REPORTS AFIELD: Diana Berger Rupp Clams Condemned; Coons Culpable Wild-Animal Pollution Severe pollution pouring into Cherrystone inlet in Virginia threatened to shut down Roger Buyrns's clam farm. In Buyrns's section of the Eastern Shore area, where only a few dozen people live, levels of E. coli bacteria in the tidal marshes were skyrocketing. Exploration, however, turned up no old or malfunctioning sewage lines. Buyrns joined forces with some retired water workers and a Virginia Tech biologist and found the source of the problem: an overpopulation of raccoons. Bay Journal reports that since few people hunt or trap raccoons now, and land-use practices have concentrated them into smaller areas, the population exploded and feces were being washed into rivers every time the tide came in. A hired trapper removed 180 raccoons from the surrounding area, and pollution levels dropped. The fact that a raccoon population could increase to the point where it compromised water quality is, says biologist George Simmons, an indicator of an ecosystem off-kilter. The Genius of Angling "Lee Wulff was to flyfishing what Einstein was to physics." --Charles Kuralt, journalist. Humans Endangered? In an appeal to end the four-year wait for reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act, groups such as the National Wildlife Federation have gone before Congress to discuss yet another species--humans. The groups emphasize that while the ESA specifically protects plants and animals, it helps humans as well by ensuring further advances in medical research. For example, researchers believe that continued examination of the endangered desert pupfish, capable of adapting to salty water, may shed light on human kidney disorders. They say that studying the imperiled Gila topminnow's ability to withstand excessive sunlight without consequence could result in new ways of preventing skin cancer. And continued observation of black bears, who neither lose bone mass nor urinate during five months of hibernation, may also prove useful in researching kidney failure as well as osteoporosis.--C. Wynn. Vigorous Paddle Battles Fishermen and canoeists who enjoy the same Michigan streams may end up on opposite sides of a fight over who is allowed to be on the water. Anglers of the AuSable, a flyfishing group, is funding a study that it says will prove that the flotillas of recreational canoeists who paddle the state's shallower rivers every summer are hurting the trout fishery. The group charges that trout on the AuSable River grow slowly because the canoeing activity disturbs them and doesn't allow them to feed. "Our concerns are that we have canoes on the water by 6 a.m. and they're still coming through at 8:00 or 9:00 p.m.," says Anglers' president, Rusty Gates. The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that canoeing may be regulated on the state's waterways, but only if it is proven that it causes damage. Preliminary results of the Anglers' study have shown that canoes stir up large amounts of sediment and seem to damage trout habitat. Graduate students hired by the group are now looking at aquatic insects to determine whether canoes cause them to be swept downstream so they are unavailable to trout. "Most of us don't dispute there is a problem," says Dave Mayhen, associate director of the AuSable Institute for Environmental Studies. "But probably the worst part is the erosion and damage people cause when they get out of their canoes." Canoe-rental businesses point out that wading fishermen can stir up sediment, too. Tracking Geese from Space You might see a Canada goose wearing a backpack this spring on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay. Really. Biologists working with Ducks Unlimited and Cornell University last summer installed satellite transmitters on the backs of 20 geese nesting in northern Quebec. The scientists are trying to find out where the birds go on their migration and what might be the cause of the serious decline in their numbers that led to the closure of the hunting season on migratory Canadas in the Atlantic Flyway for the last two years. The geese, whose locations are continuously updated from French ARGOS satellites, flew almost nonstop to the Eastern Shore from their northern nesting grounds in October. "We're looking forward to finding out what they do on their spring migration," says DU chief biologist Dr. Bruce Batt. "We know they stop several times on their way north, and we want to find out if there are some areas we need to protect." Geese should also benefit from an official resolution passed by the Grand Council of the Crees of Quebec to reduce subsistence hunting of the geese, which is currently allowed all year. Informally, Inuit tribes farther west have agreed to do the same. The various measures seem to be helping: geese numbers were up last year from 25,000 pairs to 46,000 pairs. But, says Batt, limited hunting won't resume in the Atlantic Flyway until the count reaches at least 60,000. The Danger of Washing Fishermen might want to take more seriously the cuts and scratches that often accompany a day in the boat. A report by Dr. David Haburchak of the Medical College of Georgia noted two cases in which anglers who rinsed minor wounds with water from a river or lake later contracted serious infections. The first angler had impaled his arm on a hook while fishing on the Savannah River, and the second had cut his thumb on the dorsal fin of a bream in Georgia's Lake Hartwell. Both rinsed their wounds in the water and were later struck with pain and swelling. One case was so serious that the fisherman's arm had to be amputated. Dr. Haburchak says the cause was Aeromonas hydrophila, a bacterium that can be present in fresh water as a result of either pollution or summer conditions such as algae or warm, still water. Dr. Haburchak suggests having clean water and antiseptics onboard to treat wounds, and seeing a doctor should any sign of infection develop. You Had To Be There We always seem to want the ones that run away: A jackrabbit pursues a turkey just outside of San Angelo, Texas. At one point during this chase, the rabbit jumped onto the turkey's back and bit out a chunk of feathers. The rabbit's behavior was much more subdued around a decoy. Wisconsin's New Dump One of Wisconsin's prime fishing areas may become home to what one critic calls "potentially the largest toxic-waste dump in the state." Crandon Mining, formed by Exxon and a Canadian mining company, wants to open a copper-and-zinc mine in Forest County. Plans call for a 2000-foot shaft to be sunk and the ores to be extracted over the next 30 years, at which point approximately half the tailings (leftover rock) would be pushed back into the shaft. The rest would be placed into a 90-foot-deep, 220-acre-wide holding pond lined and capped with plastic. A concern of environmental groups is over the pond's possibly leaking sulfuric acid, which forms when tailings are exposed to air and water. And the tailings could pollute the headwaters of the Wolf River, a prime trout fishery. Crandon also may pump ground water from the mine shaft into the Wisconsin River. For information contact Wisconsin Stewardship Network at ecowise@newnorth.netwww.execpc.com/~wsn--B. McCombie Earth Day Have no plans for Earth Day (April 22)? You might want to check with your local Izaak Walton League of America. In Indiana, members will be giving away free trees. New York members will teach students how to monitor stream-water quality, while Minnesota members will clean up a river. Izaak Walton League of America: 301/548-0150. Where Are the Mule Deer? Could mule deer have more to fear from new houses than from a 270? Yes, according to reports from the first Mule Deer Fact Finding Summit in Sacramento, California. Sponsored early this year by the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF), the symposium brought together about 250 biologists and hunters to talk about the significant decline in mule deer numbers throughout the West. Experts agree that habitat fragmentation, brought about by development, industry, timbering and land-use changes, is the biggest culprit behind the decline. Mule deer need large areas of summer and winter ranges as well as room to migrate from one to the other. MDF director Rich Fletcher says that although there are still pockets of good mule deer populations, the decline has been seen in every western state. In the Book Cliffs region in Utah, Fletcher says there may be no mule deer hunting at all this year. Biologists also discussed cougar predation, drought and a fatal virus found in California deer as possible contributors to the mule deer's plight. Holy Trees Environmentalists in the Northwest may chain themselves to trees, but in Thailand people are wrapping them in saffron robes. According to reports in Earthweek and the Bangkok Post, some Thai trees have been ordained in Buddhist ceremonies to prevent them from being cut down. One former monk purported to have ordained trees was allegedly harassed, put into prison, and defrocked for his actions. He is still fighting his case in the Bangkok courts. ß Bob White Quail hunters may be getting a hand from Uncle Sam. New programs and more funding for improving wildlife habitat on farms are a major part of the 1996 farm bill now being implemented around the country. Bobwhite Quail once thrived in the hedge rows, blackberry patches and woodlots that used to surround farms -- particularly in the Southeast. Bagging quail was a southern hunting tradition.But quail hunting has been drastically reduced in large sections of the country, as their habitat has been replaced by crops. Wildlife experts say Bobwhite suffered a 70 percent decline since 1966, in large part because government subsidy programs encouraged farmers to replace brush and woodlots with crops. The new law seeks to reverse that trend by giving money to farmers who develop land-use plans that improve wildlife and fish habitat. In fact, for the first time ever, the farm bill authorizes more money for conservation than for crop price supports. It also has a new Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, that provides funds and technical assistance for wildlife and fish-conscious farmers. Wildlife experts say the Agriculture Department's Conservation Reserve Program played a big role in the recent rebound in duck and pheasant populations nationwide. Now they are hoping for a similar future for Bobwhites SURVIVAL UPDATE: BY ANTHONY ACERRANO Hantavirus: The Quick and Lethal Disease. Is this mouse-borne illness still a threat? What you can do to protect yourself. When it first appeared in America in 1993, hantavirus puzzled scientists and alarmed a fair segment of the public. Here was a disease you could contract just by breathing the air. Worse, the virus hit otherwise healthy people and brought them down fast and hard. Of the 54 cases reported in 1993, 32 resulted in death. Most of the early incidences occurred in the Four Corners area of the Southwest, but by 1994 the disease began to appear in Montana, North Dakota, Florida, Louisiana, and even in New York City. The carrier of the disease, it soon became clear, is the ubiquitous deer mouse. Dried mouse feces and urine particles carry the virus into the air, where it is breathed by unsuspecting humans, some of whom contract hantavirus. The disease causes intense flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, muscle aches), and breathing becomes difficult as the lungs fill with fluid. Deer Mice TINY FACTS: * Tails measure about 2 1/2 to 4 inches. * Build several nests a year. * Rest during the day. *Brains weigh 2.4 percent of their bodies. The prevalence of deer mice and our nearly unavoidable exposure to infected airborne particles originally made some scientists wonder if hantavirus wasn't going to be an epidemic disease of Outbreak proportions. Three years later, this doesn't seem as likely. Since May of 1993, only 124 Americans are known to have contracted hantavirus, and the mortality rate among those infected has been dropping steadily. Why this is so is a mystery. Most studies of mice populations show that the virus is out there, in some cases quite heavily, with one out of every two mice carrying the antibodies that indicate the disease. Yet the nationwide human infection rate is low. Still, some researchers are quick to warn against complacency and suggest the following precautions: Keep mice out of your house, cabin or semipermanent camp by storing food and garbage in plastic containers with tight lids. Stuff entrance holes (one inch in diameter or larger) with steel wool. Use traps to remove existing mice. Spray dead mice with a disinfectant before handling for disposal. Don't sweep or vacuum mouse droppings, since this might release infected particles into the air. Wet the droppings first with a disinfectant or bleach-and-water mist, then wipe away with a moist paper towel. Hantavirus can also be spread through mouse saliva, so it is possible to be infected by a mouse bite. (Beware when handling live mice or mice caught in glue traps.)   ⌐ 1997 The Hearst Corporation. All rights reserved.