In the Field: 2017 in Review

by Anna Mitterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator, MUCC In 2017, the Michigan Wildlife Cooperative program facilitated the following events around the state: Habitat Workshop Series, promoting mid-contract management options for properties in the Conservation Reserve Program, in partnership with local Conservation Districts Pilot run of the Deer Browse Survey, in partnership with DNR and Anchor Creek Deer…

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In the Field: December Pheasant Season

by Anna Mitterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator, MUCC Typically when you think of a hunting season, you think about harvesting animals! One could assume, quite logically, that my blog this week is about hunting pheasants. Yes, it is. It is also about creating future pheasant hunting opportunities. There are some fun things we can do this…

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In the Field: Response to CWD

by Anna Mitterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator, MUCC The newest set of CWD positives is startling. At least 30 positive cases in Michigan, with more to come for sure, as thousands of samples are waiting at the lab for the rest of the CWD test kits to be delivered. This is horrible news for Michigan deer.…

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In the Field: Wildlife Disease Lab

by Anna Mitterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator, MUCC The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I had was able to take a day to volunteer at the Michigan DNR Disease Lab. Before I go into the details of what goes on at the lab, let’s start with the check stations – where these deer come from. At the check…

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In the Field: Buck Poles and Deer Check

by Anna Mitterling, Michigan Wildlife Cooperatives, MUCC What a fun opening weekend of hunting, buck poles, and deer check! What most stuck out to me about the weekend, is that regardless of where I was, hunters were in high spirits about the season. While the weather was cold and rainy much of the weekend, I…

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In the Field: Gun Opener Eve

by Anna Mitterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator, MUCC Twas the night before Opener, and all through the house, not a creature was sleeping, not even the mouse. The camo was hung by the back door with care, in hopes that come daylight a big buck might appear. There is something special and magical about the night…

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In the Field: CWD and TB Awareness

by Anna Miterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator, MUCC Rainbows remind me of hope. I was driving up to Alpena to talk about managing deer in the TB area on Saturday when my friend Morgan and I saw this rainbow. It has been a rough week, a lot of focus on disease. While there is a lot to be disappointed about…

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In the Field: We are the Ones

by Anna Mitterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator, MUCC Last night I had the opportunity to talk about conservation with the freshmen class of biology students at Spring Arbor University. I wanted to share with them one of the biggest lessons I am still learning now. Regardless of the topic, there are always various points of view,…

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NRC Commissioners visit Wildlife Cooperative in TB Zone

by AnnaMitterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator, MUCC Wednesday, before the NRC meeting last week, Anchor Creek Wildlife Cooperative hosted some of the NRC Commissioners and Michigan Department of Natural Resources Staff at one of their properties to provide insights on how the cooperative model is helping to address  Bovine Tuberculosis (TB) related concerns in the TB…

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In the Field: Osprey Banding

 by Anna Mitterling, Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator Last week I was extremely fortunate to be invited to help the DNR band osprey near the Kellogg Biological Station on Crooked Lake. It was an incredible experience and it is amazing how far these special birds have come over the past couple decades. Their numbers sharply declined after…

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