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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes MINUTES Urban Wildlife Advisory Committee Meeting May 24, 2010 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLLCALL The Meeting was called to order at 4:47 P.M. Present: Michael Beeth, Grady Bullington, LorRae Crubaugh, Steve Cummings, Richard Hall, Nikki Hronis, Cecil Streeter, Steve Voss, Wendy Suzuki Staff: Ray Maurer, Parks Director; Trish Wendorf, Recording Secretary APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Hall requested that page 4, paragraph 7, should be amended by deleting the last sentence of that paragraph, to- wit: “He offered to check with his friend Brian at the DNR and obtain his thoughts and then get back to the Committee.” Mr. Hall stated he had no knowledge of that statement. Motion by Hronis for approval of the March 22, 2010 minutes, as amended. Seconded by Beeth. Motion carried 8-0. CITIZEN’S STATEMENTS There were no citizen’s statements. BUSINESS 1)Review monthly car accident reports from Police Department Ms. Wendorf reported that the Oshkosh Police Department still was unable to provide updated information in time for tonight’s meeting. She stated as soon as that information was provided, she would update the statistical spreadsheet. 2)Update on quarry owner cooperation with deer management Mr. Maurer reported that he had attempted on several occasions to set up a meeting with representatives from the Vulcan Quarry, but was unsuccessful. He has held telephone conversations with Steve Smith who informed Mr. Maurer that a meeting with City officials could not be arranged until they received approval from the Birmingham corporate office. Ms. Hronis inquired if any future information in this regard that she obtains should be forwarded to the Parks Director first? Mr. Maurer stated that would be proper protocol since he is the City staff liaison person and should be the person making any contacts to the quarry owners, or others, as the City official. A notation could be put on future agendas as to “communications from citizens”. He stated that hopefully by the next meeting, he will have had some contact with the quarry representatives. Urban Wildlife Advisory Committee Minutes Page -2- MAY 24, 2010 3)Discuss draft management plan Mr. Maurer stated that the proposed management plan is not completed. He would like to separate out what the City and staff can do to control and what other types of animal control the homeowners can do. In regard to the Background portion, he would like to describe how the committee got formed and how the committee got to where it is today. With regard to the paragraph before Recommendations on the first page, he would like to explain that a lot of zones the DNR change based on hunters’ information and input. Mr. Hall stated the DNR establishes the square miles of habitat. Their method of habitat won’t work as there is a need to subtract water and cement (buildings). DNR has established the amount per square feet and those formulas won’t work. Their 25 per square mile calculation would be over the winter months. Mr. Maurer suggested that possibility of having a DNR personnel come back to the meetings in the future. Mr. Beeth stated he was in possession of a deer management plan from the DNR from 1998. He explained the metro ratios and noted that Oshkosh is considered a 30, but not a metro area. Ms. Hronis stated it is her hope that we can expand on the recommendations. Contraceptions just got approved in February. She still thinks this is something the committee can look at in conjunction with other methods. Mr. Maurer stated he will continue to monitor the contraception method. Ms. Suzuki inquired as to the disposition of an animal after it is shot? Does it go into a food pantry? Do the sharpshooters just shoot the females? Mr. Voss stated the sharpshooters cannot distinguish between the sexes since in the winter the deer drop their antlers. Mr. Cummings stated there are deer in the Bay Shore Drive area as well. Is there a protocol from when deer get off the beaten path? Who does a citizen call? What is the procedure? Mr. Hall stated he is surprised that hasn’t happen more often as this is the time that the deer are more active. Mr. Hall stated he read an article in Field and Stream which stated they are working on a new generation contraception. The individuals who contributed to the article are not in favor of it. Mr. Beeth stated since 2000, the City has been managing the geese population and inquired why is that? The goal is to maintain 35 adults and 15 juveniles – why are those numbers selected? Mr. Maurer stated it is due to public input and exploding numbers. Staff search the island and determine the number of nests/eggs. While it is hard to control that number, it is a number that staff can work toward. A question arose as to when staff oils the eggs, will the birds lay new eggs and/or build new nests? How would staff know? Mr. Maurer stated that typically the birds don’t want to move the eggs and staff does the oiling so that the eggs will not be bothered. Staff marks the nests so they are aware of which ones were oiled. Any eggs that staff oils must be reported to the USDA. Urban Wildlife Advisory Committee Minutes Page -3- MAY 24, 2010 Mr. Beeth inquired with respect to the 35 adults and 15 juveniles, would that have a time frame around it? He noted that in the draft management plan, under Egg Depredation, the sentence should end with “hatching” and not “birth”. Ms. Suzuki inquired as to the issue with dogs in the parks. Mr. Hall stated that is actually two separate issues. Dogs to haze the geese would only be for a short period of time. Mr. Hall stated dog hazing is not cost effective. Ms. Hronis suggested having prisoners walk the dogs similar to the Humane Society’s program. Mr. Maurer stated the City is required to pay prisoners $3 per day and noted there are some issues with prisoners in the parks. Ms. Hronis inquired as to how often adult birds are euthanized? Mr. Maurer stated mid-July when they are molting. Mr. Cummings suggested adding skunks to the list. Both his dog and him got sprayed once and it was not nice. Mr. Hall concurred with Mr. Cummings and stated skunks are the bigger disburser of rabies than raccoons. Mr. Cummings stated pelicans also should be added due to the amount of fish the pelicans are taking. He inquired if pelicans were protected? Mr. Maurer stated he would do some research on pelicans. Mr. Beeth stated all birds are protected unless there is a hunting season for them. Mr. Cummings suggested checking with Ripon staff as to management of deer. Mr. Beeth distributed a copy of an email he had received on April 10, 2010 depicting nine deer on the Vulcan Quarry. Mr. Maurer stated the DRN feels it is more of an accurate count with aerials. Mr. Beeth suggested that eye witness reports also be taken into consideration. An inquiry was made as to who a person should call to report skunks? Ms. Wendorf stated she refers the public to contact the DNR. (Mr. Streeter arrived at this time (5:40 PM) thereby making a 9-member Board) Ms. Hronis stated that the Humane Society has a contact list; otherwise the public could contact a pest control company. Mr. Hall stated that with coyotes, the best way to remove them is through trappings. Snares work perfectly if they are set so they only catch the animal and don’t choke them. They are legal in Wisconsin for coyotes and foxes, but are only good in January. They are contentious, but they are humane to use. Urban Wildlife Advisory Committee Minutes Page -4- MAY 24, 2010 Ms. Suzuki suggested we list what is legal or illegal to do with these nuisance animals (i.e. trapping, hunting, etc). Mr. Maurer stated staff could put a general comment on the City’s website about hunting and trapping seasons, as well as rules and regulations with reference to the DNR website. Ms. Crubaugh inquired as to when the survey would be scheduled. Mr. Maurer stated typically when snow is on the ground – December maybe. He stated a pre-season count would be nice. 4)Topics for next meeting (June 28, 2010) Mr. Maurer stated the new Parks Operations individual will be joining the committee at the next meeting, who has a good background on wildlife issues. He stated topics for the next meeting could include update of the draft management plan, update on the Quarry owners; and applying for a DNR grant. Ms. Hronis stated with respect to feral cats, there is a program in place at the Humane Society. She stated she has information on that for the committee if it becomes an issue. CITIZENS STATEMENTS Steve Barney, 1335 Winnebago, encouraged radio, television and website PSA’s on orphan wildlife information. He suggested the committee review the www.hsus.org and www.humanesociety.org website for information. ADJOURNMENT There being no other business, Motion by Hall for adjournment; seconded by Voss. Motion carried 9– 0. The meeting adjourned at 5:57 PM. Respectfully submitted, Trish Wendorf Recording Secretary