Anyone who lives in Kern County long enough has probably spotted their fair share of San Joaquin kit foxes, and that’s especially true for those who spend any amount of time on the CSUB campus, where many of the animals have made their homes. For the university’s biology students, the kit fox population naturally piques their scientific interest.
Five students working with biology professors Dr. Lucas Hall (CSUB) and Anne-Marie Hodge (BC) took on a project comparing how urban and exurban kit fox populations use artificial dens. For the first part of the program, students placed 10 artificial dens made from high-density polyethylene pipes in locations throughout the city of Bakersfield and 10 more in rural Lokern and set up cameras at each site. From there, they monitored footage to see whether kit foxes used the man-made dens and sorted photos according to the animals pictured, with some jackrabbits and cottontails also making appearances.
Artificial dens are a common mitigation strategy for developers who might find kit foxes inhabiting land they are building on, a way to provide an alternative home and safe space for the endangered species that doesn’t put them at further risk. As Kern County continues to expand and urbanize previously rural areas, understanding how best to help kit foxes facing habitat loss is essential.
“We know that urban foxes will use anything as a den — literally anything,” Dr. Hall said. “But we have no idea how rural foxes on natural lands behave toward these types of novel objects. So, to get a better idea of conservation for mitigation strategies, we thought it’d be a good idea to see how these guys behave toward them, because it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to use artificial dens as a mitigation strategy if the foxes avoid them altogether.”
Yarali Albisurez and Anika Ruelas, biology students at BC and CSUB respectively, were both drawn to this project because of their interest in animals. With both hoping to eventually become veterinarians, they jumped at the chance to get research experience studying wildlife.
“I have worked in groups before, but not in a research setting,” said Albisurez. “Just learning how to interact with people and navigating through all the sorting and everything, I think it was a good lesson for me.”
The students aren’t just researching kit foxes for an educational summer experience — they are also contributing valuable work to the master’s project of Alyse Gabaldon, a graduate student in Dr. Hall’s lab who will be continuing this work over the next year.
“I was kind of surprised that we were doing actual research,” Ruelas said. “I didn’t think we’d be going out into the field and setting up things and then actually getting data and processing it. Like, this is going to be published one day!”
For Gabaldon, leading a group of undergraduates on a research project is a full-circle moment. It was just three years ago that she participated in the SURE program, an experience that was hugely formative for her.
“Getting to meet professionals in the wildlife biology field and helping out with the research being done that summer is the main reason I decided to pursue a master's degree,” Gabaldon said. “I was really inspired by the work the biologists were doing with kit foxes and wanted to get more involved.”
Working with younger students who are contributing to her project has been “a surreal experience” for Gabaldon.
“I never thought I would find myself in a position where I could be seen as a leader,” she said. “I remember looking up to the project leads and wanting to be as involved as possible, so getting to be in that position now and guiding students who are eager to get involved in research, such as this group I got to meet and get to know this summer, is an amazing feeling.”
Research opportunities like this project are a great way for students to get a practical understanding of the scientific method, Dr. Hall said. He also hopes they come away with a greater appreciation for the work biologists are doing on behalf of endangered animals like the kit fox. Conservation might conjure up images of caring for cute animals but, as his students learned from setting up the dens, it can also involve a bit of hard labor.
“I think just having that appreciation for literally pouring their blood, sweat and tears into a project that's helping this little species — anytime you invest energy, effort and time into something, it becomes a part of you a little bit,” he said. “I think the stronger the connections that we can have with species and their habitats around us is only going to benefit us moving forward as well as them.”