We are conducting surveys, monitoring, and research on cougars (puma, mountain lion) on the Ladder Ranch in south-central New Mexico. Here, cougars are of particular interest given their effects on state-endangered desert bighorn sheep and other valuable big game. These projects are also resources for training and education, most notably through the Cougar Field Workshop.

Monday, September 11, 2006


As previously mentioned, Furman has purchased a Lotek GPS 4400 M Argos collar for the project. The collar has both VHF and GPS capability. The photo shows this particular make and model of collar. GPS fixes will be transmitted to the Argos system and then relayed back to TESF. The collar is currently programmed to record 4 fixes every 24 hours, giving us the cougar's location to within ~ 4m, with differential correction, as it travels through the New Mexico landscape. These data will provide us with an uncommon look at the ecology of one of North America's most inspiring and controversial predators. Now all we have to do is capture a cougar to collar! More on that coming soon...

posted by Dr. Perry at 3:17 PM

1 Comments:

Blogger Dr. Perry said...

Scott, one of the challenges faced by management is the diversity of situations, species, and even behaviors within species that can create a "what works here won't work there" situation. However, there is no doubt that we have not exhausted (to say the least) our creativity or our efforts to borrow knowledge in the pursuit of alternative predator management plans.

7:49 PM

 

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