Animals’ Use of Incidental Passageways by Month

• Toby Conti, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Delaware

• Kyle McCarthy, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Delaware

Many species, such as the bobcats and red fox in New Jersey, struggle to maintain their historic populations with the increases in urbanization, especially with the growing infrastructure of roadways. These roads can break up populations or force them into smaller areas where they cannot properly thrive. Culverts and other under-road passageways can be a potential solution to this problem in some circumstances. The passageways help these animals by providing a safer method of crossing past roads and expanding their viable range. It is critical that a species can reach and inter-breed with other populations across a larger area so they can maintain their genetic diversity and remain healthy. Additionally – and especially with the rapid habitat loss many animals face – it is critical that they can reach as much suitable natural land as possible. I examined several thousand game camera photos to see how many animals are using these passageways over the course of the year. I found that they were using these passageways during November, with much fewer sightings in December. These findings, along with other similar studies, can be used to determine when it is most critical for culverts to be maintained and protected in order to allow wildlife populations to pass barriers. From my research it appears that maintenance is more important during warmer months, as that is when animals will be most active and will need to cross between populations to breed. Another important factor is avoiding roadwork and major construction around these areas during times they will be most used by wildlife.