Wild Turkey Science

While at the Southeast Deer Study Group, Marcus and Will sit down to reflect on the recent predation episodes. They discuss key takeaways, lessons learned, and where mindsets began to shift. Paper: Palmer, William E., et al. "Effect of field borders and nest‐predator reduction on abundance of northern bobwhites." Wildlife Society Bulletin 33.4 (2005): 1398-1405. Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) (Academic Profile) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) (Academic Profile) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Produced by Charlotte Nowak

200 private landowners, 25,000+ acres of private land, years of data… on hundreds of birds!?! If you live or hunt in North Carolina this episode is a must-listen! Dr. Chris Moorman joins Marcus and Will to reveal details on a unique, multi-regional wild turkey research project taking place in the state of North Carolina. Stay tuned for a later NC research update for details on how the project is progressing. Dr. Chris Moorman (Academic Profile) Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) (Academic Profile) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) (Academic Profile) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fundv This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Produced by Charlotte Nowak

Dr. Bret Collier joins Marcus and Will to challenge the status quo of how we view wild turkey nest predation. Bringing a new perspective to how we define predators, Dr. Collier breaks down our conventional approach, while proposing a few new methods, to controlling wild turkey predation. Resources from the episode: Byrne, Michael E., and Michael J. Chamberlain. "Seasonal space use and habitat selection of adult raccoons (Procyon lotor) in a Louisiana bottomland hardwood forest." The American midland naturalist 166.2 (2011): 426-434. Dreibelbis, Justin Z., et al. "Predation of Rio Grande wild turkey nests on the Edwards Plateau, Texas." The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 120.4 (2008): 906-910. Fyffe, Nathan, et al. "Nesting perseverance by a female Gould's Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo mexicana) under multiple direct predation threats." The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 130.4 (2018): 1041-1047. Healy, W. M., and S. M. Powell. Wild turkey harvest management: biology, strategies, and techniques. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Technical Publication. BTP-R5001-1999, Washington DC, USA, 1999. Keever, Allison C., et al. "Early nest initiation and vegetation density enhance nest survival in Wild Turkeys: La iniciación temprana del nido y la densidad de la vegetación mejoran la supervivencia del nido en Meleagris gallopavo silvestris." Ornithology 140.1 (2023): ukac050. Schwertner, T. Wayne, Markus J. Peterson, and Nova J. Silvy. "Raccoon abundance and Rio Grande wild turkey production in central Texas." Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Vol. 58. 2004. Dr. Bret Collier (drshortspur) (Academic Profile) Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) (Academic Profile) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) (Academic Profile) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fundv This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Produced by Charlotte Nowak

With limited research on wild turkey predator trapping, Marcus and Will turn to Dr. Dwayne Elmore for his professional and personal experience with predator trapping across various game bird species. Join as they pull and apply concepts from the available body of literature to help us further understand predator control for wild turkeys. Resources from the episode: Ellis‐Felege, Susan N., et al. "Predator reduction results in compensatory shifts in losses of avian ground nests." Journal of Applied Ecology 49.3 (2012): 661-669. Messmer, Terry A., et al. "United States public attitudes regarding predators and their management to enhance avian recruitment." Wildlife Society Bulletin (1999): 75-85. Sanders, Heather Nicole. Impacts of invasive wild pigs on wild turkey reproductive success. Diss. Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 2017. Cooper, Susan M., and Tim F. Ginnett. "Potential effects of supplemental feeding of deer on nest predation." Wildlife Society Bulletin (2000): 660-666. Huang, Miranda HJ, et al. "Identifying Aflatoxin Exposure Risk from Supplemental Feeding of Deer." The Journal of Wildlife Diseases 58.2 (2022): 384-388. Dale, Leah L., Timothy J. O'Connell, and Dwayne Elmore. Aflatoxins in wildlife feed: Know how to protect wildlife. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, 2015. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Produced by Charlotte Nowak

Marcus and Will delve deeper into the research on wild turkey predator trapping. Join as they break down key findings, interpret study designs, discuss strengths and limitations, and continue the conversation of controversy surrounding wild turkey predator trapping. Resources from the episode: Speake, Daniel W. "Predation on wild turkeys in Alabama." 4th National Wild Turkey Symposium. Little Rock, Arkansas (USA). 2-5 Mar 1980.. 1980. Williams Jr, L. E., D. H. Austin, and T. E. Peoples. "Turkey nesting success on a Florida study area." 4th National Wild Turkey Symposium. Little Rock, Arkansas (USA). 2-5 Mar 1980.. 1980. Gulsby, William D., et al. "White‐tailed deer fawn recruitment before and after experimental coyote removals in central Georgia." Wildlife Society Bulletin 39.2 (2015): 248-255. Smith, Rebecca K., et al. "Effectiveness of predator removal for enhancing bird populations." Conservation Biology 24.3 (2010): 820-829. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Produced by Charlotte Nowak

What eats turkeys? Has the predator context changed? We give you a look from the literature, historical writings, discuss underrepresented predators, and breakdown important concepts in predator prey dynamics. Resources from the episode: Chitwood et al. 2020. Raccoon Vigilance and Activity Patterns When Sympatric with Coyotes Gulsby et al. 2017 Landscape heterogeneity reduces coyote predation on white-tailed deer fawns Kelly et al. 2015. Seasonal and Spatial Variation in Diets of Coyotes in Central Georgia Nelson et al. 2022. Fine-scale resource selection and behavioral tradeoffs of eastern wild turkey broods Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Produced by Charlotte Nowak

Thank you for the overwhelmingly positive feedback. We felt compelled to address major themes in the questions y'all gave us from the first topic series. Here we address several major questions and also highlight things brought to our attention by the audience. Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Produced by Charlotte Nowak

Is the science settled? Will and Marcus have a deep discussion about what we learned from the first few episodes, what data we have, what is missing, and where we should go from here. Paper: Considerations for Timing of Spring Wild Turkey Hunting Seasons in the Southeastern United States Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Donate to wild turkey research: UF Turkey Donation Fund , Auburn Turkey Donation Fund Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, go to turkeysfortomorrow.org. Produced by Charlotte Nowak

In this episode, Dr. Mike Chamberlain discusses various aspects of wild turkey biology and ecology, signs of problems across many states, how hunter harvest could be contributing to wild turkey decline, and potential solutions. Paper: Status and distribution of wild turkeys in theUnited States in 2019 Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Click here to donate to wild turkey research. Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, check out turkeysfortomorrow.org. Produced by Charlotte Nowak

In this episode, Adam Butler gives us an historical context for wild turkey population dynamics and reveals results from the ongoing season date manipulation across several wild turkey populations in Mississippi. Paper: Considerations for Timing of Spring Wild Turkey Hunting Seasons in the Southeastern United States Help us help turkeys by rating this podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. Click here to donate to wild turkey research. Dr. Marcus Lashley (DrDisturbance) Dr. Will Gulsby (dr_will_gulsby) UF DEER Lab (ufdeerlab) Turkeys for Tomorrow (turkeysfortomorrow) This podcast is made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization dedicated to the wild turkey. To learn more about TFT, check out turkeysfortomorrow.org. Produced by Charlotte Nowak