Beginning
next month, some swift fox in north-central Montana will be hitching
a ride to new accommodations on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
The
translocation of as many as 30 of the small canines, an equal number
of males and females, will help boost the small population that
now resides in the vicinity of Little Porcupine Creek, north of
Frazer. Ten swift foxes were moved to the reservation in 2006; nine
or so occupy the area now.
"The
tribes have funding to restore native species, and it will assist
us in expanding this species of concern farther eastward,"
said Ryan Rauscher, a native species biologist for Fish, Wildlife
and Parks in Glasgow.
Funding
comes from a $247,000, three-year grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. The tribes are contributing in-kind services.
"It's
thanks to these tribes that we have the swift fox population growing
in this state," said Jonathan Procter of Defenders of Wildlife.
"The tribes have really been the leaders in the restoration
of swift foxes across the Northern Plains."
Small
predators
Swift
fox are smaller than a large house cat, averaging about 5 pounds.
They get their name from being able to run as fast as 25 mph. Nocturnal,
they spend more time underground in burrows than any other canid.
That's probably to escape predators, which include coyotes, red
foxes, badgers and raptors.
Once
ranging across the Great Plains, the animals were nearly exterminated.
They were killed by poison that ranchers intended for wolves and
coyotes. Farmers tilled up native prairies where they lived. Prey,
including prairie dogs, ground squirrels and rabbits, were reduced
during settlement of the Plains states. And the foxes were caught
in traps meant for other animals.
"Swift
fox were pretty abundant in the days of Lewis and Clark and thereafter,"
Rauscher said. "But quite a while ago (1969) they were declared
extirpated in Montana."
The
Bureau of Land Management lists the fox as a sensitive species.
Montana now lists them as a species of concern because the animals
don't occupy all the habitat that they could. Trappers must release
any swift foxes they catch that are still alive or immediately report
any dead foxes found in traps.
Populations
rebound
Rauscher
said that in the not-too-distant future, the foxes could be removed
from the list of species of concern in Montana as some of the previous
threats to the animals have been reduced.
The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined in 1995 that the animal
was threatened, but did not list it as an endangered species because
of a lack of information on the foxes' numbers and location. By
2001, enough information had been collected by state wildlife agencies
to warrant the swift foxes' removal from endangered species candidacy.
It's
now estimated that the swift fox inhabits only 40 percent of its
former range, which once went from southern Canada to the Texas
Panhandle and from northwest Montana to western Minnesota. Canada
still lists the animals as an endangered species.
Montana
officials conservatively estimate the population at 500. The main
places the foxes are found are along the Hi-Line in north-central
Montana and from the Blackfoot Indian Reservation south along the
Rocky Mountain Front. Many of the Hi-Line foxes moved south from
Alberta and Saskatchewan to large tracts of undisturbed federal
land. Extensive transplants of captive-raised swift foxes re-established
the animals on the Blackfoot Reservation.
Swift
transplants
Rauscher
said that by establishing more swift foxes at the Assiniboine and
Sioux tribes' Fort Peck Reservation, biologists hope the foxes will
expand their range southward to connect with populations in South
Dakota and Wyoming.
"Our
goal is to be that little, small link between Canada, South Dakota
and Wyoming," said Leonard Bighorn, a wildlife technician for
the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes. "The Crow and Northern Cheyenne
tribes are talking about trying to do this work also, which would
be awesome to establish this corridor and fill in this loop that
used to go from Canada to Texas."
In
the past, foxes that were transplanted came from Kansas and Nebraska.
If the work in September goes well, Rauscher said it might be the
first step in Montana providing swift foxes to other states.
The
foxes - preferably young ones since they have less fidelity to their
home range - will be captured in live traps from areas such as Theony,
Whitewater and Chinook. Until all 30 or so have been trapped, they'll
be kept in pens near their release site, Bighorn said.
The
foxes will then be turned loose, all within a quarter-mile or less.
In
the five years that he has worked with swift foxes, Bighorn has
developed an appreciation for the small canines. He said that their
diet of ground squirrels, mice and grasshoppers helps keep the tribes'
rangelands healthier, meaning the land is more valuable to ranchers
who lease it for grazing. That means money for the tribe.
"I
just think they're an awesome animal," he said. "It's
a thrill in the springtime to see them and see how they've reproduced."
To
learn more about the Swift Fox (Vulpes Velox):
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