By Jack Spaulding

It never ceases to amaze me some of the wildlife interactions I hear with humans and animals. My latest incident was when talking to an old friend (I’ll just call him “George”) and he told me about his wildlife friend.

As the story goes, a couple of years ago, “George” noticed a buzzard in his backyard. After watching it for a while, he could see the bird apparently couldn’t fly. It looked healthy, but if he approached it, it would simply walk away. “George” knew pickings in his backyard would be less than slim for the buzzard, so he decided to see if he could help.

Every evening, “George” would bring out the leftover table scraps for the hapless bird. “George” said the buzzard’s favorite food was fried potatoes and smoked sausage. (One of my favorites). He said the bird would come very close for the delicacy, almost eating out of the cold skillet.

“George” knew a few table scraps weren’t enough, so he supplemented the buzzard’s diet with dead starlings. “George’s” place was overrun with the noxious, invasive pests, so each evening “George” would shoot two or three and leave them out by his burn pile for the buzzard.

It wasn’t long before word got out in the starling community “George’s” property was a poor place to hang out, and the opportunity for sustaining the buzzard with starling carcasses was minimized.

In “Georges” line of work, he travels a lot in his pickup truck. Often seeing roadside opportunities like the road-killed carcass of a raccoon or ‘possum, he put a “roadkill” bucket in the bed of his truck. Collecting an occasional carcass, “George” would put the roadkill out by the burn pile for the bird. With fresh carcasses added to its diet of table scraps, it made the difference and put the buzzard on the road to recovery. After a few weeks, the bird disappeared.

Last year, “George” was still fighting a plague of starlings and left three or four dead ones out by the burn pile.

Guess who showed up?  Sure enough, a single buzzard slowly circled “George’s” backyard and landed to snack on the starling carcasses.

If in your travels you happen to see someone carefully picking up road kill and putting it into a bucket, stop and ask “Buzzard George” if he knows Jack Spaulding.

Indiana’s DFW looking for rare critters

Would you like to report wildlife you see while enjoying nature? Did you get something unusual on a trail camera and want to share it to help wildlife in Indiana? Indiana’s DFW has launched a new Report a Mammal form for you. It includes a variety of species; some are elusive or are rare visitors to the state, and some we need more information about. Additions include armadillos, badgers, gray foxes, flying squirrels, star-nosed moles, ground squirrels and weasels. See the full list of species, learn how to identify them, and report sightings.

Mammals of interest include a variety of species. Some may be nocturnal and difficult to observe, others may have no resident breeding populations but are visitors to Indiana, and the rest may be common locally but rare elsewhere in the state. The report form also includes species at risk of declining and Species of Greatest Conservation Need.

The report form available at https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/wildlife-resources/animals/report-a-mammal/ allows you to submit a photo or brief video to help document the observation. Media of the animal observed would be most useful, though DNR biologists can examine evidence left by the mammal too (tracks, scat or other signs). Completion of the form is voluntary. Data submitted may be shared within DNR and partners with the discretion of DNR staff. Personal information will be used to process your observation and may also be used for participation in surveys and other secondary purposes. DNR staff will only respond to reports if more information is needed.

The DFW is currently accepting reports of the following species: Badger, Bobcat, Franklin’s ground squirrel, Gray fox, Gray wolf, Jumping mouse, Mountain lion, Nine-banded armadillo, Pygmy shrew, Smoky shrew, Southern flying squirrel, Star-nosed mole, Weasel species, Western harvest mouse, Black bear and the Thirteen-lined ground squirrel.

Canada geese molting season

Peak molting times for Canada geese in Indiana are the last two weeks of June through the first two weeks of July. During molting, adult Canada geese are grounded while they grow new flight feathers. During the same period, goslings have not had the chance to grow their first set of flight feathers which is why you may observe an increase in Canada geese and their young walking across roads this summer.

Canada geese causing problematic interactions with humans during this time cannot move far due to the absence of flight feathers. Because of their flight impairment, normal harassment techniques are neither appropriate nor effective. Instead of harassing molting geese, consider installing a fencing barrier prior to goose nesting.

For more information about living with Canada geese, visit our website at https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/hunting-and-trapping/canada-geese-management/.

Readers can contact the author by writing to this publication, or e-mail at jackspaulding@hughes.net. Spaulding’s books, “The Best Of Spaulding Outdoors” and “The Coon Hunter And The Kid,” are available from Amazon.com as a paperback or Kindle download.