On the 29th of August 1999 the second set of swift fox reintroduction to the Blackfeet Tribal Lands, MT, took place. In the previous year, 30 captive-bred foxes were released, and in a follow-up survey showed signs of both survival and reproduction in the wild. This year a total of 15 foxes were released, consisting of 12 adults, and 3 kits born that spring. Of the 12 adults, eight were radio-collared, with collars donated by the Montana State Fish, Wildlife & Parks Service. A graduate student, and a number of volunteer workers who were available for varying periods of time monitored the foxes for a three week period after the release. The releases were again the result of a joint project run by the Cochrane Ecological Institute, the Blackfeet Fish & Wildlife Division, and Defenders of Wildlife, with the inclusion of a graduate student from The Queen’s University of Belfast.

All volunteers arrived at the release site at the Blackfeet Tribal Ranch. The ranch is situated approximately 20 miles south east of the town of Browning within the Blackfeet Reserve, Montana. The foxes were watered, then taken to each individual release site and placed next to the portable protective shelter (PPS) allocated to that site. Once they were in place they were fed with chicks. The sites were as follows:

Weather - cool in the morning, heats up around 11 am, stays very hot (+30 C) and dry all day. Virtually no wind.

The release times for the sites were as follows:

August 29 - Site 6 Observer - Dennis Jorganson
07:40 - Opened Epharisto’s kennel, he walks out before the other kennel is opened. Opened Georgina’s kennel, she came out, looked around then ran off to the east. Epharisto explored the area then returned to the kennels, explored the PPS. Ate something.

07:49 - Epharisto begins to walk off to the south, scent marks at a few spots about 100m from kennel

07:51 - Begins to come back towards the PPS. Seems to be exploring

07:54 - Returns to site, crawls into large badger hole, comes back out a few seconds later, returns to

07:54 - PPS. Still exploring, seems eager to explore in all directions. Moves about 2m from us.

07:59 - Heads SE and in near ranch fence, goes out of view east over a hill.

08:40 - Spot a fox to the NE quite far away. It begins to run, then stops, looks back then runs off over a hill to the north. See it again a short distance from the previous spot, it lies down in the grass and remains there until disturbed by the Ecotourists when it runs away

09:03 - Another fox spotted to the NE, disappears to the north.

09:20 - Fox approaches from the west, begins to explore area around camp.

09:24 - Another fox approaches from the east where we lost sight of Epharisto along the ranch fence. Fox that approached for the west was resting in the shade when it spotted the other fox. The from the west approached the other one, and there was an aggressive encounter. One fox chased the other away, but eventually they both returned to the area. Again, one fox approached the other backwards, and with the tailed curled, there was another aggressive encounter. One of the foxes moved toward the PPS while the other remained in the shade at the truck. Eventually it moved out of the shade and began moving north. It watched the other fox near the den site, and then continued north down along the lower edge of the ridge. The other fox reached the PPS and kennels, and began to look inside. It lay down in the shade of the PPS for a short time then began to move towards us again. Once again it explored our camp site and the surrounding area including the gopher holes.

Wednesday 8th September 1999 - Observers - Sam and Stephen
Weather - hot, dry

09:00 - Searched for more remains of Epharisto, found more pieces of fur and some blood stains as if dragged, but no more bones.

12:00 - Took remains into Ira’s office. Checked compatibility of telemetry equipment with the bear peoples equipment for flights, and got headphones for the receiver as difficult to hear when windy

Observer - Stephen Harrison

19:00 - Telemetry: picked up a weak signal for Georgina at site 4. Followed it west but lost it. Back-tracked, but couldn’t find it again.

19:20 - Went up to the top of release site hill, no signals, so went west to the top of the next hill, still no signals. Moved NW towards the river, no signals, so back-tracked SW to the ranch boundary fence. Went approximately 300 yards too the nearest high point, spotted an owl (unknown species). Tried all frequencies again, still nothing, headed towards ranch.

20:10 - Picked up a stronger signal for Georgina, and followed it west, then south, until approximately 400 yards SW of campsite. Lost the signal last direction was SW beyond the boundary of the ranch.

20:35 - Picked up signal at top of release site hill, still from the SW but a much weaker signal.Lost it again, and tried to pick it up for 20 minutes, but couldn’t get it.

Observer - Sam Bremner

19:30 - Went up to the wild den site, and sat 100-150m away. Two foxes curled up outside the den.  One looked up when I arrived, the other one didn’t move.

19:35 - Both awake and facing my direction, but neither have moved.

19:40 - Both resting alert.

19:45 - Resting alert.

19:48 - Coyotes howling from the SW, no reaction from either fox, both appear to be sleeping with their heads tucked in and bodies curled up.

19:50 - Sun behind the mountains, harder to see the foxes as blend in too well

19:55 - Resting alert

19:56 - One fox stretching and sitting up, the other is still curled up. 1st fox scratched and stretches, then lies back down.

20:00 - Resting alert

20:05 - Another fox appears over the hill from the SE, trots towards the den. One of the foxes already at the den disappears into the den, while the other one greets the new fox by touching noses and necks, both are sniffing and stretching. They both investigate area around the den.

20:10 - The 3rd fox comes back out of the den, and sniffs at the other two.

20:11- One fox walks towards me, stops to listen to a noise from the north, and then carries on walking towards me. Investigates the area around me until only 2-3m away. Disappears behind me over the ridge towards the NW.

20:12 - Another of the foxes heads east towards the track, leaving one fox behind at the den site.

20:20 - Remaining fox gets up, stretches, eliminates, and then trots towards me, investigating as it does so. Circles me, about 1.5m away, circles round to the right heading south. I follow it as it moves over the ridge, investigating as it goes. Lose it over the other side of the ridge as runs down towards the ranch house.

Monday 13th September 1999 - Observers - Sam, Stephen and Lisa

Weather - hot and dry, cold at nights

09:00 - Site 4: fresh digging and prints, no fresh scat Site 5: No prints, 1-2 day old scat Water Dug-out: No fresh tracks in mud Site 6: No recent signs, fresh(ish) digging at badger hole 15ft away - probably badger. New den 2: Ground quite hard but a couple of fresh prints near the entrance, we brushed the earth so that any new prints would be visible. New den 1: No recent signs of use, may have been used more by Epharisto than any of the other foxes, therefore won’t be used. Site 1: No recent signs outside, lifted up box to see if it can be taken away yet, doesn’t look as if used recently but decide to leave it for a few more days Site 2: No recent signs. Site 3: No recent signs.

14:00 - Lisa and I into Cutbank

14:55 - Swift fox runs across the road in front of the truck on the road after turning off the gravel  road. Goes into a drainage tunnel at the side of the road. Didn’t look like it was collared.

19:40 - Go up to the wild den site, no foxes were out. Waited until dark.

20:40 - Spotlighting: One uncollared fox spotted through the tall gates on the road leading to the  farmhouse in the coulee. GPS reading N48° 28.681, W112° 39.610.  Fox moved across the track towards highway 89 (south).

21:45 - One fox spotted on the secondary road (358) off the 89. Not collared, picked up a signal for Georgina at the same time, faint signal, lost it after about 20 seconds. Drove on secondary towards Cutbank, same route Lisa and I took that afternoon.

22:20 - Six foxes all grouped together in a field on the right-hand side of track, just after the last cattle grid. None of them were radio-collared. GPS reading: N48° 31.832, W112° 25.097

22:30 - Three more foxes approximately 3/4 of a mile on from the last one, again on the side of the road. GPS reading: N48° 31.838, W112° 24.207.

22:45 - Fox ran across the road again in the same area as this afternoon, and looked like it went into the same drainage hole. GPS reading: N48° 34.147, W112° 21.538

00:00 - One uncollared fox spotted at the right of Dale and Debbie Fenner’s house just before the access road on the 358. GPS reading N48° 31.622, W112° 33.591

00:15 - Two foxes on the right hand side of the access road (going towards the ranch), both uncollared. Looked quite small, possibly cubs? GPS reading: N48° 30.954, W112° 35.186

00:35 - Porcupine on left hand side of the road.

**Lots of harvesting going on in these areas, so a good food supply in the fields**

The foxes were monitored from the 28th of August to the 15th of September. During this period, a number of signs indicating that the foxes were making attempts to establish themselves were found, such as areas of new digging, or digging at existing sites. Radio-tracking showed that foxes were surviving, and remaining in the release site, over the immediate period following release, the time period which can prove most crucial to the foxes as they are under the most threat at this time due to lack of knowledge of the local area. After a few days it appeared that the foxes were travelling greater distances and exploring more of the surrounding area, thus familiarizing themselves with sites providing essentials such as cover from predators or good food sources .

During this three week monitoring period two of the 15 foxes were found dead, one on the 1st of September, three days after release, and the other on the 7th of September, nine days after release. These foxes were both killed by natural predators, and were found by tracking the mortality signal emitting from their collars. This demonstrates the advantage of the radio-collars in removing the ‘unknown’ factor of foxes that have not been sighted for a period of time. Too often it is the tendency of follow-up surveys to classify ‘unknown’ animals as not having survived, when this has not actually been confirmed.

Nightlighting during this three-week period produced a higher number of uncollared foxes than previously spotted, these were mainly situated in fields which were being harvested, thus producing a good food source for the foxes. Due to the high number of sightings, and the groupings of these foxes, it is possible that they were family groups that had survived the previous years release, and produced young. The newly harvested fields would be an excellent food source for swift fox, containing many small mammal and insect species. Unconfirmed sightings from local people also indicated that swift fox frequently used this area during this period.

From the findings of the follow-up survey conducted in June, and the monitoring period following this year’s release, it appears that the foxes are surviving and establishing themselves in both the release site, and the surrounding areas. Local people seem to view the fox re-introductions favorably, and are willing to help by reporting sightings, and not harassing foxes on their land. Therefore, it appears that with the continued input of numbers into the area, the swift fox should be capable establishing itself, and becoming a sustainable population.