UNION, W.Va.– On a remote hill top along the West Virginia/Virginia boundary in Monroe Area, West Virginia a pipe, connected to a tiny structure, holds up a collection of antennas. The light weight aluminum contraption and also its silver limbs is a throwback to the early days of television in America. The aerial offers it the appearance of a common American home of the 1950’s as well as 60’s.
Although the innovation may be dated, its most recent evolution holds a tremendous chance for examining wild animals movement.At one-time, this was the roofing system of every residence in America to appreciate the new globe of television. “It’s old radio telemetry technology, but with
a new innovation twist,”discussed Mack Franz, Zoologist with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Variety Programs.According to Franz, the antennas pick up UHF frequencies put
off by radio transmitters dental implanted in wild animals for research purposes. The modern-day software application has the ability to differentiate each private transmission and also separate it to a solitary source. “It’s all simply one committed frequency rather than a different frequency for each animal.
Radio tags have their own unique pulses. They are various by split seconds, however the computer system has the ability to discriminate in every one independently,”he explained.So in theory, the software would certainly be able to review a transmitter placed on a woodpecker in Pittsburgh or a gold eagle in an entirely different study in the Monongahela National Park in Pendleton County.DNR personnel just recently set up the antennas at the Hanging Rock Observatory on Peters Hill in Monroe Region. The previous fire tower has ended up being a dream place for birdwatchers wanting to see migratory birds. The line of site to a like sized ridge top is 40 miles as well as gives a great deal of ground to grab remote superhigh frequency. The Department of Natural Resources is just entering the game in this particularly application of the innovation, but with Franz’s management they want to develop a network of monitoring factors around the state. The strategy is to tie West Virginia in with the International Motus Network.Motus, Latin for” movement” is a collection of similar observation towers around the world to aid in national and also international research study of wildlife activity
and also various other tasks.” Our objective is to identify the spatial and also migratory patterns of species of best preservation require that we track in our state wild animals action plan,”claimed Franz.Line of sight is impressive from the Hanging Rock Observatory. Views are unblocked fore 40 to 50 miles The agency has established a blueprint for positioning towers around the state to make use of the technology for all sorts of telemetry research study.” This is the initial one, however we’re trying to identify the other calculated place.There’s one more tower over on the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge and we’re thinking about other overlook because area,”he said.The monitoring tools can pick up signals
not just by land, but when it comes to the Ohio River can review signals released by tagged fish or various other water varieties in the water. Facility of the network would create lots of chances for observation as well as study for all current and also future studies.The DNR utilizes telemetry for a wide array of wildlife research job. Bears, deer, elk, wild turkey, musky, and also a host of smaller critters have been the subject of telemetry work at one time or one more. “The antennas we mounted can track a lot of amazing things, such as activity
patterns as well as where a pet is flying and also how quick,”Franz said. “We can understand, to the second, when a roosting bird decides to awaken as well as take flight.”