Ogunquit News
Protecting the plovers
By C. Ayn Douglass
Hiding in plain sight in the area of Ogunquit Beach, piping plovers are vulnerable to assault by any number of predators. Although the town has discontinued its Fourth of July fireworks for the second year in a row to protect the endangered birds, a natural enemy has proven to be a formidable foe. This year, foxes have been the primary threat with experts theorizing a large number of foxes are living in the dunes due to increased development west of the Maine Turnpike.
Photos courtesy of Pat Weare
But even with the town taking what some considered the fairly drastic step of canceling the traditional fireworks, the defenseless nesting plovers are in imminent danger from a natural enemy - predatory foxes.
The plovers' nesting season will be over in the next few weeks, but Ogunquit's hatch due to predation has been dismal despite all the precautions the town has taken.
Wells resident Paula Mammone, who monitors the plover nesting sites from Drakes Island to Ogunquit with a staff of volunteers, called Town Manager Phil Clark several days ago to inform him that the nests are being destroyed by marauding foxes that have taken up residence in the dunes.
Foxes are one of many natural predators of the nesting sites, along with crows and skunks, but this year they are present in much larger numbers.
According to Clark, the total number of foxes that were trapped and relocated last year was seven.
This year, Creature Catcher Dana Johnson has trapped 10 in the past month on Ogunquit Beach.
"They are very aggressive daytime creatures," Clark said. "We've had people sitting on the beach who said the foxes will come within eight or 10 feet of them."
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website, piping plovers became a protected species under the Endangered Species Act in 1986. Along the Atlantic Coast they are designated as threatened, meaning the population would continue to decline if not protected.
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife determined that Wells and Ogunquit beaches are part of the plover habitat and covers the expenses associated with that protection, such as Johnson's fees and a protective fence that was installed in the north beach area last Friday.
Johnson said he has been working with IF&W for three years to trap or discourage natural predators from the nesting area.
"I can't believe how many foxes there are down there this year," he said. "Last year we had a total of seven but I've seen an increase this year. Part of the reason is the development west of the turnpike, where coyote have lost habitat and they're forcing the foxes out. They move down to the beach area and, of course, that abuts the rear edge of the Rachel Carson (Reserve) and they're protected there."
Johnson catches the foxes in a live trap and transports them to the Shapleigh Wildlife Management area. He said so far, with the exception of one, all have been healthy. The one that wasn't had mange, a highly contagious skin disease common in foxes.
