- DONI SCHWALM: Alright, buddy.
[banging]
- NARRATOR: These researchers are transferring
a wild animal from box trap to bag.
[blowing]
- DONI: Keep going.
- NARRATOR: They can't really see it, but this critter
is always hard to see, especially in Texas.
- DONI: Down here in the southern part of their range,
densities appear to be pretty low.
What I'm trying to do is get his head in the corner
so that it's easier to grab without getting bitten.
There we go.
- NARRATOR: This is one of the smallest species of
the wild dog family in North America, a swift fox.
And these researchers are happy to find it in good health
on this lonesome prairie in the far north Panhandle.
- DONI: First things first, hair dye.
[camera click]
Those teeth look smooth.
- NARRATOR: This team is studying the status of
this elusive little fox to help keep it on the
grasslands of the Great Plains.
- DONI: We are Operation Fox Finder.
Okay, guys, your maps are ready.
My name is Doni Schwalm.
So here's camp.
My job description is research associate...
Go a little further and the road bends.
...at the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
at Oregon State University.
But try and stay south of the road.
We're looking for swift foxes.
There you go.
- COLTYN KIDD: Cool. Appreciate it.
- We're working with Texas Parks and Wildlife
to survey for swift foxes in a nine county area in
the Texas Panhandle that falls within the historic
distribution of this species.
This species, from what we can tell from historic records
was almost gone.
We know for sure there has been a big decline historically.
About 50% of their historic distribution now
no longer has swift foxes, and where they do still exist,
the population is kind of patchy,
so it's not very continuous.
We think that the first and foremost thing that
led to these major population declines were
historic predator control programs where they
were poisoning, kind of indiscriminately for
wolves mostly and really just anything,
and unfortunately those baits, they're not specific.
And we ended up with a lot fewer foxes that way.
Of course they like grassland habitat.
The more agricultural development there is,
especially just like irrigated farmland,
the fewer swift foxes there will be.
And then finally, primarily because there
are no more wolves, there are way more coyotes than
there used to be, and coyotes are their highest source
of mortality, up to 77% of their mortality,
so it's a pretty big deal.
[dramatic music]
Habitat in the Texas Panhandle tends to be centered
in the National Grassland system, right along the
Oklahoma and New Mexico borders,
and then quite a bit of private land too.
There's a lot of cattle ranches that have good habitat.
They want that short vegetation.
I work with a lot of private landowners,
and they always want to know if this is going to affect
their operation.
And the first thing I tell them is that this is
not an endangered species.
But the second thing is that, if they're grazing
their pastures, they're doing swift foxes a favor.
So the only thing we would ask is please don't shoot them.
What I find is that most private landowners,
if they know they have swift foxes, they really like them.
They're kind of cute and charismatic.
I'd keep it on this side.
- ELISSA MATTHEWS: Alright.
- DONI: We're doing two different things
while we're here.
Our primary task is to set cameras.
But we're also doing some live trapping,
because we want to collect a genetic sample to look
at the genetic viability of this population.
- COLTYN: Alright, ready for the pole?
I'm doing a grid study with wildlife cameras.
- SILKEN GOREE: Stop.
- Sixteen.
What that means is we have multiple wildlife cameras
per area rather than just one.
That increases the chances of seeing our focal species,
the swift fox.
- ELISSA MATTHEWS: Eight.
- DONI: Got it.
We use a paste bait.
It's very very skunky.
Nasty!
[laughs]
- ELISSA: Pungent.
- DONI: The way we've got it set up, we've got a
scent post three meters out from the camera,
and a bunch of other smelly stuff near that scent post.
And they'll smell the post,
sometimes they'll mark the post, they'll roll in the lure,
and kind of hang out in front of the camera for a while
and then toddle off.
Mostly we get coyotes, and badgers and skunks
and porcupines and pronghorn and all kinds of birds
and all kinds of raptors and crows and vultures
and everything but a fox.
[laughs]
We must be close to 200 cameras out and zero fox,
but we were surveying where they haven't been
seen since the 80s, so I can't say we're surprised.
I'm going to be really disappointed if we're
setting cameras all in this area where they
should be and we don't get them.
So the daily schedule is pretty much all day.
As soon as we're done checking our trap line--
Not today!
--then we're setting cameras all day long,
until three or four in the afternoon and then we
start resetting our traps.
Yeah, I don't know.
It's not really an exact science.
'How dry is the brisket chunk?'
[laughs]
[playful music]
Maybe if we can get ourselves a roadkill deer,
the rest of the brisket will go in our bellies.
Oh gosh.
The glories of wildlife biology!
Only put the rabbit in a spot that you think is just amazing.
[playful music]
Got it?
Let's get some foxes in boxes!
[doors closing]
We're going to go back to that really short stuff.
So this is a really exciting place to set traps.
The vegetation is almost like a golf course.
They like it six inches or less and this is probably some of
the best stuff that we've found so far, since it's a wet year.
Everything is so tall.
Maybe here.
- ELISSA: Okay.
- DONI: You've got all the GPS and stuff?
- ELISSA: Yep.
- DONI: Okay, we're done.
I think we have a good chance at a fox.
Still no fox sign though, which is a bummer.
Lots of coyote tracks and some coyote scats,
so we'll see, but put our last two right around here.
There's a little prairie dog town over there
and some trails, so, fingers crossed.
I'm excited, we've got enough sunlight left to get home
in time to cook something instead of just eat cold soup.
[laughs]
- COLTYN: Even though the swift fox is not federally
endangered, it's still a species of concern
that we want to help.
Their habitat is going away, and they don't have
anywhere to live, and so I'm hoping that as we talk
with public and help them understand what is happening,
they can help with our efforts.
- DONI: 29 degrees this morning.
You've got to take your time or you're going to
leave your oil pan somewhere in middle of a pasture.
[grasses scraping bottom of truck]
Nobody came to say hello.
[groans]
So this one's empty.
Shoot!
There's another one down there.
You know, they talk about this like a flyover land,
and I always am like, that's because you haven't
spent any time in it.
You don't listen to the meadowlark chorus
in the morning.
So, I think they're missing out.
[meadowlark sings]
Grasslands are so under-appreciated,
because there are a lot of unique species here that
occur here and nowhere else.
We've lost a lot of it, but there's a lot of
opportunity left to like conserve these unusual
species that only occur here.
Ooh, it does look closed.
It's closed.
Okay, the moment of truth.
Please don't be a skunk.
This one has me nervous.
[doors close]
It's a fox.
It's a fox!
And he tore part of the plastic off the trap
so I can see him.
Alright, we got one.
Let's text the crew.
- COLTYN: To be able to see one in hand is really rewarding.
[banging]
You're really surprised at how small they are.
- DONI: 2.3 kilograms.
Female?
It's like the fox's version of alien abduction--
probed and prodded and measured.
- ELISSA: Two inches.
- DONI: If you keep the eyes covered, they stay kind of calm,
and there's no evidence it affects them in the long term.
[upbeat music]
I want to help fix things.
I want to work the landscape, I want to work with the
landowners to see if we can put some things to rights
where we can, and swift foxes provide that opportunity,
to like put something back on the landscape
and restore this species,
and they're a neat little animal.
Alright.
They're tough little guys and I can appreciate that.
[wind]
That's the best part, you turn them loose
and they always put on a nice little show.
Away I go, back to life.
[inspirational music]
That a girl!
Trot off and they stop and they look at you,
and have a little bathroom break on go on their way.
Alright.
Good luck, honey.
[wind]
[crickets]
- ANNOUNCER: This project was funded in part by a
grant from the Wildlife Restoration Program.