UPDATE

Only two months behind here. But I'm signing on to share more exciting news! Thanks to Title V/PPOHA's commitment to ocelot conservation TEN GPS collars will be arriving at the beginning of December! That's right, you heard it correctly! TEN COLLARS!

This will only be the second time that GPS collars have been used in ocelot research. We will be able to gain insight into how ocelots move across the landscape in ways we never have before.

So three cheers to the people who have made this possible!

And I wouldn't leave you without a photograph. We're rodent trapping again on Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge (gotta learn stuff about what ocelots eat), so here are some photos of us in the field.


Fulvous harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys fulvescens), 3 days old


On cold mornings, some of them need a little warming up, so they get a ride in the pocket


And then there are the other residents of the refuge. Diamond rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

More exciting news

Thanks to a new federal STEM grant provided through Title V/PPOHA here on the TAMUK campus, as well as a small grant from the Houston Safari Club, we will be ordering SEVEN GPS collars for use on bobcats and ocelots.

We are still working through some of the kinks for final approval to use the collars on ocelots, but we hope to have that squared away by trapping time this fall and winter. These GPS collars have been used successfully on bobcats for many years.

The quality and quantity of data that we can collect from GPS collars is astounding and this is going to truly provide important data for the conservation of endangered ocelot.

Ocelot Media Day

Last week state, federal and CKWRI biologists met to talk about how grants benefit non-game wildlife, such as the endangered ocelot.

The Corpus Christ Caller-Times reported on the meeting.
Corpus article

And Big Cat News duplicated the story.
Big Cat News article

Article update

Researchers observed South American margays mimicing the calls of their prey:
Margay mimic monkey calls

Ocelots are featured in an article in Texas Wildlife Association magazine (and me, too!)
TWA does ocelots

As soon as I figure out how to share the PDF of the TWA article, I will add it here.

Laguna Atascosa NWR

One of the last places you'll find the endangered ocelot. We spent 5 days there last week surveying the prey population. Here are a few choice photos from our trip.


Liomys irroratus Mexican spiny pocket mouse


Killdeer and her nest


A little biologist rumor. In all seriousness, following the speed limits here is very important. Road mortalities are one of the main causes of death for endangered ocelots.


Sigmodon hispidus Hispid cotton rat. This guy was barely weaned I would guess. Quite cute.

We were there for the rodents but you see lots of other cool things.

Bobwhite quail, female


Tarantula

Bunny Bonanza

What would you expect to find in massive numbers when visiting Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge? Well, mosquitos, yes. And there are plenty of them out right now. But there are also lots of bunnies! Sylvilagus floridanus The Eastern cottontail rabbit. They sure make evening or morning drives interesting. I think they enjoy watching us swerve. They always seem to wait until the last minute to decide which way to run off.

But it's good that they are so abundant. They are yummy to lots of predators, including ocelots. Lots of bunnies could mean the ocelots are fat and happy.

In previous posts I've talked about rodent trapping on the private ranch where my major research occurs. We've expanded that research to the Refuge. If we can provide scientific documentation to Mexico that there is a plentiful amount of prey here, then that puts us one step closer to translocation.

We are sampling 4 different sites, all of which are 1st priority translocation release sites. Three are in areas currently occupied by ocelots and one is in an area that is not currently occupied but was in the last 10 years. Our first sampling was last night/this morning as we caught the usual suspects: hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) and Mexican spiny pocket mice (Liomys irroratus). We also captured one northern pygmy mouse (Baiomys taylori). These probably aren't high on the ocelots' favorite menu items (would you want to run a mile just for one chicken nugget?), but they'll definitely snack on one when the opportunity presents itself.

We've seen lots of other fun critters, too. Here's a short list:
Texas tortoise
Indigo snake
Texas horned lizard
Mexican ground squirrel
Plain chachalaca
White ibis

And one of the best things of all? Wireless internet! We can play outdoors in the mornings and evenings and then actually get some work done indoors between! Not that I wouldn't mind exploring the trails all day, but annual reports loom overhead!

Check out more information about the Refuge and endangered ocelots, turtles and falcons here: Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge

Here are some fun facts. See if you can find them on the refuge website.

When was the first confirmed report of an ocelots on the refuge?
When did extensive research on ocelots begin on the refuge?
Have there ever been jaguarundi on the refuge?

Answers tomorrow!

The danger of roads

Unfortunately, road mortality is one of the main causes of decline for ocelots in Texas.

Ocelot mortality