UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- If you want to know what animal assaulted your apple tree or committed a felony on your tulips, you should learn crime-scene-investigation techniques, according to a wildlife expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
Gary San Julian, professor of wildlife resources, will present a free online seminar about those investigative techniques at noon and at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7. That webinar will kick off a short, monthly series of webinars about wildlife damage presented by Penn State Cooperative Extension.
"These webinars will help you learn how to recognize just who the culprit is and techniques for dissuading the attentions of some of the more persistent wildlife critters," said Allyson Muth, coordinator of the Pennsylvania Forest Stewardship Program, which is administered in the college's School of Forest Resources. "Each webinar will last approximately one hour."
Participation in the web seminar does not require any special software. To view live and previously recorded webinars, all you need is a high-speed Internet connection and sound. To register and take part in the live webinars or to watch programs in the archives, visit the Pennsylvania Forests Web Seminar Center.
Live webinars in the wildlife damage series will be offered at noon and 7 p.m. on the first Monday of the month through May. Each session will be recorded and then linked at the Web Seminar Center website, along with a copy of the presentation and any handout materials. "So, if you are unable to participate in the live session, a recording of it will be available for you to view at your convenience," Muth said.
To participate in the live webinars you must register and have a "Friend of Penn State" user ID. "The 'Register Now' page on the website will walk you through this process," said Muth. "If you're already registered with the Pennsylvania Forests Web Seminar Center, you don't need to do anything special to participate in this series.
"This series of webinars on wildlife damage is in addition to our regularly scheduled Forest Stewardship series of webinars that is offered on the second Tuesday of every month," Muth added.
Other webinars scheduled in the Wildlife Damage series include:
--March 7: "Groundhogs -- the Good, the Bad, and the Funny." "On Groundhog Day, Phil is our hero; when the garden plants disappear, not so much," said extension educator Linda Wiles, who will present the program. "Yet, when we watch Phil and his friends in action, they are pure comedy."
--April 4: "The 'oles -- Give me a V, give me an M." This presentation about voles and moles by Gary San Julian is for folks having trouble deciding if it is a V or an M. "Learn who is to blame -- the slick spade hand or the bark stripper," he said.
--May 2: "Squirrels and Chippies Acting Out." "These little animals are considered by many to be pets in parks, and they are the sometime darlings of backyard wildlife viewers," said presenter Wiles. "Webinar participants will learn more about squirrels and chipmunks -- for better or worse."
The Pennsylvania Forests Web Seminar Center is offered by Penn State Cooperative Extension's Renewable Natural Resources Extension group, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Forest Stewardship Program. The Forest Stewardship Program also provides publications on a variety of topics related to woodland management.
For a list of free publications, call 800-234-9473, send an e-mail to RNRext@psu.edu, or write to Forest Stewardship Program, Forest Resources Extension, The Pennsylvania State University, 416 Forest Resources Building, University Park, PA 16802.
The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry and USDA Forest Service, in partnership with Penn State's Forest Resources Extension, sponsor the Forest Stewardship Program in Pennsylvania.