Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report

Unity College Bear Study
Third Year Report – 2015
Jonah Gula, Margaret (Peggy) Hogan, and George Matula
Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
2015 Executive Summary
During the 2014/2015 school year, eleven student teams were actively involved in a wide variety
of UCBS activities, from scat and DNA analyses to developing educational programs for area
schools. The first field work of 2015 took place on February 28 when the 2014 summer team and
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) biologists visited females UC004 and
UC013 (the remaining collared bears from the 2014 trapping season) in their winter dens. Each
female had one male and one female cub, which were the first cubs handled and tagged during
the study.
Culvert traps were deployed on April 24, 2015 before classes ended, and the official trapping
season began on May 18 and ended on July 29. The summer crew consisted of two student
leaders and eight student interns. The student leaders were returnees from summer 2014, and
alumnus Jonah Gula returned as the project’s field coordinator. The crew acquired permissions
from 107 landowners and established 182 prebait/trap sites (40 trap sites) across an 80-squaremile area. The maximum number of prebait and trap sites out at once was 151, and the maximum
number of traps out was 49 at 24 different sites. The crew trapped for 2,026 trap nights over a
period of 97 days. Trapping efforts resulted in two bear captures –the recapture of UC012 and the
initial capture of UC025– both of which were radio-collared. Radio collars were also deployed on
two orphan yearling females released in Unity Township in partnership with MDIFW. By the end of
August, 2015, over 1,500 radio-locations had been accumulated from the five bears wearing
GPS/satellite collars.
Lab work, conducted concurrently with the field season, was expanded to include a broader
spectrum of hematology and parasitology analyses. More refined and accurate DNA analyses
were also conducted on different DNA sample sources (blood, tissue, hair, and foot pad), as well as
foot pad and hair samples from MDIFW bears.
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Introduction
During the 2014/2015 school year, eleven student teams were involved in a wide variety of UCBS
activities, from scat and DNA analyses, to developing educational programs for area schools
(APPENDIX I). Students volunteer for these teams and integrate their UCBS involvement into
demanding academic schedules. Contributions of these teams often provide critical support for
summer field season efforts and greatly broadens the scope of the UCBS. Members of these
teams are often chosen to serve as leaders, interns, or volunteers during the summer trapping
season.
The 2015 trapping season was unusually slow and resulted in only two bear captures. Despite the
lack of bears this year, the summer crew worked incredibly hard to expand trapping efforts to new
areas in Burnham, Detroit, Plymouth, and Troy. With the support of 76 new landowners and other
contributors (APPENDIX II), the crew established 127 sites (APPENDIX III) that had not been used in
previous years, as well as set more traps than either of the past two field seasons. With a
significantly greater number of remote cameras, the crew was able to more closely monitor bear
and non-target activity to gain a better understand of how to improve trapping and baiting sites in
the future.
Hematology and parasitology analyses were improved, and DNA analyses were expanded to
include additional sample types plus samples from MDIFW bears.
MDIFW Support
MDIFW showed continued support of UCBS’s research efforts over the last year. Biologists,
including Randy Cross, Kendall Marden, and Lisa Bates, contributed technically and logistically to
the 2015 season. Den visits in February were orchestrated by Lisa, Kendall, and seasonal
technicians Jake Feener and Mitch Jackman. We kept in close contact with Randy, Kendall, and Lisa
about logistics as we prepared for the summer, as well as during the trapping period. Wardens
Jonathan Parker and Aaron Cross were also supportive of our efforts. Randy Cross worked closely
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
with Dr. Peggy Hogan to provide DNA samples and associated metadata from bears handled by
MDIFW.
Unity College Support
Unity College faculty and staff contributed many hours of their time to ensure that the study’s
needs were met. President Stephen Mulkey, Vice President of External Affairs Melik Khoury, Vice
President of Academic Affairs Michael Evans, and Chief Financial Officer Deborah Cronin helped
with administrative details and logistics. Jennifer Whelan and Stacey Hachey supplied critical
administrative assistance with purchases, as did Jill Miller and Beth Safford. Sarah Conroy helped
with the hiring of those that worked during the summer. Kate Gilbert and Debora Noone
contributed with outreach and student summer housing. Deb Noone and Joe Saltalamachia also
provided continued support in the admissions department. Nicole Collins and Reeta Benedict
helped to organize and advertise the student internship positions for the summer. Lisa Nason,
Sandy Olsen, Sandra Abbott-Stout, and Alisha Ward made important technical equipment
available from the library during the summer. Leigh Juskevice helped extensively with purchasing
supplies, as well as with getting UCBS decals in the bookstore. Dan LaForge, Aimee Dorval, and
other maintenance staff helped with vehicle logistics, finding space for equipment, and much
more. Public Safety always made themselves available to pump gas or unlock buildings for the
summer crew as well. Mike Chesk provided extensive IT support and helped with all technological
issues the project encountered.
Dr. George Matula continued as the project leader and handled administrative duties, advised field
efforts, and oversaw bear captures. Dr. Peggy Hogan returned as an assistant coordinator and
helped fine-tune data collection, sample analyses, logistics, and the growing database. This
summer she also continued as lab supervisor and assisting at bear captures.
Features, Presentations, and Publications
WLBZ’s Trident Outdoors aired an episode in October 2014 featuring UCBS, and the visit to
UC013’s den was featured on ABC and Fox news channels. Two oral presentations were given by
UCBS students at the 71st Annual Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference in Newport, Rhode Island
in April 2015: Jonah Gula presented on his senior thesis research, and both he and Mariana Rivera
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Rodriguez presented on the educational and research value of the project. Two articles about
bears and UCBS by Jonah were featured in the fall issues of the Maine Wildlifer and the
International Bear News. Jonah also completed his senior thesis analyzing spatial use of UCBS
females in comparison to MDIFW females in northern Maine. On July 21, 2015, WABI 5 news
featured a story about UCBS’s summer trapping effort.
2015 Field Season Details
Den Visits
On February 28, MDIFW biologists assisted UCBS
members in immobilizing and extracting adult
females UC004 and UC013 – the remaining
collared bears from 2014 – from their winter dens.
UC013 was denned in an old dirt/rock wall created
by a bulldozer in the town of Ripley. She had two,
Cub of UC013
seven-pound cubs (UC019 and UC020), which
were the first cubs handled and marked during the study. In addition to measuring and collecting
samples from the cubs, data were collected from their 225-pound mother, whose GPS/satellite
collar was replaced. UC004 denned in a hole under a tree stump in Burnham, and her cubs (UC021
and UC022) weighed roughly
two pounds each. At three
years old, she reproduced
unusually early and weighed
90 pounds. Her video collar
was replaced, and we were
rewarded with roughly 20
hours of footage of
behaviors such as sleeping,
foraging, swimming, and
UC013 and UCBS Crew
interacting with other bears.
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Summer Crew
The 2015 summer crew was made up of ten students. Brandon Cross and Leon Burman, who both
worked on the project during summer 2014, returned as team leaders, and alumnus Jonah Gula
returned for his third year on the project as the summer field coordinator. Brandon and Leon led
two different teams, which alternated shifts. Each team had three students whose primary duties
were to set and maintain prebait and trap sites, and work with landowners. The student interns
were Madison Crane, Courtney Dotterweich, Shannon Johnson, Jennifer Meineke, Mikayla
Peaslee, and Andrew Slack. The field crews worked devotedly to maximize chances of capturing
bears, often putting in over twelve-hour work days. At the two captures this summer, they learned
how to handle and collect data from bears. Overall, the interns were exposed to many aspects of
what it takes to conduct a wildlife research study.
The laboratory crew, comprised of interns Hailey Glasko and Michelle Plance and supervised by Dr.
Peggy Hogan, were responsible for organizing data, developing protocols, conducting lab work,
working with landowners, and when needed, assisting the field crew. They were also involved in
handling captured bears.
Captures
Since May 2013, UCBS has had 34 captures of 23 different bears, and has worked with MDIFW to
collar and release an additional two bears, both orphans, in Unity. During the 2015 trapping
season, both bear captures were in Aldrich cable traps, and eleven raccoons were incidentally
captured in culvert traps. Details of the bears handled during the 2015 trapping season follow.

UC012 was originally captured on May 28, 2014 and weighed 165 pounds. On June 7, 2015,
he was recaptured and fitted with a GPS/satellite collar. Although not weighed at capture,
he was estimated to be 225 pounds. Between June 7 and July 20, he traveled across an
area over 500 square miles, crossing Interstate-95 six times and the Kennebec and
Sebasticook Rivers two times each. He was also likely responsible for cannibalizing UC023,
one of the released orphans.
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Summer crew taking break after handling UC012

UC023 was an obese, orphaned female yearling found in February 2015 in Dexter. She was
brought to Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation in New Sharon, where she was estimated
to be 130 pounds. On June 8, 2015 she was released with a GPS/satellite collar in Unity and
weighed 87 pounds. On July 10, UC023 was found cannibalized; she was most likely killed
by UC012 based on his GPS locations.

UC024 was also an orphaned female yearling rehabilitated at Second Chance Wildlife
Rehabilitation. She was released together with UC023 on June 8 and weighed 39 pounds.
Due to her size, she was fitted with a small, store-on-board GPS collar.
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Yearling orphan UC024 being released to the wild

UC025, a 180 pound male, was the only new bear captured during the 2015 trapping
season. He was captured and collared on July 15 in Troy. He was subsequently documented
expanding his home range over a large area.
Courtney Dotterweich placing a radio collar on UC025
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Other Accomplishments
Hailey Glasko and Michelle Plance worked with Dr. Hogan in the lab in support of the field efforts.
Some of the tasks they accomplished and skills they learned included the following.
Blood Analysis
Hailey and Michelle learned to draw blood samples from the femoral veins of bears using the
Vacutainer system, and to obtain serum from those samples. They measured hematocrits (Packed
Cell Volume (PCV)) from whole blood, and used a hemocytometer to determine red blood and
white blood cell counts. They prepared peripheral, blood thin films, stained them with WrightGiemsa stain, completed white blood cell differentials, scanned for erythrocyte abnormalities, and
developed and completed Blood Sample Analysis Worksheets.
Scat/Parasite Analysis
In preparation for scat/parasite analyses, they generated sample collection forms and Scat Sample
Analysis Worksheets. Lab analyses included conducting float and direct mount preparations and
observations, and conducting microscopic analyses and documentation, including morphometric
analyses of parasites.
DNA Analysis
Tasks for DNA analyses included preparation of Agarose and microsatellite primers, using spin
column and silica based methods to extract DNA from hair, footpads, tissue, and whole blood, and
determining DNA concentration using spectrophotometry. They also gained experience in
horizontal electrophoresis, thermal cycling (PCR), documenting microsatellite gels, and generating
Sample Analysis Worksheets.
Database Maintenance
Database maintenance skills included developing and refining data entry forms, ensuring quality
control of the user interface, and entering current and legacy information. These are critical skills
needed to ensure the integrity of the master Access database for UCBS.
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Standard Operating Procedures
Hailey and Michelle spent considerable time generating standard operating procedures on
standardized forms for many of UCBS’s field and laboratory procedures.
General Laboratory Skills
Hailey and Michelle also learned or refined many general laboratory skills including, but not
limited to, time and data management, pipetting/aliquoting, staining, placing permanent cover
slips on microscope slides, preparing buffers and other solutions, calibrating the microscope
camera, and measuring microscope images.
Hailey Glasko conducting DNA analysis
Michelle Plance preparing DNA samples
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Microsatellite Report
The DNA of 25 unique bears (from seasons 2013, 2014, and 2015) was isolated from either blood,
hair, or tissue, and microsatellite primer pairs and electrophoresis parameters for bear DNA
analysis were optimized. Each bear was tested against the following panel of microsatellite loci:
AMEL, G1A, G1D, G10M, G10C, G10L, G10B, G10P, G10H, Mu50, and Mu23. AMEL was used to
determine the sex of the animal
Number of alleles per locus:
Locus
# alleles
G1A
7
G1D
10
G10B
8
G10C
6
G10H
4
G10L
10
G10M
6
G10P
8
Mu23
6
Mu50
4
AMEL
2
The development of 3 additional hypervariable loci (G10J, G10X, and G10U) is currently underway
to correct for the comparatively low number of alleles found in Mu50 and G10H.
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Preliminary Findings
At her capture in June 2014, UC004 was the second two-year-old female in estrous captured
during the study. Females in MDIFW’s study areas generally don’t give birth for the first time until
five years old, so UC004’s successful reproduction is unusual. This early reproduction may be
indicative of high-quality habitat in south-central Maine. Jonah Gula’s senior thesis research
revealed that the five females collared on the project showed strong selection for wetland
habitats, which may be of high-quality based on their vegetation composition, thermoregulatory
regime, and remoteness from human activity. Also, UC003 and UC004’s early estrous provides
additional evidence that these wetland areas are of high quality.
In spring 2015, UCBS also acquired bear/vehicle collision data from the Maine Department of
Transportation (MDOT), which revealed 18 bear/vehicle collisions in Wildlife Management District
(WMD) 23 since 1992, including three collision mortalities of UCBS tagged bears. Ten of the
collisions were between 2010 and 2014, and 15 were on Interstate-95. This new information
suggests that vehicle collision mortalities may have a significant impact on bear recolonization in
WMD 23. If the UCBS moves forward, we hope to collar more bears to understand what role
vehicle/bear collisions play in influencing population dynamics. We have also established a
partnership with the MDOT and with MDIFW wardens to report bear road kills to us to allow for
data collection on untagged roadkill bears.
Culmination of three years of DNA analyses resulted in the ability to identify each of the bears
handled by UCBS by their DNA fingerprint. Work on identifying relationships of the UCBS bears
and MDIFW bears through DNA analysis continues.
The Future
If all goes well, and all the collared bears and the cubs survive to denning, we could be handling up
to nine bears in their dens including UC013 and her yearlings (UC019 and UC020), UC004 and her
yearlings (UC021 and UC022), the orphan UC024, and males UC012 and UC025, which would result
in a dramatic increase in the number of radio-collared bears we have on the air. That would also
give us the opportunity to continue monitoring the yearling bears and documenting dispersal of
yearling bears in the study area.
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
During the 2015-16 school year, the Education Team under the leadership of Stephanie Campau
and faculty advisor Dr. Jennifer Cartier, is fine tuning programs at several educational levels and
reaching out to local schools to present bear programs to them. Dr. Jennifer Clark and her student
are analyzing 20+ hours of video-camera data from UC014 and UC004. Dr. Peggy Hogan is refining
the massive Access database, which houses most of the UCBS data, including protocols, photos,
and videos. The Scat Team, under the leadership of Hailey Glasko and faculty advisor Dr. Cheryl
Frederick, is continuing to analyze the numerous bear scats collected during the past three field
seasons.
Currently, the UCBS does not have funding to support another summer field season, so Unity
College personnel are seeking funding from outside sources to continue the study on a long-term
basis.
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
APPENDIX I
Unity College Bear Study Teams
2014-15
Protocol Team
Leader: Ericka Buckreis
Primary Advisor: Peggy Hogan
1. Elle Gilchrist
2. Michelle Plance
3. Monica Spatafore
Media Team
Leader: Meghan Maloney
Primary Advisor: Christian Carlson
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Nick Scotti
Michelle Plance
Celie Pierre
Monica Spatafore
Tara Tschritter
Outreach Team
Co-leaders: Mariana Rivera Rodriguez and Briana Johnson
Primary Advisor: Tom Mullin
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Jen Driscoll
Hannah Morrison
Mikkaela Scott
Sam Pendred
Jennifer Meineke
Michelle Plance
GIS Team
Leader: Taylor Follette
Primary Advisor: Brent Bibles
1. Katherine Trickey
2. Monica Spatafore
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Landowner and Prebaiting Team
Leader: Leon Burman
Primary Advisor: George Matula
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Jacob Maione
Chelsea Thomson
Ryan Harris
Alivia Acosta
Jeana Coppa
Mikayla Peaslee
Mariah Ramirez
Education Team
Leader: Meghan Carter
Primary Advisor: Gerry Saunders and Jennifer Cartier
1. Greg LeClair
2. Rachel Yanchuk
3. Megan Brown
4. Hannah-Lee LaCroix
5. Laurel Sullivan
6. Kevin Connolly
7. Brianna Johnson
8. Brittney Kunst
9. Elizabeth Comstock
10. Tiffany DeMell
11. Stephanie Campau
12. Stephany Dumond
13. McKinly (Kiki) Bell
14. Neil D’Acierno
15. Brian Fisher
16. Josh Goldowsky
17. Jake Scoville
Documentation Team
Leader: Samantha McGarrigle
Primary Advisor: George Matula
1. Samantha McGarrigle
2. Amanda Zarek
3. Jen Driscoll
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
Scat Team
Leader: McKinley (Kiki) Bell
Primary Advisor: Cheryl Frederick
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Elliot Moran
Madison Crane
Grace Chorpenning
Hailey Glasko
Serina Ju
Celie Pierre
Trail Camera Behavior Team
Leader: Courtney Dotterweich
Primary Advisor: Cheryl Frederick
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Bridget Burns
Miranda Grato
Alexandra Pesano
Alicia Arsenault
Amanda Hathaway
Statistics Team
Leader: TBD
Primary Advisor: Barry Woods
Grants Team
Leader: Jonah Gula
Primary Advisor: George Matula
1. McKinley (Kiki) Bell
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
APPENDIX II
List of 2015 Project Contributors
•
Bessey Land Company
•
Bingham Land Company
•
Chase Toy, Inc.
•
Unity Shop’n Save
•
Herring Brother’s Meats
•
Jason’s Butcher Shop
•
Maine Chapter of the Safari Club International
•
Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
•
Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund
•
Parson’s Small Engine
•
Philip Buker
•
Plum Creek Timberlands
•
Safari Club International Foundation
•
TA’s Automotive
•
Unity College Alumni
•
USDA Wildlife Services
•
Venator Foundation
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Unity College Bear Study Third Year Report
APPENDIX III
2015 Prebait and Trap Sites
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