It’s in your nature: Adapting to man

Unfortunately for this earth, the human population continues to grow. With the population increasing, the need for more agriculture areas and more fuels keeps “cutting into” the remaining vestiges of grasslands, wetlands, ocean shorelines and forests.

Many plant and animal species are facing extinction, especially in Third World countries where little conservation practices or wildland preservation is occurring. The United States is not exempt from that loss either.

Species such as black-footed ferrets, whooping cranes, California condors, piping plovers and Florida panthers are barely holding their own. Many of the most imperiled species either require specific breeding or feeding areas or face other life-threatening obstacles. Piping plovers nest and feed on beaches, and those are prime real estate and vacation spots. Usually the plovers lose.

However, I am quite surprised by how some other animal species have adapted so well to man. The white-tailed deer is one of those. In one of my favorite haunts since the 1960s, houses and small developments keep taking acres and acres away from the deer’s habitats. But, for those suburban dwellers, you probably already watch deer cross your front lawns, feed on your flowers, gardens and shrubs and retreat to small woodlots for some security. I live in a semi-rural area with many homes within “a stone’s throw away.”

Close by are a few small 2 or 3 acre woodlots or steep hillsides where they hide. The factor controlling their numbers is probably collisions with vehicles.

Some predators are adapting well, too. I unsafely keep an “eye peeled” as I am driving and continue to be amazed by how many red-tailed hawks are perched within 20 or 30 feet of busy interstates and local highways, unfazed by all the traffic as they search for their mammal prey on the mowed medians or berms. “Redtail” numbers seem to be static, and in fact, may be increasing.

The Eastern coyote has adapted to human intrusions. Coyotes now breed in every one of Pennsylvania’s counties. Being mostly nocturnal, many are not noticed. However, coyotes now regularly prowl towns where even house cats have become a prey item for them.

Black bears, our largest predators in “Penn’s Woods,” have seen an amazing population jump. Good research and monitoring by the game commission was critical, but much of that I believe can be attributed to bears learning to take advantage of human activities; such as raiding garbage cans, bird feeders, dumpsters, farmers’ crops and, occasionally, livestock.

You already know that bears will den for the winter. Rock ledges or uprooted tree trunks usually offered the perfect location. Recently bears, particularly in the Poconos, are using vacation home decks or even occupied home’s crawl spaces to give birth. I remember the “big news” one fall in my dad’s hunting circle of friends was a Carbon County bear harvest of 8 bears (circa 1964). This 2019 bear season saw Carbon County with a harvest of 87. Obviously, the bear population has increased despite human intrusions that I expected would only limit them.

Even the northern raven, once relegated to patrolling the big forests of Pennsylvania, is now commonly seen locally. They are regular visitors to a dumpster at a popular Lehighton eatery and I have observed them a few times perched on light standards at two Lehighton area shopping hubs. BUT we still need to conserve as much native and rather undisturbed habitats to maintain our wildlife diversity.

Test your outdoor knowledge: Which of these spruce species is native to Pennsylvania? A. Norway spruce, B. blue spruce, C. black spruce, D. Sitka spruce.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.