Sitting at my desk, I am up close and personal to easily watch the bird-feeding station in our backyard. Hearing some ruckus recently, I glanced up to see two pileated woodpeckers squawking back and forth at one another as one fed on the suet block and the other waited rather impatiently on the side of the nearby tree for its turn.

I watched for at least 10 minutes as they head-bobbed and scrambled up and down the tree. Every time I see one of these gorgeous birds, I can’t help but imagine a well-dressed, head-banging punk rocker of the bird family. Watching the two birds interact by squawking and jerking their heads up and down and back and forth was hilarious.

The one is slightly smaller than the other and I think we may have the makings for a mated pair. To confirm my suspicions, I’m going to need to get an expert on board or break out my bird books.

What entertainment for the 89-cent price of a suet cake!

Public hearings for proposed rule changes

The Natural Resources Commission’s (NRC) Division of Hearings has scheduled two hearings to receive public comment on a package of proposed rule changes including wild turkey hunting, nuisance wild animals and a proposed new bobcat hunting and trapping season.

All comments sent to the NRC regarding the rule changes will be provided to commission members and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff and will be publicly disclosed and searchable on the internet in a paper docket as part of the final report. The report with the request for final adoption is expected to be presented to the NRC in May.

Any rule changes approved by the NRC would not take effect until after final adoption and approval by the attorney general’s and governor’s offices. For a complete list of proposed amendments with additional information about each proposal, see www.wildlife.IN.gov/2362.htm

Below is a brief summary and partial listing of the proposed rule changes:

312 IAC 9-2-2: Hunting from a boat – allows the hunting of fox and gray squirrels from a motorized boat as long as the boat is not under power when shooting the animal.

312 IAC 9-2-11: Taking animals on state parks and historic sites – allows the taking of the following species of wild animals on state parks and historic sites causing damage or posing a health or safety threat. Only authorized DNR employees or a person given written permission possessing a nuisance wild animal control permit or trapping license could take the animal.

312 IAC 9-2-16: Prohibits the release of captive-bred native and exotic species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans and mussels except as authorized by permit.

312 IAC 9-3-12, 9-3-13, 9-3-14: Furbearer hunting and trapping starting and ending times – removes starting and ending times for the hunting and trapping seasons for furbearers. The seasons still start and end on the same dates.

312 IAC 9-3-14.5: Possession of furbearer hides and carcasses – allows the hides and carcasses of legally harvested furbearers taken during the season to be kept year round by hunters and trappers without a special authorization or permit.

312 IAC 9-3-18.1: Bobcat hunting and trapping season – authorizes a bobcat hunting and trapping season. There would be a bag limit of one bobcat per person and a statewide quota, and the season would be open only in a restricted number of counties in southern Indiana.

312 IAC 9-3-18.2: River otters – removes the starting and ending time for the otter trapping season, allows the hide to be possessed at any time of year and clarifies requirements for otters taken outside the season or in a county where the season is not open.

312 IAC 9-3-18.5: Exotic mammals – removes the references to exotic mammals in the family bovidae and cervidae and restrictions on cervidae as the result of changes to IC 14-22-1. The DNR no longer has authority over legally owned captive-bred cervidae and certain species of captive-bred bovidae by state law in IC 14-22-1.

312 IAC 9-8-18.7: Bats – adds provisions to specify when bats may be taken as the result of the proposed changes to the list of endangered species of mammals in 312 IAC 9-3-19. Little brown bats, tri-colored bats and northern long-eared bats are proposed to be added to the state’s list of endangered species and have the potential to be found in man-made structures; provisions are includes to allow for their take in certain situations without a permit.

312 IAC 9-3-18.8: Black bears – as the result of two black bears moving into Indiana over the past couple of years, a new rule lists black bears separately instead of in 312 IAC 9-3-18.6 as an exotic mammal.

312 IAC 9-3-19: Additions to the endangered species list of mammals – adds the following three species to the state’s list of endangered species: the little brown myotis (bat), northern long-eared myotis (bat) and tri-colored bat.

312 IAC 9-4-2: Migratory birds – allows a live migratory bird to be captured and humanely removed from a building when trapped in the interior of a building and released immediately outside the building or giving it to a licensed rehabilitator (312 IAC 9-4-2), which is consistent with federal regulations in 50 CFR 21.12.

312 IAC 9-4-11: Fall wild turkey season – adds three counties to the fall wild turkey firearms season: Elkhart, Kosciusko and Noble. Allows the hunting of turkeys on properties managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife between 4:30 a.m.-1 p.m. during the spring wild turkey season.

312 IAC 9-4-14: Endangered species of birds – adds the rufa red knot to the state’s list of endangered species. Removes the osprey from the list since 50 or more nesting territories have been documented for more than three years, meeting the criteria for delisting (ospreys are still protected by state and federal law).

312 IAC 9-9-4: Endangered species of invertebrates – removes seven species of mussels from the state’s list of endangered species.

312 IAC 9-10-4: Game breeder license – allows either the National Poultry Improvement Plan certificate or the certificate of veterinary inspection to import bobwhite quail or ring-necked pheasants into Indiana.

312 IAC 9-10-11: Nuisance wild animal control permit – requires raccoons, opossums and coyotes captured under a nuisance wild animal control permit to be euthanized. Allows the capture and release (relocation) of an endangered species.

312 IAC 9-10-25: Deer control permit – establishes a separate rule for the deer control permit.

The meetings are March 14, starting at 5:30 p.m. at Spring Mill Inn, Lakeview Room, in Spring Mill State Park, 3333 SR 60 E. in Mitchell; and March 22, starting at 5:30 pm, at Mounds State Park, Pavilion, 4306 Mounds Road in Anderson.

Public comments can be submitted online at www.nrc.IN.gov/2377.htm – locate the “comment on this rule” link in the Rules Docket for the Wildlife Rule Amendments. Comments may also be mailed to: Natural Resources Commission, Indiana Government Center South, 100 North Senate Ave., Room N103, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

The deadline for submitting public comments is midnight on March 23.

Gamebirds and songbirds initiative gets $1 million

The DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife has landed funding that will contribute to a new grassland and pollinator habitat development program benefiting private landowners.

The Grasslands for Gamebirds & Songbirds initiative, called GGS for short, will employ three full-time “grassland biologists” who will provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners hoping to improve their properties by developing grassland and pollinator habitat throughout focal regions of the state. The habitat development will benefit species such as bobwhite quail, ring-necked pheasant, Henslow’s sparrow and loggerhead shrike.

The Indiana DNR was selected for the funding through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), which is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Once implemented, it will total $1 million. The total budget of the GGS initiative is $1.83 million. The other funding for the initiative has been contributed from the initiative’s 33 partners.

If you are a landowner interested in participating in the GGS initiative, or if you’d like to support the effort, visit www.wildlife.IN.gov/ 9467.htm or for more information, contact Josh Griffin, private lands program manager with Fish & Wildlife, at 317-234-9737 or jgriffin@dnr.IN.gov

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments may contact Jack Spaulding by email at jackspaulding@hughes.net or by writing to him in care of this publication.