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Research roundup at Montana State University (#232), Crime-solving bugs, Kosher lambs, House deer, Museum pests

Crime-solving bugs

Insects are silent witnesses that have helped solve crimes, a forensic entomologist said recently at Montana State University. In one case, detectives found a grasshopper near a body and noticed it was missing a leg. They later found the leg in the cuff of the suspect’s pants, placing him at the scene of the crime. In another case, a man’s wife was missing, but police couldn’t find her body. They found maggots in the couple’s basement, though, and DNA tests proved they’d had some gruesome meals. Jeff Tomberlin from Texas A & M University said forensic entomology is a fascinating field open to newcomers. The American Board of Forensic Entomologists was established only eight years ago.

Kosher lambs

People who raise sheep in southeast Montana and the corners of three nearby states don’t have a lot of options for marketing their animals, says Pat Hatfield, associate professor in animal and range sciences at MSU. They also don’t have much political power unless they band together. So the land-grant institutions in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming are working together to see how they can help. They’re considering southeast Montana, southwest North Dakota, northwest South Dakota and northeast Wyoming as one entity and doing research to see how they can benefit its ranchers, farmers and communities. One niche they’re investigating is kosher lambs. They’re specifically looking at health factors, like lung lesions, that can keep a lamb from being accepted for kosher kills.

House deer

Whitetail deer are steadily populating neighborhoods throughout the Atlantic seaboard states, across the Great Lakes region and into the West, including some of the fastest-growing counties in Montana. Why? The deer are highly adaptable and thrive in man-made suburban environments where shrubs and other food sources are abundant, said MSU ecology professor Bob Garrott. What’s more, the deer lack natural predators when they move out of their wild habitats. In Montana, the deer are easier to control with extended hunts than in more dense urban areas. In those places, wildlife officials have tried everything from contraception to trapping and transplanting. In the end, Garrott said, some communities just figure out how to tolerate the ungulates.

Museum pests

Bugs, mice, pigeons and skunks can pester anyone, but they’re especially annoying at museums. One bug alone can endanger the value of an artifact, says Will Lanier, an entomologist with MSU Extension. To help museums control pests, Lanier is working on a project involving the Grant-Kohrs Ranch and the organization that oversees the Old Territorial Prison and other museums in Deer Lodge. Lanier will review the ranch’s existing program for managing pests. He will also establish the first integrated pest management program for the Powell County Museum and Arts Foundation. As part of the project, Zach Gildersleeve, a 2003 MSU graduate, will develop a video that any museum can use to protect its treasures from pests.

Contact: Evelyn Boswell, (406) 994-5135 or [email protected]

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