Determining Nest-Predator Mortality

[GobbleNut]

All this discussion about nest predation and the culprits involved reminds me of the little experiment Shane Simpson (Simpzenith, Calling All turkeys) did last year.  He and his daughter Brooke put cameras on turkey nests (artificially created as I recall) to see who the nest-raiders were.

Seemed like a great idea,...and makes me wonder why that is not being done on a widespread basis to find out what the significant nest predators are in various regions of the country.  We have all spent time here speculating about who the culprits are rather than actually doing something like Shane and Brooke did to find out. 

Obviously, if we truly knew where the problem critters lie, we could focus our attention on addressing those specific nest predators.  Seems like a no-brainer to me....

[jgard]

Do you remember what the results of that experiment where?

[GobbleNut]

You can pull it up on YouTube on Shane's channel I believe.  As I recall, he did the experiment in Minnesota and the main culprits were crows/ravens (which was a bit surprising to me) and a skunk.  Shane can correct me if I am mistaken about that. ....My memory is only half as good nowadays as it didn't used to be... 

[guesswho]

I did that here last year.   Crows were the first to arrive at both locations.   A raccoon showed up after the fact just smelling around.   

I know a few years ago Georgia, or GON, I forget which, had a similar experiment.   They asked hunters to place cams on actual nests and send in pictures, which I thought was a bad idea.  Anyway I never saw or heard of any of the results.   

[jgard]

Sounds about right.  Crows being a problem but not in season as it closes march 4 2020

[GobbleNut]

I'm not sure why crows and ravens are protected species.  Their numbers have exploded around here in recent years.  They are everywhere and are getting to be quite a nuisance in a lot of places.  I'm not aware that they have become an issue in terms of impacting turkey nesting/reproduction around here, but if they did, I would be all over our G&F Department about solving the problem one way or another.

If nothing else, it is a matter of economics.  Turkeys bring in money to the Department and state.  Crows and ravens bring nothing of any discernable value.  I have no problem with having a reasonable number of them around, but we have way too many of them around here now.  Why they are protected is beyond me. 

[simpzenith]

Here's the videohttps://youtu.be/sSRo8T-aKeM. Crows and skunks were the common visitors but my sample size was very small. Brooke and I plan to do a more expansive test this summer and place "nests" in multiple habitat settings.

[longspur]

I had an experience last year that didn't involve predators. Not to Insinuate that predators are not a big problem and it's only one nest. There were only five eggs. Best I could tell they had been incubating 11 days. Two were dead. Another died in a few days. The two that hatched were never able to walk good and never ate. I didn't know what to make of it.

[Delmar ODonnell]

Watching Shane's videos and others like "My Life as a Turkey" really show how the odds are stacked against turkeys from the time they are in the egg as well as the short time they are flightless poults. They are susceptible to attack by so many different animals all across the country. It really makes me appreciate the turkeys I do encounter and get excited seeing poults in the summer that beat the odds. Also explains the paranoid nature of turkeys that makes them so fun to hunt.

[hotspur]

I have been crow hunting for a long time , mostly for wing shooting practice. This year before duck season I have shot 25. Now you guys have given me new incentive. I usually shoot around 40  year now I want to pick up the pace

[OJR]

Pretty much everything eats a ground nesting bird's eggs. Coyotes, foxes, raccoons, snakes, possums & skunks are probably the worst. Also there has been some evidence that rain makes it easier for mammals to sniff out the nests. The wet air makes the smell hang around longer. So if it's rainy during the nesting period, predation may be higher than it normally would be. I got that from a PhD at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (My son).