Photo Credit | Steve Oehlenschlager Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan Departments of Natural Resources recently announced results of the first year of coordinated West Nile Virus (WNV) sampling efforts for ruffed grouse in their stateRates of WNV antibodies in ruffed grouse varied from around 13 percent in Minnesota and Michigan, and 29 percent in WisconsinRuffed Grouse Society continues to emphasize habitat management as the “solution” for WNV, and aid in coordinating surveillance efforts in all 3 states October 22, 2019For Immediate Release Coraopolis, Pa. – The Departments of Natural Resources in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan recently announced results of West Nile...
Grouse Ecology
What We Can Learn from Grouse Drumming Surveys
Photo Credit | Steve Oehlenschlager What exactly does a drumming survey tell us…or not tell us? There’s something special about that feeling you get in the grouse woods in springtime – that moment when you pause and can’t quite hear anything, but actually feel something thumping in your chest (besides your heart). Finally it becomes clear that it’s actually a grouse drumming from a hundred yards away. Drumming is done by male grouse as they beat their wings from an elevated log, stump, rock, or other platform. Contrary to what many people believe, they’re not hitting their wings against their breast –...
