THE LAST MEAL
A mysterious decline of the bobcat, Lynx rufus, population on Kiawah Island, South Carolina piqued researchers’ curiosity a search for the culprit. They found that bobcats were inadvertently consuming rodenticide, a poison meant to kill rodents, by eating rats. Rodenticide does not kill instantly, so the poison is accumulating in bobcats that prey on the rats that ingested rodenticide. The Carnivore Ecology Creative Inquiry project, mentored by Dr. David Jachowski and graduate student Meghan Keating from the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, monitors this bobcat population through camera.
To monitor the bobcats, the Creative Inquiry team set up camera traps in different potential bobcat habitats around the island. The team then processes the photos to identify the species present. By doing so, they can monitor the abundance of bobcats and potential prey in each habitat. “We want to know what prey is out there, that way we can understand [the bobcat’s rodenticide consumption] based on what they’ve been eating, what they’re selecting for, if that has any influence on whether or not they are being exposed,” Keating said.
Creative Inquiry team knows the importance of communicating and advocating their findings to educate the community on pressing ecological issues. “You need everyone on the same page if you’re trying to do something,” Christian Blackburn, a junior wildlife and fisheries biology major, said. Large-scale change requires not only the knowledge provided by the researchers but the passions and advocacy of from the community.
The team collaborated with the Bobcat Guardian Program to develop a campaign for the residents on the island to stop the use of rodenticides or switch to a rodenticide without anticoagulants, chemicals that thins blood. Since the bobcats are famous on the island for providing excellent pest control services, many of the locals are reacting positively to these campaigns. “What we’re doing right now is testing to see whether this is an effective program and monitoring that population to see if that population is coming back [after decreased use of rodenticides],” Blackburn said. The students have been able to see the positive impact that community involvement has on recovering animal populations.
The team and the community members hope to see their collaboration make a positive impact on the bobcat population.