Research assistants use noses to track moose

By KIM SMITH DEDAM
Staff Writer

May 16, 2008 04:00 am

— TUPPER LAKE -- A gentle wind tugged at the rainy morning air, and Wicket lifted her nose to catch a whiff.
The breeze helped dispatch the scent of moose scat, and the dog trotted merrily off in search of the source.
The 4-year-old lab mix wove from one side of her trainer to the other, surfing through low-cut brush until she stopped suddenly and sat down beside a pile of moose poop.
"Good girl, you found it," exclaimed Aimee Hurt, Wicket's owner, a member of the Working Dogs for Conservation Foundation.
Hurt tossed a ball toy up in the air, and Wicket jumped in jubilation.
"She lives for the ball," Hurt explained. "We train to a toy reward."
Specially trained to find droppings from certain wild animals, Wicket is one of three dogs here for two weeks helping wildlife biologists learn more about the growing moose population in the Adirondacks.
Dogs provide an excellent non-invasive method for seeking moose signs and other types of flora and fauna, said Alice Whitelaw, founder of the working-dog research program, based near Bozeman, Mont.
Dogs are especially good scientific assistants because they increase accuracy of results, numbers of samples found and efficiency in the field.
Of the group's eight trained survey dogs, the women brought three along -- one for backup -- to field test what they're calling the AROMA (Adirondack Return of Moose Assessment) project, created by the Wildlife Conservation Society with financial support from the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks.
For its part, the Wild Center is documenting the dog's scientific -- and sniff-erific -- field work for an eventual exhibit, explained Stephanie Ratcliffe, the museum's executive director.
"We're looking to tell the broader story of the return of the wild. We want to answer the question: How do they know that?" Ratcliffe said. "We wanted to capture it as it was happening."
EYES ON THE BALL
As partners, dogs are an intriguing part of the scientific equation.
"They are trained like narcotics dogs but different than hunting dogs," Whitelaw said of the program, which she and Hurt founded with two other biologists about 15 years ago in response to the need for a less-invasive detection practice.
All of the working canines are chosen from shelters in Montana for their rapt attention to the chew toy and a special kind of exuberance that doesn't always make them great pets, Hurt said.
"They're dogs that can't keep their eye off the ball."
After a minimum of 10 weeks training, the furry scent trackers can find specific animal signs, often identifying species whose habitat is difficult or endangered.
The dogs also find hard-to-identify plants and, in some cases, sea creatures.
LOCAL RESEARCH
Working with the Wildlife Conservation Society here in the Adirondacks, Wicket is one of the first dogs ever trained to seek moose signs.
Estimates put the Adirondack moose population somewhere between 300 and 500 individuals.
But those numbers are not based on any significant research, explained Conservation Society scientist Heidi Kretser.
Current methods are less precise or expensive, using camera traps or helicopters, said Conservation Society ecologist Michale Glennon of Saranac Lake.
And with Wicket's help, biologists hope to measure diet and nutrition of the moose population.
DNA studies will allow scientists to gauge reproductive rates and migration pattern.
That's a lot of detail to get from moose scat.
But benchmarks established now would also lend themselves to long-range research on impact from climate change and shifting weather patterns, Glennon said.
"Moose are a species that can change things in our landscape."
Working Dogs for Conservation is a developing program, Whitelaw said, drawing increased interest from the scientific community.
The dogs and their scientist handlers are paid for data collection, and the program receives some grant funding.
So far the results here are promising, the scientists agreed, as Wicket wagged her tail.
kdedam@pressrepublican.com

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