Minutes
Springfield Naturalists’ Club
February 15, 1006
7:30 pm Tolman Auditorium, Springfield Science Museum
Minutes prepared by Recording Secretary Nancy Condon
Attendance:  82

Nature Observances:  Red fox, robins, big flock of birds, bobcat hit by car, red-tailed hawk by bird feeder – got a pigeon, possible puffins by the Cape in December, bluebirds (!), snow buntings in Hadley in November, Bald eagle by Agawam bike trail, flicker.
Venus & Jupiter are in our sky in the early morning

Past field trip reports:
    Art reported on the MassMoca museum trip and the big bird cage they saw
    Dietrich reported on the Mittineague park hike and sightings of Red-tailed hawk & bald eagle
    Canceled field trips:  xc skiing at Maple Corners and beaver hike on ice.  Both were cancelled due to inadequate weather conditions.  

Upcoming Field Trips:
    Art invited folks to attend the Northwest Park trip
    Dave Gallup mentioned the snowshoe hike if there is snow on Feb 25
    March 5th woody plant hike with Dave Lovejoy
    March 12 trip to Lair Mountain

Treasury report:  Dave Lovejoy reported $3,377.02 in checking account.  Dave says some folks are double paid.  He has a list – if you want to check, you are invited to do so.

President Dave Gallup announced the NYCity Bus trip is filled.  They even got a bigger bus.
    Dave G requested a vote on the by-law changes enacted by the board of directors a few months earlier.  The minor changes were passed.

Dietrich Schlobohm made an announcement about Learning Later in Life classes through Springfield College.

Speaker was introduced.  Jim Cardoza is a wildlife biologist with Massachusetts Fish & Wildlife.  He has spend 36 years in activities surrounding wildlife, specifically black bear and turkey.  Some features of his talk include:
    *There are 3 departments: Fisheries, Natural Heritage (rare & endangered), and Wildlife
    *Beaver were extirpated in the state around the time of the Revolutionary War, now widespread in SE MA & elsewhere in the state
    *Turkey were common during colonial times but disappeared by 1851 and reintroduced in the 1970’s
    *Jim illustrated land use changes through time and the effects this had on wildlife.  From 1750 to 1850, people increased while bears decreased. Deer, once numbering in the 70-80,000, were estimated to be only 5,000 in 1850’s.  Now, they are numerous again, in Boston and everywhere.
    *Regarding bears, biologists seek to find out status, depredations, habitat.  Jim reviewed culvert traps, Aldrich bear snare which is illegal now since 1996, and the use of bear hounds.  They do not tranquilize bears. They use a cocktail of drugs to restrain bears during a workup.  Researches use the 1st premolar tooth to age a bear.  2 oldest reported in the state is a 25-26 year old male and an equally old female.  He’s heard of a 33 year old bear.
    *Biggest bear recorded 520 pounds.  Usually 225-325 for male bears in MA
    *Male bears have 10x the home range of females, which overlaps several females’ ranges.  Males disperse, females don’t.  Mating occurs in July.  Females have delayed implantation.  Cubs from the same litter may have different fathers.  A brush pile den is common in MA.
    *Bears west of the CT river average about 1bear/sq. mile of forest.  Cub survival ils 53%; average litter size: 2.3; Breeding interval: 2 years; sexual maturity reached at 3-3.5 years old; males experience higher mortality when cubs.
    *estimated bear population:      1982: 500
                    1998: 1800
                    now: 3,400
    *From  1900 to date, 55 humans have been killed by black bears – usually predatory bears.

The evening concluded as usual with delicious snacks, visiting with our guest speaker and socializing.