Hawks Roost

Image Courtesy Alan D. Wilson, Naturespicsonline.com

For about two weeks the red-tailed hawk nest, on Cottonwood Creek, has been occupied. I have seen a red-tailed hawk, roosting and resting in the nest, that was built about 4 years ago, in the top of a tall dead cottonwood tree. The nest tree is around 60 feet tall and very close to the creek. It appears that the nest is made up mostly of sticks, and is a foot to two deep and perhaps 3 foot across.

I have seen a red-tailed hawk sitting on the nest for about the last two weeks and I suspect the young birds will hatch in mid April. The female red-tail will usually lay 1 to 3 eggs, about every other day, usually in March. It takes 28 to 35 days for the eggs to start hatching. The male red-tail hawk will stay nearby the entire time and bring food to the female and the chicks. By mid to late May the young birds will try out their new wings, and become more adept a aerial manurers and hunting every day.
I don't think I have ever seen more than one adult near this nest, so I suspect the male spends a great deal of time hunting in the wild lands. Or maybe just flying around, for the fun of it. The rasping scream of this type of hawk is very distinctive and loud, and they make a characteristic “kree-eeee-ar, kree-eeee-ar” sound.

The path I walk, crosses a ridge, right above Cottonwood Creek, and the nesting tree is just below, in the bottom of the drainage. At that crossing you are actually looking down into the nest and with a pair of binoculars you can easily see the adult birds and nestling's, after they hatch out. The red-tailed hawk is very large and usually easy to recognize, especially with the reddish colored tail feathers. Today at my lookout post, I watched for several minutes and there was an adult hawk in the nest, which showed very little movement, except for occasionally turning its head. Perhaps I will get a chance this year to see the male feeding his family.

Trace of the Masked Bandit

There were sounds outside the house last night, some intruder was crossing the deck. My two cats were immediately alarmed and both were at the door, peering out into the dark. I jumped out of bed and turned on the outside light and there was the culprit, standing there, looking in the window. He had a perfect fitting black mask and a heavy coat and showed no fear of me. A coat of fur that is, thick and brown colored and a long tail with stripes of black. A raccoon (Procyon lotor). The name raccoon is derived from the Algonquin Indian word ahrah-koon-em.

The next day I noticed the raccoons tracks, in the snow, and each foot being about 3 inches long, with perfect finger prints, showing in the snow. The claws marks were readily identifiable, as they do not retract, like a cats.

The raccoon inhabits most of the United States, Mexico, northern South America and southern Canada. They are also are found in parts of Europe and Asia, where captive animals escaped captivity and established wild populations. They are a very adaptable animal and smart and have been able to expand their range due to this and possibly due to a reduction of predators in their environment. They rely on trees, buildings and other high objects to escape predators, and avoid open areas, and they prefer to den in hollow trees, but will also use caves, or burrows from other animals such as marmots or abandoned buildings.

A raccoon can weigh from 12 to 35 pounds, can stand on their hind legs to examine objects with their front paws. They are classified as an omnivore, and will eat plants and animals. They commonly feed on nuts, grains, berries, crayfish, bird eggs, frogs, insects and small mammals such as mice. They are preyed upon by coyotes, wolves, mountain lions, hawks and owls.

North American Indian tribes have a great deal of mythology about raccoons, and he was viewed as a trickster or one that misleads. The raccoon was believed to be spiritual because of its link to air, earth and water. The raccoon spends a great deal of time climbing and denning in hollow trees, thus the link to air, yet they spend even more time on the ground, thus the link to earth. The raccoon is also seen hunting fish, frogs and crustaceans, thus the link to water.

I sometimes see these masked bandits at night, near my house, but they cause no harm other than raiding my grapes in the fall. It's not a good idea not to feed them. The sight of a raccoon standing outside our glass door, with one of my cats staring back, is a sight to see. The raccoons are a joy to watch, and they always seem to be up to something; staring down my cats, ringing the wind chimes or just rooting around the yard eating insects or climbing and sleeping in the trees. When I see a raccoon, they will often look me right in the eye, like they are saying"watch what tricks I can play now!"

Coyote Fools the Wolf

The North American antelope or pronghorn (Antilocapra americana). 100 pounds of steely muscle made to run like the wind and gallop long distances. Over 40 miles per hour in fact. The pronghorn is a pale tan color with a white rump patch, white lower sides, two broad white bands across its throat, and slightly curved horns with a single prong that projects forward.

The pronghorn is the fastest animal in North America, and only the North American cheetah can outrun it, but that critter no longer exists. The cheetah went extinct from this side of the world over 10,000 years ago. Current research indicates it wasn't a cheetah at all, but a relative of the puma or mountain lion.

The pronghorn evolved to out run the cheetah, just like the elk evolved with its great size to fight off wolves and survive the deep snows of winter.

And what do wolves, coyotes and pronghorns have in common? A great deal it now seems.

A recent report in the journal Ecology highlighted a study completed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) on the interrelationship between coyotes, wolves and pronghorns. The study completed by the WCS, indicates that the removal of wolves from a given area, will reduce the number of pronghorns. It turns out the wolf is the pronghorns best friend.

The WCS study results show that wolf packs reduce the numbers of coyotes and coyotes prey heavily on pronghorn fawns. Wolves will prey on the fawns as well, but tend to concentrate their hunting on larger animals like elk. The presence of wolves in an ecosystem means fewer coyotes and fewer coyotes means higher survival rates of pronghorn fawns.

This research was conducted in Teton National Park, and split between two areas; one study area that has a very low wolf population and another area that has abundant wolf packs. Over a 3 year period 100 antelope fawns were radio collared and the resulting data shows that the area with a low wolf population had only a 10% survival rate of fawns, and the area with a high wolf population had a 34% survival rate of fawns.

Pronghorns have increased their population by 50%, since the reintroduction of the gray wolf in 1995, in Teton National Park. This population of pronghorns makes a 200 mile one way migration every year, to escape the deep snows of this region, in a migration corridor called the Path of the Pronghorns. The pronghorns drift to the south east towards Pinedale, Wyoming, to find forage at lower elevations. This migration corridor has been in use for at least the past 6,000 years. This corridor is threatened by road building and oil and gas development in Wyoming, on Bureau of Land Management jurisdictions and on private lands, although the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service recently signed an agreement to protect this lane, through their jurisdictions.

The positive effects of the gray wolf on our environment are many, and are not widely understood. The relationship between the wolf and its prey species is very complex and needs further research and study. The return of the gray wolf to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, is a marvel of nature, and will greatly benefit the ecosystems and animals of the Northern Rocky Mountains.

The State of Idaho has proposed wolf hunting regulations (currently in draft status) that would allow the killing of over 300 wolves in Idaho, which is nearly 50% of the Statewide population. This is a very short sighted proposal, which would destroy many wolf packs. That number is larger than the entire wolf population of Yellowstone Park in Wyoming (200 + animals).

The basic premise of hunting is that you harvest only the excess animals each year, which ensures a stable population, over the decades. The proposed State of Idaho wolf hunting plan would wipe out wolves over wide areas of Idaho. This is not hunting.

Support the Western Wolf Organization (http://westernwolves.org) in its efforts to negotiate a reasonable wolf management plan for Idaho.

Coyote Runs the Meadow

A beautiful crisp fall day, September of 2008, the Teton Mountains looming to my west. Fantastic, arching, towering granite horns, reaching for the sky. I stopped for a traffic jam on the road and it was a bear. A yearling grizzly. The tourists were stopped to watch the Griz but he was not cooperating, and it was obvious he wanted to get away. To escape the noise and cluster of humans. Maybe even cross the busy road, with all the gawking tourists stumbling around. When the Griz decided to make his move I knew I didn't want to be around, because the bear would go any where he wanted. There were a couple of Park Rangers running around trying to get people to get in their vehicles and drive on. Potential bear bait. Look out pilgrims. That was one report the Rangers didn't want to write.

I slowly drove past the bear jam and just past the gaggle of cars, I looked out the window. The Griz was running up a cutbank, about 100 feet from my vehicle. The yearling was a light brownish color, with very thick fur, and he was about as wide as he was long. Or she. I have no idea what the sex of the Griz was, and had no intention of finding out. It was one massive block of muscle and fur. Like some huge square granite boulder. An eating machine preparing for the long winter hibernation by packing on the pounds. My wife and I only saw the Griz for a few seconds and he was gone, but I won't ever forget that sight.

We drove farther into Teton National Park and took the road up Pacific Creek. The aspens were turning gold color, and roundish groves of the quakies, mottled the dark green forested mountains. The Aspen were also preparing for their hibernation, in the long, arctic like winters of the Northern Rockies. I spotted a coyote by the road, walking through thick sagebrush and I took its photo and was astonished at how its colors blended in, with the sage and bunch grass. The coyote seemed unconcerned by my presence, and had a slight limp, but looked very healthy and kept on moving up the canyon. The coyote was on mission, just like the grizzly. It's called survival and trying to find enough food.

The Pacific Creek road left the Park and the road ended at a campground. There were several packers, preparing their gear and horses, for hunting trips into the Teton Wilderness. As we drove through the camping area, one pack string with two cowboys was headed out. The dark colored horses and mules had their heads down, all business, each with a canvas pack or two on their backs. The packs, expertly and neatly tied with rope. I wanted to jump out of my truck and chase after them. A week back in the wilderness would have been wonderful, even if they didn't want or need another hunter with them. Camp cook or fire tender would have be just fine. Just give me a few hours a day to hike around and explore.

In 1988 I was assigned to the Huck Fire which was burning in the Teton Wilderness. We had a spike camp up Pilgrim Creek and we ended up punching fireline into the Pacific Creek drainage. It was a fruitless effort, as high winds pushed crown fires through the lodgepole pine, and overran all the work we had done. Man against nature and fire. The fire won. The Huck Fire eventually burned north, into Yellowstone National Park, and merged with several other fires.

We drove past an area where the Huck fire had burned over in 1988, and it was a sea of green trees, pinpricked with dozens of graying snags. The snags being the remnants of the forest, before the fires of 1988. Snags; dead standing boles stripped of green. Good for woodpeckers and cavity nesting birds. Thousands of young lodgepole pines formed a new forest, with trees about ten feet tall. It's all part of natures master plan and fire is as much a part of the forest as the coyote, the grizzly, the aspen.

Leaving the Park, on the way back to Jackson, I pulled off on a side road, along a large sagebrush meadow. The bull elk were bugling that time of the year, and I could hear several of them, off in the distance. The eerie primeval whistling noise echoed through the forest. I had my elk bugle with me and I called out several times. One or more bull elk answered back or perhaps they were ignoring my fake call, and sending their warnings to other bulls. I put my bugle away at the approach of a Park Ranger, who was driving down the main highway. No sense getting in trouble for harassing the wildlife. Oh but what the heck. Where is my breech cloth and spear, my bow and arrows. We all need to prepare for winter.

Shindig at Shenandoah Marsh

Spring grows ever closer, in the wetlands below my house, which I call Shenandoah Marsh. The marsh has been covered with ice, until last Sunday, when about half of it melted. By Monday the marsh was entirely ice free with open water. The Red-winged Blackbirds have increased in numbers, several fold, in just a week, and are creating quite a ruckus, chattering back and forth, making a high pitched sound, “oak-a-lee, oak-a-lee”, then a series of “chek” sounds, like a clucking sound in some ways.

Shenandoah Marsh is a small wetland, about an acre in overall size, but it is full of life. The primary vegetation is the cattail, a tall plant that has strap like leaves 3 to 6 feet long, with a long stem around 8 feet tall, topped by a dense mass of minute brown flowers. The cattail is a very common plant of the wetlands of the inter-mountain west of the United States. The roots and lower stem can be eaten and are full of starch, a veritable pantry of the outdoors. The cigar shaped flower head on top of the stalk (it looks like a cats tail), once dried, can be broken up and makes good insulation or bedding. Like goose down. Bed and breakfast. All you need is a lawn chair and a beer.

I walked down to the marsh on Monday and was a bit surprised to see that the water was open, with no ice, and the smell of rotting marsh, greeted me. A least of couple of dozen male birds were darting about and making lots of noise. The dead cattails from last year lay mostly crushed and broken, but a few stalks were still erect, with their brownish cigars, but there didn't appear to be any new growth. No life yet except for the birds. As I approached, a male Red-wing, flew to a shrub and roosted 5 feet over my head, scolding me with his raspy alarm call “zeer, zeer, zeer”, casting lightning bolt looks in my direction, letting me know I was an invader. Trespasser. Three smaller brownish birds darted quickly into the thicket of cattails, at my approach. They were probably the females that one of the males had gathered into his harem. The territorial males will gather up to 15 females, which he will rigorously defend, all for naught, because up to 50% of the young in his herd are fathered by other males.

I spotted a male mallard duck, perched on a mound of dead cattails and a female mallard soon appeared from a narrow water opening, a sheltered nook, and both swam out into the pond. The pair was looking for a nesting spot. The water was as smooth as glass and both ducks had identical twins, on the smooth liquid. The male looked grand in his green hood and the female a rather drab brown. Perfect camouflage for sitting on a clutch of eggs or protecting newly hatched ducklings.

The marsh is about 500 feet from my house and one of the things I enjoy in the spring, is opening a bedroom window and hearing the symphony, the song, of Red-wings, going about their rituals and rites or just singing for the pure joy of it.

Recent Legislation on Idaho Wolves

Recent legislation was introduced, in the Idaho State Legislature, to allow relatives of victims killed by wolves, to sue the Federal Government for damages. This proposed legislation would also make it a felony for folks to protect a killer wolf , punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $ 50,000 dollar fine. The sponsor of the legislation goes on to say that the Federal Government introduced the wolves into Idaho in the 1990's, knowing they were dangerous, and that the Feds should be held responsible.

There are several issues and concerns I have over this proposed legislation. Wolves have always been present in Idaho and there was a small population of wolves, before reintroduction in 1995. It's impossible or impractical to distinguish between introduced wolves and ones that were native.

The big issue seems to be that wolves are very dangerous animals. There have been wolf attacks in North America but they are very rare, but that really isn't the point. A wolf is a wild animal and like every other wild animal they can be dangerous. There is little to fear from wolves; they are dangerous but no more so than a bear, a falling tree, a rolling rock, a flash flood or a drunken motorist careening down a mountain road. You have to take precautions in the mountains in any regards. Statistics from the National Parks show that the vast majority of fatalities in parks are from vehicle accidents (boats, planes and cars) or folks falling off cliffs or drowning. Fatalities from wild animals, hardly make a blip in the statistics.

In the 1980's and 1990's in the United States, domestic dogs were responsible for an average of 17 fatalities per year and by the 2000's this number jumped to 26. You are probably safer hiking in the mountains, than taking a walk in your neighborhood. However it's not fair to compare numbers of wolf attacks, to numbers to domestic dog attacks, because there is a huge difference in the numbers of these animals. There have been documented cases of deer killing and injuring people, but does that make deer, a dangerous and vicious animal? The point is you have to keep things in perspective.

Does the Federal Government have to provide for our full protection when we are recreating in a National Forest or Park? If I lose my hunting rifle or a porcupine eats my boots, while I am camping on Federal Lands, am I due compensation? Do you want a ranger behind every tree to protect us from the multitude of dangers in the woods? I surely hope not. In the mountains and wild lands, we can escape civilization (at least for a short time) and don't have to worry about people looking over our shoulders, and we can get away from the everyday commotions. Part of the mystique of camping and hiking and exploring, is knowing we are in wild country, that there are dangers, but we can take care of ourselves.

Mid Winter

There are a few signs of spring but winter lingers on in the Northern Rocky Mountains. A few Red Winged Blackbirds have occupied the cat tail marsh below my house, all winter, and about the first week of February a couple of dozen more birds arrived. The marsh is still frozen as of Feb. 13th, 2009. Females are a striped rufous color and the males are black with red coverts (upper wing area). The males will gather up to 15 different female birds, which will nest in his territory, and will spend a quarter of his time, during daylight hours, keeping other Red Wing males away from his kingdom, and will even attack larger mammals such as dogs and people (not to worry they won't hurt you). The trouble with this ambitious bird is, that his efforts at defending his harem, are mostly ineffective, as up to half the baby birds are sired by other Red Winged males. It must be exhaustive work defending all that territory, so its no wonder other males are able to “sneak in”.

The Gary Wolves are in mating season now, going through their intricate rituals, of searching for new mates or protecting existing alliances. The pups will be born in early spring. A wolf pack averages 4 to 7 individuals. The range of a wolf pack range varies, depending upon many factors, but a large pack needs over 100 square miles. Wolves are very territorial, with some overlap of their ranges, but generally they seek to avoid each other, but at times there is strife between packs. A pack may use the same territory for generations, if food sources are adequate.

The wolf population of Yellowstone National Park, declined in 2008, to an estimated 124 wolves, down 27 percent from the previous year, this mainly due to impacts of disease in wolf pups. The population of Idaho wolves was estimated at a minimum of 732 wolves in about 83 packs (2007 figures). In Montana the estimated minimum number of wolves (Dec. 31st, 2007 figures) is 422, in 73 packs.

The Idaho Fish and Game Department, listed 94 wolves were killed (by Wildlife Services) for livestock depredations in 2008, which is more than double the number controlled in 2007, which was 43. The number of livestock killed by wolves in 2008, increased by about 20%. The number of wolves killed for depredations on cattle and sheep, has seen dramatic increases from previous years. I haven't seen any explanation of why so many wolves were killed in 2008, compared to previous years, but apparently there has been a huge change in policy on “rules of engagement”. The above figures are not final as of this date, and may change. I sent an email, to the Director of the Idaho Fish and Game Department on Jan. 31st, 2009, concerning this matter.