Wildlife Conservation Education

August, 2016

  • 15 August

    Special tools to survive

    While poor eyesight might suggest javelina lack the same defenses of other wildlife, they possess a good sense of hearing, a keen sense of smell, and a formidable set of tusks. Photo by Dan Williams, New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF.

    No need to sell wildlife short. All have special tools to survive. Everyone has heard the saying, “defenseless animal,” but we might want to think twice before accepting that notion, especially when it comes to wildlife. “There’s no such thing as a defenseless animal,” said Stewart Liley, chief of the …

  • 15 August

    Greater roadrunner

    Greater roadrunners is a stealthy and efficient predator, feasting on reptiles during warmer months but also taking snakes, including rattlers, and small mammals. Most of the water a roadrunner requires is obtained from their prey. Photo by Dan Williams, New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF.

    There’s no beep, beep and they certainly can’t outrun a coyote, but the bird made famous by Warner Brothers does share a few traits of its cartoon character. They often are seen running across roadways, and they’re quite fleet afoot, although you won’t catch them racing a car. But the …

March, 2016

  • 1 March

    Pinyon jays & piñon pines

    Mutualistic relationship critical for pinyon jays and piñon pines. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Pinyon jays and New Mexico go together like peanut butter and jelly. Or, in this particular case, more like piñon pines and their seeds. These long-billed, sky-blue jays are found in piñon-juniper habitats throughout the west, including New Mexico. In fact, it is estimated nearly one-third of the world’s pinyon …

  • 1 March

    Feeding and the food chain

    Food on the ground is the biggest culprit in human-wildlife conflicts. Feed one animal and a person is potentially feeding many. Deer are the favorite food of cougars, and black bears become quickly habituated to people when provided an easy food source. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    It really doesn’t matter if it’s Yogi the Bear, Wile E., Bugs, or Alvin the Chipmunk, feeding wildlife can have dire consequences. The majority of wildlife conflicts involve a feeding issue, whether it be intentional or not. “When the Department of Game and Fish needs to respond to a call …

  • 1 March

    Newborn wildlife alert

    Well-intentioned people seeking to help occasionally remove baby animals from the wild. Newborn wildlife is rarely abandoned and should be left alone. The more likely scenario is that the mother is foraging for food or has been frightened away by the presence of a human. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    The sirens are sounding because a mother’s child has gone missing. The wildlife Amber Alert has been activated and word is spreading throughout social media as mom searches in vain for her missing offspring. “Every year, around this time, well-intentioned individuals try to save wildlife newborns that appear to have …

  • 1 March

    Warm weather fears

    While smaller centipedes generally can’t penetrate human skin, the bite from a large centipede can be dangerous to small children and cause pain, swelling and fever for an adult. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Everyone’s heard of the famed “lions and tigers and bears, oh my” line in the movie The Wizard of Oz as they walked gingerly down the Yellow Brick Road. But what about “spiders and scorpions and snakes?” Could the movie have had it all wrong? Well, not to diminish the …

  • 1 March

    Rattlesnakes: did you know…?

    Prairie rattlesnake. So, your basic working knowledge of a rattlesnake is: They bite, they’re venomous, and poking them with a finger is a really, really bad idea. But there’s a lot more to these fascinating reptiles. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    So, your basic working knowledge of a rattlesnake is: They bite, they’re venomous, and poking them with a finger is a really, really bad idea. But there’s a lot more to these fascinating reptiles. There are two different genera of rattlesnakes: Crotalus and Sistrurus, of the subfamily Crotalinae, which includes …

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