In northern British Columbia, nests of the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) were first reported in burrows at Marble Island (1901), Cox Island (1920), and Banks Island or Porcher Island (1921), but none were subsequently accepted, and the 1901 and 1920 nests were considered to be Ancient Murrelet (Synthliboramphus antiquus) nests. We collated and reconsidered available information on these 3 nests (including obscure literature, recently uncovered correspondence, and museum records) to re-evaluate their authenticity and clarify past literature, concluding that the 1920 nest should be considered the first possible but unverified nest of the Marbled Murrelet, whereas 1901 and 1921 nests were more convincingly dismissed as belonging to Ancient Murrelet and probably Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata), respectively. The 1901 nest also represented the first documented breeding of the Ancient Murrelet in British Columbia, actually at the Limestone Islands.

Bats spend most of their lives roosting, and how they spend their time affects their fitness. I studied the activity budgets of Townsend's Big-eared Bats (Corynorhinus townsendii) in a maternity roost and compared my results with those of 3 similar studies to identify generalizations that exist among species. I used an infrared camera to videotape bats in an attic in northeastern Oregon over a 24-h period once per week for 9 wk during the summer of 1999. In the lab, I used scan-sampling to document time spent in various behaviors. As reported for other species, C. townsendii spent most of its time in the roost resting. Grooming and other active behaviors peaked in the 2 h before emergence and in the 2 h after the last return to the roost in the morning. Little seasonal variation occurred in the day-roosting activity budget, and this was explained partially by temperature, but not by week of data collection. Greater seasonal variation existed during night-roosting while lactating, with time spent resting decreasing and activity increasing as pups got older. When unattended at night, pups rested less than adults and increased time spent grooming as they developed. Solitary individuals, those in small clusters, and those on the periphery of large clusters were more active and rested less frequently than those in the interior of large clusters.

Common Ravens (Corvus corax) are considered an important predator of Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) eggs, but direct observations of predation events are rare. We observed 25 events of Common Ravens at or near artificial nests with infertile crane eggs; 15 of those events resulted in predation. Reconnaissance time averaged 1.8 ± 3.0 min, egg handling averaged 5.8 ± 3.9 min, and total time to reconnoiter, approach, and consume or remove eggs from a nest averaged 8.4 ± 5.7 min. Ravens consumed 67% of the eggs at the nest and cached the other 33%. To eat an egg, ravens always punched a hole in the surface, but hole sizes and shapes differed. To cache eggs, ravens carried eggs away intact, leaving no evidence in the nest, and concealed them 5.5 to 180 m from the nest. The rapidity of some raven depredation events indicates a high potential for success of taking crane eggs from an active but unattended nests. Given the diverse patterns of eggshell remains and ravens' ability to carry whole eggs, distinguishing egg predation by ravens from other predators would be very difficult.

Researchers have documented precipitous declines in Cascades Frog (Rana cascadae) populations in the southern portion of the species' range, in the Lassen region of California. Reasons for the declines, however, have not been elucidated. In addition to common, widespread causes, an understanding of local community interactions may be necessary to fully understand proximal causes of the declines. Based on existing literature and observations made during extensive aquatic surveys throughout the range of R. cascadae in California, we propose that a proliferation of freshwater leeches (subclass Hirudinida) in the Lassen region may be adversely affecting R. cascadae populations. Leeches may affect R. cascadae survival or fecundity directly by preying on egg and hatchling life stages, and indirectly by contributing to the spread of pathogens and secondary parasites. In 2007, we conducted focused surveys at known or historic R. cascadae breeding sites to document co-occurrences of R. cascadae and leeches, determine if leeches were preying on or parasitizing eggs or hatchlings of R. cascadae, and identify the leech species to establish whether or not they were native to the region. We found R. cascade at 4 of 21 sites surveyed and freshwater leeches at 9 sites, including all sites with R. cascadae. In 2007 and 2008, the predatory leech Haemopis marmorata frequented R. cascadae egg masses, was observed probing or tearing at eggs on 24 occasions, and was 10 times more common in 1-m² plots centered on egg masses than in similar plots without egg masses. Six species of leech were identified from the Lassen region, only 3 of which have been documented from the region prior to this study. Given our documentation of a diverse freshwater leech fauna in direct association with a precipitously declining species, we believe a better understanding of the biology and ecology of this poorly studied taxon is needed, in addition to studies of the effects of freshwater leeches on survival and recruitment of co-occurring amphibians.

Understanding population dynamics and historical declines for Mountain Goats (Oreamnos americanus) is challenging due to sparse data. Speculations regarding the cause of population declines have included habitat change, predation, disease, parasites, recreation impacts, and excessive harvest. Managing for recovery requires an understanding of the relative importance of the factors causing population declines. Using records of Mountain Goat harvest in selected areas of Washington State (USA), we modeled population trajectories for 7 areas with a stage-structured matrix model and compared these trajectories to recent population estimates. Our results supported the hypothesis that observed declines can be attributed primarily to the effects of harvest. We also assessed the level of harvest likely to be sustainable for Mountain Goat populations of varying sizes. Our results were sensitive to vital rates used in the model and were also influenced by population size and the proportion of harvest that is male. Generally, populations of <50 individuals should not be harvested, but larger populations (such as >100) or those where the proportion of males in the harvest is high (90 to 100%) may sustain ≤4% harvest. However, due to expected variation of vital rates among populations and years, declines may still occur with harvest at these levels and continued population monitoring is essential for hunted populations.

The Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenuis) is a small (usually <30 cm total length), cryptic species found along the west coast of the United States and north into southwestern British Columbia. Because of its secretive nature, little is known about its behavioral ecology. We tested behavioral responses of 13 adult C. tenuis collected from a site in eastern Washington to potential invertebrate prey odors. We presented snakes with 2 control odors (water, cologne) and 2 possible invertebrate prey odors (earthworm, slug). Overall, there was a significant difference in both the time-to-first-tongue flick (latency) and mean tongue flick rate (number of tongue flicks/60 s trial) for the odors tested. The mean latency period was 6.0 ± 1.87 s for earthworm and 4.1 ± 1.57 s for slug. The mean tongue flick rates for earthworm and slug were 13.8 ± 4.09 flicks/s and 39.7 ± 15.79 flicks/s, respectively. These results support prior claims of a preference for slugs by C. tenuis. This preference for slugs may also explain the presence of C. tenuis in areas of anthropogenic disturbances with an abundance of slugs.

We examined patterns of size-associated morphological variation within the Red Tree Vole (Arborimus longicaudus) for the purposes of 1) identifying differences between the Red Tree Vole and the Dusky Tree Vole (A. l. silvicola), a putative subspecies of the Red Tree Vole; and 2) examining spatial patterns of morphological variation across the species' range. Our results illustrate subtle, but significant, morphological differences across the boundary that has been proposed to delimit the ranges of the Dusky Tree Vole and Red Tree Vole. However, the morphological characters examined have virtually no diagnostic utility for distinguishing between subspecies. We also performed a series of linear regressions that revealed correlations between morphological variation and latitude. Ultimately, these findings indicated that morphological variation in Red Tree Voles is in good agreement with Bergmann's Rule and Allen's Rule, 2 well-established ecographic principles that dictate relationships between environmental temperatures and morphological attributes. Because our analyses do not demonstrate strong differences between tree vole subspecies, we encourage future analyses of variation in pelage coloration and genetic structure to unequivocally determine the Dusky Tree Vole's status.