Cascadia Wildlife Blog
News from the Wolverine Tracking Project and more
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Our previous blog post has been corrected to account for an error: a turkey vulture was identified as a turkey! We thought it might be interesting to see a comparison of a turkey (top) with a turkey vulture (bottom):   Often, factors conspire to make identification difficult. We may only get one, blurry shot of an animal as it zips through a site, or high contrast lighting conditions can make things tricky. And, like comparing the Douglas and Western gray squirrels or rabbits and hares in low photo conditions, similarities can make an ID tricky. Both birds are equivalent size with bald, featherless heads. However, female or juvenile turkeys like the one above are easier to differentiate since they are more slender and upright than a turkey vulture - the long legs and neck and larger size also set turkeys apart from other ground birds like pheasant and grouse. Also note the characteristic speckled coloring of the turkey vulture. Another way to tell? The beak of each animal reflects its diet. Turkeys are foragers that feed off vegetation, insects, and sometimes even lizards and so have more slender beaks, while turkey vultures have sturdier beaks to suit their scavenger diet, one that includes insects, berries, and so on, too, but is primarily focused on carrion. While both birds are an indicator of a healthy ecosystem, they each play different roles. Read more about turkey vultures and turkeys.
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Summer is in full swing! While that may mean staying up late under the stars, taking dips in glacial waters, and counting the hours spent outside in mosquito bites, at Cascadia Wild it also means hauling off to the woods to check on camera sites and combing trails for signs of Sierra Nevada red fox and gray wolf. These wildlife surveys bring back valuable data, and in the past month alone we have collected over 8,000 viable photos, five wolf scat samples, one red fox scat sample, and, with our twenty or so new volunteers for the red fox scat survey, we are looking forward to more red fox samples, too! You may have heard the big news last week about six new wolf pups in the White River Pack! This video, captured by biologists of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, is worth a watch with the sound ON. We hope the best for the newest members of this pack, and we are keeping an eye out for them! It's only a matter of time and luck before some of them disembark to find new territory of their own. We are very interested in how their presence will shape the ecosystem of wherever they choose to call home, and, should they come our way, the information collected from our wildlife surveys will help us understand that. It bears repeating: All this work is made possible by the support of our community – whether you are a survey volunteer, member, have taken courses with us, or have offered financial or material support, your presence is invaluable. Together, we are deepening our understanding of the forest. Thank you! And now, the camera highlights! All our cameras are up, and we’ve gotten footage back from all but one. Since our first photos of the season, we’ve seen more elk, deer, coyote, black bear, and of course, squirrels. We also have our first summer sightings of turkeys, skunk, cougar, and bobcats!  This cougar, like other animals captured at this site, is seen using a game trail. Though cougar sightings have been increasing in frequency in our area (for a lot of complex reasons), running into these animals is still rare, and this is so far our first time seeing one this summer.  Bobcats can be elusive as well, but two of our cameras picked up their presence. This one at one of our Timberline sites spent a lot of time inspecting the scent bait.  ...while this bobcat posed only briefly for us at another site.  Black bears are a much more common sight, like this cinnamon or even blond black bear. Did you know that the lighter coloring is more common to western black bears? It's thought to be an adaptation to provide better camouflage in our abundant, sunny meadows and valleys.  This black bear is using the same game trail that was used by the cougar above.  Though we don't often use meat bait in the summer, this healthy black bear was very interested in the meat bait posted here!  Our favorite mama bear and her star-chested cub of the year (coy) returned...  ...followed by what appears to be a male bear, scent-marking near our bait tree. Usually, sows will avoid an area if there is a male bear around, since males tend to target others' offspring to maintain their genetic primacy. It will be interesting to see whether that is the case this time.  Coyotes are perennial! This coyote, unlike the bear above, was cautiously curious about the meat-bait and approached it several times.  Some good news for our mountain predators and an indication of a mature forest, is turkey! This ground bird can be a tasty meal and are an indicator of a healthy, mature forest. Turkey usually travel in flocks, so hopefully there are plenty nearby.  Most of our footage so far is of deer, which is more good news for our mountain predators. This buck near Timberline was out way past his bedtime, however, and deer at night can indicate that their environment is relatively safe from predators, so it will be interesting to see what else this site finds over the summer.  It's a great time of year for fawn sightings, too, like this pair.  If you're planning on being out at night, keep an eye out for this nocturnal critter! Striped skunks like this one may get a bad rap, thanks to their odorous nature, but they are highly adaptable omnivores and can be important for insect control. They have been known to eat wasps and even venomous snakes! It's not surprising that while they are now classified in their own family as Mephitidae (skunk and stinking badgers), they were long classified in the family Mustelidae, along with wolverines, weasels, martins, and their other similar, feisty counterparts. That's all for now, and we're looking forward to seeing what the next few weeks bring in!
Until next time: take care, and thanks for being a part of our community! |
