AUTHORS: Grace Milanowski, University of Minnesota Extension; Ellen Candler, University of Alaska; Amy Rager, University of Minnesota Extension; Joseph Bump, University of Minnesota
ABSTRACT: The Offal Wildlife Watching project is a participatory science project that engages the deer hunting community in wildlife research. The goal of the project is to better understand the ecology of scavenger species that visit deer gut piles across Minnesota and to create a novel and meaningful program for hunter participation in research. We recruit and invite hunters to deploy remote cameras at white-tailed deer gut piles that resulted from their freshly killed deer. Thus far over 180 hunters have contributed images and recorded at least 60 different scavenger species over 6 seasons. We will present results of scavenger community biodiversity at hunter provided carrion, and visit/use dynamics across biomes. We will share successes and challenges from creating collaborations across sectors such as citizen hunting groups, the public, and researchers and recommendations for how this project can be adapted to other hunted species, biomes, and states. The results from this research will not only inform policy makers regarding protection and preservation of scavengers, but also contribute to the growing field of carrion ecology and establish data needed to clarify the impact that an anthropogenic, consolidated, and large pulse of carrion has on scavenger species.
