Fire science using fire scars on ponderosa pine indicate that SE Montana burned with a frequency of every 15 to 25 years. With that fire frequency it would be imposable to maintain massive intact tracts of Big Sagebrush unless it was grazed to the dirt every year.
A lot of those fires back then were human caused, and they had enough sense for the most part, not to light them off during periods of high wind and heat, and low humidity. Frequent fire in those conditions would not burn up all the vegetation including sage. It would create a mosaic of vegetative conditions that would reduce the chances of wide spread catastrophic fire.
But by August the chicks should be at least a couple months old. It's my understanding that pheasant chicks also require bugs during early development.
The birds that die from west nile virus die in sept and some in October
Yes it would be interesting. A lot of different factors back before hay fields and cities and whatnot.
That would explain why I haven't seen any sage grouse in wheat fields. By hunting season the bugs are usually gone. The last sage hens I shot forty years ago were feeding in alfalfa during October. I presume they were eating the stuff.
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I think we're still there, I know of multiple ongoing state and federal efforts to shoot, trap and poison various predators for grouse recovery, from yokes to ravens and even hawks and owls at one point.
I don't want to beat the west nile virus to death on this board because I know it will be dismissed by most. However, last night some late night reading about eastern turkey declines due to WNV a researcher referrers to the sage grouse as being HIGHLY SUSEPTIBLE > just more food for thought. Aside from WNV there are some lesser know viruses causing death in galliformes
When I was in UT, the DWR did heavy predator control (mostly red fox, ravens/magpies) to help sage grouse that were being relocated to help bolster a struggling population. I was surprised at the nesting/survival success numbers between control and no control.
It's unfortunate that we have to go to those measures but there does seem to be some benefit for grouse. One interesting observation in Washington is that a few years ago it became legal to collect roadkill deer, and there have been some anecdotal observations that it might be benefitting grouse by reducing scavenging opportunities for ravens. I've heard that well fed ravens are more likely to raid grouse nests, like it's more of a game or treat for them than a core food source, not sure if there's been any actual research on that though.
I’ve been involved in wildlife disease work for a long time. Yes, sage grouse seem to be pretty susceptible to WNV. As are some other grouse, corvids, pelicans, etc. But that does not mean WNV mortality is high everywhere, every year. Conditions have to be right for Culex, the virus, and the grouse to interact in a manner that optimizes transmission and mortality. Some years we see a lot of WNV mortality among sage grouse (seems to be a pattern with precip), other years we’ll see almost none. That does not alter the fact that there is far more contributing to sage grouse declines than just West Nile.
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I would agree that many of the fires were set by native's, but anyone that has set a backfire or burned ditches knows how fast conditions change and the fire is out of your control even with today's equipment and weather forecasts.
