- Dates
- 1961-01 – 1961-03
- Kind
- Conservation
- Participants
- John Ozaga (biologist)
- Carried out by
- Michigan Conservation Department
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- conservationenvironment
- Within
- Beaver Island
Summary
Conservation Department biologist John Ozaga spent January through March 1961 studying predator impacts on Beaver Island. The March Beaver Beacon reports an estimated 350 tracking miles, eleven deer carcasses found, and two carcasses attributed to coyotes. The September Beaver Beacon retrospectively reports 214 hiking miles, one deer killed by a coyote versus eight deer lost during deer season, two snowshoe rabbits killed by coyotes, and nine carcasses whose rabbit mortality was uncertain. Of nine dead grouse, one was attributed to a predatory bird, one to a fox, one to a coyote, and six had uncertain causes.
The same report summarizes coyote records kept since 1947: 21 killed by deer hunters, 38 by coyote hunters, and 78 trapped, for a total of 137. Ozaga concluded that coyote and fox populations were then low and no longer a major threat to bird, deer, and rabbit hunters. His survey also counted 233 grouse in 29 broods, compared with three broods the prior year.
Evidence and limits
The report preserves a local newspaper account of a field study and its attributed interpretation. It is not a complete population census, a modern ecological estimate, or proof that every carcass had a known cause. The 1947– 1961 kill total and the 1961 observations are kept as separate source-reported measures rather than combined into a population trend.
Open questions
- Where are Ozaga’s field notes, transects, and underlying wildlife records?
- What were the island’s coyote, fox, deer, rabbit, and grouse populations rather than mortality samples?
- Can later surveys test the report’s conclusion that predator numbers were low?
See also
Sources
- Reports that Conservation Department biologist John Ozaga had researched predator animals on the Island and hiked 214 miles from January through March 1961. It gives the department's 1947–1961 coyote-kill totals and Ozaga's observations of deer, rabbits, and grouse mortality.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-09_Beaver-Beacon
- The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-09_Beaver-Beacon
- Contemporaneously reports Ozaga’s estimated 350 miles of tracking, eleven deer carcasses found, two attributed to coyotes, and his estimate of about thirty deer left in the woods by hunters. These March figures are preserved alongside, not silently reconciled with, the September report’s 214-mile retrospective.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-03_Beaver-Beacon
- The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-03_Beaver-Beacon
Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “John Ozaga predator study on Beaver Island, 1961”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/john-ozaga-predator-study-on-beaver-island-1961/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, September 1961, “Conservation Department News.” (and 3 further sources listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “John Ozaga predator study on Beaver Island, 1961”RIS for “John Ozaga predator study on Beaver Island, 1961”