CO Wildlife Tracking...

[AA717driver]

A couple months ago, a guy pulled up next to us in Eagle in a 185 with some antennas mounted under the wing. It was a state-owned plane that said something about wildlife monitoring on it.

He was interested in our plane so I didn't have time to ask what he did. Anyone have any info on that program? Thanks.TC

 

[rchcfi]

AA717,

I can't help you with the specifics of the CO gig, but it sounds like a USFG type of wildlife survey.

I used to fly a C-182 with a biologist from Fish and Game. I would hook up those antennas to the struts and off we'd go for 3-8 hours a day once a week, sometimes twice a week. Our mission most of the time was just to see if the collared animals were in and around the same place as the previous week and to determine whether they were alive or dead and how far they had moved. The collar on these animals has a GPS sensor that if the collar (animal) doesn't move for 24 hours, it trips a micro switch which changes the type of tone we receive. If there is a "mort" signal, I would have to search out the exact position of the animal by flying a box pattern with the antenna pointing towards the target. The box eventually got smaller and then would turn into a tight orbit at 500 ft AGL pinpointing the animal's location. Once the general area (within a 1/4 mile) was marked, the biologist would have to drive, hike, motorcross, etc the next day and determine how the animal died. Was it natural causes, did a wolf kill it, etc?

Each individual department of Fish and Game tracks and monitors different animals to see their migratory patterns, co-habitation ability with re-introduced predators, etc.

The guy I flew with was responsible for approximately 100 mule deer and 150 elk. Our weekly flights would put us high up in the mountains during the summer but closer to the city in the winter. It actually was quite fascinating to experience. Except of course for the fact that we were flying over some pretty inhospitable terrain in a piston single. Even though I was always looking for a place to land, sometimes there just wasn't anything except sheer mountain walls and steep river canyons. You sure did hear every little hiccup of that engine.

 

[AA717driver]

rch--Thanks. Looks like a nice retirement job...if I can still hold a medical in 15 years! TC