Erv Berglund uncovers nature’s secrets through the University of Minnesota Extension Offal Wildlife Watching Project
Erv Berglund understands the value of observation. He has a lifelong record of it.
For the past 45 years, he’s kept a detailed journal of observations at his hunting shack — 200 miles north of his home in Fridley — a small rustic haven that houses up to eight hunters at a time. With no road access or running water, it is an ideal place to quietly watch, wait and record what he sees in meticulous detail.
When friends or family try to recall what happened on a certain day, he gets out his carefully labeled books and opens one up to the right date.
“I know exactly what went on every day,” says Berglund. “Some days, you see nothing. You wonder why you’re even out there. But every once in a while, you see something new and that makes it fun.”
Now, Berglund has turned his watchful eyes, and trail cameras, to University of Minnesota Extension’s Offal Wildlife Watching Project, monitoring scavenger activity on deer gut piles to understand food webs.
Grace Milanowski, Extension program coordinator for the project says more than 500 volunteers have been involved since its start about a decade ago. About 170 volunteers are active each hunting season. Another 12,097 volunteers have assisted with the project on the Zooniverse application, classifying 1.7 million images.
A career of curiosity
Berglund’s passion for the outdoors has led him to a career that has spanned continents, disciplines and decades. His journey started with a degree at the University of Minnesota, including a Ph.D. in forest hydrology, and led to projects as far away as Morocco. He spent three years there working with students on graduate research in forestry and watershed management, part of a USAID initiative. From the mines and bogs of Hibbing to wetland work with the DNR, his professional roots run deep in Minnesota soil.
His engagement has not waned since retirement. Living in Fridley and retired for 20 years, he’s found a new outlet for his lifelong curiosity.
Answering the call
His involvement began when he saw an article about the Offal Wildlife Watching Project. “Because it was a Ph.D. student asking for help, I thought I should help out however I can,” he says, recalling his own days as a Ph.D. student.
That student request came from Ellen Candler, who started the project as part of her post-doctoral work at the University of Minnesota and remains involved. Candler was using trail cameras to monitor gut piles left by hunters, revealing which species feed on the remains and how quickly they find them.
Already well-equipped with trail cameras and a deep love of deer hunting, Berglund was ready to lend his land and resources.
"Whether contributing analog or digital observations, Berglund’s curiosity continues to fuel discoveries for this participatory science program, which is in its ninth year," says Milanowski.
A front-row seat to the food chain
“What’s amazing is how fast the animals find the gut piles,” says Berglund. Chickadees, gray jays, bald eagles, golden eagles — even bobcats and wolves — show up to scavenge the food they need.
In one memorable moment, a wary wolf cautiously circled a gut pile before finally settling in to eat. In another, a group of four bald eagles fed, followed by a lone golden eagle, each species waiting their turn. He has even seen a mother, father and baby bobcat appear together.
Beyond the data
With deep snow and logging shifting winter habitats, Berglund has also taken notice of long-term changes.
“We used to see more small birds. Now, not so much,” he says. Through detailed notes, down to the time of day each deer was taken, he tracks patterns over decades. This observational discipline helps him contribute invaluable context.
“This project shows us that gut piles aren’t just waste. They’re critical food sources for many species,” he says. “It’s also just fun with the trail cameras to see what comes by when you’re not there. That’s the neat part.”
Calling all curious Minnesota hunters
“Cameras are all programmed and ready to set up,” says Grace Milanowski, Extension program coordinator for the Offal Wildlife Watching Project. “Hunters just have to get a gut pile and turn them on. They mail the camera back to us after recording scavenger visitors at their gut pile for about a month. We collect hundreds of thousands of photos each season from all over Minnesota.
Even with such a significant data set, the program is eager to bring in more hunters who are willing to post cameras near their deer gut piles.
“We want volunteers to sign up and help us,” says Milanowski.
Chronic wasting disease research
This year, the program will add two new initiatives. One is sampling small mammals near gut piles for species identification and to determine if rodents may be vectors for chronic wasting disease (CWD). They will also survey participants through an online survey and in-depth interviews on what keeps them coming back or opting out.
The International Wolf Center will donate deer gut piles from roadkill and the project will catch and release the animals via non-lethal trapping. The Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach at the University of Minnesota will provide testing.
Milanowski hopes the overall program can gain traction and eventually be a fixture in other states as it has been in Minnesota.
“We are the only offal project specifically studying this,” she says.
Hunters or others interested in other parts of the program can take part during bow season, which started Sept. 19, and firearm season starting Nov. 7. Find a variety of ways to get involved by visiting offal.umn.edu.
Funding for the project is provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
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