BIG WOODS HARE HUNTERS OF THE ALLEGHENY: 09/30/19

From the Big Woods of the Allegheny Plateau and the Wilds of Pennsylvania

Presents

UPDATE

TROUBLE IN PARADISE

This article was first printed in the October 2019 issue of

the american beagler
magazine.
and
the November 2019 issue of the
THE RABBIT HUNTER
magazine

This article is reprinted here under the authority of the author for your reading pleasure.

Written and photographed

Joe Ewing

High HareMan

Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny

NOW INCLUDING A STUDY

High on the Allegheny, deep in the heart of paradise.

In the distance can be seen the ruins of the Kinzua Viaduct, now called the Kinzua Sky Walk. The bridge at one time was the highest railroad viaduct in the world and spanned the entire 2052-foot Kinzua Creek valley.

A couple of months back I presented my opinion in this publication and I labelled the article, “TROUBLE IN PARADISE”. I listed the difficulties cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hare, turkey and ruffed grouse are having finding suitable nesting and escape cover on the Allegheny High Plateau and, possibly, in all the forests of Pennsylvania. In my article I declared, “Hard times for the magnificent snowshoe hare and other small game animals like the ruffed grouse and eastern cottontail rabbits are here, now, on the Allegheny and no one is doing anything about it”. Wild game everywhere is suffering from lack of suitable habitat whether it’s from over development caused by the persistent incursion of civilization or from modern farming practises.

I’m proud to report there is someone doing something about the problem and they are working hard. The Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) is improving habitat for grouse in many places in the United States and in doing so they are helping other small creatures. The Allegheny Chapter of the RGS has taken on the challenge on the Allegheny Plateau.

I blamed the problem on the lack of suitable forest management. I also stated, “In the twentieth century, white-tailed deer emerged as one of the greatest threats to Pennsylvania’s forests. Pennsylvania’s deer population exploded devastating the state’s forests. Escape cover, nesting cover, and food sources became severely limited for the snowshoe hare as well as ruffed grouse, woodcock, cottontail, turkey and many non-game species including songbirds”.

We are headlong into the twenty-first century now and I believe my statement could not be truer. The over population of whitetail deer is the principal cause of Pennsylvania’s loss of forest biodiversity. The massive deer herd is a major hazard to food sources, escape cover and nesting cover for all small animals.

I monitor the information, including misinformation, from road-roaming, tree-sitting, deer slayers crying, “there are no deer in Pennsylvania”. If you believe there are no deer in PA just ask Allstate® auto insurance company, timber industry foresters or, especially, a beagler with a deer chasing hound. The whitetail deer has completely and irrevocably devastated the forests of PA. The majority of big game hunters do not care about small animals; however, it’s about the balance of nature, the ecosystem, stupid!

I’m pleased to reveal other voices are in agreement with my statements on the subject. A retired Allegheny National Forest (ANF) biologist named Mary Hosmer, of Ridgway, Pennsylvania, a member of the Allegheny Chapter of the RGS, and a member of the Rolfe Beagle Club in Johnsonburg submitted an article on a once very important piece of plant life on the high plateau of the Allegheny called “hobblebush”. Never heard of hobblebush? Nor had I and I was born and raised high atop the northern mountains of PA.

Ms. Hosmer’s article (July 5th, 2019 issue of the PENNSYLVANIA Outdoor News) asserts hobblebush as an incredibly important food source for animals “up until the early 20^th century”, Hosmer declares, “Hobblebush has almost vanished from the landscape here in northern Pennsylvania.” Hosmer asserts, “The once plentiful shrub with beautiful white flowers and high-energy berries disappeared once the deer herd exploded and overwhelmed their habitat.”

Rolfe Beagle Club member, Mary Hosmer and the High Hareman.

I’ve been monitoring Ms. Hosmer’s exceptional efforts since 2014 when she was named a “Field & Stream Hero of Conservation”. A Field & Stream (the magazine) Hero of Conservation is someone who spends his or her own time working to create, improve, or restore fish and wildlife habitat. Hosmer is leading a 10-year project to restore and manage 1,500 acres of private industrial timberland, which are open to hunting, and her efforts are helping improve conditions for ruffed grouse, woodcock, deer, and snowshoe hares.

Hosmer is leading an effort to reestablish a once very important piece of vegetation on the high plateau of the Allegheny. Hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides), also called witch-hobble, alder-hobble, alder-leaved viburnum, American wayfaring tree and moosewood, may grow to 12 feet high with overhanging branches that take root where they touch the ground. These embedded branches form obstacles which easily trip walkers and hobble horses, hence the common name. The understory shrub forms large clusters of white to pink flowers in May to June. The fruit is red and transforms to black when ripe. Animals and birds, both large and small, feed on the fruit, twigs and leaves.

Pictures: Courtesy of Bing pictures.

Hobblebush, leaves and flowers.

Hosmer writes, “Like all of nature, if you take out or remove one piece you have the capacity to create unplanned havoc elsewhere. Hobblebush is a perfect example of the unraveling of an entire ecosystem across northern Pennsylvania. And once the deer decimated the hobblebush across Pennsylvania, the hungry animals wiped out other beneficial understory shrubs such as dogwoods, viburnums, grapes, berries and turned the once-thriving forest into a biological desert. Small wildlife had no place left to hide.”

The Allegheny Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society has a fencing project planned for this summer in McKean County, Pennsylvania to prevent deer from devouring hobblebush plants. The RGS chapter is fencing an acre of hobblebush seedlings to keep the deer out and allow the hobblebush to grow, produce flowers and berries for future wildlife. The plan is: birds will re-establish hobblebush seedlings across the landscape.

I have pointed out numerous times the advantages of deer exclosure fences. In the case of hobblebush, RGS’s fence will be a “hobblebush enclosure”. In Hosmer’s article she declares, “Enter some enlightened biologists and conservationists that discovered the beneficial aspects of deer fencing to protect habitat for other wildlife. Despite the high cost at almost $3 a linear foot to buy and install, some forward-thinking organizations and agencies are using this conservation technique to shelter these rare hobblebush plants as they find them in today’s forests.”

The Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny applauds the members of the Allegheny Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society and Mary Hosmer for their dedicated conservation work on the Allegheny Plateau. They have become an inspiration to many.

In another article in the same newspaper titled, “Habitat growing focus for turkey management” writer Kyle Hey comments on the deterioration of adequate wild turkey habitat. Hey writes that while the wild turkey has made a remarkable comeback from near destruction, “The deterioration of adequate wild turkey habitat has magnified the impacts of increased predation, extreme weather, and hunting pressure – causing a precipitous decline in Pennsylvania’s turkey population since its peak in 2002.”

Writer Kyle Hey, from Mechanicsburg, PA, a history teacher by trade, wears many hats in the great outdoors which includes managing a facebook page and a blog/website called, RELEVANT OUTDOORS (http://relevantoutdoors.blogspot.com/). He is a board member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association (POWA) and an award-winning author. He told me, “My writing passions are conservation/habitat, whitetail hunting, and turkey hunting.” Hey also belongs to Backcountry Hunters and Anglers as well as Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA), “because of their habitat and public access emphasis”. Hey’s complete article on turkey habitat can found on his blog.

Hey quotes the chief forester for the PGC, David Gustafson, “Well thought-out timber harvests that change forest age classes and create different structures are beneficial for turkeys. We make sure we are looking at the entire life cycle of a turkey and all the different forest components. That sunlight also stimulates the growth of numerous grasses and forbes that turkeys feed on, as well as supporting more diverse and abundant insect life.”

Two hens and their broods quickly disappear into the cover on the Allegheny.

In his enlightening and informative article Hey quotes PGC biologists, foresters and PGC managers on what they think is needed, what is beneficial and what they plan on doing about the problem, but, Hey states, “Unfortunately, much of the state is dominated by single age class forests and other monocultures of habitat.” Hey goes on, “Robust turkey habitat requires diversity. The interspersion of different habitat types, such as young forests, thermal cover, old-growth forests, and herbaceous openings, work in concert to meet the diverse needs of wild turkeys throughout the year.”

The Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny are confident the statements Hey makes are true for wild turkey as well as ruffed grouse, cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hare and all types of small beings. Nowhere in Hey’s article does he or the PGC mention the ever-present competition from whitetail deer.

Hey finishes his article by saying, “As the scope of the impact of predation, disease and other factors continues to become evident, proper habitat management will become increasingly crucial to stabilize wild turkey populations.”

The Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny interpret the “other factors” Hey eludes to as being the whitetail deer herd and the “proper habitat management” which he claims is becoming “increasingly crucial” as being a reduction in the deer herd.

The PGC manages 1.5 million acres of state game lands in Pennsylvania (more acreage than the state of Delaware) of which, the article states, are 93% covered in trees. We feel if the game commission could only recognize the impact of the over populated deer herd and massive single age class forests all species, including deer, would be far better off.

As I stated in my previous articles, “Our public forests are in desperate need of improved management. More trees need cut. Selective-cutting does not work. Selective-cutting or 'selection cutting' moves a forest towards an uneven-aged or all-aged condition. Trees are a crop that require harvesting in a timely manner. Clear-cutting small patches of timber every few years creates a mixed age forest. The forests need timber harvests that change forest age classes."

In Pennsylvania whitetail is king and I fully understand deer hunting is a near religious experience and it may be severely perilous, even blasphemy, to speak out against whitetail deer; however, it’s about the ecosystem and the balance of nature.

I am just an old snowshoe hare hunter who sometimes doesn’t know up from down, however, the writing is on the tree, sorta speak. We must let our public officials know what we perceive, expect and what the snowshoe hare and other small game animals require to survive. It’s time we get serious about small animals and the ecosystem. The rhetoric must stop and action is essential.

The eastern forests of North America were once a perfectly balanced ecosystem. One day our forests will return to their once divine state, but this will be a thousand years after humans disappear from the face of the Earth.

Thanks for listening.

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