By ZACH SMITH
There's no hospital at Peck Ranch Conservation Area, but every summer since 2012 the area has transformed into a four-legged nursery for Missouri's restoration elk herd.
Since the original elk were transplanted to Missouri from Kentucky six years ago, their number has grown from around 90 animals to 140. Toward an eventual goal of 400 to 500, that's slow growth, but Dave Hasenbeck, elk program manager for the Missouri Department of Conservation, says that measured pace has been good for public perception of the project.
"Anyone who might have had some concerns is seeing that we aren't being swamped by elk," Dave says, adding a popular misconception is that the herd is one day intended to populate the entire state. "When we do have a large population and elk on some folks' pastures, we will help them deal with it --- but we're just not seeing it at this point."
Over time the elk seem to have developed an affinity for their release site, sticking primarily to the boundaries of Peck Ranch, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and Current River Conservation Area. This area near Winona was chosen by MDC for having the lowest population density and number of roads but also the highest percentage of public land. Dave adds the department works with more than 75 cooperators in the area who are actively engaged in some type of land management practice that benefit the elk and nearly 100 other plant and animal species endemic to the woodlands.
For the four-member research crew working at Peck Ranch this summer, monitoring the herd's growth is a mixture of science and art. Using GPS satellites, the crew tracks the location of elk that were collared and given implants over the winter. The goal is to record and analyze the data provided by all of this high-tech equipment, then use intuition and field knowledge to determine when an expectant mom has given birth. The better they can track the movements of mother and child, the better chance the team has of getting a collar and microchip on the calf.
"It's difficult because you're trying to guess based on behavior, and animal behavior is pretty subjective," says crew leader Brittany Peterson, an elk research specialist. Although the team likes to find the calf as soon as possible after birth, they aren't always so lucky. One baby this year managed to avoid detection until it was almost a week old and harder to capture, so the team noted the birth and let it go uncollared.
"We don't want to attempt it when we have so much going on because it's going to be fighting us, it's going to be vocal -- let's cut our losses," she says. "I'm OK with missing one. We probably wouldn't be able to catch it anyway, and nothing is more embarrassing than being outrun by a seven-day old."
The Chase
Calving events are the big moments the crew anticipates, but there's little downtime for the technicians. Collar and implant signals have to be monitored, so two techs drive around the refuge and surrounding area twice a day to make sure the equipment is still transmitting data. Whoever isn't on active duty is standing by to assist in case there's a birth.
"Emma was supposed to have her day off, and I got to wake her up at 6 a.m.," Brittany says of tech Emma Kring. "That's fieldwork. It's very mercurial and it takes a certain personality to do it, but I love it."
Using telemetry equipment, the researchers dial in to frequencies specific to each collar or implant and listen for barely perceptible codes embedded in the signals. To the untrained ear these clicks sound like static, but they communicate the last several hours of activity for each animal. Other implants are more sophisticated, sending an email to the research crew the moment it detects a change in temperature and light that is usually associated with a calving event. At 2:30 a.m. on this early June day the team receives such a message.
Light breaks over Shannon County and the team fans out across a food plot near Thorny Mountain. Research Technician Emily Burkholder takes the lead with the telemetry equipment tracking the dropped implant while Brittany scans the field and woods with forward-looking infrared, or FLIR, binoculars which detect the animal's thermal signature. Dave and Emma back them up, looking for signs of a mom or calf. Emily locates the implant where it appears elk bedded down, but a search of the field and woods reveals nothing. The team checks the cow's location with satellite data and returns to Thorny in the evening. Just as she is spotted, she bolts. Her umber coat melts into the timber and vanishes.
"That happens sometimes," Brittany says as the team reconvenes at the trucks. "Check her points and see if she clusters; that's all we can do for now."
Although this particular chase doesn't end with a collared calf, there are still plenty of elk on the ranch when dusk approaches. As Brittany and Dave drive back through the valley about 30 elk graze about the food plots. Others are scattered about the ridge tops as day gives way to a brilliant sunset.
The best times of day to view elk on the driving tour inside Peck Ranch are during the twilight hours around sunrise and sunset, when the fields fill not only with elk but also whitetail deer and wild turkeys. Dave adds Log Yard access on the Current River is a good bet for spotting bull elk between June and September.
Death and Life in Shannon County
The spread of a bull elk's antlers defines majesty, and unfortunately at least one poacher couldn't resist the temptation. On Dec. 28, 2015, a dead bull elk near the Current River was reported to MDC. A chainsaw was used to remove the antlers and the carcass was left 80 yards from a major National Park Service road. Currently, a $4,495 reward is offered through Operation Game Thief and the Conservation Federation of Missouri for information leading to a citation, and agents continue to investigate leads in the case. Dave is confident someone with knowledge of the incident or the offenders will come forward.
"About a dozen local folks were standing nearby with arms crossed as we pulled out with the poached carcass," Dave says. "You could tell that they were not happy with what had occurred. When we get a conviction these criminals are going to be forever branded as the elk poachers, and they are going to have to live with that the rest of their lives."
But it's not the poachers or even bulls that concern the research team's efforts today. In the 10 days after the trek through Thorny Mountain they've caught up with another five calves. With 17 calves born and 17 more pregnant and collared cows still waiting to give birth, the Peck Ranch herd has officially reached the midpoint of the calving season. In years past the newborns have been predominantly male, but the program needs more females to increase the breeding population of the herd. While the survival rate is typically 50 to 75 percent for calves, Dave notes the herd has only lost one newborn so far this year to tick borne illnesses and immune deficiency.
"You would expect a lot more mortality to occur early in the calving season, so that's outstanding," Dave adds. "Knock on wood, we're going to find a fresh healthy baby. That's what everyone wants to see."
As it turns out, the team will see a couple of wishes realized this evening. Emily says they found a new birth site yesterday, but tracking the mother and sneaking up on the calf have proven difficult due to the terrain.
It's here in an overgrown tangle of sandy bottomland near Blue Spring on the Current River under steadying rain and darkening skies that the crew catches up with their quarry. Less than 10 minutes into the search, Emma and Brittany freeze in their tracks. Brittany signals for Emily, Dave and tech Ellen Pero to do the same. Less than 50 yards up the hill, a cow elk eyes the intruders warily before bounding off into the undergrowth.
With the crew in tow Brittany and Emma take off at a run to catch up with the wobbly-legged newborn, who as it turns out is female. While Brittany holds on to the calf, the three technicians spring into action readying tools and taking measurements. After the calf has been collared and chipped and blood and tissue samples have been taken, the new baby weighs in at 32 to 34 pounds. And as quickly as it began, the feat is over. Within a few minutes of sighting the mother, the crew packs up and makes a hasty retreat so that she can return to her newborn.
"The mom is never out of hearing range," Emily says, adding that if the calf cries in distress, one of the team members is keeping an eye out for an angry cow. "We had one at night, and that was spooky because all I could see were her eyes. It was close enough to be uncomfortable."
As the team nears the trucks, the clouds begin to disperse and the rain eases. The mission is accomplished for now, but tomorrow is another unpredictable day in Missouri's elk maternity ward.
"We're not restored yet but we are past the early days," Dave says of the program. "There are several stages to a restoration project, and we're kind of in the 'let it grow and foster them along' stage right now."
For more information about the elk herd or the driving tour at Peck Ranch, visit http://s.coop/25w8z.