Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine, Winter 1988-89

Change In the Seasons

Photo by Jacki Bragg

~AINE

FISH AND WILDLIFE Governor John R. McKeman, Jr.

Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife William J. Vail, Commissioner Norman E. Trask, Deputy Commissioner Frederick B. Hurley, Jr., Director, Bureau of Resource Management Peter C. Brazier, Director, Bureau of Administrative Seruice Larry S. Cummings, Director, Bureau of Warden Seruice

WINTER 1988

VOL. 30, NO. 4

Features The Public Access Issue by Sherman Hasbrouck A thumbnail look at a problem that's really a handful!

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Advisory Council F. Paul Frinsko, Portland, Chairman Carroll York, West Forks Nathan Cohen, Eastport F. Dale Speed, Princeton Alanson B. Noble, Otisfield John Crabtree, Warren William Sylvester, Clayton Lake Dr. Ogden Small, Caribou

Maine Fish and Wildlife Magazine W. Thomas Shoener, Editor Thomas J. Chamberlain, Managing Editor Thomas L. Carbone, Photo Editor Dale S. Clark, Circulation All photographs in this issue were made by the Public Information Division unless otherwise indicated.

MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE (IS.SN 036000SX) Is published quarterly by the Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 284 State Street, Station 41, Augusta, Maine, 04330, under Appropriation 4550. Subscription rate: $7 .00 per year. No stamps, please. Second class postage paid at Augusta, Maine and at additional mailing offices. e Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 1988. Permission to reprint text material is granted, provided proper credit is given to the author and to MAINE FISH AND Wll.DUFE. Clearance must be obtained from artists, photographers, and non-staff authors to reproduce credited work.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Send both old and new addresses to Circulation Section, MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE Magazine, 284 State St., Sta. # 41, Augusta ME 04333. Please allow six weeks for changes to take effect. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Circulation Section, MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE, 284 State St., Sta. #41, Augusta, Maine 04333.

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife receives federal funds from the U.S. Department of the Interior. Accordingly, all department programs and activities must be operated free from discrimination with regard to race, color, national origin, age, or handicap. Any persoi:i who believes that he or she has been discriminated against should write to The Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.

Winter Wings by Paul Connor An artist's impressions of Maine's wintertime woods-for the birds!

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Public Lands Goes {For) Bats by James Ecker Managing for (and with) bats-nature's insecticide

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Wildlife Photography Contest Winners A special eight-page section on this first annual statewide competition

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Winter Deer Losses: How Do They Stack Up? by Henry Hilton and Gerald R. Lavigne Let's look at what really takes our deer herd down in the wintertime

21

Maine's Voluntary Anglers

by Forrest R. Bonney Where would we be without our sportsmen's volunteer efforts?

26

Depart111ents FROM THE FLY TYING BENCH: The Woolly-Bugger

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KID-BITS

24

FISH AND WILDLIFE BRIEFS

30

The Front Cover Snowy owl-painting courtesy Paul Boucher, Lewiston, Maine

THE PUBLIC

ACCESS ISSUE

by Sherman Hasbrouck

The author is a natural science communicator with the Land and Water Resources Center at the University of Maine. His article is condensed from a 12-page information digest he wrote on the same subject. Single copies of that publication-entitled "Access to Coastal and Inland Waters: The Public Use of Private Land" -are available without charge from the L.W.R.C., 11 Coburn Hall, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469.

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We have had a long tradition, in Maine, of free and easy access to unimproved and unposted private land. This tradition is so ingrained that most people are surprised when they learn that it does not exist in many other parts of the nation. It is so ingrained, in fact, that we often forget that the land is owned by someone.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

As

the readers of this article are well aware, the Maine tradition of free and easy access to privately owned land is being threatened. More and more, we see new lands being posted and chains across private roads that were once open to public use. Reasons for this trend away from tradition include such things as subdivision of wildlands; changes in land ownership and new owners ' attitudes; increased numbers of people using the land, and, particularly, the thoughtless acts of a minority of them; liability concerns; and increasing fin ancial pressures on landowners, including direct costs associated with allowing recreational access.

Are we moving, then, toward a time when private lands are closed ofI entirely and the only public access will be that on publicly-owned lands? Perhaps not. But if we are to avoid such a dismal future , we will alllandowners, sportsmen, and others- need to strengthen the Maine tradition of permissive access. Some have referred to this tradition as "permissive trespass." However, the term "permissive access" will be used in this article because it does not suggest illegal action. We are not talking about a legal right, but rather a custom in which people use private property with the informal permission of the owner. Such people include hunters, fish ermen, trappers, hikers, cross-country skiers, snowmobilers, clam and worm diggers, boaters, canoers, bird watchers- indeed most of us who use the out-of-doors for recreation and, in some cases, for our livelihoods.

While some are careless about how they leave the land, most of us are careful. We generally leave land as we found it . We stay ofI land that is posted. And if the owners are living near the area we are hoping to use, some of us, at least, have the courtesy to ask their permission.

Strengthening the permissive access tradition requires that private landowners and public recreationists be sensitive to one another's concerns.

It also requires that we have a clear understanding of legal rights and obligations.

rights to use the land, but those rights are not absolute. For example: •Does the owner "own" the water that passes over the land? the water alongside it? the water under it?

•Does the owner "own" the fish and other wildlife that temporarily occupy land and waters? the trees and vegetation on the land? the seaweed in the water?

• Does ownership mean that no one else has any rights to use a given piece of property?

The answers to such questions are complex and controversial. Several centuries ago they bitterly divided the Indians and European settlers. Today they are the subject of court disputes and frictions between landowners and the public.

With respect to the first question- ownership of waterlegal traditions in the eastern United States are quite different from those in the West. In the East, where water resources have been abundant. the "riparian" owner (the owner of land next to a body of water or flowing stream) has had fairly unlimited, but not exclusive, rights to use the water.

In the western United States, where water is not so abundant, rights of riparian owners are much more limited.

On the second question, no one "owns" fish and wildlife. Sovereign rulers used to, but this "ownership" evolved into management of fish and wildlife by federal and state governments as a public trust.

On the other hand, ownership of land has come to mean exclusive rights to use the trees and vegetation on the land.

The answer to the third question- concerning public rights on private land- depends on what land one is talking about. On land not adjacent to water, a hiker or sportsman has no legal rights of access and must rely entirely on publicly-owned land or the permissive access custom. On water and shorelands, public rights exist, but they vary: Public rights on the seacoast depend upon where the tide rises and falls. Below low tide, the state owns all submerged lands. In this zone, the public has free use of water and the sea bottom, subject to state restrictions. In the upland zone, above high tide, all rights are with the landowner, subject to any easements that may exist.

In the intertidal zone, private ownership generally extends down to low tide. There are, however, extensive public rights in the intertidal zone: •The public has the historic rights of "fishing, fowling, and navigation." In the course of time, these rights have come to include skating, cutting

For as long as we can foresee, recreationists will continue to rely on a mixture of public and private lands.

Under

the law, the use a sportsman can make of someone's land depends not only upon that person's generosity, but also upon legal rights and obligations that have evolved over centuries. Someone may own a piece of land and have certain Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

3

•other recreation activities such as fishing, ice, pleasure boating, mooring boats, hunting, and hunting, and swimming from a boat are probably collecting shellfish, seaweed, and sea worms. allowable, although public rights for engaging in •The public can swim in tidal waters (e.g. from a such activities have not been clearly spelled out by boat), but the right to use the shore for swimming the state courts. In view of extensive customary and sunbathing is currently in dispute. recreational use, legal experts believe the public •Public rights may include walking across an rights would be upheld if they were challenged. intertidal area at low tide, but this right has not •The public does not have the right to fish along been definitely established by the state's courts. a riverbank or to walk on the bottom of the river or •Public rights on lakes and lakeshores depend on stream while fishing. Indeed, there is no legal right lake size. A natural lake of 10 acres or more is a for the public to use pri"great pond," and public vate river shorelands for rights of use on great access" walking, cross-country ponds are extensive. skiing, snowmobiling, or (Most lakes and ponds "permissive any other recreational use. that non-owners would trespass" •The public has no legal wish to use are at least right to cross land to get 10 acres, so the distincto a river or stream, even if tion is of no great matter the shoreland is undevelto most people.) On oped. In practice, of great ponds: course, many people ap•The public can canoe proach and use unpasted or boat on the water, walk on the bottom, swim, water-ski, cut ice, skate, shorelands under the permissive access custom.

This summary of public legal rights on private hunt ducks, or fish from a boat or canoe- and even lands makes clear the urgency in maintaining the drive a vehicle over the ice. The public has no legal permissive trespass custom. This is particularly right, however, to engage in activities on the shore important in Maine, where relatively little land, without permission of the shoreland owner. In practice, many people do fish, swim, and boat from especially coastal land, is in public ownership.

If the permissive access custom is to continue, private shores, but this is being done under the perpublic use of private land will have to be limited missive access custom. and unobtrusive. And if private landowners are to •The state-.owns the waters and the bottom. Fish be comfortable w1th limited public use, their conin the lake belong to the people and are managed by cerns need to be addressed by sportsmen as well the state as a public trust. as other recreationists and public officials.

•The shoreland owner owns to the natural mean low water mark of the lake or pond.

Public access to the shore is more available questions frequently on the minds of around great ponds than along the seacoast. People landowners are: have the right to cross private lands to get to a great pond as long as the area is wooded and unenclosed. g. If I allow people to walk across my land, However, this right of access is not of much value. will a public right of access be created?

Someone can walk through the woods to get to a A. Generally, no. State courts in Maine have lake, look at the lake, and walk back. But a person consistently held that incidental pubic use of uncannot. except for the permissive access custom, improved land does not create a public right of swim or fish from the shore.

Public rights on rivers and streams and brooks access. are extensive on "floatable" waters but nonexistent Q. How does posting affect the public's right on those that are "non-floatable." This distinction is much the same as that involving "great ponds" to use my land? and ponds under 10 acres, since most rivers and A. It is commonly assumed that state law gives people the right to use private property for recreastreams that anyone would want to use are "floattional activities without the express permission of able." (To be considered floatable, a stream needs only to be large enough to float logs at least once a the owner unless the land has been posted. This is not true. However, as a practical matter, posting year.) On the floatable rivers and streams: •river and stream bottoms in Maine are owned by signs at regular intervals along boundaries is the the owners of adjacent land (the "riparian" owners). best way to let people know that public use is not •the public has a right to boat or canoe on the permitted or is permitted under certain conditions. water.

The owner can:

We use"permissive rather than because it does not suggest illegal action.

We are talking about custom, not legal rights.

S ome

4

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

•prohibit all use without express permission; • Indicate that certain uses are prohibited; or •allow only certain uses (such as hiking or cross-country skiing); There are no legal standards for sign frequency.

However, a 50-foot interval is a rule-of-thumb guideline. Another practice, helpful for recreationists who seek permission for access, is to include the landowner's telephone number on posted signs.

Many landowners are willing to accommodate some public use of their land. They are increasingly frustrated, however, by their inability to control such use. They might want fewer people using their land or simply wish to be assured that visitors will be relatively quiet and leave their land as they found it.

use and enjoyment of the nation's water resources were becoming increasingly threatened by liability laws and escalating jury awards. In response to this situation, many states in the nation, including Maine, passed legislation that would protect landowners from unreasonable liability.

Under the Maine law (enacted in 1978). the landowner has no duty to keep property safe for recreational or timber-harvesting activities, nor to give warning of hazardous conditions on the property. If someone uses private land without permission, the owner's only "duty of care" is to refrain from wantonly injuring or setting traps for the person.

For the most part, then, people using someone else's land do so at their own risk, even if they are doing it with the owner's permission. Exceptions occur where: •the failure to guard against or warn of a dangerous condition on the property is willful or malicious; •the landowner charges a fee for the public use; or •a person to whom permission is granted injures someone, and the landowner had a special responsibility to the injured person to keep the property safe.

The 1978 law has been used successfully by a number of landowners who have been sued by people injured while driving recreational vehicles over their land.

Q. What protection do trespass laws give a landowner?

A. Anyone entering another person's land without authorization is a trespasser, whether or not the land is posted. Specifically: •Trespassers are liable for any damage to structures or land. Such damage includes cutting down trees; removal or rocks, soil, or any materials; and damage to private roads, especially that caused by vehicles during the spring thaw.

•Someone using a private road can be sued whether or not there are damages.

•Trespassers may not park a vehicle on a private road if passage of other vehicles is blocked, nor aine Is different from other states in the may they operate an ATV on a private road if forUnited States, and one of the key differences has to bidden to do so by the owner. do with traditional access Maine people and out-ofIn practice, trespass laws are somewhat unenstate visitors have enjoyed to the state's water and forceable, especially on islands and in other remote land resources. For as long as we can foresee, replaces. Indeed, it is difficult to convict a trespasser creationists will continue to rely on a mixture of · in the absence of a verbal warning. Even with conpublic and private lands. What this mixture is, and viction, penalties tend to be light if there is no how well it works will depend on: damage to property, no •the legal rights and threats or injury to other obligations of landowners, persons, or no untowns, and the public; authorized entry into •changes in laws to buildings. More severe meet new needs of landpenalties may result if a owners and the public; person is convicted of • how the state and "criminal trespass" towns deal with frictions (and) which may involve uncaused by development authorized entry into a and growth in tourism; building or even enter•whether private landing land that is posted. owners in the future will be as generous as in the Q. If I as a landowner permit some public use, past; and will I be vulnerable to a lawsuit if someone has •the extent to which cities, towns and the state an accident while on my land? use the wide range of options that are available for A. There has been a major change in laws affectguaranteeing future public access to the Maine's ing landowner liability. Until recent years, public land and water resources.

•

M

Strengthening the permissive access tradition requires that landowners and recreationists be sensitive to one another's concerns ... have a clear understanding of legal rights and obligations.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

5

\Y;Y/ fl IIDlC ÂŽ IT \Y;Y/ fl IID ~~ A Pictorial Sequel to Winter Woods

by Paul Connor

The author/artist has been studying wildlife for 30 years; although many of his early memories are of Maine and New Hampshire vacations, it has only been during the last six or seven years that he has been able to study Maine wildlife to any great extent. A frequent contributor to MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE Magazine, Paul gives us, with this article, a face-to-face meeting with some of the Maine woods feathered residents.

On our way to the hunting area, we usually pass by several small ponds with large dead trees around them. In one of these I spied this beautiful redshouldered hawk. The majority of those birds fly farther south in winter, but I've seen quite a few in the first two weeks in November in northern Maine.

When it was reported to me by a member of our party that a large grey owl was hanging around the area where we hunt and study, I set out to locate it. On the outskirts of a bog bordering Soper Brook, I finally spotted it. Expecting to see a barred owl or great horned owl, I was thrilled to discover this beautiful great grey owl. Not fearing man, these owls can be very closely approached. They ordinarily do not venture south of Canada, but hard times in their feeding can force them further south in search of more plentiful game.

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Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

While climbing up Mt. Sourbounge, 35 miles north of Millinocket, I heard the loud drumming of a pileated woodpecker. The log cock, as he is called by lumberjacks, is a good friend to the forest. Dining on carpenter ants and large wood-boring grubs, he saves many trees each year. He is not easily overlooked, as he is the size of a crow!

One morning ( not in any hurry to leave the cabin) , I was having a cup of coffee and watching out the dining room window. On an introduced shrub, probably a viburnum, a few purple finch were feeding on the ripe berries. Seven of the birds were females and immature males and looked like sparrows, but the beautiful male looked as though he had been dipped in raspberry juice. Being the nomads they are, the finches didn't linger too long.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

7

Upon our arrival at camp, we were about to unpack the truck when we spied a cardinal! Cardinals are found as far north now as Canada, but my surprise was at seeing one at such a high elevation in a small open area. Sometimes birds can turn up in the most unlikely spots!

The last day before coming home offered a memorable view of an immature sharp-shinned hawk landing on a beech tree with its prey, a black-capped chickadee. It may present a cruel appearance-but remember: if it were not for predators, we would be up to here with chickadees! That is also why chickadees lay so many eggs, to ensure that some will survive to produce future generations. These hawks follow birds on their migrations for a continuing supply of food on their journey.

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Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

~ h e Fly Tying Bench

THE WOOLLY-BUGGER

SPECIAL FLY#6

by Eddie Reif Photos by Jacki Bragg ABOUT THE FLY

This is truly an outstanding pattern. Seldom does a fly generate the interest that the Woolly-Bugger has. Originated by Russell Blessing, the pattern was popularized primarily by Barry Beck of Pennsylvania. Bany likes this fly so much that he fishes it all over the world as well as selling and promoting it in his fly shop.

The Woolly-Bugger has become such a standard for trout that some feel it has replaced the Muddler Minnow in importance. While that point of view may be a little extreme, there is little disagreement on the productiveness of the style, if not the exact pattern. By varying color combinations, anglers have used "Buggers" with great success for all species of trout, Atlantic salmon, Arctic charr, bass, pickerel, pike, and scores of other species.

The black and olive pattern pictured on page 10 is the original tie by Mr. Blessing. This original is a rather unimpressive looking dark fly. Other popular colors or color combinations are all black, brown with tan body, all white (grizzly hackle), all yellow, and all olive. It is probably mistaken for elvers, leeches, and any number ofbaitfish; the "bugger" has an undulating action that is very attractive to fish. The marabou tail, combined with weight at the front end, make the "bugger" the fly fisherman's version of angling's # 1 lure, the lead-head jig.

The second "bugger" pattern pictured on page 10 is the chartreuse Woolly-Bugger. This fly is used primarily in bigger sizes (#2 to #6) and for bass and other warmwater fish. It should be noted, however,

1

Secure thread at front of hook and wind to rear. Pick out one to three blood marabou shorts (marabou thins out in water, so use a lot), wet slightly with your fingers so they are easier to handle, and tie them in at the tail. Length should be about 1 1/2 times the length of the body.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

that it has been found to be very effective on some large western rivers for cutthroat trout. The chartreuse Bugger is my favorite underwater bass fly.

Fish it exactly as you would a Jig, by letting it sink and then lifting and dropping the fly so that it undulates on its way back to the angler. This version is tied heavily weighted at the front end.

A third variation (not pictured) is extremely useful for decent sized brookies in many Maine ponds.

It is tied in olive except for the belly which is yellow. To accomplish this, tie in a length of yellow chenille on the bottom when you tie in the rib wire and hackle for palmering. When you finish the chenille body (step 5), fold the yellow chenille forward under the body and lie it in at the head. Now proceed to palmer the hackle and lay the wire rib. This fly is called the Newt Bugger. Newts are gourmet fare for hefty brown trout. This pattern is tied without weight so it can be fished slowly, hanging suspended and slowly sinking, an action very similar to real newts as they move in the shallows.

THE PATTERN

HOOK: Mustard 79580, Size 2-12 THREAD: Danville Fly-master Plus, Black WEIGHT: Lead wire (.035" for sizes 2-6, .025-.015" for smaller sizes TAIL: Black Marabou PALMER RIB: Long black saddle hackle and silver wire.

BODY: Olive chenille (thickness according to hook size)

2

Pick out a long, soft black saddle or neck hackle, strip the fuzz off the end, and tie it in at the rear of hook. Tie in a piece of silver wire at the same spot.

9

3

Tie in a length of olive chenille directly behind the lead.

4

5

Wind the hackle forward "palmer style", spacing the turns evenly.

Now wind the wire "safety" (the only function of this wire is to anchor the hackle firmly so that it doesn't unwind if broken) rib forward crossing over each turn of hackle. Be careful to free any crushed hackle fibers as you go. Tie off rib at front and form head. Lacquer.

10

Wind the chenille back towards the rear and then forward back over itself and the lead to form body. Tie off right behind eye and trim excess.

6

7

Completed chartreuse Woolly-Bugger.

Tie in a 6" length of lead wire right behind the eye of the hook.

Wind it back till it covers one-half to two-thirds of the hook shank and cut off the excess. (If more weight is desired or if the lead is small in diameter, continue to wind back to front before trimming excess.) Wind back and forth over the lead with the thread until it is completely covered and lacquer thoroughly.

Completed black and olive Woolly-Bugger.

8 Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

Managing The Public Lots For "Nature's Insecticide"

Public Land Bureau Goes (For) Bats!!

by James Ecker

Who

in their right mind

would ever want to actively manage their land to increase bat populations? The answer to that question is simple. Anyone who doesn't enjoy getting eaten alive by mosquitoes should consider bats as the greatest thing since D EET. Although much misunderstood and feared by many people, bats are actually extremely beneficial animalsbecause of their insect diet. It's a proven fact that a single bat can consume 1,000 mosquitoes in a single night's feeding. I'm not particularly fond of the critters myself, but I'm even less fond of mosquitoes! And it's a fact that while bats wreak havoc with insect populations, they pose no problems for humans, other than the limited nuisance of having them as tenants.

There are up to eight species of bats living in Maine, but two species, the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) are the two most common. It is not uncommon for the Big Brown Bat to live 19 years and the Little Brown up to 30 years.

Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus). Photo by Dr. R. L. Martin, New Sharon .

One little-known fact about bats is that they are devoted patents. Expectant female bats join together in late spring in Jim Ecker is an Eastern Region Bureau of Public Lands forester, headquartered in Old Town.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

nursery colonies where hundreds congregate to raise their young. All of the females assist each other with the rearing of the "baby" bats, but each female does recognize her own youngster. Little brown bats have one litter per year; big brown bats have two litters.

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Figure 1. BAT HOUSE roof

- -

1

7 1/4" _ _ 1

1 - - 53/4" - -

I I

9"

BOTTOM VIEW

12"

>-I-

....

14" >--

f - 71/4"~

t-t-

Front

T

12"

t t ~t t Back

14"

Roof

11"

Interior

9

..

Divider

-

Side

12"

Side

12"

53/4"-

Score or scratch entry and all inner surfaces to roughen

t I

SIDE VIEW (cut-away)

Cover top and 2" down the sides with tarpaper

As I said, I'm not necessarily a bat's Number One Fan. But because bats are such an important form of natural control for insect pests like mosquitoes and midges, it is desirable in some situations to try attracting them.

So, with the aid of Bureau of Public Lands Wildlife Biologist Joe Wiley, I began an experimental bat house program at a lake on public land in eastern Maine.

A typical bat house is illustrated in Figure 1; this design is fairly simple to construct. All that is needed is a single l" x 8" x 8'0" piece of rough-sawn spruce, pine, or cedar (old wood is best). It is important that the lumber be rough-sawn or roughened to permit the bats to climb on it with ease. The most critical dimension of the entire box is the 3 / 4-inch width of the entiy space on the bottom.

Daytime temperatures in the bat house must be very hot, 80° - 90° F. There are two ways to accomplish this. One is to cover the top and a couple of inches down the sides with several layers of tarpaper. The dark color of the tarpaper absorbs heat from the sun and also helps to keep the bats diy.

The other alternative is to paint the box black to help it absorb heat; bats may avoid a painted box until the paint smell dissipates, however- for as long as two yearsr Using dark, naturally weathered wood is the recommended method.

A bat house should be securely fastened to a tree trunk or the side of a building, about 12 to 15 feet above the ground. Be sure that there are no obstacles directly in front of the house which will block access. It should be oriented to the east, if possible, to catch the heat of the morning sun while remaining shaded from the extreme heat of

(continued on page 29) 12

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

Spiders, whales, and many Maine wildlife species in between, were among the 110 entries in the first state-sponsored wildlife photo contest-the winners of which appear on these pages.

Maggie Foskett of Camden captured top honors in the photo contest with her colorful composition entitled Rock Crab. It, along with four other top placements and 15 honorable mention entries, will be displayed in the Governor's Gallery in the Maine State House from mid-December through the end of February.

Photographers were allowed to submit up to five entries in the contest. Photos were required to have been taken in Maine, and to feature live wildlife, fish, or other fauna in their natural habitat. Entries were judged on sharpness, exposure, lighting, composition, and general appeal.

Contest judges were: Susan Rayfield, author of books on wildlife photography and painting; Jay Reiter, chief photographer for Gannett newspapers in Portland; Hank Tyler, noted wildlife sculptor and director of the Maine Critical Areas Program; Harry Vanderweide, outdoor writer and editor of THE MAINE SPORTSMAN; and Fred Hurley, wildlife biologist and director of the Bureau of Resource Management for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Co-sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildife, the contest was the agencies' second annual competition with subject limited to native Maine fauna. Last winter's contest featured Maine wildlife paintings

by Maine resident artists. The agencies' plans call for contests to alternate initially between paintings and photography, with a possible future addition of a wildlife sculpture contest.

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION SHOW Governor's Gallery Maine State House December 20, 1988 through February 28, 1989

first Place

Maggie Foskett, "Camden Rock Crab

Second Place

Peter Urbanski, Winthrop Red-Winged Blackbird&.. Young

Third Place

Larry Pomeroy, Burnham Silhouette (Great Blue Heron)

Fourth Place

Norma Cairns Morey, MIio Nesting Raccoons

Fifth Place.

Darrold Dorr, Mt. Desert Bedded Down (Whitetailed Deer)

Honorable Mendon

Judith S. Sawin, Bath Loons

Honorable Mendon

Rael.Perry,Hope Young Robin

Honorable Mendon

Richard Hosmer, Stillwater Rabbit

Honorable Mention

Richard Hosmer, Stlllwater Deer

Honorable Mention

8111 Sllliker, Jr., Saco Ready (Sharp-shinned Hawk)

Honorable Mention Larry Pomeroy, Burnham Great Blue Herons

Honorable Mention Darrold Dorr, Mt. Desert Browsing In The Birches (Whitetailed Deer)

Honorable Mention Judith S. Sawin, Bath The Maine Moose-In Motion

Honorable Mention Mike Brousseau, Greene On The Watch (Woodchuck)

Honorable Mendon

Mike Brousseau, Greene Mother With Young (Mallards)

Honorable Mendon

June M. Ficker, Kennebunk Beach Fox Kit

Honorable Mendon

Peter Urbanski, Winthrop Yellow Warbler and Young

Honorable Mention

Keith Smith, Patten In The Rut (Moose)

Honorable Mention

Peter Urbanski, Winthrop Killdeer Incubating

Honorable Mention

Sally K. Butcher, Brunswick Barred Owl

Maine One Deer Losses:

How Do They Stack Up?

by Gerald R. Lavigne and Henry Hilton

of the more controversial issues debated by hunters in Maine concerns the impact of coyote predation on the deer population. Not surprisingly, opinions vary widely as to the true magnitude of losses to coyotes and other nonhunting causes. In addition to being fodder for lively debate in the hunting camp, the issue of these deer losses is crucial to deer management.

Although we cannot directly tally the number of deer dying from specific causes, we can determine mortality attributable to legal haivest vs. all other losses. Data from sources such as deer haivests, dead deer surveys, examination of winter mortalities, monitoring of winter severity, embcyo counts, and predator research allow us to determine the relative importance of various causes of mortality.

Losses of fawns, as well as does of breeding age (six months and older), are critical because these deaths affect the capability of the herd to replace dying deer.

We know less about fawn mortality than we do about adult doe deaths.

Let's start with fawns. We know that 1,000 does of breeding age in Maine would normally produce about 1,200 fawns at birth in June, but early losses of fawns can be substantial! During a typical year, only about 800 of these fawns would still be alive in November. Some die at or very soon after birth. This type of fawn mortality is highly influenced by winter severity.

Following a severe winter, malnourished does may produce weak or stillborn fawns. Inadequate milk production and abandonment may also contribute to early losses of fawns. Inexperience and curiosity may lead to injuries and losses, even among healthy fawns.

During summer, predation by coyotes, bobcats, and occasionally dogs, foxes, bears, and even fisher, further increases fawn mortality. Predation is potentially greatest during the first month of a fawn's life (June and early July). This period corresponds to early pup-rearing for coyotes, foxes, and other predators.

A healthy group of deer such as this gives no visual clue to the mortality that occurs annually within the population.

Photo by Henry Hilton

The authors are wildlife biologists for the department. Hilton serves as coordinator for the Animal Damage Control Program; Lavigne is a specialist in deer and moose biology in the research section.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

21

Since the 1950s, we have noted an increase in summer mortality of fawns in Maine.

Even though the number of fawns born in June has been fairly stable, fawns today incur a summer loss of 30-40 percent, compared to a 20 to 30 percent loss observed during the 1950s.

These differences cannot readily be explained by differences in winter severity or nutritional condition of pregnant doe. One difference in conditions existing today, compared to 30 years ago, is an increased number and distribution of coyotes and bears in Maine. Research in Maine has suggested that fawns may be an important early summer food for coyotes. Scattered observations by the public of coyotes preying on newborn fawns further support these findings. Bear are known to be significant predators of moose and caribou calves in Canada and Alaska, but their effect on whitetailed deer fawns is not well-documented. There is little doubt, however, that fawn survival is being reduced by additional predation pressure compared to past times.

Mortality patterns for does (six months and older) are more clearly understood because of data collected during the hunting season. Using this information, we can estimate total losses, from which is subtracted known legal harvest to estimate non-hunting mortality.

Doe mortality patterns are very different regionally in Maine. North country does are subjected to lower hunting pressure, but more severe winters, than their counterparts in the southern portion of the state.

Typical annual mortality in the north before 1983 (during eithersex hunting years) was 250 does for every 1,000 does in the population (Figure 1). Of those 250 deaths, legal hunting accounted for 70, but the majority (180) died from other causes. Preda22

Northern Maine Survivors 75% EITHER-SEX YEARS 1978-82

Other Losses

20%

Southern Maine Survivors

64%

EITHER-SEX YEARS 1978-82

Other Losses

12%

tion, illegal hunting, road kills, accidental injury, crippling loss, disease and malnutrition, and old age were the principal "other causes". Predation, mostly by coyotes, appeared to be a relatively important cause in the north country. More frequent severe wintering conditions confronting those northern deer probably contributed to higher predation losses by reducing the

ANY-DEER PERMIT YEARS 1986-87

Figure 1. The degree to which legal hunting and other mortalities impact upon deer populations in Maine is compared by geographical region and by harvest regulations (either sex permitted versus limitations on doe harvests).

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

ability of deer to escape pursuit by predators, such as coyotes.

In contrast, annual doe losses in the south, prior to 1983, tot alled 360 per 1,000 does in population (2 70 to legal harvest, and 90 to all other causes).

Clearly hunting was the predominant mortality factor in the south (Figure 1).

During winters of extreme severity, deer deaths greatly increase throughout the state.

Such winter losses may approach 35 percent of the herd.

To compound the problem, does surviving severe winters are less likely to produce viable fawns.

When excessive winterkill and reduced fawn production are added to all other losses, it is easy to understand why Maine's deer populations have sometimes plummeted to low levels following a series of severe winters.

Since 1982, doe mortality patterns have changed dramatically (Figure 2). Overall doe losses have been reduced, principally in response to departmental control of the legal harvest of does and with the cooperation of "Old Man Winter." Although bucks-only and shortened either-sex hunts were tested in 1983-85, doe harvest reductions are currently accomplished using the any-deer permit system.

Limited doe harvests have succeeded in reducing total annual doe losses and, combined with higher fawn production, deer populations have increased.

However, the magnitude of deer herd recovery has not been uniform everywhere in the State. In general, population increases have been greatest in areas such as southern Maine, where legal hunting had formerly been the predominant mortality factor affecting doe.

In contrast, population increases in the north and other lightly hunted areas have been less dramatic, largely because

the Warden Service places high priority on enforcement of deer hunting laws to reduce illegal hunting losses. Mortality from free-ranging dogs is being reduced through public education efforts and enforcement of dog leash laws. Coyote predation on deer is addressed through the Animal Damage Control program in which cooperators remove deer-killing coyotes from problem areas identified by wardens and biologists. Devastating effects of winter losses to the herd are lessened, where possible, by an extensive program to protect and enhance the quality of deer wintering habitat.

So, the department is addressing the issue of deer losses primarily by manipulating the legal doe harvest. Measures currently being taken to reduce "other" losses will complement the any-deer permit system in the department's efforts to increase the herd. We believe this approach, while not eliminating competing deer losses (such as coyote predation), will produce substantial benefits to the people of Maine. An abundant and healthy deer herd, if properly managed, will provide more harvest opportunities and greater viewing opportunities for everyone!

nonhuntlng losses still predominate. In these areas, it is more difficult to reduce total annual doe losses by controlling the size of the legal harvest. Yet, control of the legal harvest remains our best option for managing deer populations anywhere in Maine.

Simply put, we can manipulate the h untlng kill of does more effectively than we can control coyote predation, winter losses, roadkills, or any other mortalities.

What is the department doing about those "other losses"? Several biologically sound programs have been implemented to minimize these losses. For example,

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MAINE TRACKER

All the statements are true.

The animal is the muskrat.

23

MAINE ENDANGERED SPECIES WORD SEARCH An endangered species is one that is in danger of becoming extinct. (Extinct means there are none-not one-of them. left alive!). There are more than 1,000 species on the federal endangered species list!! And, unfortunately , there are 16 species listed as endangered in Maine.See if you can locate names of Maine's 16 endangered species in the letters below.

bald eagle peregrine falcon golden eagle piping plover 24

least turn sedge wren grasshopper sparrow ri ght whale

humpback whale finback whale sperm whale sei whale

leatherback turtle box turtle black racer Atlantic Ridley turtle

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

Letters should be sent to: Lisa Kane, KID-BITS Editor 284 State Street State House Station #41 Augusta, Maine 04333

MAINE TRACKER

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has the scientific name Ondatra zibethica is aquatic (a-KWA-tic) builds a house of matted vegetation also builds a scent post and leaves its odor, or "musk" is valued for its pelt is in the rodent family

WHITETAILED DEER: HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW?

TRUE OR FALSE: •The white tailed deer's range extends from Central America to Canada •Fawns weigh only four to seven pounds at birth •The male deer sheds his antlers each winter and grows a new set each spring •Antlers are nourished by the external "velvet" rather than an internal supply of blood vessels •The age of a deer can be determined by looking at its teeth •Resident hunting licenses were first required in 1919.

For more about Maine's whitetails, see article beginning on page 21.

{KID-BITS answers on page 23) Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

25

In any assessment of Maine's fishery management programs, note must be taken of the significant contributions made by ...

MAINE'S VOL ANGLERS

TARV

by Forrest R. Bonney

Editor's Note: A volunteer is someone who performs a service of his or her own free will. Stimulated by a cause they believe in, hundreds of Mainers and visitors to the state fil this definition and seek opportunities to work cooperatively with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Their contributions, which come in many forms, are not for personal gain but for the betterment of Maine's fish and wildlife resources, and to benefit future generations. Beginning with this issue, we will periodically focus attention on the department's volunteers-sometimes individually, but more often collectively by the types of unpaid service they provide, as in the following article on Maine's voluntary anglers.

f

! per management of the

fishery resources of a lake or stream requires thorough knowledge of the water's characteristics, as well as up-to-date information on the status of its fish populations. With just 16 full-time biologists responsible for managing the fisheries of thousands of lakes and ponds and tens of thousands of miles of brooks, streams and rivers, it is understandable that the Fish26

eries Division of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is able to gather information annually on only a small percentage of the state's fishery resources.

They concentrate their efforts, of course, on waters containing important sport fisheries- taking into account the extent of fishing pressure, the presence of stocked fish, and the economic importance of the fishery.

An important method biologists use to gather needed information is the "systematic random

Creel survey boxes located at lakes and ponds throughout the state provide anglers with a convenient way of letting us know what they catch. Photo by Jacki Bragg

stratified creel survey," a process which involves frequent counts of all of the anglers on a body of water and creel surveys conducted by staff personnel. These surveys estimate total angler use and harvest, as well as fish population age structure and growth rates. However, because of the season-long commitment

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

and the resultant high expense of this method of monitoring, only 107 lakes (or 6 percent of Maine's 1,750 lakes) and 13 rivers were surveyed this way in 1987.

It should be noted that fish managers employ other means of sampling fish, including the use of gillnets, trapnets, otter trawls, and electro-shocking gear.

These methods combined, though, allowed monitoring of only an additional 130 waters in Maine in 198 7. In total then, fishery managers were able to sample only 23 7, or 14 percent of the waters they are managing.

Although not all fisheries vary significantly from year to year, annual monitoring is the only assured method of detecting changes in angler use, fish abundance, exploitation, and growth rates which might otherwise go undetected until a significant change in the fishery had occurred. Enter the voluntary angler.

with

the inability offish managers to monitor more than a small percentage of their waters, fishermen who voluntarily keep records of their trips provide a significant amount of information on waters which might otherwise go unmonitored for long periods.

Maine anglers voluntarily contribute information on their fishing trips by three means. The primary one is the personal diary- a special booklet the Fisheries Division provides to individual anglers on a seasonal The author is the assistant regional fisheries biologist in Fisheries Region D, headquartered in Strong.

His article is condensed from a paper he presented at the National Workshop on the Role of Citizen Volulnteers in Environmental Monitoring, held last May at the University of Rhode Island.

basis; these are filled out on a trip by trip basis and then mailed to the biologists, who tabulate the data they contain and then return them to the anglers for their personal records.

The second method employs business reply cards which the angler fills out after his trip and returns to the biologist by mail.

The third method employs cards left in specially-designed boxes located at angler access points.

With a total population of little more than a million people, Maine has about 210,000 licensed fishermen plus an estimated 122,000 juvenile anglers. An additional 78,000 non-resident anglers bring the total to 410,000.

They annually expend about 1,874,000 angler days (76 percent summer, 24 percent winter) on lakes, and 540,000 angler days on streams, for a total of 2,414,000 angler days.

Statewide annual angler-day use per acre for lakes is 2.13; that for streams is 17.0 per mile.

Maine's anglers harvest an estimated 2,842,000 fish from lakes annually. The harvest is comprised of 26 percent salmonids (trout, salmon and togue) and 74 percent warmwater species. An additional 731,000 salmonids are harvested from streams annually, for a total harvest of 3,615,000 f°lsh.

Again, the card is filled out upon trip completion, and is then deposited in a receptacle later to be collected by a clerk. Each method of collecting voluntary creel survey data has advantages and disadvantages and will now be considered separately.

The Personal Diary. Personal Fishing Records have been available to cooperating Maine anglers for over 20 years. In 1987, 610 anglers provided data on a total of 418 different Maine wa-

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

ters, and they reported a total of 32,600 angler trips. These diaries were used extensively in six of the seven fishery management regions. Because these volunteers tend to be better than average anglers, catch statistics they supply are approximately twice as high as those of the general fishing public The data they provide, then, are not representative of the general fishing public, but are nonetheless invaluable in determining trends in the fishery. Of all voluntary anglers, diary keepers are most consistent in accurately reporting detail, such as missing fins, a method of identifying and aging hatchery-reared fish Booklets are mailed to cooperating anglers before each fishing season, and retrieval letters thanking them and requesting submission of their booklets for data tabulation are mailed with a self-addressed, stamped envelope for book retrieval at the season's end. Follow-up letters are mailed to delinquent booklet keepers, yielding an additional 30 percent return in 198 7, for a total return of 72 percent of the booklets mailed out in 1987.

While the overall contribution of angling data by diary keepers is impressive, the quantity of usable data for individual waters is highly variable and is roughly proportionate to the extent of fishing pressure exerted on that body of water. Data provided by voluntary anglers fishing on some important bodies of water are frequently sufficient to indicate annual trends in fisheries parameters. On the other hand, large water bodies with less important fisheries, as well as small and/ or remote water bodies, are less frequently reportedon by anglers.

As an example of the longterm monitoring value of the voluntary diary, use and catch statistics for the Richardson Lakes (a 7,100-acre body ofwa27

Electrofishing is one important method the department uses to gather data. But volunteer assistance from anglers provides us with a much more comprehensive data base than we could ever gather by ourselves. Photo by Jacki Bragg

ter which provides a cold-water sahnonid fishecy in western Maine) show an average of 117 reported angler trips (524 angler hours) annually from 1978-87.

The information voluntarily provided was sufficient in both quantity and quality to indicate trends in catch rates and fish growth rates.

In a typical situation a minority of the contributing anglers report the majority of the data.

From 1978-87, two of 15 reporting anglers on Richardson Lakes provided 77 percent of the data.

A few conscientious voluntacy anglers can provide information sufficient in both quantity and quality to monitor trends within a fishecy over many years. Conversely, though, the loss of such anglers through attrition can render the monitoring program ineffective for individual waters, underscoring the need for a consistent and ongoing program to locate new volunteers.

Of the 65 anglers currently contributing data in Fisheries Region D, 10 ( 15 percent) have been doing so at least 10 years; 28

21 (32 percent) have been doing it for at least 5 years. Success-

ful recruitment of conscientious booklet keepers involves making a large segment of the fishing public aware of the program.

Beginning in 1988, the Maine Fishing Regulation Booklet contains a request for those interested in keeping a "Personal Fishing Log" to contact the department.

To date, booklet keepers have received little in the way of reward for their effort except a letter from the regional biologist and mention in the Acknowledgements section of reports using their data. More formal means of thanking these and other department volunteers ¡ are being developed, however.

Business Reply Cards. Unlike the personal diacy, which remains with the angler for a season, angler cards generally report the results on only one fishing trip only and are thereafter returned for analysis. They are sometimes distributed to fishermen personally by a creel census clerk, to be completed after

the clerk inteIView, or they may be left with the angler's vehicle by a roving clerk. This form of creel survey was used in four of Maine's seven management regions in 1987, and data were gathered on 36 bodies of water.

Biologists distributed 3,000 cards, and 1,100 (37 percent) were returned; 960 (87 percent) of those returned were completed. A bias can again be expected in favor of successful anglers, but the extent of that bias has not been assessed statewide.

Creel Survey Box Cards. Creel survey boxes were used in six of the seven fisheries management regions in 1987. Ninety-two boxes were placed at 54 bodies of water, and cooperating anglers filled out a total of 3,200 cards statewide.

Creel survey box cards, like business reply cards, are used to gather voluntacy angler information on specific water bodies.

The box method seldom involves direct contact with the angler, and presumably for this reason there is a relatively high degree of non-cooperation and even vandalism. Considering that the boxes must be tended regularly (usually on a weekly basis, and frequently at significant distances), some Maine biologists have not found the results worth the time invested, and have abandoned this method. Under proper conditions, however, valuable creel survey data can be gathered.

In Region D, we have sometimes found good initial response to the presence of creel survey boxes, but participation) declined after the first season, particularly on water bodies fished mainly by repeat anglers.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

As an example, three western

Maine waters (two streams and one lake) were monitored by a total of five creel survey boxes for two consecutive years. The first year netted a total of 136 completed cards: during the second year, only 76 cards were filled out. The use of boxes to monitor perennial trends, then, is probably limited unless the waterbody has a large interchange of anglers.

A summary of Region D creel survey box data from 1983-86 reveals that a total of 24 boxes used during this four-year period resulted in 916 reported angler trips, 301 from lakes and 615 from streams, or an average of 38 angler trips reported per box. Results from boxes placed in more populous areas would presumably provide a dramatic increase in the number of reums, but would run the risk of

Bats

an attendant increase in incidents of vandalism.

te

total contrtbution of voluntary anglers to Maine's fishery management program is quite impressive. In 1987, clerk creel surveys were conducted on 107 Maine waters, and information was collected on an estimated 40,800 angler days at a total cost of $130,860. During the same period, voluntary anglers reported on an estimated 418 waters and 55,500 angler days, or 36 percent more days than did paid clerks. At a calculated average cost of $3.21 per angler trip clerk-surveyed, the value of voluntary angler-contributed data is estimated to be $178,000 annually.

Although voluntary angler data are frequently lacking in detail, notably of fish weights

(continued from page 12)

the afternoon sun. Bats also prefer sites that are protected from the wind.

The best locations for bat houses are near rivers, lakes, bogs, or marshes where insect populations are high. The closer the houses are to these habitat types, the greater chance there is for the house to be used. If ocated further than one-half mile away from such locations, the house will probably be used seldom or not at all.

Ideally, a house should be placed by early April; it may take up to two years for bats to discover the house and use it. Once occupied, however, bat houses require little seasonal maintenance.

Another technique for constructing bat roosting areas is to wrap a 24-inch wide piece of

tarpaper around a tree. A piece of mild steel wire is then placed over the tarpaper about one inch from the top and twisted until tight (or the top four inches of tarpaper may be folded over the wire for a longer lasting roost).

The tarpaper should fit snugly around the tree at the top to prevent water from leaking underneath, yet be loose enough at the bottom to allow the bats to enter. The bats, clinging to the bark of the tree, are free to move laterally around the tree trunk to regulate their body temperature as the sun moves during the day. Jim Dorso of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, recommends attaching the metal predator guards for ducks boxes in the same manner as the tarpaper for bat roosts.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

and missing fin data, they nonetheless provide excellent information on catch rates, species composition, percent of catch of legal size, percent of legal catch released, and mean lengths. Although their success rates consistently exceed those of the general fishing public, the volunteer anglers provide information revealing trends in a fishery. Managers use these trends to assess the of the status of a fishery and to alert them to problems which may require their attention.

Considering that they also provide data on many waters which fishery managers cannot personally sample on a regular basis, the contribution of Maine's voluntary anglers to the management of Maine's inland fisheries is certainly significant and therefore very much appreciated by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. • Since bats live in colonies, a single bat house will provide roosting habitat for up to 30 Big Brown bats or 40 to 60 Little Brown bats. So just imagine, one fully occupied house could conceivably consume 60,000 mosquitoes every single night!

The incidence of rabies in bats is exaggerated due to the way the statistics are reported. Usually only specimens which have had contact with humans are tested for rabies. Sick or diseased bats are most likely to have human contact because of their abnormal behavior. This greatly increases the likelihood of turning up positive animals and does not reflect disease incidence in the general bat population. Wildlife which acts abnormally should be avoided.

Whether or not we care for bats we should realize their beneficial role in controlling biting insects, especially in forest settings. Bat houses offer a natural, self-perpetuating alter• native to insecticides.

29

FISH AND WILDLIFE BRIEFS TURKEY HUNT APPLICATIONS Hunters seeking a permit to participate in Maine's spring wild turkey hunting hunt are reminded that February 1 is the application deadline.

Permits are available for 450 Maine residents and 50 nonresidents to participate in the May 827 open season, which is limited to the major portion of York County.

Application blanks and instructions may be obtained from license agents or from any office of the Fish and Wildlife Department.

The 1988 wild turkey season yielded a record 16 gobblers. Nine were taken in 1986- the first year hunting was allowed after the species was successfully re-established in Maine- and the 1987 season produced eight birds.

While the odds of successfully bagging a wild turkey are not vety great. the odds of receiving a permit to tty are much better. In fact, in 1988 everyone who applied was a winner, since there were more applications available than applicants.

RECORD MOOSE SEASON Maine moose hunters set a new record for success in 1988. Preliminary figures compiled after the 6-day open season in October indicate that despite hunting conditions that were often damp and cold, the 1,000 permit holders took a total of 930 moose, the majority of them bulls.

The total kill tops the previous record of 891 set last year. And the percent of hunter success, 93, exceeds the figure established in 1980 when 700 permit holders took 636 moose, for a hunter success record of 91 percent.

The heaviest moose recorded this year weighed 1, 015 pounds, field dressed, and was shot near Upper Jo Mary Lake, by Mark T. Herbest of South Berwick.

The largest reported rack spanned 66 inches and was on a 960 pound bull taken in Monson by 13-year-old Danny Tourtelotte of Willimantic.

30

1988 DEER SEASON REPORT The spring issue will contain a summary of results of the recentlycompleted Maine deer hunting season, as well as an update on what deer biologists have learned during the first years of the controversial any-deer permit system.

Gerty Lavigne, who will author the latter article, reports that Maine resident deer hunters received 38,797 of the 44,967 any-deer permits the department issued inl988.

About 74,800 residents and 13,400 nonresidents applied.

The department normally allocates 85 percent of the permits available in any district to Maine residents, but in several of the southern districts (11, 14 and 15) fewer nonresident hunters applied than there were permits available.

In those instances, the excess nonresident allocations were used to increase the number of permits issued to resident hunters.

DUCK STAMP ART CONTEST Rules for the 1989 Maine Migratory Waterfowl Stamp ("duck stamp") art contest are now available from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The winning painting, which will be determined next March 29, will be printed on the 1989 state waterfowl hunting stamp, required for anyone hunting migratory waterfowl in the state.

The contest is limited to Maine resident artists 18 years of age or older.

The species of waterfowl to be depicted on the stamp in 1989 is the common goldeneye, better known locally as the "whistler." One or more live waterfowl of this species must appear prominently in paintings entered in the contest. Paintings must be in full color but may be in any medium of the artist's choosing.

The winning artist receives a cash award of $1,000 and retains ownership of his or her winning painting.

Maine's duck stamp program was initiated by the state legislature in 1984. The department uses reve-

nues from the sale of stamps and limited edition prints of the stamp design to acquire and manage waterfowl habitat.

The 1989 Maine duck stamp art contest winner was Rick Alley of Islesford, on Little Cranberry Island.

Alley's entry, which featured three green-winged teal in flight, was selected by a panel of judges from among 84 entries. Winning artists are ineligible to compete the following two years.

Full details of the contest rules may be obtained from the Public Information and Education Division, Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 284 State St., Station 41, Augusta, ME 04333. Phone 2892871.

NEW FUR TAGGING REGULATIONS Hunters and trappers are reminded of rules which affect the keeping and handling of furs.

Detective Glen A Perkins of the Maine Warden Service, says some of CORRECTIONS ...

Observant readers have noted several errors and omissions in recent issues of MAINE FISH AND WILDLIFE. In the summer 1988 issue, an aerial photo of Rangeley Village on page 5 was reversed; readers who want to see what Rangeley really looks like from the air will have to hold their magazine up to a mirror!

Also in the summer issue, a marsh fern pictured on page 29 was incorrectly identified as an interrupted fern.

On page 30 of the fall issue, the list of Fish and Wildlife Department employees who have worked for the state for 25 years or more was missing the name of the department's fisheries resources planner, Owen Fenderson, a 31-year employee.

Your red-faced editor apologizes to Owen, the good people of Rangeley and fernologists everywhere!

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

the rules are new and others previously existed, and they affect the hunting and trapping public as well as licensed taxidermists and fur buyers.

Perkins says a licensed taxidermist or fur buyer is now required to enter into his record the appropriate license numbers, seal permits and permit numbers for all transactions.

The public, in turn, is required to properly tag and register all furbearers, except muskrats, and all big game animals prior to presenting them for sale or to a taxidermist for the purpose of taxidermy.

"Therefore," Perkins says, '°we would like to inform the public that they must be prepared to provide the fur buyer and taxidermist with a properly registered and tagged specimen before they may lawfully be accepted." He adds that "the Fish and Wildlife Department has a s ufficient number of tagging agents conveniently located throughout the state to tag furbearers. Personnel at each regional headquarters of the department, as well as individual game wardens, also tag furbearers."

SMALLMOUTH BASS-GOOD AND BAD The smallmouth bass is a highly prized game fish-when it's in the right body of water. But it is not held in very high regard when it invades waters containing populations of wild brook trout, which it soon out-competes for food and s pace and becomes the dominant species.

Smallmouths in both the right place and the wrong place have received the attention of Maine's fisheries biologists in recent months. The right place is Spednic Lake on the Maine-New Brunswick border in Washington County. The wrong place is Lac Joli, just over the border in St. Aurelie, Quebec.

Spednic Lake, which is in the St. Croix River watershed and forms a portion of the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, has long had a national reputation for its outstanding smallmouth bass fish ing. The 17,000-acre lake contains many rocky islands, outcroppings and shoreline which provide excellent bass habitat.

MAINE STREET '90: A Celebration of Maine and Its Communities Each Maine community and every Maine resident will have an opportunity in 1990 to participate in a special grassroots program celebrating pride in our great state.

The program, called "Maine Street '90," is designed to kindle an excitement in Mainers of our state's rich heritage and encourage them to demonstrate this pride and enthusiasm through programs that will benefit their communities.

Among many community project ideas being mentioned are some that would link to Maine's great outdoor heritage- for example, creation of nature or hiking trails, establishment a natural history museum, stream clean-ups, and development of town forests and wildlife habitat improvement demonstration areas In announcing "Maine Street '90," Governor John McKernan said the initiative .. is all about pride in our unique past and hope for our future," and that it .. is intended to provide each of our communities Governor John R. McKernan, Jr. with a stronger sense of place andannounced "Maine Street '90" at in looking to and planning for the the Gardiner Public Common last future- a stronger sense of purSeptember. pose."

Designed to touch every resident of Maine, the cornerstone of .. Maine Street '90" will be individual community involvement. By tracing their roots, setting goals and objectives for the future, developing projects to highlight hometown pride and identity, and by showcasing community assets and pride with "homecoming" celebrations throughout 1990, all Maine communities are invited to Join in .. Maine Street '90" activities, said the Governor.

Although technical assistance, statewide promotion, and advertising costs will be handled by the "Maine Street '90" Organization through private sector donations and in-kind services, each community will be expected to raise funds locally for its projects.

With the active participation of all Maine communities, "Maine Street '90" will be an wonderful way to show everyone how proud we are of the way life is in Maine.

Anyone desiring more information about the "Maine Street '90" program may call 622-1990.

Bass fishing in Spednic has provided a livelihood for local guides and sporting camp operators on both sides of the border for decades.

In recent years, however, the bass fishing there has suffered a severe decline.

Since 1984, biologists from both the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the prov-

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

ince of New Brunswick have conducted SCUBA diving smveys along Spednic's shoreline to observe and evaluate the bass spawning success and survival rates of the young fish.

Regional Fisheries Biologist Michael R. Smith said that by 1987, when three undeiwater surveys were conducted, "the density of bass fry was by far the lowest observed

31

during any year of the study. It appears due to lack of recruitment (survival of young). Since approximately 1980, the adult population has declined to the level where natural reproduction is negligible."

He said the alarming scarcity of juvenile bass in the 4-9-inch range is of particular concern because it implies a poor quality sport fishery three to six years down the road.

The situation deteriorated to the point that the department passed an emergency regulation in July closing Spednic to the taking of bass.

The biologists are seeking the cause of the decline, which has coincided with an introduction of anadromous (sea-run) alewives, coupled with annual fluctuations of the lake's water level. A dam on Spednic holds water to provide power to the Georgia Pacific Corporation paper mill at Woodland.

Last winter, Georgia Pacific agreed with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to limit the water level fluctuations during the bass spawning season. In addition, the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans agreed to closure of the fishway at Vanceboro to exclude anadromous alewives, allowing fisherx biologists to determine whether anadromous alewives had been competing for food and space with the young bass. The department will seek similar agreements in 1989.

Smith reports that while anadromous alewives had long been thought not to feed while in fresh water for spawning, biologists have captured adult alewives in Spednic Lake and found food organisms in their stomachs, including insects and small fish.

Part of the plan to help accelerate the recovery of Spednic's bass population involved the capture and transfer of over 350 smallmouth bass from Meddybemps Lake in Washington County last September.

Meddybemps was chosen because it has an overpopulation of stunted bass.

Fisheries biologists accomplished the transfer with the volunteer angling assistance of fishing guides and residents of Forest City and Grand Lake Stream and representa-

32

tives of Maine bass fishing clubs, Each bass they caught was weighed, measured and marked with a numbered jaw tag. The fish were then taken by hatchery truck to Spednic, and boated to remote parts of the lake for release. It is hoped they will grow and reproduce in Spednic's ideal habitat and help re-populate the lake.

Lance Wheaton, a guide and resort operator from Forest City, who assisted in catching and releasing the bass, praised the effort and said it will help strengthen good relations between local residents and the department. He added that he is pleased to see the bass being recognized for its value- monetary as well as recreational-to that portion of the state.

Such was not the case on the other side of the state, however, where smallmouth bass were threatening one of the state's finest and most highly prized brook trout waters, the St. John River in northwestern Maine.

Regional Fisheries Biologist David Basley of Ashland said bass were illegally introduced into Lac Joli at St. Aurelie, Quebec, sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

The department was informed of their presence there in 1985, and Basley and his staff received permission to take confirming samples

from the lake, causing considerable concern for the future of trout fisheries in the St. John, since Lac Joli drains into the head of one of the river's main tributaries, the Southwest Branch.

The Quebec Ministry of Fishing and Hunting was also concerned, as the bass had destroyed a former quality trout fishery in Lac Joli.

The two governments subsequently agreed to a joint reclamation project at Lac Joli, with each side furnishing personnel, equipment and the biological substance required. The reclamation project took place in mid-September when the crews met at Lac Joli to apply a substance called Rotenone, a derivative of a South American plant which natives have used for centuries to catch fish. Rotenone kills all gill-breathing organisms by stopping the exchange of oxygen, but it is not harmful to humans or other animals when used in the approved manner.

Before the reclamation, Maine and Quebec biologists had held a public hearing at St. Aurelie and received the enthusiastic support of local anglers and sportsmen's clubs to restore Lac Joli to its former status as a brook trout fishery.

After allowing the lake and stream to recover over the winter, the Quebec government plans to restock Lac Joli with brook trout.

Big Buck Killed by Bow Hunter A Jefferson hunter has taken a buck white-tailed deer that is be-

lieved to be the largest ever killed by bow and arrow in Maine.

Darryl Flagg, 28, shot an eight point buck in Nobleboro on October 20 that weighed 250 pounds, field dressed.

There was no previous weight record in the department's mes for archery-killed deer, but when a check of several other sources failed to reveal one heavier than Flagg's, department officials decided to recognize it as a tentative state record.

Flagg's big buck was verified by Game Warden Sgt. Roger Wolverton and was weighed on state-inspected scales at the Waldoboro Lockers.

Flagg has taken five deer in the seven years he has been hunting with bow and arrow. He shot this year's big buck from a tree stand, using a 60-pound compound bow.

Maine Fish and Wildlife - Winter 1988

NEW CARIBOU ART PRINT

AVAILABLE A limited edition art print of a female caribou and her calf is being offered for sale, with all proceeds going toward helping the Maine Caribou Project reach its goal of establishing a small herd of caribou in northern Maine.

The pencil drawing, by caribou project leader Mark McCollough, is limited to 1,000 signed and numbered copies.

A companion print of a stag caribou was offered for sale last year.

Copies of the new print are available for $26.25 (plus $3 for handling) from the Maine Caribou Proj ect, c/o Barton and Gingold, 30 Exchange Street, Portland, Maine 04 101. Checks should be made payable to the "Maine Audubon Caribou Fund."

All contributors will also receive the quarterly "Caribou Newsletter," which will keep them informed on the progress of the reintroduction project.

RARE FALCONS NEST SUCCESSFULLY Two pairs of rare merlin falcons s uccessfully nested and reared young last summer in Maine.

Ron Joseph, regional wildlife biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Greenville, monitored a pair of merlins nesting at Spencer Pond, northeast of Moosehead Lake, and a second pair of successful nesting merlins was observed at Cutler in eastern Maine.

Merlins are closely related to the more common sparrow hawk or kestrel which nests in open country throughout in Maine. Merlins are commonly seen during spring and fall migration in Maine as they move to and from breeding grounds in Quebec, Labrador and Newfoundlq.nd. None have previously been recorded nesting here.

Joseph said the falcons he monitored made use of an abandoned crows' nest in a red spruce within 200 yards of the Spencer Pond Camps, which are operated by retired game warden "Chick" Howe and his wife, Anne.

Joseph reports the Spencer Pond merlins were quiet during the June

incubation period, but activity increased as both adults carried food to the nest for two young which fledged in July. The Cutler merlins fledged three young.

Joseph describes merlins as "streamlined falcons with pointed wings and narrow tails. They rely on their 65 miles-per-hour level flight speed to prey on small birds.

Once these small prey birds start migrating in the fall, the merlins move south as well - some traveling as far as Peru in South America."

Department wildlife biologists are optimistic that the merlin pairs will return to Spencer Pond and eastern Maine again next year, particularly following their successful rearing of

1989 LICENSE FEES RESIDENT Hunting (16 and older) $15.00 Fishing {16 and older) 15.00 Combination Hunting and Fishing (16 and older) 28.00 Supersport 38.00 Sm?II Game Hunting 8.00 Junior Hunting (10 to 15 years inclusive) 3.00 Combination Fishing and Arc~ery Hunting ( 16 and older) 28.00 Serviceman (resident) Combination Hunting and Fishing 15.00 Archery Hunting (16 and older) 15.00 Muzzle-loading (16 and older) 7.00 Trapping (16 and older) 29.00 Guide ( 18 and older) 40.00

NONRESIDENT CITIZEN Big Game Hunting (10 and older) Season Fishing (16 and older) Junior ~aso~ Fishing (12 to 15 years inclusive) 15-day Fishing 7-day Fishing 3-day fishing 1-day Fishing Combination Hunting and Fishing ( 16 and older) Sm~II Game Hunting (16 and older) Junior Small Game Hunting (10 to 15 years indusive) Archery Hunting ( 16 and older) Mu_ zzle-loading ( 16 and older) Guide ( 18 and older) Trapping (any age)

WOODCOCK BOOKLET

AVAILABLE The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports on 10 years of woodcock research in Maine in a new booklet titled "Demographic Characteristics of a Maine Woodcock Population and Effects of Habitat Management."

The study took place at the Moosehom National Wildlife Refuge in Washington County from 1975 through 1985. During that period, habitat was altered with scattered clearcuts to determine effects on the woodcock population. Among many things the researchers learned was that woodcock preferred new clearcuts to older openings in the forest.

Copies of the booklet may be obtained from the Publications Unit, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Room 148, Matomic Building, Washington, D.C. 20240.

n.oo 42.00

5.00 30.00 26.00 17.00 5.00 107 .00 47.00 23.00 47.00 25.00 142.00 304.00

NONRESIDENT ALIEN Big Game Hunting (10 and older) Season Fishing Combination Hunting and Fishing ( 10 and older) Small Game Hunting (16 and older) Archery Hunting (16 and older) Muzzle-loading (16 and older) Guide ( 18 and older)

young this summer. Other merlins were reportedly sighted at Roque Bluffs and Machias, but no other nests were located. Joseph observed that the sightings "are probably an encouraging indication that their population is increasing in the Northeast."

117.00 62.00 160.00 62.00 62.00 50.00 167.00

NOTES • Above prices do not include $1 agent fee ~ All applicants for an adult firearms hunting license must s_how proof of having previously held an adult license to hunt with firearms or having successfully completed an approved hunter safety course .

ll game license permits the hunting of • A sma_ all species except deer, bear, turkey , moose, raccoon, and bobcat.

LICENSE SALES STABLE The number of hunters in the United States showed a slight rise last year to 15.8 million, while the number of anglers remained the same at 30.5 million, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Hunting revenues from licenses and tags totaled $345.3 million, while fishing revenues totaled $315.3 million. The combined total of $661 million was up from $624 million in 1986. These revenues provide the major part of the funding of most state fish and wildlife agencies.

Colorado ($24.8 million) led the nation in hunting revenue. The fishing revenue leader was California ($39.2 million). In Maine, the sale of 134,696 hunting licenses raised over $3.8 million; 193,334 fishing licenses generated over $3.4 million; and 74,515 combination licenses (allowing hunting and fishing) raised $2.2 million.

Maine Department of Inland fisheries and WIidlife

284 State Street, Station #41

Augusta, Maine 04333

This photo by 8111 Cross chronicles a fairly common sight during cold-weather fllghts-whltetalled deer venturing from their wintering areas In search of browse. For some discussion of the reasons for deer losses In wintertime, see the article beginning on page 2 t.