Quarterly Report for Swift Fox project – June 1 through September 30, 2005

Method of locating swift fox -

Through the month of June, July, August and September, approximately 100 scent stations were baited over 20 sections of land which equates to 4 scent stations per section of land. Scent stations were placed according to terrain, road access, and drainage ways and on the out skirts of prairie dog towns. Initial surveys were done at each location both by vehicle and walking surveys. Areas that were surveyed and then later baited were north of Oglala from Hwy 41 to Smithwick Road and then past the White River crossing on both sides of BIA Hwy 41. Scent stations were also placed in set locations on both the sides of Hwy 18 west of Oglala to the casino. Spotlighting was done for 8 nights on all major roads and fire trails that were passable with in this area. Walking surveys were done on three areas that had possible den locations. Other area that was surveyed was the Wounded Knee-Hwy 18 junction east of Pine Ridge east towards Denby Dam on the north side of the Hwy 18. Surveys and baiting was also done east of Wounded Knee-Hwy 18 junction to Wolf Creek School. Spotlighting was done for two nights and was done on all roads through areas were possible swift fox were located. Problems encountered in this area was that much of the land was deeded and therefore progress was slowed as permission is being sought from local landowners to survey areas of potential swift fox. In this area is mostly row crop and hay fields and so walking surveys are limited to hay areas and road ditches.

Location of swift fox -

Of the 100 scent stations, only three stations showed possible signs of swift fox tracks. One west of Oglala was a definite swift fox track and when re-baited and checked again also had swift fox tracks. However, when more scent stations were located near and around this scent station, no indication of swift fox tracks were found. Two other scent stations had possible swift fox tracks and that was near Denby Dam on a gravel road that parallels Hwy 18 about one mile north. Coyote tracks have graced approximately 20 to 25 percent of all scent stations. Numerous bird, rabbit, badger and prairie dog tracks of been indicated in approximately 50 to 60 percent of all scent stations. About 15 percent of all scent stations were actually destroyed by either prairie dogs or other animals not detected. Insects were a problem and approximately 85 to 90 percent of the scent stations had some trace of insect exposure. 4 percent of scent stations had either deer or cattle tracks within them.

During spotlighting, only one visual was indicated of possible swift fox. This location was in a hayfield off a gravel road about two miles west of Denby Dam. Another chance visual of swift fox was spotted near the Junction of Wounded Knee and Hwy 18. Reports of swift fox sightings from local residence have not been confirmed. Most sightings were potentially red fox.

All scent stations were GPSs for location and maps will be made of scent station locations, possible den sites and possible visual sites. Scent stations are an approximately a circumference of 2 ft., with a sand/oil base. They were then baited with several ounces of Mackerel. Scent stations were checked twice in a 24 hour period, usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Spotlighting was mostly done from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight. Walking surveys and driving surveys were usually done from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Future plans -

Future plans are to look at the Slimbuttes area west of Pine Ridge near the OSPRA buffalo pasture. Other potential sites will be from the Denby Dam area to Batelands and also south of Kyle to the Gordon junction. More scat and walking surveys will be done in potential areas that have had a visual of swift fox or possible track location. If warranted, live trapping maybe done if more evidence of swift fox is found, particularly in the Denby Dam area. Population survey may also be done on coyotes, this may explain why potentially good swift fox habitat such as the Oglala area, has not produced more evidence of swift fox.

Training –

10 days were spent in July working with the Badlands National Park (BNP) biology staff in trapping and collaring swift fox pups. BNP has a very successful reintroduction program that was started three years ago. Field techs were able to assist park staff in collaring and treating swift fox pups that have been born to collared adults that have been reintroduced to the park and surrounding areas. Field tech had hands on with handling pups and adults that had been live trapped. Techs were able to assist with placing collars on pups, placing information chips in foxes and taking blood samples. They were also able to get information about locations, habitat and other information that would assist the team in finding swift fox on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Other training that began at the end of August included all biology tech team to take an introductive course on GIS and use of GPS. Field techs will do an 8 week module on using ArcView and also do a final project. Three of the team members will do a final project on something related to the swift fox project.

Sylvatic Plague Outbreak-

Efforts to locate swift fox were hampered due to the positive test of sylvatic plague in prime habitat of swift fox near Oglala area. On July 28, 2005, the OSPRA Staff confirmed Sylvatic Plague from a black-tailed prairie dog collected from the southwest area of Pine Ridge Reservation. OSPRA began working with a federal team which consisted of BIA, APHIS, CDC, IHS, USFWS and several tribal agencies to monitor and document this outbreak. The biology tech team then began to monitor the outbreak of sylvatic plague based on “ghost towns” of prairie dogs. Most of the Oglala area that had been surveyed for swift fox was within the plague area. The tech team will assist in monitoring the plague outbreak by periodically surveying areas of prairie dog towns for live towns, towns that might have dieing prairie dogs or ghost towns. A Plague Prairie Dog monitoring form was developed to build a working document of the plague area. Through the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks Wildlife Division, and the above mentioned federal entities, on-going monitoring will be done by using Arcview and visual assessment. Also, blood samples or nuboto strips will be used on all animals that maybe susceptible to plague or carry titers in the blood. Flea swapping of prairie dog holes will also be done on a periodic base. The plague has a potential impact on swift fox due to the fact that prairie dogs are a source of food and a large portion of prairie dog towns are within prime habitat for swift fox.