DULUTH, Minn. _ On a 12-degree March morning, Rich Staffon loaded gear into a sled behind his four-wheeler. Bucksaw. Loppers. Cordless drill. Throw-rope. Stepladder. A bag of wood shavings.
Staffon and his wife, Carol, were going to spend the day helping ducks.
Each spring, the Cloquet couple ventures out onto area wetlands to inspect and refurbish wood duck nesting boxes. On this morning, they would ride the four-wheeler to the Angell Pool on the Canosia Wildlife Management Area near Pike Lake. From there, they'd travel by snowshoes to inspect 13 nest boxes, preparing them for occupancy this spring.
Wood ducks are cavity nesters. The boxes are intended to supplement tree cavities that wood ducks naturally use for nests. Other duck species, especially hooded mergansers and goldeneyes, will also use nesting boxes.
Sometimes, Staffon said, opening a nesting box can offer a surprise.
"The best we found this year was two flying squirrels," Staffon said. "When I opened the box, one came flying out."
A wildlife technician in northwestern Minnesota once discovered a fisher inside a nesting box, said Chris Balzer, Department of Natural Resources area wildlife manager at Cloquet.
"You have to be careful reaching a hand in there," Balzer said.
