Updates on Utah's wildlife from the DWR
Each week the DWR publishes interesting and informative stories about Utah's wildlife. If you want these stories delivered to your inbox just as soon as we publish them, please sign up for our weekly email.
It's a beautiful spring day so you decide to go for a walk. You are strolling along the sidewalk in your neighborhood when suddenly you hear some loud chirping near your feet. You look over and see a small baby bird lying on the ground near a tree trunk. What should you do?
Utah has long had a state flag, a state emblem and even a state cooking pot. (It's the Dutch oven.) Now, with Wednesday's signing of HB144, Utah officially has a state reptile: the Gila monster.
Utah wildlife often struggles to find food during winters that have heavy snow. By spring, many animals are vulnerable and weak. So if you are planning to take your dog on hikes this spring and summer, make sure your pet doesn't chase or harass any wildlife.
In mid-October, biologists with the Division of Wildlife Resources will use rotenone to remove goldfish that were placed illegally in Maple Lake.
With most of Utah's hunting seasons in full swing, wildlife officers are asking hunters and anglers — and others who are in the outdoors too — to watch for illegal hunting activities. That includes hunters shooting animals but not retrieving them, shooting after dark or any activity that seems suspicious.
Effective Feb. 3, you cannot gather shed deer, elk or moose antlers in Utah until April 1. On Feb. 2, Division of Wildlife Resources Director Greg Sheehan signed an emergency order. The order supersedes a Jan. 31 order. The Jan. 31 order closed shed antler gathering only in 11 counties.
Even though it was hit and killed by a vehicle, the fact a wolverine was in northern Utah is exciting to staff with the Division of Wildlife Resources. "This wolverine was not transplanted to Utah," says DWR Director Greg Sheehan. "It made its way here on its own. It's amazing to see the diversity of wildlife we have in Utah expand even more. Particularly, such a charismatic and mythical species as the wolverine."
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