Cascadia Wildlife Blog
News from the Wolverine Tracking Project and more
october NewsHappy Fall! For some of our alpine trail cameras, it's even starting to get a bit wintry! Snow on an alpine slope after a recent mountain storm. Before the snows stick around for good, we hope you are enjoying the crunch of leaves, crisp air, and are taking the time to read some good books, take some long walks, spend time with those you love, and connect with the natural world. For a little added inspiration, join us for our Nature Book Club and Halloween Tracking Club!
Looking forward to winter? So are we! We are busy getting ready another season of wildlife surveys! We hope you can join us as we head out to the mountain and document the wildlife of Mt Hood National Forest! Register for a Camera Crew or Tracking Team by October 24! Wildlife Survey FindingsOur summer surveys are winding down, but that doesn't mean life in the forest is stopping! Here's the best of our camera and scat surveys from the past month. Next month, we'll be back with a highlight of all the findings from the summer season! While trail cameras haven't documented any of the target species from the Wolverine Tracking Project yet this season, we did find a few instances of potential Sierra Nevada red fox tracks and scat, as well as a potential gray wolf track. Scat from our target species is just as valuable as photos - if not even more so - since it has the possibility to provide a wealth of genetic information. Top: Two likely Sierra Nevada red fox tracks in a soft, light-brown path. A hand is there for scale. Bottom: A goopy, hairy scat, which has good potential to belong to a fox. The ends are tapered, the average diameter is less than half an inch, and the scat looks relatively fresh. Shown above are potential tracks and scat from a Sierra Nevada red fox. Potential suspects for this track are domestic dog, coyote, and fox - all members of the canine family. The heel pad on the front foot (top track) is closer to the toes than it would be for a coyote. The heel pad is also more linear than triangular in shape, as a coyote or dog's would be. Based on this evidence, we believe this track has very good potential to belong to a red fox. The scat shown in the second photo is tapered on the ends and contains a lot of fur. The size (about the size of a pinky) is also spot on for our fox scat collection guidelines, so this has good potential to be from a fox. Once genetic testing is done, we'll be able to know for sure who this scat came from. The tracks below could belong to a gray wolf! Unfortunately the track has been smeared, so we're not able to make out the details, but the shape and size of this imprint lend themselves to be a potential wolf track. Another animal this could belong to is a large domestic dog. However, due to the sliding, we can't be sure of one or the other. A nearly four inch canine track, imprinted in mud. Now onto the other wildlife of the forest! We'll kick things off with bears, in tune with last week's Fat Bear Week - however we'll be looking at black bears instead of grizzlies, as Oregon only houses that one species of bear. We saw this chunky bear passing through the camera site. Black bears should be gorging themselves on food by now, and they'll be going into hibernation within the next month or two. It is important that bears gain as much weight as possible before going into hibernation (torpor), because they will utilize their fat stores to help get them through the winter. Top to bottom: A large adult black bear walks by; a smaller, subadult black bear looks up at the camera as they walk. Black bears experience what's called delayed implantation, meaning the female won't get pregnant immediately after mating, which happens in the summer months. Instead, if she is healthy and has gotten enough to eat in the summer months, she will get pregnant in late fall or early winter, and birth her cubs around January. Bears aren't "true" hibernators, which makes sense, since the sow (female bear) wakes up several times during hibernation to birth and take care of the young. Bears of any sex can wake up throughout hibernation - especially if conditions are warm enough to encourage a bit of mid-winter foraging. Black bears have a 2 year reproductive cycle - they mate every two years and naturally, only have offspring every two years. To tie it all in, the cubs stay with their mother for - you guessed it - around two years. This cub will stay with their mother for another winter before heading out on their own. A juvenile black bear cub explores the bait setup and looks around before walking off to the right of the screen. Wow! We wonder what has got this bear in such a hurry! Fun fact: black bears have a top speed of around 35 mph! Although they're not likely to chase you down since they're usually pretty shy around humans, it's still a good idea to periodically call out into the forest (especially in early spring when the bears are just starting to wake up) to let them know of your presence. A small black bear bounds across the camera site at an alarming speed. These black bears are displaying a flehmen response! Many animals, not only bears, will utilize this technique to gather information on novel or interesting smells. They will also utilize the response to determine the reproductive status of a mate. The word flehmen is German in origin, meaning "to bear the upper teeth". Top to bottom: A close up of an adult black bear, looking at the camera with what looks like a goofy grin on their face (flehmen response); an adult black bear sniffs the ground close to the bait setup, opens their mouth briefly, then continues sniffing before walking off. We also got some bear track and scat photos turned in this past month. Both their tracks and scat are usually relatively straightforward and easy to identify as they are the biggest animals in the forest. The tracks are characterized by the toes being in a line above the foot pad (versus on either sides of the foot pad in canines or felines). Black bear scat in summer is characterized by the presence of berry seeds, as they are highly omnivorous. There's usually a whole bunch of scat to go along with it, too! Left to right, or top to bottom: Two distinct tracks left by a black bear; a large pile of scat with berry seeds dispersed, a hand is there for scale. We had several coyote detections this month. They're one of the more curious creatures when it comes to checking out the bait setup and will scent-mark, roll, rub, and paw at the site. The coyotes below exhibit pawing and scent-marking via urination. They are doing this in response to the sticky, stinky bait that's meant to attract our target species, but works really well for attracting many others as well. Top to bottom: A coyote paws and sniffs at the ground by the bait stump; a coyote pops a squat and marks the ground near the bait setup before taking off. What soulful eyes! These two coyotes looked directly into the camera. The photos are practically good enough to be profile pictures! Top to bottom: A coyote looks into the camera head-on while standing in the middle of the camera site; the head and leg of a coyote is shown, the coyote is looking directly into the camera. This coyote seems to be distracted by something and is looking into the blanket of trees behind the bait stump. Their voluminous tail indicates they're preparing for cold weather by growing a nice, thick winter coat. The back and side of a speckled gray, white, and light brown colored coyote, who has a thick, fluffy tail. The coyote is looking at something in the trees in the background. We've also got some coyote tracks to share, shown in the photo below. It looks like this path was used by quite a few animals! Here we see coyote tracks (circled in green) and skunk tracks (circled in red). Coyote tracks are distinguishable from feline tracks most notably by the overall shape of the track and orientation of the toes. Canine tracks are symmetrical and more oval in shape, and their front two toes are side by side. Feline tracks are more circular, and they have one toe that is longer than the rest, like a human's middle finger. Since one toe sticks out further than the rest, it ends up appearing further ahead than the others. However, misidentification of coyote tracks most commonly happens with domestic dog tracks (depending on size of dog), not feline tracks. Coyote toes tend to point forward more than a dog's and their tracks aren't as round. Skunk tracks most often get mixed up with raccoon and opossum tracks. However, if you know what to look for, the three have characteristics that clearly distinguish them from one another. Skunks have an extra heel pad, denoted by the red arrow in the photo (although this may not show up in all tracks). They also have five toes on both the front and hind feet, and there is an obvious gap between the toes and the heel pad. Raccoons' five toes will connect with the rest of the foot, so the track has no gap between the toes and the heel pad. Their toes are also longer than a skunk's would be, and look a bit like fingers. Lastly, opossums, like both skunks and raccoons, also have five toes, but their thumb extends out to the side. This is quite easy to see on their hind foot, as the thumb is quite large and leaves a very distinct track. On the front feet, the toes tend to splay out, and the thumb is harder to distinguish. Like with raccoons, their toes also connect with the heel pad. Several skunk and coyote tracks on a soft, light brown dirt path. Moving onto the feline family, we had a few bobcat sightings throughout this past month. It's possible this one is catching their next meal! These (usually) solitary creatures feed on rabbits/hares, squirrels, small birds, mice, and even juvenile deer. A bobcat darts into the left side of the screen, looks around, then moves to a different spot where they sniff the ground. A couple of beautiful bobcats were captured during the daytime, allowing us to see their gorgeous spotted and striped coats. Left to right, or top to bottom: A head-on shot of a light brown bobcat. Spots and stripes on their legs can be seen; a sideview of a bobcat in mid-stride. The bobcat is medium brown with lots of spots on the body and striping on the legs. Most bobcat detections are of them passing through the camera site at night. Below is one of their more typical visits. A cautious bobcat sniffs in a crouched position before getting up and walking over a downed log. Pop goes the weasel! This weasel "popped" by one of our camera sites last year, but due to unfortunate circumstances, we weren't able to retrieve the camera until now. Too bad the camera wasn't in focus to capture this little one... A blurry, closeup photo of a weasel crouching on the snow. The weasel has dark brown coloring on their head and down their back, and a white chest. Thankfully we had another weasel sighting this month! Usually we'll detect weasels at night, but this time one was spotted in the daytime. Both long and short-tailed weasels are present in Mt Hood National Forest, but sometimes it can be tricky to tell them apart because their size and habitats overlap. A weasel is captured scurrying across a downed log. Speaking of weasels, take a look at this weasel skull! This was found nearby the camera site shown in the photo above. Weasels are carnivorous mammals belonging to the family Mustelidae. Other members in that family are wolverines, badgers, otters, martens, minks, and ferrets, just to name a few. Those razor sharp incisors help the weasel efficiently kill their prey. Despite their small stature (11-18 inches long), weasels take down mice, voles, squirrels, chipmunks, and even snowshoe hares! Left to right, and top to bottom: The lower mandible of a weasel; the upper mandible of a weasel, mostly showing the front incisors; both the lower mandible and the rest of the weasel's skull. Put together in a line they are less than three inches in length. Here we have a gang of elk. We haven't seen any elk since the start of summer, so it's nice to see them again. Older, more experienced cows (female elk) normally lead the group - this one consists of 9 individuals, where at least one individual is a calf (juvenile elk). Elk move in groups pretty much all of the time, but the group dynamic changes during the breeding season, which is in the fall. During most of the year, gangs of elk consist of cows & calves, but also may include young bulls. The older bulls are in gangs of their own for that time, until early fall when they temporarily join the cows, which is then called a harem. The dominant bulls try to gather as many cows into their harem as possible, competing with other bulls to do so. A successful bull will mate with multiple females in his harem. Harems range from a handful of cows to as many as 20 or 25 cows. During the mating season, adolescent bulls form small gangs of their own and hang around near the breeding harems, but don't participate. Although bulls socially dominate the harem, the group still moves with an older, experienced cow as their leader. Since elk breed in early fall, their activities are coming to a close soon. In about 8-9 months, healthy cows will bear a single calf each. A gang of elk, mostly obscured by a tree, passes by. Several different individuals can be counted, including at least one calf. Within the same family (Cervidae), we have deer. Deer are our most frequent visitor across the board for almost all sites, although they were detected with higher frequency in the height of summer than they are now. Left to right, and top to bottom: A doe and her fawn put their heads together while sniffing the bait log; a doe curves her head and neck around to her backside to scratch an itch; a small deer comes up to a doe laying down in a field, after which the doe gets up and takes off, leaving a cloud of dust behind her. By now, the bucks (male deer) have all shed their outer velvety coating to reveal the hard bone underneath it all. This buck has only two points on his antlers, indicating he is relatively young. Bucks grow more impressive antlers each year, peaking at around year seven. A closeup of a young buck, who is sporting a 2-point antler that has shed its velvety outer layer to reveal hard bone. Onto rodent sightings! First up, we have the California ground squirrel, who was spotted only twice this month. These squirrels are practically only seen on the east side of the forest, and live in relatively open areas such as fields, pastures, and lightly wooded forests. Thus, most of Mt Hood National Forest is not their preferred habitat, greatly favoring the warm, open areas of the Willamette Valley. Left to right, or top to bottom: A California ground squirrel climbed a sizable tree stump and sniffs the top of it; a California ground squirrel on a downed log, with their head and upper body leaned over the log. Next we have the western gray squirrel. Typically we don't see these squirrels in pairs, but this summer has been the exception. These tree squirrels are distinct from other squirrels in Mt Hood National Forest due to their large, bushy, gray and white tails. These squirrels start burying conifer cones in the fall, to be dug up in the winter as a food source. Unlike the California ground squirrel, the western gray squirrel prefers habitat that is heavily wooded, since they are arboreal. Left to right, and top to bottom: Two western gray squirrels, one on the ground to the right, and the other on the downed log facing the first squirrel; two western gray squirrels, one is facing away from the camera, looking at the second squirrel, who is on the ground looking intently at a tree; A single western gray squirrel bounds from a downed log to the right of the screen. Those little feet sure do a lot of scampering! The tracks shown here are squirrel tracks. Although they don't look small in the photo, these squirrel tracks are only around 1-2 inches in length. Multiple squirrel tracks on a soft, light brown dirt path. Up next we have the chipmunk. They mostly inhabit coniferous forests and rocky outcrops. The two chipmunks found in Mt Hood National Forest are the Townsend's chipmunk and the yellow pine chipmunk, and both are omnivorous. They feed on insects, bird eggs, berries, acorns, maple seeds, conifer cones, fungi, and lichen. Top to bottom, and left to right: A chipmunk is on a tree stump close to the camera. After sniffing a branch, putting their hands to their face, and climbing on top of one of the branches, the chipmunk leaves; the side profile of a chipmunk. Dark brown and white stripes can be seen stretching across the face; a chipmunk's backside, that has alternating dark and white stripes going down the back. Next up we have the snowshoe hare, who are frequent visitors at certain sites and can be found pretty much all over Mt Hood National Forest. A snowshoe hare jumps a step, looks into the camera lens, then bounds off to the right of the screen. These tracks belong to a snowshoe hare. The photo is from the stranded camera, mentioned earlier, which we only retrieved recently. Hares usually make distinct "T" or "Y" shaped tracks. When a hare is bounding, the two smaller front feet land first, usually staggered one behind the other, and this makes the stem of the "T" or "Y". The large hind tracks land next, side-by-side and in front of where the front feet just landed, forming the top of the letter. Tracks left by a snowshoe hare in the snow. The path of movement goes from left to right. Our next rodent we have to share is the bushy-tailed woodrat, also known as the packrat. Normally we don't see this member of the Cricetidae family in such clear view as they are nocturnal, quick on their feet, and also very small (approximately 15 inches in length and weighing around 11 oz), making it a challenge for the camera to capture good photos. Woodrats are found in most parts of Mt Hood National Forest, save for the alpine and subalpine habitats. A bushy-tailed woodrat leaps onto the ground, pauses and sniffs, then moves to the bait stump and disappears behind it. Last up on our rodent list is the mouse. These agile creatures generally spend their time on land, but are good swimmers as well. There are many species of mice that can be found in Mt Hood National Forest, including deer mice, western harvest mice, pacific jumping mice, and house mice. Many species of voles, shrews, and the black rat can also be found in the forest. Different species inhabit different habitats. Some can be seen in all parts of the forest, while other species are limited to certain areas. A mouse captured climbing on a tree log angled at 45 degrees. These tracks were left by a mouse. Like the snowshoe hares, mice also place their front paws down first, followed by the back legs, which swing out and land in front of the front paws. Tracks left by a mouse, going up towards the bait setup, then heading right till they are off-screen. A Canada jay and hermit warbler also decided to stop by briefly. Canada jays are found all across boreal forests in the northern parts of the United States and in Canada, as well as in tall mountain ranges in the western United States. Hermit warblers are found in tall coniferous forests in mountainous areas along the coast of California to Washington. They winter along the coast of central and southern California. Top to bottom: The backside of a Canada jay, who is positioned close to the camera, turns their head to the side before walking off to the right of the screen; a hermit warbler sits atop a branch close to the camera and looks directly into the lens. That's all we've got for this month's blog! Tune in next month for our seasonal wildlife review where we highlight the best from our Summer 2021 surveys. Till next time!
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The Wolverine Tracking Project Winter Wildlife Surveys have drawn to a close, and summer is just on the horizon. As we take a look back at findings and best photos from the season, we have a lot to celebrate! And, if you are so inclined, check out our official Wolverine Tracking Project annual research report here, for all the findings of the past year!
And now the review! Wolverine Tracking Project Winter FindingsA snowy scenic image of Newton Creek submitted by a volunteer. A small creek divides two snowy banks, with a line of snow tipped trees and Mt. Hood in the background. Volunteers retrieved beautiful trail camera images, took stellar pictures of tracks, kept their eyes peeled for scat, urine, and other sign, and supporters helped us meet our fundraising goal! All of these contributions allow us to continue building a robust narrative of the animals of Mt. Hood National Forest and allow us to keep documenting wildlife in a meaningful way. Whether you were part of a Camera Crew, a Tracker, or had wanted to join but weren't able to due to pandemic, or if instead you supported us from home: Thank you, thank you!
Camera Crews committed over 1000 hours to checking cameras and recording and uploading data! Trackers committed 137 hours and surveyed over 15 miles of transects, for a total of 181 tracks surveyed! Happy Solstice!As winter sets in, the days grow longer, providing more opportunity to enjoy the abundance of the natural world and offering hope for the days to come. From all of us at Cascadia Wild, may you have many blessings in the new year. As we look back at 2020, a year of many challenges and changes, the unwavering presence of our community stands out most of all. Thank you for showing up, offering your support, and committing your time and energy to volunteer, expand your naturalist skills, join our clubs, or simply read along and take part in our news and stories. Thank you for being there. As we look ahead to 2021, we are excited to be continuing the community science Wolverine Tracking Project wildlife surveys on Mt. Hood. We are also looking forward to offering new classes that explore the local, natural world, and to continuing our community clubs. We hope to expand these programs and our community, better reaching underserved groups so that we all can partake in a deeper relationship with the flora, fauna, and landscape of the Pacific Northwest. We look forward to you being there as well! If you are able and would like to help support our goals in 2021, please consider making a year-end contribution. All donations will be generously matched through January 2nd! Whether you can give $1 or $100, you help shape the future of Cascadia Wild. Our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who is able to contribute their time, money, skills, and knowledge. We are Cascadia Wild! Summer Season Review
In footage from this summer that was only retrieved recently, we detected these two gray wolves: Two gray wolves walk by the trail camera Due to the angle of the camera and the placement of the animals, these individuals were hard to identify, but here are a few of our justifications. Both these individuals have large feet and an overall gray, grizzled coat, and the second wolf has a significant amount of black in their coat. While there is overlap between wolves and coyotes in both paw size and coat coloration, coyotes more often display tawny coloration and smaller feet than gray wolves. Furthermore, the second wolf individual has a broader face and smaller ears in proportion to their face than we would expect from a coyote. Even with those justifications, this is still a really hard identification. Determining the differences between coyotes and wolves is difficult and is a skill that benefits from time and practice - if you would like to test your own skills, check out this quiz from ODFW! This is Cascadia Wild's fourth detection of gray wolves! Woohoo! Our first detection was in the summer of 2018, where we detected the White River breeding pair. This was one of the preliminary documentations of this pair in Mt. Hood National Forest. In the summer of 2019, we detected two wolves at two different locations. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife believes that these were also the White River breeding pair. This most recent detection was on the east side of the forest within areas of known wolf activity of the White River pack, so we can make an educated assumption that these individuals also belong to the White River pack. Furthermore, ODFW has also advised that their coloration is consistent with the other members of the White River pack. This is very exciting news and it confirms that our White River pack is still utilizing the same territory. This year we had seven detections of our target species Sierra Nevada red fox at two sites! We detected Sierra fox in both alpine and subalpine habitats. A Sierra Nevada red fox stands by a rock with Mt Hood in the background A Sierra Nevada red fox inspects a tree felled by a windstorm Historically, the majority of our fox detections occur during winter. One previous hypothesis as to why we saw so many more during the winter was that they might be experiencing food scarcity and therefore more drawn to our winter meat baits. However, these numerous summer sightings molded a new working hypothesis - for two summers in a row we have detected Sierra fox at high elevations, which suggests that these foxes may be seasonal migrants, spending the summer months at higher elevation, where there are less trees for us to install our cameras, and descending to somewhat lower elevations during the winter months. We cannot wait to see what new information arises in future seasons! Along with our target species, we have also had a couple new detections this season! We have never detected these species on our trail cameras before. We detected an American mink... A mink scampers across a fallen tree ...and a couple of bats! Bats fly in front of one of our trail cameras Though we have detected grouse in past seasons, we have never captured a moment like this. See the exposed patch on the side of the neck? Those are the air sacs of a male sooty grouse, presented in their mating display! This individual was seen not long after a female grouse was also detected. Maybe we'll see some juvenile grouselings in this area next summer! A mating display of a sooty grouse It is exciting to have so many new faces, but we always appreciate visits from our regular crew of Mt. Hood mammals. Documenting a wide variety of wildlife allows us to add to our ever-growing knowledge of the forest. Some species were recurrent throughout the forest, and we received images of them from around Mt. Hood and the eastern boundary. Our most frequent visitor by far was deer! Individuals or small herds were detected at 95% of all our camera sites, which means they were present at all but one site. Our camera footage allowed us to watch fawns grow up and antlers mature. Left to right, top to bottom: A doe looks into the camera, a buck shows off their antlers, a fawn sneaks between a gap in a log, a doe and fawn share a sweet moment Their ungulate cousin, elk, were also detected on our cameras. They said hello to 8 of our cameras throughout the forest. Left to right, top to bottom: A cow looks at the camera, a bull walks through a camera site, a cow pauses with her calf and looks back at our trail camera Another frequent visitor was coyote, who was spotted at 70% of of our sites. Consistent with past years, coyotes were prevalent all over the map. These opportunistic feeders can be found in alpine, subalpine, and montane habitats throughout Mt. Hood National Forest. A coyote walks by One of our favorite individuals this season spent a few minutes rolling around at one of our sites. Video: A coyote rolls in our scent bait at the base of a short rock wall Another regular was a fan favorite... the black bear! A black bear pauses with their paw on a log Let's not forget the rolling cubs! You should really watch those videos, they will brighten your day!
Videos: Black bear cubs roll at the location of our stinky scent bait at the base of a stump or log Bobcats visited 7 of our sites. These solitary cats were found in both subalpine and montane habitats. A bobcat pauses in the middle of a camera site We also detected a variety of squirrels all over the map, including the Douglas squirrel... A Douglas squirrel sits on the branch of a fallen tree ...Northern flying squirrel... A Northern flying squirrel runs across a log ...and the golden mantled ground squirrel. A golden mantled ground squirrel pops their into the camera frame Mountain lion was only detected on the east side of the forest this season, and only at two sites. This is slightly unusual because mountain lions were detected at 5 different camera sites last summer and 4 different camera sites two summers ago. While we can't draw any concrete conclusions from these observations, cougar distribution will be interesting to track in future summer surveys. A mountain lion walks towards the trail camera There were a handful of smaller critters who were only detected on the eastern side of the forest, including striped skunks. A striped skunk looks at the ground below the log it is standing on We only detected California ground squirrels on the east side of the forest. We do not usually find California ground squirrels or striped skunks close to Mt. Hood, so we expected to detect them in this area. A California ground squirrel is well camouflaged into their surroundings We also detected chipmunks. Chipmunks can be found in alpine, subalpine, and montane forest throughout the map, so it was unusual to only detect them on the eastern boundary. A chipmunk stand on the very edge of frame We also detected quite a few turkeys! Three turkeys explore a camera site Besides the Sierra Nevada red fox, there were two species only detected close to Mt. Hood: the yellow-bellied marmot and the raccoon. We only detected the yellow-bellied marmot at high elevation. Marmots are only found in alpine environments, or sometimes just at the edge of subalpine. They are adapted to live in this environment, munching on alpine vegetation and burrowing in the talus slopes from the first sign of snow until March-May. A marmot peeks at the camera This is the only raccoon we detected this summer: A raccoon ducks behind some brush and out of view of the trail camera Along with camera data, we also accumulated a mountain of scat throughout the summer. Volunteers on our scat survey teams collect these genetic samples to help add to the narrative about our two target canines: gray wolf and Sierra Nevada red fox. Members of the Wolf Scat Survey Team surveyed 243 miles and found 10 potential wolf scats on the eastern side of the forest. Members of the Fox Scat Survey Team covered 54 miles and found 15 potential Sierra Nevada red fox scat samples, mostly around treeline of Mt. Hood! Left: A testable wolf scat; Right: A testable Sierra fox scat. The diameter, tapered end, and contents of the scat shown in the photo on the left suggest that this sample is potentially wolf scat. The white-ish hue is due to the scat's age. As wolf scat gets older, it turns from a darker brown to a more chalky white. Even though a scat sample may be older, it is still possible to extract a good amount of DNA for analysis. We look forward to seeing if any of the scats are a genetic match to their potential species and, if so, to the information that they can tell us about how the native ancestry, distribution, and habitat use of these two important canids. Our scat surveys will resume next summer, when the snows have cleared from the forest. But, while the snows are here, the camera survey continues and tracking season begins! Winter wildlife surveys begin!As the first snows blanket Mt. Hood National Forest, a whole new wintry world of wildlife opens up to the Wolverine Tracking Project. While we are just at the start of the winter wildlife camera and tracking season, please enjoy a compilation of species and tracks observed so far, thanks to the efforts of our amazing volunteers. Look forward to more in the coming months! A small sapling is progressively blanketed by snow until only the crown is visible. Snow level can rise several feet very quickly on the mountain, and volunteers anticipate this by gradually raising the height of the bait box so it remains accessible to passing wildlife. Always a favorite, several charismatic coyotes interacted with camera sites both east and close to Mt. Hood. Top: A coyote glances at the trail camera, as if unsure. Middle: A trio of coyotes, yes a trio, sweep through this camera site. Bottom: A coyote strikes a pose while contemplating that strange odor coming from the bait box. Coyotes are social and expressive. Always adaptable, coyotes can operate solo, as a mated pair, or as part of a pack. Another great adaptation for winter is their thick coats. In the photo directly above, notice that the snowflakes which have settled on this animal's pelt have not melted, it's insulating properties are an amazing adaptation! Cat lovers should love out next charismatic carnivore: bobcat. Top: In this photo, only the reflective eyes of the bobcat are visible at first glance. Middle: A bobcat almost completely blended into their surroundings. Bottom: A bobcat sniffs the bait box. The effect of these glowing eyes, which you may have noticed in photos of your cat or dog, is due to a reflective layer called the tapetum, which gives nocturnal animals night vision by reflecting light back into their retinas. All the better to hunt with! Bobcat's coats are both beautiful and functional, providing both camouflage and insulating protection. These big cats thrive throughout the winter months due to their thick coats. Their fur can become less brown and more gray during winter which allows them to better camouflage into their surroundings. Bobcat footprints in the snow. The heavily furred, large paws of bobcats also help them navigate the snow, kind of like snowshoes! Black bears were also an occasional visitor to several of our camera sites. Top: A black bear snuffles the ground in front of a trail camera. Bottom: a black bear walks through the same site. Black bears are the only bear species in Oregon so it is very easy for our team to identify their pictures! It won't be long until black bears are in hibernation, so we will enjoy seeing them (from a safe distance) while we can! Making jokes about weasels and their cousins, which scientists call mustelids, is a must for us at Wolverine Tracking Project (haha). A weasel bounds through the snow. Though the weasel above is moving so fast the picture is blurred, the long body and dark-tipped tail are both characteristics of long-tailed weasels. Top: Weasel footprints in the snow. Bottom: Weasels are also known to meander, and this one weaseled their way into a little natural nook. A tracker also detected the larger cousin of the weasel: the Pacific marten. Left: the trail of a Pacific marten; and Right: the detail of a marten's tracks. The Pacific marten is one of our two mustelid target species. The other is the wolverine, the largest mustelid cousin. While we are still waiting for wolverine to make a return appearance to Mt. Hood, we are always encouraged by the tracks of marten, who are an indicator of a healthy upper-elevation forest. All mustelids have similar footprints, characterized by five clawed toes and an inverted V-shaped heel pad. No matter the time of year, it is certain that we will have some lovely photos of cervids (deer and elk, keep an eye out for flying cervids over the holidays!) A spike elk considers the trail camera. This male elk above is referred to as a "spike elk" meaning he has at least one antler without any branching. This is most common of younger males under six years old, although genetic, environmental, and health factors may also play a role in delayed, mature growth. In his prime, his antlers may grow as many as 6 or 7 branches, each with their own tips or "points." Male elk are called bulls, female elk are called cows, and their offspring are called calves. Top: Male deer (bucks) seen close up. Bottom: A herd of female deer (does) traverse a lightly snowed field. These snowy tracks belong to a deer. Snowshoe hares are always entertaining visitors to camera sites and their tracks are seen more frequently by volunteers than almost any other species. A peaceful picture of a snowshoe hare in the snow. Left: a snowshoe hare trail. Right: detail of a snowshoe hare's front and hind tracks. Although a little difficult to visualize at first, snowshoe hare tracks form a "T" shape. This is due to their bounding gait, where the front feet land and the hind feet follow next, landing just in front of the front feet. A snowshoe hare pauses under a log. Photo credit: Keri Sprenger, Wolverine Tracking Project Volunteer A camera crew unexpectedly got to see this bright-eyed snowshoe hare in person! It is very unusual to encounter them in broad daylight, and the volunteer kept a respectful distance from the animal while capturing this image. You never knew what you might see when you venture out into nature! Striped skunks are our next species. A skunk holds it's lovely striped tail aloft as it passes by. Next we have sightings of several squirrel species. Left: A western gray squirrel pauses (left); while a California ground squirrel also takes a moment of repose (right). Western gray squirrels are the largest tree squirrel in Oregon. They are rivaled in size by the California ground squirrel (although the prize for largest ground squirrel in Oregon goes to the marmot!). Similar in appearance the western gray squirrel, the California ground squirrel is not gray but very subtly spotted. Left: An acrobatic Douglas squirrel caught by the camera mid-leap. Right: A chipmunk, almost impossible to spot at first as it is so well camouflaged against the forest floor. On the other side of size, Douglas squirrel is one the smallest tree squirrels in Oregon (Northern flying squirrels win for the tiniest tree squirrel). Chipmunks, on the other hand, are even smaller and are the smallest ground squirrels in Oregon. Squirrel tracks in snow The squirrel tracks above belong to one of our non-hibernating squirrels of the upper-elevation forest: Douglas squirrel or Northern flying squirrel. They have a similar trail pattern as a snowshoe hare, thanks to their bounding gait, but they are much, much smaller! Our only ground bird camera visitor was wild turkey. A "rafter" of wild turkeys foraging. On our tracking surveys, trackers found these great sooty grouse tracks! Sooty grouse and turkeys are both important ground birds for our forest carnivores. Tracks from a sooty grouse. Thank you so much to all our camera crew and tracking teams for venturing out, helping to document the wildlife of Mt. Hood National Forest, and sharing your experiences with us!
Until next time, we thank everyone in the Cascadia Wild Community for their support and wish you all the best in the New Year! |
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