makes environmental issues like this one so complicated. Another question I have is what would happen to the elk without ranching?

Conclusion Out at the Elk Refuge, the rangers feed the elk and the elk don’t migrate as far as they used to. This year there were around 7,000 elk, not to mention the other animals. According to Iverson, biologists don’t know whether the reason is the fencing or laziness.

Badgers vs Farmers Michael Rhodes

Stop Farming Agriculture is a term for how we raise our food. It is called farming and ranching.

We should stop farming so much because badgers are dying out. We are clearing too much land to build farms, houses and buildings.

Badgers Need Homes...

When we are farming we are taking land and homes from badgers.

We need to stop because we need the badgers. They eat the rodents and bugs we don’t want and they keep nature balanced.

wildlife endangerment is due to farming and ranching.

We Need Food..

Humans need food to survive but when we build farms we are destroying badgers’ burrows. Over 349 million acres of the USA are planted every year. In the West, where badgers live, more than 80 million acres of these crops are corn, soybeans and wheat.

The greatest impact on the American landscape and animals is agriculture.

Sixty-eight percent of

Conclusion I think we should stop farming so much and use the farms that we already have.

Bats and Pesticides KD Karns

M​odern farming produces millions of tons of vegetables and fruits to satisfy human needs. Farmers use fertilizers and pesticides to increase their crop success. But these chemicals cause damage to animals and insects. Bats are majorly affected by pesticides, in fact, according to Natural News in just a couple years “...over one million bats have died across the northeast.” I think we should stop using pesticides because they are bad for not just bats, but they are also killing a lot of other animals and insects.

The Irony of the Exposure Bats are very sensitive to all of the chemicals in these pesticides and are dying because of diseases caused from exposure to pesticides.

This is affecting the food chain. The irony of this is that bats help get rid of bugs, but people are still killing them by attempting to get rid of insects. Our own natural bug killer is dying because humans are trying to kill bugs with pesticides that also kill bats! My totem animal, the little brown bat, can live up to 36 years. This means that they have plenty of time to get diseases from pesticides.

affected by the chemicals that are in your bug killer?

Pesticides, Why We Need Them We, as humans, need pesticides because we need to eat, and some bugs also think our food is good to eat. To preserve our food, we can’t have bugs chomping away it, so we have to kill the bugs somehow. Also, bugs can carry diseases, and we certainly don’t want a virus from mosquitos. So, we kill them to live a healthy life; no one wants to get the Zika virus because we didn’t kill all of the mosquitoes.

How Bats Help Us Bats are always helping us get rid of the pesky little bugs, but humans see bats as creepy little creatures and we don’t appreciate their help. A small bat can eat up to 600 mosquitoes in one hour so it seems like the bats, even the small ones, are more effective than pesticides. Interestingly, the pesticides are becoming less effective because the bugs are starting to become immune to their effect. So what is the point of your pesticides if the bugs are not

How We Can Help Bats Building bat houses is a great way to help your neighborhood bats, and yourself. If a bat is near your home then you have a insect eater in your yard so none of those pesky mosquitoes will bite. When you have this bat house then you get to “...observe and conserve wildlife,” as the authors said in Wild Times. “You get your own front row seat into the life of a bat.” So why not build a small bat house and give the little guys their own home, I mean they’re a mammal, just like us!

Conclusion When bats start to die out the bug population grows, the pesticides are becoming less and less effective. So I think we should stop using pesticides, bats need to live in order to be our natural pesticides.

Bears...Their Issues, and Mine By Joseph McJunkin Mmmmm, Trash!

Hi! I am a bear. Here are some issues I have.

Hi! I am the Human. I have to relocate the bear because they are attracted by my trash and are in my neighborhood.

Help!

I make big messes so I get relocated by the humans!

I scare people because I’m a wild animal.

Fun Fact: Black Bear cubs know to stick together when their mom is away.

Before

After

I Love bears. I do not want them to die. Bear proof trashcans were tested and approved I think they make an amazing impact on bears.

Bobcats v.s. Fur Trading Emma Jones

F​ur trading is a big issue for bobcats and other mammals with valuable fur coats because humans want their fur to get money. This has been happening all over the world for centuries.

Fur is warm and it is beautiful, especially the coat of a bobcat which is spotted and soft. Fur trading, though legal and still popular among trappers, causes problems.

The Fur Trade Humans work in fur trading to help them to get money. An example of this trapping the bobcat. For fur trappers, bobcats are the biggest prize. A high quality bobcat fur coat can cost up to $150,000. Secondly, the fur trade was one of the earliest and most important industries in North America. The fur trading industry played a major role in the development of the United States and Canada for more than 300 years. Finally, because people still want fur coats and other clothing, we have had to make trapping more humane and cost-effective. We all should share the responsibility of making this industry as safe and sensitive as possible.

Management Practices for Trapping Bobcats in the U.S.” that will guide trappers for safe and efficient trapping. So this protects the bobcat and at the same time, helps the trapper.

Dangerous Methods More than 50 million animals are violently killed for use in fashion every year. Dozens of species have gotten caught in the steel traps by mistake, bald eagles, mountain lions, even pet dogs and cats. Traps work by slamming shut on a paw or leg of an animal and holding it until a trapper arrives. Often, bones can be broken. Tendons torn. Flesh is frayed. Some animals break free by chewing or twisting off a paw or limb.

Trapping Today Today things are quickly changing and people are more aware of the fur trade. Some reasons we know that people are more aware is because of the work of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It is the largest animal rights organization in the world. “PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time; in the food industry, in the clothing trade, in laboratories, and in the entertainment industry.” The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies has published “Best

Conclusion Today things are quickly changing and people are more aware of the fur trade. Some reasons we know that people are more aware is because of the work of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It is the largest animal rights organization in the world. “PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time; in the food industry, in the clothing trade, in laboratories, and in the entertainment industry.” The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies has published “Best Management Practices for Trapping Bobcats in the U.S.” that will guide trappers for safe and efficient trapping. So this protects the bobcat and at the same time, helps the trapper.

Climate Change & The Hummingbird Wyatt Hansen

G​lobal climate change is being talked about, researched, and argued about all over the world right now. It affects everything and everybody on this planet, including the tiny hummingbird.

Hummingbirds are unable to play their important role as pollinators when the climate makes it too difficult for them to tra​vel.

The effect on the hummingbird The hummingbird, like the bee, is a pollinator of all kinds of flowers. Many other animals depend on these flowers. In ​A Hummingbird's Life​, it says, “some animals are specifically adapted to the hummingbird pollinating flowers.” These flowers are what plants depend upon to fruit. This means that the fruits and vegetables we eat need hummingbirds and bees. Flowers are what they eat so if they can’t get that food it will kill them, and if they can’t pollinate, it will eventually hurt us because there won’t be enough food.

This may be due to global

climate change. The Audubon Society says, “the flowers are blooming 17 days earlier than in the 1970s.”

This means the hummingbird will miss the flowers completely when they get back from migration. Global warming also messes with the hummingbird’s ability to migrate.

birds, fish… everything.

Now the hummingbird would get messed around with one of those big and bad storms, affecting not only its ability to pollinate flowers, but to migrate, and to survive.

The Blind Side Global climate change affects everyone and everything but this is about us humans. Many people do not know about global warming and many people deny that it is happening or that it is important. One of the most difficult outcomes of global climate change is extreme weather and natural storms. Some can be big like Hurricane Katrina. Most people know about that storm because it was one of the most recent and most devastating storms in our country’s history. Storms like these affect not only people, but animals, birds, fish… everything. Now the hummingbird would get messed around with one of those big and bad storms, affecting not only its ability to pollinate flowers, but to migrate, and to survive.

Storms like these affect not only people, but animals,

The Punishment Climate change was started by our use of fossil fuels.

These fuels create gases that get trapped in our atmosphere. They are called greenhouse gasses.

These gases heat up the earth’s atmosphere and affect the temperature and weather patterns all over the world. These effects impact every living thing on the planet.

Conclusion I am especially concerned about the hummingbird because it not only plays an important role in our ecosystem, but it’s beautiful and brings joy to people all over the world.

Coexisting with Cougars Bradford King A major​ issue facing wildlife today is habitat loss. This happens when animals are losing homes and territory caused by human development. While the humans gain land and have places to live, wildlife like the cougars lose land and have less places to live. It has harms affecting the animals that have inhabited the areas where the economy is expanding. People need to know what is happening and how to stop harming animals yet still expand our economy. We should find a way to get what we want and need to survive, but also make sure the animals aren’t affected by it.

Urban Sprawl Creeping In Cougars​ are a species that is affected by habitat loss and they are in danger because of this. We need to help or else this species might decrease in population or maybe even become extinct. This is the same for lots of animals.

But just so you know, it’s not just the animals that are in danger, but humans also. Cougars can be ferocious animals and “Urban Sprawl” is fueling encounters between cougars and humans.

Urban sprawl is a term for humans spreading out of cities and into suburban and rural areas that had been home to wildlife. Humans could easily be in danger if there are more encounters due to urban sprawl.

The Economics of Sprawl According​ to SFGATE, “Living outside major cities is a personal choice of freedom…

Outside major cities there are short-term economic gains and employment boosts caused by new construction.” But urban sprawl is damaging the environment and the animals inside it and we don’t know or don’t think about it.

Village, and back to Wilson again.

The Current Status of Cougars Due ​to urban sprawl, the

population of the cougars is stable but lower in status than they used to be. The Mountain Lion Foundation said, “ Now there is an estimated 30,000 cougars and the population is very much in question.” To help increase cougar populations, people are working with state agencies and private landowners to help preserve the environment by making it a better place for a habitat. And also they are trying to reduce habitat loss by balancing their land and cougar land.

Animals Are Losing What They Need Animals ​are losing homes

and territory that they need and rely on and it’s not just cougars, but lots of animals. Cougars are going from large, continuous habitats to smaller, more isolated habitats. Interestingly, cougars need the largest ranges of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere, requiring about 10 20 square miles. This is an area within the parameters of a trip from Wilson to Jackson, Jackson to Moose, Moose to Teton

Conclusion In my opinion​, people are getting greedy and are not knowing the causes and effects of urban sprawl. They need to be educated about the effects of their outspread. I think that a good solution would be to notice and teach people about issues that affect our wildlife and what we can do to help reduce habitat loss. If the cougar went extinct, nature would go off balance and many more species would go extinct as well.

The Come Back Genevieve Jenkins

W​olves were once one of the American West’s greatest predators. But because of Westward Expansion and pioneers moving west, wolves were killed off. Pioneers killed around 1,400 wolves every year during Westward Expansion. When the wolf got reintroduced to Yellowstone, it impacted the ecosystem in a good way by rebalancing the food chain and bringing back wildlife that was once native to the area.

Elk Run Amuck The wolf had to come back to Yellowstone National Park because the elk were over populated on the land. The wolf was one of the elk’s main predators and with the wolf was gone the elk weren’t scared anymore. The elk would overgraze all the grass, so there was barely any more grass left for the rabbit and little animals who aren’t predators. Elk would eat all the berries so bear had less food to stock up on for hibernation. The elk​ ​would strip the leaves off the trees which made it hard for beaver to make their dams. “Things were simply out of balance,” as Katie Tozier, education specialist from Grand Teton National Park explained.

“When one species is removed from the web of life, it affects all of the others.”

The Reintroduction Returning the wolf to Yellowstone was a way to protect an animal that people almost killed off. The reintroduction of the grey wolf to Yellowstone National Park took decades to accomplish. Wolves had almost gone totally extinct in the lower 48 states by the 1960s. In 1995, a small pack of wolves were brought from Minnesota to northwestern Wyoming. The reintroduction helped the wolf repopulate itself and not go extinct.

Between 1995 and 1996, the population increased from 31 wolves to more than 80 wolves in 1996. They thrived in their native home. It did not take long for the wolves to take back other territory beyond the park’s boundaries.

Laws Protecting Wolves and Livestock Wolves have thrived in Yellowstone but have established territory outside the park so laws protect the

livestock from the wolf. Laws say that if a wolf is eating livestock the farmer can kill it without a permit. People are still concerned about the wolf reintroduction, they are concerned about the ecosystem and their livestock.

New Federal Legislation “H.R. 424” passed in January recovering wolves from endangered species list.

Environmentalist call it “ The War on Wolves Act”.

Conclusion In my opinion I think that reintroduction of the wolf was a good idea because now the ecosystem is balanced and wolves are managed in Yellowstone National Park as well as outside its boundaries.

Ranchers can now protect their livestock, and live with wolves. Now that wolves are back everything is back in balance.

CURSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Human activity produces a huge amount of greenhouse gas when we burn fossil fuel to make electricity.

Hi there. I am a weasel and greenhouse gases impact me by causing temperatures to rise .

Global warming causes seasonal climate change that affects the fur of a weasel in a very negative way.

That makes them more obvious to predators.

When I don’t blend in, it’s hard to survive. For example, on the right I don’t blend in to my background.

By SADIE MAE

Weasels may be particularly vulnerable to predators when their colors do not match the background. They then have to spend more time running away instead of hiding.

And I can’t hunt without risking death. And I can’t steal my favorite eggs.

Humans need to stop producing fossil fuels because they do a lot of harm. Instead, we need to think about what is best for the earth. There are other ways to power our lights, cars and much more.

So let’s help weasels and other animals facing this issue of global climate change. Let’s ask ourselves, “What’s best for the earth?”

Disease Disasters by Maddie McNamara Hello, I am an elk and I am facing a deadly sickness named chronic wasting disease or CWD.

Though the cause of CWD is not clear, we know it spreads when large numbers of elk gather together and share food.

This wouldn’t spread so fast if humans didn’t think we needed an elk refuge.

The National Elk Refuge was created in 1912 by Congressional order to offer a habitat where starving elk could be fed during the winter months.

when large numbers of elk live in the same habitat disease is easily spread. Also overpopulation is a problem.

Though this feeding program was a good idea, it has led to some serious problems for elk.

Disease may also kill us due to contaminated soil.

We may spread disease to other animals

Only careful wildlife management will help keep the elk healthy.

Managing wildlife is challenging. Humans must think about the consequences of their decisions even when they think they are helping us.

Fox Adapts to Humanity

by Sam

Habituation is a big problem for the Red Fox because it is making it so I can't survive in the wild without being fed by Humans.Habituation is when people feed animals and they keep coming back.

Hi I am the Red Fox and these are the problems I face.

Fragmentation another problem for the Red Fox.

Overpopulation is another problem for me. It is when there are too many Foxes.

It’s pretty great that I am so adaptable, but my adaptability can also be a problem.

Fragmentation is when people push animals away from their home. This breaks up the fox families.

Overpopulation is a problem for me because there are a lot of diseases.

Habitat Loss Affecting Hawks and Raptors Josie Kitto

W​hen people think of habitat loss they think of mammals like the wolves, and grizzly bears. But what about the raptors? They experience habitat loss too! But how does it affect them?

Livestock poses a big problem People are hurting the environment, for example they are bringing livestock in such as cows. The cows are eating the grass. Small mammals need the seeds found in grass to survive.

When the cows eat the grass, small mammals have nothing to eat. The raptors like hawks eat the little mammals. If the small mammals lose their food, the raptors lose their food. If these birds don’t have any food it can make it hard to survive!

Extinction leads to Extinction Some people know if one animal goes extinct more can go extinct and that's exactly what could happen here! If a small mammal goes extinct like the rabbit the hawk could go extinct and then their predator could go extinct like the owl and so on and so on.

What I’m trying to say is if the small mammal goes extinct the raptors could go extinct and this is all part of habitat loss! This a problem most people hope the raptors won’t have to face.

Red tailed hawk facts and issues Even though the red tailed hawk’s population is the least concerning, the loss of prey is a big issue for the red tailed hawk. It is very hard to find food for the hawk because they don’t eat fish like the eagle. Sometimes this can make it hard to survive! Their main food is the ground squirrel, the rabbit, weasels, and a few other types of small mammals. To kill their prey they will strike down from the

sky and knock their prey over then grab their prey and make the kill.

Conclusion In my opinion, I think we should stop bringing in so much livestock. We could have a huge section where livestock is not allowed. The small mammals would have somewhere to live and have something to eat, and the raptors can have food.

How Mining Affects the Otter Chase Brunner What is mining and why do we mine?

Mining is the process of removing, or extracting resources from underground.

Humans have mined resources for hundreds of years, using many different technologies. In the old days, they used simple tools like pick axes, shovels, and carts.

Nowadays they use enormous cranes, trucks, dynamite, jackhammers, and chemicals to get these resources out of the ground.

We are more serious nowadays about mining.

Though it's a big money mining is very harmful to otters and the riparian areas.

Mining Money for Humans We mine for many different kinds of resources, for example steel,​ copper, iron, diamonds titanium​, ​and​ ​gold​.

People mine because they need the resources from underground and they want the money that is made from selling the resources.

Everyone knows what gold can do -- gold can give you money if you find a lot of it.

Humans use the resources from mining to build cars, build homes, build modern appliances. These are all things that make life better

for humans. This is good for the humans but not good for the otters who live in the riparian areas affected by mining.

Habitat loss Habitat loss is caused by mine tailings although mining is so convenient for humans it is harmful to river otters and everything else in the rivers. Otters build their homes underground because predators live on the surface of the ground. The entrance of their dens could be from underwater or from a hole near the river or pond.

The mining industries get gold from the mine and they use chemicals in the process.

Cyanide ​is the most dangerous chemical known to mankind and it is used to mine. ​Cyanide​ is the pollution that is called mine tailings that dump into rivers. It doesn't take a lot of ​cyanide to kill otters and water species. Otters are very playful and need a lot of food to stay warm and energetic.

Otters live in big groups so

they need a lot of space to raise a family otters live in big groups because when otters don't see a predator the other otters will warn the one that’s in danger

Current Status/Solutions There have been laws passed that prohibit pollution dumping from mines near rivers, lakes and ponds.

Mining has been outlawed from areas where there are protected animals. We need to forbid using cyanide in mining. We should find eco- friendly chemicals to use.

Conclusion

I learned that cyanide is a bad chemical that harms otters and other aquatic life. It pollutes the water causing the fish to die and the otter to not have as much food. We need to be doing a lot more to protect the otters.

Issues facing the Horned Lizard

by Giovanni

Hi I am the Horned Lizard these are the issues of the Horned Lizard.

Hi I work in agriculture and we represent 17% of the country's work force.

For example agriculture is one of the issuer facing the Horned Lizard.

Believe it or not 318 million people live in the USA each human eats 1 pound of produce each day.

Another issue is gas and oil developments.you might be thinking how does gas and oil development kill the Horned Lizard? Well to prepare for drilling the topsoil is removed which means the Lizard’s home is destroyed.

Did you know how important gas and oil is it is shockingly important 100% of transportation that is faster than 25 mph relies on oil or gas.

Hello can you believe that humans in the usa consame 390 million gallons of gas and 19.4 million barrels of oil per day.

Well that is all the issues about the horned lizard and if you look to your right you will find facts about me.

Fun facts 1 “As a defense mechanism some species of Horned lizards are known to squirt blood from their eyes for more than 3 feet the blood not only startles the predator’s but also tastes foul.”

2 ”Horned lizards are a genus of lizard that comprise a group of 15 species, having spikes covering their body.”

3 ”Short horned lizards are distributed in almost all habitats be it hot deserts or cold mountains .”

Made from Giovanni Comic strip.

Lead Kills Liam Thompson A​ccording to the Wildlife Diversity Program, over 50% of eagles that need rehabilitation are suffering from lead poisoning. Humans are using lead bullets that end up in our streams and rivers, which poison the fish that the eagles eat. Although lead bullets have been used for many years, there are now better and safer alternatives for keeping the eagle population healthy.

The Lead Bullet Humans are using lead bullets to hunt for food and sport.

They are doing this because they need to control animal populations. For instance, without population control, too many deer overrun the land. As stated by Allen Pursell, “No native vertebrate species in the eastern United States has a more direct effect on habitat integrity than the white-tailed deer. It makes sense, then, that humans hunt animals like deer to prevent major problems.’’ The lead bullet is the cheapest, so more people use them. However, lead bullets do not actually cost that much less than non-lead alternatives. In fact, if you get the highest-quality lead bullets it may cost more money than copper bullets. As stated by nolead.org, “For

some calibers even the difference between cheaper lead ammunition and non-lead ammunition can be less than $10 per box.”

poisoning may suffer from loss of balance, difficulty breathing, tremors, and difficulty flying. Because of this, starvation and death generally happen within 2 to 3 weeks after the eagle eats its poisoned prey.

Lead Poisoning Golden eagles become poisoned by eating prey that has been shot with a lead bullet. When fishermen use sinkers made out of lead, they often break off into the water.

The fish think the sinkers are food, so they eat them. It is easier for the eagle to catch prey that is suffering from lead poisoning, given that they are slower and weaker.

The golden eagles eventually eat these fish, becoming poisoned by what should be nutritional food. As stated by the Wildlife Diversity Program, “When ingested in large enough quantities, lead has detrimental effects on the nervous and reproductive systems of mammals and birds.” This affects the eagle population in two major ways: (1) impaired reproduction leads to lower birth rates and (2) more adult eagles die as a result of nervous system damage. Eagles with lead

Conclusion I think we should not use lead bullets or sinkers because the lead is poisoning the environment and other animals. Copper bullets are a good alternative and I think lead bullets should stop being made and sold. In order to do this, we should educate people about the problems lead bullets and sinkers cause animals.

Porcupine...Great Protector of the Woods Hi! My name is the Porcupine and these are the issues I face.

Porcupines use their strong feet to climb trees. We eat leaves and bark on trees. Our habitat is the forest where we rely on trees to survive. The logging industry destroys our environment because they cut down trees and we have less food to eat.

Porcupines look for different food sources.

We like to eat things things that humans use: wood siding, decks, fencing and landscaping. We like to eat these things because many of these taste like salt and we love salt.

In some areas the Fisher a predator has been introduced to kill Porcupine.

Loggers sell timber so people can build homes.

Logs that Porcupine eat tend to be short and aren’t worth much.

The fishers are now limiting the Porcupine population.

The porcupine is not endangered. I feel steps should be taken to protect our habitat. By limiting logging people should also protect their decks and homes from porcupine damage by treating wood with products that will repel.

Humans must learn to coexist with porcupines.

By JJ Curry : )

Can we just be Friends?

Put Your Feet In The Snake's Shoes Henry Gillett

T​hese are the issues that are affecting the Snake, they are decreasing in population because of these effects. The population is decreasing by 40%.

Global Climate Change is turning marginal grasslands into deserts as rainfall changes. It could affect the snake because the snake needs water to survive and if the rainfall patterns change it could cause drought. Drought is when there is a low amount of precipitation and this could affect lots of animals, including the snake. If there is drought it could cause wildfires.

Overgrazing/ Desertification Desertification is a big issue because when land becomes desert, mainly as a result of drought we will start having too much desert land. Different species require different types of land for their habitats, and if there is too much desert, many animals won’t have what they need to survive. What will happen is the land will be overgrazed by the herbivores and this is dangerous. ​Overgrazing ​is caused by too many animals in too small an area with too little water for too long of a period of time.

Pesticides When crops are grown on farms or ranches or anywhere pests can spread easily from crop to crop.

Farmers use pesticides to kill these pests, but they

tend to kill more than just the bugs. According to the EYNC Rattlesnake Study, pests “easily [create] the need for potentially toxic pesticides. Twenty-five percent of the rattlesnake population is affected by pesticides. If we do not start doing something about this issue the whole rattlesnake population could be in danger.

Conclusion My opinion is that we should be more aware of the issues caused by global climate change and protect the rattlesnakes.

Rapid Roads Benjamin Beastrom

oads are a major

problem for migratory The biggest herds are in animals such as bison. One Wyoming's Yellowstone way roads get in the way, National Park and in is when bison roam to find Canada's plains. fresh food and more

land... they get hit.

R​

Roaring Roads and Raving Revolvers Highways and roads injure and or even kill the bison.

One-hundred ninety-two bison were killed on Yellowstone National Park roads from 1989-2003.

Bison are near threatened on the endangered species list. You may know about the huge drop of bison during the 1850-1900; the mass shootings of bison was a huge problem and there were only 1000 bison left.

But because of the Park’s efforts, the bison have been replenished. Now there are over 500,000 bison in North America.

Penalty for…

Speeding

Helping Hands

But roads are still a problem for bison and the national parks in Wyoming have helped the bison by reducing the speed limit at night. They have done that because bison are commonly hit at dusk or night. This happens more commonly at night because believe it or not bison don't have great eyesight. We have also built overpasses for animals such as elk and bison. The overpasses are proven effective and do help elk, bison, bears and many other animals.

Even though there are overpasses and the speed limit was reduced. The law is getting broken or bent.

One law that’s getting broken is speeding -- it is a major problem. Like I said in Roaring Roads and Raving Revolvers, many animals get very injured or even killed.

Conclusion

Roads are still a problem for bison we should increase Park Ranger’s surveillance and the punishment of breaking the law so nobody will risk such a high penalty.

The Road to Extinction Abby Murphy

Y​

night on some roads to slow drivers and help the animals.

Citizens of Wyoming are making animal silhouettes to raise awareness and make drivers think twice about what they are doing.

ou’ve heard the old

song, “Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play.” It makes you think of wide open plains dotted with deer, elk, and bison grazing in comfort, right? Well, that used to be the case, but as humans have spread across the country, we have built thousands of miles of highways to drive our millions and millions of cars. This is a problem for those animals roaming the range.

Why Roads Humans need roads! Without them what would we drive on? There are 18 main highways in Wyoming, making up 33,000 miles of highway across the state that's a lot of road. Roads help us travel from one place to another without getting lost.

Road signs help us know where we are and the speed we should travel. Over $2 million are spent in a year on car repairs and injuries (human and animal) just from animals and cars colliding.

Deer in the Headlights Deer get hit trying to cross the roads. They cross roads to find food and they don’t know the roads are dangerous. An estimated 1 million vertebrates die per day in the U.S.A and over 200 mule deer die every year in just Wyoming from being hit by automobiles. The deer’s response endangers them.

The cliche, “Deer in the headlights” comes from when a deer sees a car coming they freeze and stare blankly. So when we say ​Deer in the headlights​ it means when a person stops and freezes and looks. The roads are being built in the migration pathway of the deer.

How to Help People are building bridges to help the deer. Wildlife tunnels are being built because the visitors and the citizens of Wyoming want to see animals and keep them safe. WYDOT is changing speed limits at

Conclusion I think that drivers should be more careful of wildlife by watching their speed and not being distracted. More tunnels should be built as well as more overpasses to help the deer and other animals migrate across roads safely.

This way wildlife like deer will not die out.

Snowshoe Hares and Habitat Loss

By Ceci Bruno

H​ow does habitat loss affect the Snowshoe Hare? To answer this question, I looked at three compelling main ideas: (1) the reasons behind human-caused habitat loss, (2) the effects of habitat loss specifically on the Snowshoe Hare, and (3) efforts to combat habitat loss. The Snowshoe Hare and hundreds of other species share the problem of sharing space with humans.

Human-Caused Habitat Loss Humans need land for a variety of reasons. Often, humans need land for places to live and work, or their own survival would be threatened.

People also need land to grow food, as crops require a lot of space, and livestock need large grazing grounds. Lastly, people need land for manufacturing and goods.

Unfortunately, due to all of the land taken up by humans, which is 150 million acres in Wyoming alone, many animals lose their own homes and feeding grounds.

The Effect of Habitat Loss on the Snowshoe Hare Sometimes people take over sagebrush habitat land, which is where the Snowshoe Hare lives. One of the problems with this is that the Snowshoe Hare loses the safety of its home. Another problem is that if the smaller animals have nowhere to go, they might go into neighborhoods and domestic animals might chase them or eat them. If the Snowshoe Hare dies out than its predators (like the wolf, fox, eagle, mountain lion, owl and more) won’t die, but will suffer.

People Who Care Many people think that we shouldn’t take up as much land, and that we should try to save animal habitats.

However, some people think their needs are more important than the needs of animals and don’t understand why habitat loss is so important. The reason why habitat loss is so important is because many animals are unable to adapt to their new surroundings. Beyond this, they might be forced into neighborhoods that aren’t safe for them. Even though there are laws that protect the Snowshoe Hare from being taken as a pet, there aren’t any laws that protect the Snowshoe Hare’s habitat.

Conclusion In my opinion, there needs to be more laws protecting animals’ habitat including the Snowshoe Hare and the other animals that live in the Sagebrush habitat.

Trouts In Trouble Harriet Sullivan

T​he cutthroat trout is a native species to the lakes, ponds, and rivers of the American West, but it is increasingly finding itself competing for food and protecting itself because of an invasive species. An invasive species is not a native, it’s come in and causes lots of trouble. This is the case with the lake and brook trout. They are causing trouble for the cutthroat.

How did Lake and Brook trout get into the Cutthroat’s habitat?

Lake trout were intentionally stocked in Lewis and Shoshone Lakes in 1890 by the U.S. Fish Commission. Back then they were only thinking about having lots of fish in the lakes. Later, agencies stocked more lakes and streams with non-native species like the brook trout.

Lake and brook trout might live for twenty-five to forty years while cutthroat trout will only live up to ten years. So this means the invasive species will not

only outrun, but outlive the native species.

What are the impacts of the invasive species on native species?

The lake and brook trouts’ main food source is the same as a cutthroat trout’s food source. Large lake trout will eat cutthroat trout as well. When lake and brook trout are living through about two or three generations of cutthroat trout the non-native trout keep moving and moving to native rivers and lakes so cutthroat trout are dying out.

How are humans trying to fix the problem?

Various organizations and governmental agencies are working together to eliminate the invasive

species and make way for the cutthroat trout. The lake trout actually swim deeper than the cutthroat, so it’s possible to use nets at those depths to catch huge numbers of lake trout.

Between 1994 and 2007 over 272,000 lake trout were netted in Yellowstone Lake alone. Gillnetting has removed more than 1.7 million lake trout since 1994 across the West. As well, people are allowed to catch and keep, rather than catch and release, most lake trout, which is also making an impact on their numbers.

Conclusion I think the problem of invasive species in our lakes and streams is really scary because it is affecting and hurting so many animals and sometimes even killing animals too.

Unsuspecting Owls

By Zach Beevor A​s you know owls can be fun to watch, and also they have incredible features such as big wings that help them fly silently through the air and big eyes that are like built-in night vision goggles to help them see at night, but despite all spectacular facts, the owls are dying from rodenticide.

Rodenticide vs.

Owls People simply don’t put up with pests of any kind. For over a century scientists have developed a variety of chemicals to poison pests -from insects to rodents.

Although these chemicals do the job, they have a dangerous impact on other animals and birds. Rodenticide is having a big effect on the owl. The Latin root “cide” means “killer” so the full word rodenticide​ means “rodent killer.” The need to rid ourselves of rats is decreasing the owl population too. Owls are eating the poisoned rats. If we keep poisoning rats, imagine how many owls will die because of the poison.

Ah, Rats!

As you may know, we need rat poison for killing rats because they spread disease (like the Plague, Hantavirus, Pulmonary Syndrome and others) and they get into our houses, chew on electrical wires and then we have problems. Rats are just a big nuisance to have around. Rats die when we use poison.

According to Michael Fry, an environmental toxicologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and former director of conservation advocacy for the American Bird Conservancy, the common rat poison called brodifacoum “...is so toxic, and it stays around for so long,” he says. “It has a very long half-life in animals. So if you feed it to a rat, the rat can continue to eat the bait. It builds up way more than a lethal dose in its body.”

Unlucky predators like owls catch the poisoned rat and ingest a huge dose of rodenticide.

Poisoned Owls As you know, an owl will feed on any rat that they see, even a poisoned one. If an owl preys on a poisoned rat and it eats it, then the poison from the rat goes into the owl and the owl gets poisoned. This cycle can even get worse. On the occasion that a scavenger

of an owl, such as a fox or coyote, eats the dead owl, then it will get poisoned as well. The impact can just keep going up the food chain, because a wolf will eat the dead fox and the wolf would die, and all of the deaths are because of one little poisoned rat.

The Solutions Rat poison companies are trying to make and market kill-instantly rat zappers. The “Rat Zapper” electrocutes rats so they do not go near us any more. Another idea is to use kill-instant rat traps. People are improving these traps so they are more effective. I think we should use the rat zapper idea because it zaps the rat and the rat dies, other rats do not go near us because it scares the other rats. It's a good solution because it does not cause any more complications. We should really make a solution soon so the owl does not go extinct. If the owl went extinct it would put nature off-balance.

Why Wires?

Lena Poduska

T​he number of swans in Jackson Hole is decreasing because they are flying into power lines. This is bad because soon there will be no more swans. But people need electricity to live, so we have to find a solution that protects the swans and still provides electricity.

Humans’ Use Is Electrifying Humans have come to depend on electricity almost as much as water and air. We use electricity for almost everything we do. According to eia.gov, each person in the United States used 313 million Btu’s of electricity in 2011.

Although the U.S. makes up on 5% of the world’s population, it consumes 23% of the world’s electricity.

Raising the wire

Why power?

Each year 50% of the swans in the world die from power lines. This ends up affecting all of the food chain so it is unbalanced. This is hard to fix because people need electricity to run almost everything they use. People even depend on electricity to get water out of the ground because pumps use electricity. People discovered that if the swans can see the lines better, they are less likely to hit them, so we are starting to put balloons on the power lines so the swans see them.

People are raising power lines by 25 feet because swans fly at a certain height as they seek safe and shallow water. This height does not interfere with their flight pattern, so that is where swans won’t fly into them. This is good because they will stop hitting the power lines.

Although this costs a lot, about $2,000 more money than usual, it will be worth it to save the swans.

Conclusion I think people should start making the power lines higher, and put the balloons on them so they see the power lines. This will save a lot of time, money, and lives.