Abstract
Hunting bears (Ursus spp.) over baits is legal in many countries, states, and provinces, but the practice remains a controversial topic among wildlife managers, hunting groups, and the general public. The baits used to attract bears may also provide a pulsed resource on the landscape that can be used by other wildlife species, particularly carnivores. To determine what other species might use bear bait sites, we constructed and monitored 21 bear bait sites with camera traps from August to October 2016 in the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA. The sites mimicked typical American black bear (U. americanus) hunter bait sites. We tested recorded changes in carnivore visitation before and during hunting season using paired t-test and analyzed carnivore temporal shifts between the 2 periods using a nonparametric kernel density estimation procedure. We analyzed 7,915 images, of which 81.9% were nontarget species. Bear daily visitation at the bait sites was reduced by 49.3% during hunting season while nontarget carnivore visitation increased by 33.0%. Bears also increased their nocturnal activity by 22.4% during the legal hunting season while other carnivore species maintained their diel patterns. Because of the high rates of nontarget species use of the bear hunter bait sites, there is a potential for disease spread and conflict with hunters. Managers should evaluate the potential impacts on target and nontarget species when establishing hunter bait regulations.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 98-110 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Human-Wildlife Interactions |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| State | Published - 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. 00039218. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This research was also supported by grants from the National Science Foundation to J. Bump (NSF ID#1545611, NSF ID#1556676). We thank D. Beyer with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for project support. We thank M. Candler, J. Beller and B. Beller, C. Boucher, S. Beckley, V. Engler, S. Olds, J. Curtis, and M. Wappes for field assistance and image analysis. We would also like to thank Suomi Home Bakery & Restaurant, Granton Inn, Wheeler's Restaurant, and Michigan Technological University Dining Service for support. Comments provided by C. Lackey, HWI associate editor, and 2 anonymous reviewers greatly improved our paper
Funding Information:
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. 00039218. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This research was also supported by grants from the National Science Foundation to J. Bump (NSF ID#1545611, NSF ID#1556676). We thank D. Beyer with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for project support. We thank M. Candler, J. Beller and B. Beller, C. Boucher, S. Beckley, V. Engler, S. Olds, J. Curtis, and M. Wappes for field assistance and image analysis. We would also like to thank Suomi Home Bakery & Restaurant, Granton Inn, Wheeler’s Restaurant, and Michigan Technological University Dining Service for support. Comments provided by C. Lackey, HWI associate editor, and 2 anonymous reviewers greatly improved our paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Jack H. Berryman Institute.
Keywords
- Bait sites
- Camera trap
- Carnivore
- Human-wildlife conflict
- Michigan
- Mustelid
- Nontarget species
- Resource pulse
- Ursus americanus