Subject: Weir Prairie (Thurston Co.) (and alien Turkey release into endangered ecosystem?)
Date: Apr 11 13:10:15 2004
From: Stewart Wechsler - ecostewart at quidnunc.net


On Saturday, April 10, 2004 6:30 PM
Jason Paulios wrote:

"...I checked out Weir Prairie in the AM...Turkey (sp.; heard gobbling,
though this was most definitely some farm turkeys; can't count 'em in
Thurston anyway since they are regularly
released at Johnson Creek)..."

Though I thought it was likely the case, I wasn't sure that Wild Turkeys (or
"Giant Starlings" as I prefer to call them west of the Rockies) were still
being released in this state, presumably by the Washington Dept of Fish and
Wildlife. It is particularly disturbing that they are being released in
Thurston County where the whole western Washington prairie ecosystem there
is endangered, along with all of the prairie obligate species in western
Washington.

As I mentioned before acorns are a preferred food of Turkeys. Garry Oaks -
Quercus Garryana are the single most important species of this endangered
ecosystem. Our threatened Western Gray Squirrel is a Garry Oak obligate
species. Last I heard only 6 Western Gray Squirrels were counted in Western
Washington. - I hope it was an undercount. (I was quite pleased to see
Western Gray Squirrels yesterday in the Cowiche River drainage, west of
Yakima, on a butterfly trip yesterday, also the Indra Swallowtail
butterflies were flying - possibly the earliest flight record for this
species in Washington)

Also, as I mentioned before, I found violets listed as a recorded food plant
for Wild Turkeys in a web search. The Valley Silverspot (Fritillary
butterfly) - Speyeria zerene Bremnerii is solely dependent on violets
(notably Viola adunca) as a larval food and is listed by the Washington
Natural Heritage Program as vulnerable to extirpation (ranked "S2").
Speyeria cybele pugetensis - the Puget Sound Fritillary is also on their
list, and is also solely dependent on violets.

Turkeys also eat small reptiles. Though both Western Fence Lizards and
Pacific Gopher Snakes (Pituophis catenifer catenifer) have not been recently
recorded in Puget Prairies, I believe they might still be found there. One
friend saw a Gopher Snake there, but it's possible it was an escaped or
released Great Basin Gopher Snake.

The non-game section of Washington Fish and Wildlife and Department of
Natural Resources are working hard to protect the threatened species of the
endangered Puget Prairie ecosystem. Is the game section of WDFW undoing
their work by introducing invasive non-native species that prey on and
impact the species that non-game is working to protect?

Stewart Wechsler
West Seattle
mailto:ecostewart at quidnunc.net

..

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.639 / Virus Database: 408 - Release Date: 3/22/2004