¢ ADC specialists in Texas received a request for assistance 
from officials at a research farm at Texas A&M University at 
Kingsville after coyotes killed 13 research goats, valued at 
about $12,000. University students had been conducting 
genetic studies on the goats before they were killed. An 
ADC specialist placed out M—44 devices in the immediate 
area and removed six coyotes. No further predation has 
been reported. 
¢ In late summer, two sheep ranchers from Montana 
requested assistance after they discovered the carcasses of 
at least 50 of their sheep. An investigation showed that 
damage was caused by a grizzly bear. ADC captured the 
offending bear with a foot snare, and personnel from the 
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks then 
relocated the bear to another area to resolve the problem. 
¢ An aquaculture facility in Imperial County, CA, requested 
assistance from ADC after cormorants, great blue herons, 
and black-crowned night herons had consumed about 
$82,000 worth of catfish. ADC investigated the situation and 
provided technical assistance to reduce the damage. ADC 
personnel also helped the producer obtain a migratory-bird 
depredation permit from FWS, allowing him to remove a 
small number of the birds causing the damage. 
Protection of Endangered Species and Other 
Natural Resources 
Specific Endangered Species Protection Efforts 
During the year in California, 17 ADC specialists worked full 
time on cooperative projects aimed at the protection of 
threatened and endangered species: the western snowy 
plover, California ieast tern, California clapper rail, light- 
footed clapper rail, black rail, San Clemente loggerhead 
shrike, salt-marsh harvest mouse, and island lizard. In 
cooperation with FWS, the U.S. Navy and Air Force, the 
California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), and other 
county and private organizations, ADC specialists worked to 
protect these species from a host of avian and mammalian 
predators such as feral cats, red foxes, coyotes, striped 
skunks, opossums, raccoons, Norway rats, ground squirrels, 
Great-horned owls, various hawks, and ravens. 
For 16 consecutive years, DWRC has cooperated with FWS 
in trapping cowbirds in Michigan to protect the endangered 
Kirtland’s warbler from nest parasitism. About 100,000 
cowbirds have been removed from warbler nesting areas 
since the trapping program began in 1972. During this time, 
nest parasitism by cowbirds has decreased from over 50 
percent to less than 5 percent of nests, and the nesting 
populations of warblers has increased from about 180 
nesting pairs to more than 600. 
Biological research has indicated that aggressive behavior 
by gulls excludes terns and plovers from potential nesting 
habitat. Knowing that, ADC cooperated with FWS at the 
Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge on Cape Cod, MA, to 
provide a gull-free zone for nesting roseate terns and piping 
plovers. Following this intervention, reports indicate that 19 
bird species are now nesting on about 175 acres previously 
dominated by herring and black-backed gulls. There are 
three roseate tern nests, the first such nests found on the 
refuge since 1990. Also, 21 pairs of piping plovers were 
observed on the refuge in 1996, 14 more pairs than were 
observed the prior year. 
During the summer, ADC biologists, State of Florida park 
personnel, and members of FWS’s Sea Turtle Recovery 
Team met at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park to assess an 
area where coyotes were preying on sea turtle nests. 
This area is a major nesting site that attracts loggerhead, 
green, and leatherback sea turtles. In the initial nesting 
period in 1996, it was determined that coyotes destroyed 40 
percent of the nests. ADC personnel conducted a 
preliminary assessment of the site, but since the nesting 
season had already ended, no control activities were 
implemented. However, State park officials requested that 
ADC conduct a coyote control program during the 1997 
nesting season to protect the nests. 
ADC Program Highlights, 199649 
