Cascadia Wildlife Blog
News from the Wolverine Tracking Project and more
WELCOME TO A NEW YEAR Happy New Year! 2022 was a great year for us. We saw so many amazing animal photos retrieved from our cameras, and fascinating tracks and sign of animals on our tracking surveys. We were so excited to get some target species detections in the past year, including several red fox camera sightings, as well as finding marten tracks. We are excited to see what 2023 brings! Thank you to everyone that has supported us over the past year. TRACKING SURVEY We had three tracking surveys in December, and our volunteers saw track and sign of a variety of animals. Let's take a look at some of the last tracks they found before ringing in the New Year! While trekking through the snow at Mt. Hood, some of the most common tracks to find belong to Douglas squirrels and snowshoe hares. These animals are always on the move, looking for plant matter to eat amongst all of the snow. Luckily, these animals both have fairly distinct gaits that we can learn to identify! Below is a Douglas squirrel trail. These animals hop forward, with their rear feet swinging around their front feet and landing slightly ahead of where their front feet are planted. Additionally, if the prints are clear enough to make out toes, you will see four toes on the front feet of a Douglas squirrel and five toes on the rear feet. A Douglas squirrel trail, left as it hopped all over the surrounding snow. Next let's look at a snowshoe hare trail. Like the Douglas squirrel, these animals hop forward with their rear feet landing ahead of their front feet. One difference we can see from the squirrel trail, however, is that a snowshoe hare's front feet will land one slightly in front of the other, rather than side by side. This allows the hare to have more stability while moving quickly. With that pattern and such large rear footprints, a snowshoe hare trail is often easy to identify once you know what to look for! From top to bottom: A snowshoe hare trail, with rear feet landing in front; this hare was traveling in the direction of the camera. A closer look at a single snowshoe hare track, with front feet overlapping a bit and larger rear feet close to the camera. Now you know how to identify two of the more common tracks you might see at Mt. Hood! While our volunteers saw tons of these tracks in December, they also saw some more unique track and sign. Let's take a look at some other highlights! Here is another sign of squirrel. One must have been sitting in this tree while eating something, and all of its scraps fell to the ground below! The remainder of a squirrel's snack lays on the snow beneath a tree. Our volunteers also found evidence of an even smaller critter! A deer mouse left this trough-shaped trail through the snow, before scurrying down into a tunnel below the snow. These tunnels give the mouse a better chance of going undetected by predators. A trough-shaped trail, left by a deer mouse, leads to a tunnel under the snow. Our volunteers also found some tracks belonging to members of the mustelid family! These animals generally have long bodies that are low to the ground. Mustelid feet have five toes, and they move with a unique bounding gait. This gait also has the rear feet landing in nearly the same spot as the front feet. First, we have a weasel trail. These could be from a short-tailed or long-tailed weasel, but they can overlap in size, so it can be hard to positively identify. It looks like the feet overlapped a bit in some spots as well. A weasel trail moving away from the perspective of the camera. Volunteers also found a marten trail! This is a Wolverine Tracking Project target species, as there is a healthy population at Mt. Hood and they are good indicators of forest health. For this trail, you can see a similar gait to the previous weasel. We have also included a single track, where you can see how the feet landed in similar spots and are overlapping. From top to bottom: A marten trail loops around in an arc. A close-up shows the marten's individual feet landing closely together. Those are just some of the animals that volunteers might cross paths with on a tracking survey. Check back in next month to see what else they find!
0 Comments
WINTER SEASON Our winter season is in full swing and we have been busy meeting and training our Camera Crew and Tracking Survey volunteers! We have been having fun doing field trainings in local parks and at Mt. Hood, have gone out on our first Group Tracking Survey, and are looking forward to bringing back our first photos for the winter season. CAMERA SURVEY While we don't have winter photos to share quite yet, our last two sets of photos from our summer camera locations were recently retrieved, and we have some amazing detections to share from them! First, check out this canine - it's a red fox! These animals can display a few different coat colors, or "phases." The pictures below are of a silver phase fox. Even though it does not appear red, it is a member of the same red fox species! This is one of the target species of the Wolverine Tracking Project. There are a few subspecies of red fox, one being the Sierra Nevada red fox, which is particularly rare. This subspecies resides at higher elevations than your typical fox, and because we carry out surveys for carnivores at Mt. Hood, this is the perfect area to look for these animals! A fox crosses through our camera site. For our target species, we especially hope to find scat, urine, or hair samples from these animals which can be used for genetic analysis. Not only does this confirm their presence in our survey areas, but there is a lot to learn from genetics too! Since the Sierra Nevada red fox is a subspecies that is spatially isolated from other populations, we are particularly interested in how the DNA of these animals may differ from other subspecies. Our next detection shows a fox urinating, which would be a perfect genetic sample! Unfortunately, too much snow fell before this camera was visited, so no sample could be collected. We can cross our fingers for another chance as the season goes on! From top to bottom: A fox circles and urinates near some brush. A fox sniffs the ground before leaving the area. Next up, we would like to share some adorable black bear detections from the last of our summer photos. These animals will be hibernating very soon, so we probably will not be seeing them for a while. Female black bears can remain in their dens as late as mid-April and will give birth to cubs while still in the den! These cubs will then remain with their mother for up to two years before heading out on their own. An adult black bear sniffs and rubs on a tree before leaving the view of the camera. We also want to share some photos of very curious cubs! From top to bottom: A black bear cub stands on its hind legs while smelling and rubbing on a tree, then rolls onto the ground. A black bear cub grabs some vegetation while rolling around on the ground. Last from these camera checks, we have a sweet doe visiting our camera in the snow! Like the black bears, deer are quite busy during this time of year. They are coming to the end of their rut, or breeding season. The rut is marked by physiological and behavioral changes, where males shed the velvet on their antlers and begin fighting with other males. By this time of year, most bucks have mated with several does. Come spring, we will be seeing sweet spotted fawns with their mothers! A doe walks through the snow towards the camera, looks to the left, and leaves the site. And with that, we have shared some of the highlights of our last summer photos. We are very excited for our hard-working volunteers to visit our cameras again soon, bringing back the first photos for the winter season. Please check back next month to see more highlights and to learn more about the animals we find!
snow falls on mt. hood The snow is fresh on Mt. Hood and the animals have been hard at work prepping for winter. Just like our animal friends, we have been busy wrapping up our summer season. We send a huge "Thank you!" to everyone that has volunteered with us this summer! With that, we are very excited to start Winter Tracking Surveys soon. Strap on some snowshoes and join us in looking for animal tracks and sign in the snow, our virtual trainings start this week! wildlife surveys We will be sharing lots of photos and videos brought back from several of our camera sites, as well as discussing a genetic sample found on a scat survey! We will also be highlighting some interesting behaviors and physical changes that animals will be undergoing with the change of season. A strong sense of smell We have had numerous detections of black bear at our camera sites this month. These animals can pick up on scents as far as a mile away! Many animals pass through our sites, so it makes sense that bears come to investigate and sniff around! From top to bottom: A bear covered in debris poses with head low to the ground, investigating smells at our site. A different site has a bear smelling a log. An adorable cub rolls around near a large downed tree. leaving a scent Our volunteers have also brought back photos and signs of some canid species. These animals are highly social and often travel in groups! When seen at our cameras, however, we typically see them alone or in pairs. Canids also love to let other animals know where they've been! They will often mark roads, trails, and sites with urine or scat, and frequently rub or roll on the ground to leave their scent. This works out well for us, as it makes them easier to study! From top to bottom: A coyote urinates near a tree while a second coyote stands facing the camera. The same two coyotes rub and roll around, leaving their scent at the site. A coyote sniffs around at a different location. In addition to the coyote detections at our camera sites, we had a volunteer that found a scat sample that likely belonged to a gray wolf! Canids like the coyotes above and gray wolves are facultative carnivores, which means that in addition to preferably eating prey animals, they will also eat berries, carrion, and whatever else they can find if necessary. This is sometimes evident in scat samples, as we may find plant matter in addition to things like hair or bone fragments from prey. Scat sample that is likely from a gray wolf. The large size, cylindrical shape with tapered ends, and hair are notable for identification. We have another detection from an animal that is quite known for leaving its mark - the striped skunk! We have recently seen an uptick in detections of these animals, which is a pleasant surprise. A striped skunk moves through a camera site, pausing to sniff at the base of a tree. secretive felines Next are some mountain lion and bobcat detections. Unlike the canids we talked about, members of the feline family tend to be more secretive. They are much more likely to mark under logs, rocky overhangs, or other areas that receive less traffic. They may also bury their scat, rather than leaving it on a trail like canids. Despite these differences, we will see felines display similar rubbing and rolling behaviors at our sites! From top to bottom: A bobcat perches and stretches on a log at night. A bobcat lays in the center of one of our sites. A mountain lion rubs its face and body near a downed tree. A mountain lion approaches and smells a stump during the daytime, a more unusual sighting! Developing winter coats We also had detections of a few species that will be sporting winter coats that look quite different from what we have seen during the summer! Deer and elk develop thicker winter coats with long guard hairs that are more moisture-resistant. For deer, this coat is notably thicker and grayer than their summer coat. For elk, both males and females develop a two-layered coat that looks like a mane covering their necks. From top to bottom: A female deer stands with her back to the camera. A larger buck stands near a camera at night. A male elk visits a site at night as well, thicker hair covering the neck is quite visible. We also detected a snowshoe hare, who will be developing a white winter coat soon! This will allow the animal to better blend in with the snow that is now on Mt. Hood, providing better camouflage from predators. A snowshoe hare hops near a tree, then leaps away. Stashing food for the winter Next up are some members of the rodent family! We had many detections of Douglas squirrel, western gray squirrel, and chipmunk. These animals have been very active through fall, storing food to eat while they spend more time in their dens in winter. Douglas squirrels use a method called "larder hoarding," where they will create just a few very large caches of food. In contrast, western gray squirrels use "scatter hoarding," where they will have numerous caches that are smaller in size. Various chipmunk species will use either of these methods. From top to bottom: A Douglas squirrel hops through the snow. A western gray squirrel stands quite close to one of our cameras. A chipmunk sits to the left of the camera. We had one more rodent detection, this time a more unusual species! The northern flying squirrel is active at night, so they are not as commonly seen. Unlike the rodents above, hoarding food behaviors are not well-documented for these animals. Maybe we'll find out how they prepare for winter soon! A northern flying squirrel hops throughout the site during the night. feathered friends Finally, we have some bird detections to share as well! From top to bottom: A Steller's jay sits on a stump. A small flock of turkeys pass through a site. That's it for this month's blog! Thank you to all of our volunteers for bringing back these photos and genetic samples, and thank you for reading!
|
Categories
All
Past Posts
November 2023
|
|
Copyright © 2021
|