Staff members from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are running the roads at night in all 99 counties this month, shining spotlights out both sides of their vehicles as they search for creatures from otters to badgers. Jace Elliott, a deer biologist with the DNR, says this annual Springtime Spotlight Survey is one of the agency’s largest and most comprehensive efforts that provides valuable information on about a dozen species.
The surveys start about an hour after sunset, preferably on nights with low wind, high humidity and above-freezing temperatures. Elliott says the routes cover different habitats — from river bottoms to farm fields, prairies, woodlots, pastures and timber stands — and they’re seeking out critters of all kinds.
Keeping the routes and conditions consistent provides more reliable data, he says, and it offers an important index of observations about a variety of Iowa’s animal populations…