Laramie Boomerang

Sunday, August 9, 2015
LOCAL BRIEFS
‘The Sagebrush Sea’ film
screening, discussion
set for Wednesday
A documentary that highlights the greater
sage grouse in the changing landscape of
the sagebrush steppe is set to be shown
Wednesday at the University of Wyoming
Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center.
A reception begins at 5 p.m., with the film
screening at 6 p.m., according to a news
release. A panel discussion will follow. The
event is free to the public.
Produced by the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology, “The Sagebrush Sea” follows
the greater sage grouse — an increasingly
rare bird known for its elaborate mating
rituals — through a year in its natural
habitat.
The documentary was filmed largely in
Wyoming, where nearly 40 percent of the
sage grouse population lives. Other footage
that was captured during the three years
of filming includes snapshots in the lives
of golden eagles, hawks, mule deer and
pronghorn, the release states.
Following the screening, Willow Belden,
host of “Out There: A Podcast about
the Outdoors,” will moderate a panel
discussion on the science and issues
involved with the greater sage grouse.
Panelists are Marc Dantzker, the film’s
producer, Brian Rutledge, National
Audubon Society’s conservation and policy
adviser, and Matt Holloran, an ecologist
whose research focused on sage grouse and
sagebrush ecosystem conservation issues.
Contact Hurley at 766-5083 or nrhurley@
uwyo.edu for more information.
www.laramieboomerang.com
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UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
Keeping watch
Funk band to conclude
summer concert series
Casual Commander, a solo funk act, is
set to perform from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m.
Wednesday at Simpson Plaza on the
University of Wyoming campus to conclude
the UW Summer Concert Series. The event
is free to the public.
Guitarist Kevin Donohue, of the Boulder,
Colorado, electronic funk band SunSquabi,
created Casual Commander, according to a
news release.
The music of Casual Commander blends
contagious bass music with the quixotic
effect years of guitar playing provide to a
musician, the release states. Go to www.
facebook.com/CasualCommander for more
information about the group.
Go to www.uwyo.edu/summerprograms,
like the Wyoming Union on Facebook or
follow on Twitter via @UWYOCAC for
more information about Summer Programs
events.
People needing assistance to attend this
event should call the Campus Activities
Center at 766-6340.
Ark Regional Services
to host summer BBQ
The Equestrian Center at Ark Regional
Services will host a free summer barbeque
from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the Equestrian
Center, 1375 N. Pine St. in Laramie,
according to a news release.
The summer barbeque is an opportunity
for the community to come out and meet
the therapy horses, tour the arena, meet
the staff, take part in a silent auction and
more. There will be free hamburgers and
french fries provided by The Bear Bait
Grill and free shaved ice provided by The
Dude LLC, the release states.
Other activities include a silent auction,
horse painting (children can use foam
stamps to paint directly on a therapy
horse), leading a therapy horse through
an obstacle course, horseshoes and
dummy roping. The Equestrian Center
will be raffling an entire processed pig
raised by the employees and students at
the Equestrian Center, the release states.
Raffle tickets can be purchased at the Ark
Administration Building, 1150 N. Third St.,
or at the Equestrian Center.
Contact Joelle Ashley at joelle@arkrs.org,
742-6641 or go to www.arkhorse.org for
more information.
Corrections
POLICY: If there is a mistake in
a previous paper, it is the Laramie
Boomerang’s policy to run a correction.
If you find an error, call Peter
Baumann at 755-3328 or email news@
laramieboomerang.com.
A Laramie raccoon stands startled by a camera trap set by the University of Wyoming Raccoon Project. The project members can use
the photo to determine where raccoons congregate and if it has been seen elsewhere.
Photo courtesy of University of Wyoming Raccoon Project
UW Raccoon Project studies, tracks local critters
By THADDEUS MAST
thaddeusm@laramieboomerang.com
Most backyard animals have some
stigma or associated trait, such as a
rabbit’s speed and desire to eat almost
anything in your garden. Raccoons
are thought of as clever and sneaky,
and are sometimes even called pests.
A University of Wyoming zoology and
physiology professor and a group of
students are researching if raccoons
are as smart as some claim.
The Raccoon Project, started this
summer by Professor Sarah BensonAmram, is in the beginning steps of
tracking and studying the local raccoon
population, important for both the
university’s research and Laramie
locals.
“One of our goals is to figure out just
how smart they are,” Benson-Amram
said.
Raccoons are more curious than other
city-dwelling critters, she said, making
them a prime candidate to study. One
way of testing their intelligence is with
simple puzzles.
“It’s kind of like a little puzzle box,”
Benson-Amram said. “If you put a tasty
treat inside the box, are they willing
to engage with it? We inspect raccoons
because they’re so successful across
many habitats because they’re willing
to interact with an unknown object.”
Lauren Stanton, a Ph.D. student
working on the project, said their
adaptability to diverse habitats is
another unique trait that makes
raccoons important for future studies.
“There is a huge biodiversity crisis
going on, and a lot of animals have seen
a population decline,” she said. “A lot
of species aren’t doing too well with
how the world is changing. One of the
reasons we’re looking at raccoons is
because it’s a super-adaptable animal
that has expanded for the last couple
decades.”
Some areas in Europe and Japan are
even declaring raccoons an invasive
species, Stanton said, because of their
ability to thrive in many climates.
While research about the critter’s
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At a glance:
A University of Wyoming professor
and a group of students have begun
studying, following and testing the local
raccoon population to understand how
smart they are. Any information on
raccoon sightings can be posted at www.
wyobio.org or emailed to raccoon@uwyo.
edu.
physiology is important, the Raccoon
Project is also learning more about the
local population of the critters, Stanton
said.
“One of the main goals is to locate the
raccoons that are living in Laramie and
learn about them,” she said. “We want
to know each individual — who they
are, where they live, do they overlap,
what they eat. We also want to study
their behavior and cognition.”
Currently, the Raccoon Project
relies on camera traps, which take
photos when movement is detected
within the camera’s range. Four UW
undergraduate students learned how
to set up these cameras, normally on
neighborhood trees. Stanton urged the
public to get involved in the process.
“If you see raccoons in your backyard,
we’d love to know about them and put
up a camera,” Stanton said.
The animals are drawn to the cameras
with bits of food. After a day or two, the
photos are reviewed by the students
and hopefully identified individually.
Trapping in highly-populated areas
should begin by the end of the month,
Benson-Amram said.
“We’ll use live traps so they don’t get
hurt,” she said. “We’ll then take blood
samples for tests and, on some animals,
put a radio collar on them.”
The blood samples will be used for
genetic analysis — to see how many
raccoons are in the same family. The
samples will also determine hormone
levels, to determine stress levels and
Your Choice!
“There is a huge
biodiversity crisis going
on, and a lot of animals
have seen a population
decline. A lot of species
aren’t doing too well
with how the world is
changing. One of the
reasons we’re looking
at raccoons is because
it’s a super-adaptable
animal that has
expanded for the last
couple decades.”
LAUREN STANTON
Ph.D. student
a search for blood-bourne diseases,
Benson-Amram said.
While tree cameras assist in
determining a local area, they are not
as specific as the project members
would like, hence the use of radio
collars.
Finding where the critters live can
be important in determining social
interactions.
Stanton acknowledged some people
might see raccoons as pests. She
emphasized the traps won’t be used
to get rid of raccoons — after they are
tested the animal is released back into
the area it was found.
If community members want to get
involved, they can visit www.wyobio.
org and track any animal sightings they
have, including raccoons, Stanton said.
Information about sightings can also be
emailed to raccoon@uwyo.edu.
“I think that it’s really important
for the community to help,” she said.
“Anything people can do to contribute
to wildlife research is just incredible.
Some people might seem opposed to
helping, but I think that’s even more of
a reason to assist with our research. It
will be good at reducing conflict.”
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