Cascadia Wild

  • Home
  • About
    • Equity Statement
    • Land Acknowledgment
    • Board of Directors
    • Supporters
    • Annual Report
  • Wolverine Tracking Project
    • About our target species
    • Camera Surveys
    • Winter Tracking >
      • Winter Tracking Surveys
      • Tracking Apprenticeship
      • Be a Tracking Leader
    • Fox Scat Surveys
    • Wolf Survey
    • Sponsor A Trail Camera
    • Internship
    • WTP Findings
  • Classes
    • Naturalist Training Program
    • Tracking Classes
    • Botany Classes
    • Outdoor Survival Skills Classes
    • Team Building
  • Get Involved
    • Calendar
    • Community Clubs
    • Volunteer
    • Join the Board
    • Contact Us
    • Join our Mailing List
  • Donate
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Home
  • About
    • Equity Statement
    • Land Acknowledgment
    • Board of Directors
    • Supporters
    • Annual Report
  • Wolverine Tracking Project
    • About our target species
    • Camera Surveys
    • Winter Tracking >
      • Winter Tracking Surveys
      • Tracking Apprenticeship
      • Be a Tracking Leader
    • Fox Scat Surveys
    • Wolf Survey
    • Sponsor A Trail Camera
    • Internship
    • WTP Findings
  • Classes
    • Naturalist Training Program
    • Tracking Classes
    • Botany Classes
    • Outdoor Survival Skills Classes
    • Team Building
  • Get Involved
    • Calendar
    • Community Clubs
    • Volunteer
    • Join the Board
    • Contact Us
    • Join our Mailing List
  • Donate
  • Blog
  • Shop

Cascadia Wildlife Blog

News from the Wolverine Tracking Project and more

Winter Weekly: Tracking Mt. Hood's South Side

1/31/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Mt. Hood from the Teacup Lake area
Volunteers were diligently combing the mountain for wildlife this weekend, documenting a number of species. The trackers that were out explored two new areas for this season, on the South side of Mt. Hood.
Saturday’s tracking team was made up of participants in Cascadia Wild’s Tracking Intensive, who spend eight sessions exploring different habitats around Portland and diving deep into the art and science of tracking. Having covered several lowland habitats so far this year, they explored the Teacup Lake area up on the mountain. It's a gently sloping area at a little over 4,000 ft. elevation on the Southeast side of Mt. Hood, not far from Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort.
Picture
As they explored the area, they found tracks of the prey species we’re used to, snowshoe hare and Douglas Squirrel, and some harder to spot signs as well. The team recorded elk antler rub, though it was from several seasons past, and sign of the elusive Aplonondtia, or Mountain Beaver. If you’re not familiar with this creature, the world’s most primitive living rodent, read up on the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife website. 

In addition to those subtle signs, the team also found an unusual but hard-to miss coyote sign: a spot where I coyote had dug under a log, likely on the hunt for small rodents overwintering in the snow underneath it.
Picture
What was the coyote digging for? Well, Sunday’s tracking team found tracks of one likely prey species: Deer Mouse.
Picture
​They found the tracks on a trip that started at Barlow Pass, due south of Mt. Hood's peak, and descended along the Barlow Creek drainage to the beautiful area at Devil’s Half Acre Meadow, a little under 4,000 ft. elevation. The meadow is a flat, moist, open area with steep slopes to the East and West, and the pass itself to the North. Barlow Creek flows south out of the meadow, towards Palmateer Meadows further on. There’s a campground on one edge of Devil's Half Acre, complete with an outhouse, but in the winter it’s usually free of human visitors.
Picture
​They also found tracks of a bird in the snow, marveled at local lichen, and found at least one mystery track, on which they did thorough research and documentation. The final word? Likely, though not certainly a bobcat.
Picture
And here’s an update from our camera crews:

​Volunteers are hard at work hauling in footage from the field, rebaiting cameras, and sorting through footage! We look forward to sharing some highlights with you soon. Just as soon as we sort through some of the somewhat less exciting photos, like these from the Lost Lake area. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Stay tuned for more in the next Winter Weekly!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    2018
    2018+19
    2019
    2019 20
    2020
    2020 21
    2021
    2022
    2022-23
    Bats
    Birds
    Black Bear
    Bobcat
    Buck
    Camera Survey
    Canine Interactions
    Chipmunk
    Classes
    Coyote
    Deer
    Elk
    Grouse
    Hare
    Horse
    Marmot
    Marten
    Mink
    Mountain Lion
    Mouse
    Owl
    Raccoon
    Raven
    Red Tailed Hawk
    River Otter
    Sandhill Crane
    Scat Survey
    Sierra Nevada Red Fox
    Skunk
    Squirrel
    Summer Wildlife Surveys
    Turkey
    Turkey Vulture
    Weasel
    Wildlife Identification
    Winter Tracking
    Winter Wildlife Surveys
    Wolf
    Wolverine Tracking Project
    Woodrat

    Past Posts

    June 2025
    May 2024
    November 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    December 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013

VOLUNTEERS

Camera Crew
Tracking Team
Fox Team
Wolf Team
​5431 NE 20th Ave Portland OR 97211
[email protected]
503-235-9533
Picture
Picture
Copyright © 2021