Surveys Searching for Elusive Species
By: Hannah Studdard
Starting service in Canaan Valley was a headfirst dive into hands on experience in the field, exactly what I was hoping and dreaming this position would provide. Most days have been spent hiking into the woods of the refuge, searching for brightly colored tape tied trees, and flipping rocks, logs, and brush looking for critters in the dirt. I’ve even taken part of legitimate night time snipe hunts. As fall here in West Virginia has exploded into reds, oranges, golds and yellows I can’t help but count myself lucky that I have the opportunity to serve in a position that allows me to hike the valley floor and ridges daily, able to admire the changes and beauty that this state shows off so proudly.
Emily Langer, fellow AFNHA AmeriCorps member.
Salamander found by Emily Langer, fellow AFNHA AmeriCorps member serving with Canaan Valley NWR.
Day one at the refuge was spent learning the ins and outs, or the standard operating procedures (SOP), of cheat mountain salamander surveys. Cheat mountain salamanders are an endangered species found in very few specific habitats within the refuge area. Their habitats look like moist forest floors, moss covered rocks, conifer trees and sediment, and higher altitudes. Most of the areas we survey are not prime habitat for cheat salamanders, but prove to be just fine for other species of salamander. Most of what we find are duskys, red backs, and the occasional Wehrle’s and slimy salamander. When conducting these surveys, most of our time is spent looking for our points from which we start our search. We are led by maps from an iPad, that don’t always take us to the exact point, but rather the general area in which the point is located. Once the gps point is located, we lay out two 32 meter transects dictated by a bearing from the gps point, and then we begin the search! We flip everything within arms reach of our transect, rocks, logs, bark, leaf litter. If a salamander is discovered, we catch them and take some measurements, identify and photograph them, before putting them right back from where they came. The time at the points can be short if not much is found or if there isn’t much to flip (we do have some points in grass fields), but if there is a lot to take stock of or flip we can spend quite a lot of time at one point. Our time hiking, bush wacking, looking for the points has greatly over shadowed our time at the points so far, and what a grand escapade it always seems to be whether many salamanders are gotten for the day or not!
The most epic day of hiking resulted in finding only two salamanders. We were not to be disappointed, however, because outside of our slimey friends we experienced beautiful forest hiking and views from the northeastern most point of the refuge, as well as a couple of unexpected wildlife encounters. We hiked well over 5 miles for the day with an incredible amount of gradient change, taking us from beech brush covered hillsides to open, rock outcroppings that gave way to views of the entire valley floor. We took lunch at the top of our hike, hiding behind a large fir tree that helped shield us from the wind, before continuing to hike the rim to the remainder of our points. We finished out seven points that day, before turning back to the road that would take us to the truck. As we walked the road, a welcome relief from the steep hiking our feet had taken on that day, we saw a large black bear cross about 70 meters ahead of us! Our fourth bear siting since starting in the valley… As we neared the truck we passed a small garter snake sun bathing on the road. Driving out, turkeys flew and deer bounded away from us as we headed back to the refuge shop. The wildlife here is abundant and in constant motion, reminding me of the reasons to take life slow and practice full awareness, otherwise you might miss out on the beauty hiding in the trees, under the rocks, or blending in with the surroundings.
Our lone lady woodcock that was banded during surveys!
Woodcock surveys have also been a part of the service here at Canaan Valley. Woodcocks are a small, cartoon-like, bird that spend most of their time on the ground. Our goal has been to capture, tag, and release three birds to be tracked. Over the course of a week and a half of surveying, we have caught only one female and she came to us on the first night. The process has been a fun and interesting one to learn. We start the surveys by setting up mist nets that run 12 meters in length and are 2.6 meters tall. After setting up 10 of the nets, we wait until dusk to check them for captured birds. If any are in the nets, we untangle, tag and band them, and then set them free. Aside from the stationary nets, we also take large spotlights and handheld nets, hoping to flush the small birds and catch them individually. Not much luck has bestowed us, but the excitement of catching that first female lingers. Real life snipe catching! My high school self would be amazed, as I never believed snipes to be real after all the searching I did. We have caught two wood thrush, a chickadee, and a sora that were banded as well.
Our surveys continue until the end of October, as the weather will change to be too cool to search for the salamanders that know to burrow into the warmer ground, and the woodcocks will migrate to those warmer temperatures. Until then we’ll keep galavanting across the valley floor, scooping up salamanders and (hopefully) wrangling woodcocks for refuge preservation. Our findings ultimately help provide future plans and practices to preserve areas of the refuge known to house endangered, elusive, and important species. I’m honored and excited to be part of such a beautiful area and refuge that works for the betterment of the habitats it vows to protect.
