Lecture:The Lowcountry Lynx: Kiawah Island Bobcats and the Struggle Against Rodenticide Poisoning

Join Meghan as she discusses the US’s most widely distributed felid – the Bobcat – and the challenges they face in the rapidly developing Southeast. Meghan is conducting her doctoral research across two barrier island bobcat populations on the South Carolina coast to understand their response to human disturbance. During this lecture, you will learn basic biology and ecology of Bobcats, including what makes southeastern Bobcats unique, and dive into the unfolding struggle of Bobcats on Kiawah Island. You’ll also become familiar with anticoagulant rodenticides – from their intended purpose to their unintended effects on wildlife – and the change communities can enact to protect their wildlife and their surrounding ecosystems.

Meghan is a PhD candidate in the Wildlife & Fisheries program at Clemson University where she studies the effects of anticoagulant rodenticides and human disturbance on bobcats and other mammalian carnivores. Meghan’s interest in wildlife began at a young age through family trips to wildlife refuges, state parks, and zoos near her home in central California. After discovering a love for ecology, Meghan earned her B.S. in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University, where she got to explore the Rockies in search of iconic Colorado flora and fauna. Meghan was a technician with the US Geological Survey for three years post-graduation where she worked with a suite of species including black-footed ferrets, black tailed prairie dogs, nesting waterfowl, and common duck nest predators like skunks and raccoons. Meghan earned her MS in Natural Resources and Environmental Science at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she developed statistical models to analyze wildlife movement patterns in the water-limited Mojave National Preserve before heading to Clemson University for her doctorate. Meghan’s expertise includes animal movement modeling, carnivore ecology, and bobcat poop collection!

You may also like the following events from Charleston Natural History Society:

• Next month, 12th October, 02:00 pm, Pollinator Garden Installation. - Pinckney Park James Island in Charleston