Alan Gregory’s Conservation NewsDuring the winter, I made a number of posts about the hard conditions for ungulates in the Northern Rockies. The failure of spring to arrive is causing deaths to continue and grow.
Record wildlife die-offs reported in Northern Rockies. Reuters. By Laura Zuckerman.
Here is a moose that was killed on Highway 28 just north of Leadore, late this winter. I stopped to take these pictures because I wondered whether the moose had actually been killed by a car, or had been murdered by some motorized nimrod. Moose are so big that they bring out the idiot – never far below the surface – in some of the male apes hereabouts. Moose don’t flee when a vehicle stops nearby. They don’t seem to realize that people are No Damn Good.
My suspicions were aroused because there were no skid marks on the pavement near the carcass. However, apparently this was yet another case of death by vehicle. You can see the moose’s broken hind leg. But that big hole in her head may indicate that someone shot the disabled animal “to put it out of its misery.”
I felt more than usually sorry about this because the same moose (or its twin) had spent some time ambling around our place; we found its tracks out in the old sheep corrals. And one day I looked out the upstairs windows and there she was, stepping over barbed wire fences in her ludicrously effortless way. I do wonder what killed her – tractor-trailer, diesel pickup? Probably not a hybrid, or we would have read about human casualties.
So a young, healthy moose, its best reproductive years still ahead of it, was killed not by the evil wolves [sarcasm alert], but by the only moving thing out there bigger than she was. When I look at the decomposing pile of hair and meat and bone, I think that $10 a gallon gasoline can’t come fast enough. And I wonder, does anyone know where to get some Buprestid (sp?) beetles? I covet that skull, hole or no hole.
In 2008 a moose was discovered in the Star Valley that suffered from both Chronic Wasting Disease and a carotid artery worm, Elaeophora schneideri. It now turns out that up to 50% of the population may have the worm but the true extent of the effects are unknown. The worm is transmitted by the bite of a horsefly which tend to do well under hot and dry conditions.
Worm infests area Moose
Jackson Hole News & Guide.
An unprecedented number of comments came in on the Plains Exploration & Production Co.’s (PXP) plan for up to 136 gas wells south of Bondurant near Noble Basin. Most of the Wyoming and adjacent Salt River Range has been withdrawn from oil and gas leasing/drilling by act of Congress, but the PXP leases slipped through before the leasing was shut down by the Wyoming Range Legacy Act.
My experience in the Noble Basin and adjacent area is of some of the finest elk and moose country in Wyoming. A domestic sheep beleagered bighorn sheep herd is nearby. The huge number of comments seem to have strengthened the views of new Wyoming governor Matt Mead on the subject of drilling, after maybe fracking the area.
Wyoming Range drilling project garners 40,000 comments. By Environment & Energy Daily in WyoFile.
More moose on the loose in Kootenai County. Becky Kramer The Spokesman-Review.
It is good to point out stories like this one because they offset the much publicized stories that “all” the moose have been killed (by wolves) or whatever. Truth is their distribution changes as well as the total population size.
Norman A Bishop was a naturalist interpreter for many years at Yellowstone Park, and played a key role in the wolf restoration. He is retired and continues a vigorous life, partly as an expert ski racer. He holds many positions including the board of the Wolf Recovery Foundation, of which I’m President.
He started circulating a version of “what good are wolves” about a month ago. It’s good to see it up on-line because it seems that 10-15 years ago everyone interested knew the reasons restoring wolves was a good idea. With the reality of them we learned some of the ideas were not so, and there were other good reasons no one had really predicted.
Over time the opposition distorted the reasons and just made things up. The news media produced thoughtful stories, but also too many easy ones with headlines like “Rancher loses a dog and calf to wolves . . . heartsick.” This is variation of a common type of journalism that is disparaged — “fuzz and was.” That means routine police stories and dead people, usually by accidents. Ralph Maughan
From New West, ” ‘What Good Are Wolves?’ A growing body of scientific research shows wolves are key to the ecosystems of the Northern Rockies. Here’s a condensed version compiled by a long-time wolf advocate. By Norman A. Bishop, Guest Writer.”
This is from back in late November, but it is incredible. There hasn’t been any recent news on this, but here is the article in the Bonner County newspaper. Bonner County, Idaho abuts Canada. I thought the story should get wider distribution.
Trooper to face criminal charge. November 23, 2010 10:00 am | Updated. Bonner County Bee
According to information I’ve received, Jayne was invited to be on a panel after the North Idaho Wolf Alliance showed the Lords of Nature at the Little Panida Theater in Sandpoint. In the subsequent discussion, he was very anti-wolf, repeating all the rhetoric of the far out folks who hate wolves. Well he has a right to his opinion, of course, but then he shows up with a moose out of season. What is it about these people who say wolves are killing all the game and then they end up getting caught poaching.
Arthritic Moose Offer Insights into Nutrition.
Audubon Magazine Blog
Moose on the rise in Colorado, Summit County. Colorado’s moose populations are growing, thanks to sky-high reintroduction operations. By Julie Sutor. Summit Daily news
There is a story in today’s Jackson Hole News and Guide. Moose declines puzzling. Habitat, malnutrition, predators play roles. By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, WY
I don’t see much evidence of direct population depression from predation, especially wolf predation, here. Predators do disproportionately take animals that are starving. Both Joel Berger and later Scott Becker found that by far the largest mortality source of female moose in Jackson Hole was starvation. The poor condition of female moose is also shown by the reduction in the number of twins produced from 10% to less than 5%.”
As far as much quoted B.J. Hill, local outfitter,”[who] thinks habitat loss is exaggerated and says “I’ve watched moose literally live off of pine needles,” I say everyone knows that moose eat conifer in the winter in deep snow areas. First, however, moose need a balanced diet the entire year and second, the conifer are dying. Article after article after article has appeared about the vast disease and beetle kill of pines and other conifers from the Yukon to New Mexico.
Hill claims to live in the mountains every day. Why then didn’t he notice that beginning in 1988 and a number of years thereafter, most of Teton Wilderness burned? The conifers are gone. I wrote two guides to the Teton Wilderness — one came out in the early 1980s and second in 2000. Many more pine have died of insects since then. Any damn fool that has spent time there can see that the ecology of the place has been transformed.
Utah’s large moose population seems to be free of this spongiform encephalopathy so far.
Chronic wasting disease claims 1st Utah elk. By Brett Prettyman. The Salt Lake Tribune
Moose © Ken Cole
The worm is thought to be behind the declines in Wyoming moose populations as well.
Oregon biologists fear small moose herd may be infected with deadly parasite
By Richard Cockle, The Oregonian
Idaho biologists recovering from helicopter crash. The Associated Press
Although this has been discussed and we have been told a good investigation of matter has taken place over the last three days, the AP article says the cause of the crash is not know. It was a wolf, elk, and moose darting flight.
Let’s hope the biologists and pilot recover from the accident and that their hospital costs are paid. State employees often don’t have much in the way of health insurance anymore.
Wardens seek poacher who killed moose on Front. Great Falls Tribune.
The moose was left to rot/be scavenged
Cardwell is on the Jefferson River east of Whitehall.
Story. Moose poached.
Four wolves taken along the Front. By Karl Puckett. Great Falls Tribune Staff Writer. The article provides some detailed information, but in short three of the four wolves were shot on private land southwest of Augusta, MT in the Bean Lake area. The 4th wolf was shot in Lime Gulch, west of Augusta.
Moose © Ken Cole
Recently we ran the story how well Wyoming’s supposedly beleaguered elk population was doing. Every herd in the state was above Fish and Game objectives.
It’s a different story for moose, which are only at 44% of objective. We ran a story how the moose were starving and suffering from climate change in NW Wyoming. Bighorn would do better if some domestic sheep allotments on public land were closed.
State moose numbers fall short of target. Mule deer count is also below goals, but antelope are going strong, Game and Fish survey shows. By Angus M. Thuermer Jr. Jackson Hole News and Guide.
It’s obvious to anyone who has spent years living in or visiting Jackson Hole that the moose population isn’t what it was 30 years ago or even a decade. Now biologists are discovering why. Unfortunately for those who want more moose around little can be done to change any of the primary conditions that are causing the decline.
Moose on the decline in Jackson Hole area. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole News and Guide.
One issue I wish folks would follow most closly is the massive contamination of soil and water by phosphate mining in the big Western phosphate field centered in SE Idaho.
The one organization working hard on this and doing a good job is the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, which has devoted many staff and resources pushing for cleanup and preventing expansion of the mines until some cleanup success is achieved.
This is a big threat to fish, wildlife, and drinking water along the Idaho/Wyoming border.
Story by the GYC. “Cleanup” worsens selenium contamination at Smoky Canyon.
Recently even the Pocatello, Idaho State Journal, a city where phosphate processing produces quite a few well paying jobs, editorialized against the lack of successful cleanup.
Not surprisingly (to me anyway) the effect of wolves on elk populations varies by area and presence of other predators such as grizzly bears. In addition hunters affect elk more than wolves. When considering wolves and ungulates alone, I take this report to be generally quite positive for the effects of wolves on ungulates.
Here is the news release, but there is the much larger report available to for those interested. Here is the 90+ page full report. Ralph Maughan
Added. Notice how the MSM immediately gives the results of this an immediate spin by means of the headline. Wolves tied to elk decline in parts of state. By EVE BYRON – Independent Record
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – FEBRUARY 6, 2008
Contact Ron Aasheim, 406-444-4038; Justin Gude, 406-444-3767; or visit FWP’s Web site
at fwp.mt.gov
Study Finds Mixed Wolf Impacts On Elk Populations-
Not all elk populations respond in the same manner when faced with sharing the landscape with wolves, a new report by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks suggests.
Researchers who spent the past seven years measuring the populations and behavior of elk in Montana found that elk numbers in some areas of southwestern Montana have dropped rapidly due mostly to the loss of elk calves targeted by wolves and grizzly bears that inhabit the same area. The same study, led by FWP and Montana State University, also suggests that in some areas of western Montana elk numbers have increased while hunter-harvests of elk have decreased, with little apparent influence by local wolf packs on elk numbers.
“One-size-fits-all explanations of wolf-elk interactions across large landscapes do not seem to exist,” said Justin Gude, FWP’s chief of wildlife research in Helena.
The 95-page report contains two sections. The first section summarizes research efforts in the Greater Yellowstone Area and southwestern Montana, with a primary focus on wolf-elk interactions. The second section summarizes FWP data collection and monitoring efforts from the entire range of wolves in Montana. Read the rest of this entry »
Moose gets loose in Washington Home. AOL News
Wyoming’s ungulates herds in NW Wyoming, including Yellowstone Park may have dodged the CWD bullet for now.
Wyoming Game and Fish may still have a short time to do away with wintertime elk feeding. Of course, they won’t.
Story: Good news for elk? Agency finds no further chronic wasting disease in Star Valley. By Chris Merrill. Casper Star Tribune.
This video is a 5-minute overview of big game transplants in Utah from the Salt Lake Tribune.
Ed Bangs just sent out the Wyoming wolf report. It is below. I cut off the redundant “blah, blah” about delisting, etc. that is at the outset of every report.
The key is news is that mange it now hitting Yellowstone Park wolves. Other news is that research indicates the decline in moose in NW Wyoming is not due to bears or wolves, but mostly to the nutritional condition of female moose probably due to declining habitat.
Here is the actual news-
Control
Nothing to report at this time.
Research
Yellowstone Park began its annual winter study on November 15. Research objectives include: 1) documenting kill rates of wolves; 2) determining prey selection; and 3) estimating annual wolf population numbers. Park biologists suspect that the number of wolves in YNP in 2008 has decreased due to adult wolf mortality from conflicts between packs, increased pup mortality, and mange. Mange has been documented in >8 wolves from four different packs (Oxbow Creek, Mollies, Leopold, and one unnamed group of 4 wolves).
How did moose get CWD? Star Valley deer, elk likely have the disease as well. By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole News and Guide.
Maybe Idaho should sue Wyoming for wildlife malpractice?
Wildlife disease debate heats up. By Chris Merrill. Casper Star-Tribune environment reporter.
I have this feeling that the Forest Service and Wyoming Game and Fish are about as trusty as sub-prime mortgage investments.
Update. Oct. 22, 2008. Groups call for disease action. CWD found in moose in Star Valley a ‘wake-up call’ to Game and Fish, conservation groups say. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole News and Guide.
Not surprisingly there a several Wyoming Game and Fish winter feedlots in this valley near the Idaho border for keeping elk like livestock and feeding them in the winter.
Moose in Star Valley tests positive for chronic wasting disease. By Cory Hatch. Jackson Hole News and Guide.
– – – – –
For more information about CWD in North America, visit the CWD Alliance Web site.
The man gathering and selling this unique product is not just anyone, but our own Jerry Black who regularly comments here.
I got some from him. It really does smell like willow (well sort of).
Unlikely aroma: Man’s business sells dried moose droppings as rustic-smelling incense. Missoula.com. This link also has a video of Black in the field
The Wolf and the Moose: Natural Enemies That Need Each Other. Scientific American. By Adam Hadhazy.
This is about the 50-year study of moose and wolves on Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. The wolves have not wiped out the moose despite the island being a very simple ecosystem, and in fact should the wolves perish, the moose population will be destroyed by overpopulation.
External environmental effects are creeping onto Isle Royale, and I would not be surprised if these two species do vanish in the near future.
The long winter has had an effect on ungulate populations in Idaho so hunting permits, especially moose permits, will be reduced so as not to effect the populations as much for the coming winter.
Winter Kill in Idaho
KPVI TV – Pocatello, Idaho
Be Sure to watch the attached video as well as it contains more information than is in the article.
Dale Toweill, Fish & Game Wildlife Manager: “This has been an unusual year. The winter was not especially tough. The problem with over winter survival is more how long the winter lasts.”
This is a story which follows an IDFG press release from June 2.
Ticks, starvation – lots of things kill ungulates in Idaho :
Biologists track carcases in E. Idaho river – The Olympian
It will be interesting to see whether any anti-predator group sends out an alert about the vicious ticks devastating game species in Idaho. Perhaps we’ll see some grandstanding about the need to control the hard winter at the next commissioner meeting ?
Dr. Joel Berger has become notable for his research on Greater Yellowstone moose. In this interview with the New York Times he talks about how the growing presence of grizzly bears in the Grand Teton NP area is related to, may result in moose moving closer to roads to escape grizzly bear predation on their calves.
When Grizzlies Ruin Eden, Moose Take to the Road. By Claudia Dreifus. New York Times.
Board mulls hearing on Upper Green dam. Water commission not convinced reservoir idea would fly, but may consider public views. By Noah Brenner. Jackson Hole News and Guide.
Aw the power to stupid ideas. That have such vitality! Like most proposals for new irrigation dams in the West, the economics are horrible. The environmental and pecuniary costs very high and the economic benefits very low.
Green River Lakes is regarded by many as perhaps the most scenic view in Wyoming and the upper Green is perhaps the best remaining moose habitat in a state that is rapidly losing its moose.
Squaretop Mountain from upper Green River Lake. Copyright Ralph Maughan
Note: I could use a more scenic photo. This is a fairly common one. I would greatly appreciate a contribution. Ralph Maughan
Rocky Barker has a short and interesting blog as to how the presence of roads affects the interaction of predators and prey.
Yellowstone moose use roads to outsmart grizzly bears. By Rocky Barker. Idaho Statesman.
Update: I just found this. It’s the same story with a somewhat different slant on the matter. It’s from Science Daily Study: Moose move toward humans for safety.
10-13. More still on the moose/grizzly bear/roads story. Mother moose know best. Bears avoid park roads, so expectant ungulates stay close. By Mike Stark. Billings Gazette Staff
Preliminary data about predators and large ungulates indicates that fear is learned rather than inherent, although not all scientists agree.
Story: Are prey hard-wired to fear predators? By Brodie Farquhar. Casper Star-Tribune
Alaska didn’t come close to killing the number of wolves it wanted. What a pity.
Weather, fuel costs favored the lives of hundreds of wolves. FEWER KILLS: State’s goal was 664 dead; reports put number at less than a third. By Alex deMarban. Anchorage Daily News.
At our North American wolf conference recently in Flagstaff, the Keynote Speaker was Dr. Victor Van Ballenberghe, a professor in Biology and Wildlife at the Univ. of Alaska. He has twice served on Alaska’s Board of Game. He explained the fundamental problem with the Board is their belief that the historical high populations of moose, caribou, etc. recorded in many areas of Alaska are the normal, usual and expected number. This problem is compounded by 1990s state legislation that mandates “intensive management” for certain “depleted” populations of ungulates deemed important for consumptive use by humans.
What the Board does is play on the natural sympathy for Native consumptive use in setting ungulate population targets, and then adds another generous portion for non-Native hunters.
These ungulate population targets are impossible to obtain. In an effort to do it anyway, the Board is now not only targeting wolves but black bears and brown bears over an increasing portion of Alaska (now 60,000 square miles).
Despite the reprieve for wolves this winter, the Alaskan campaign against all large predators is only going to get worse.
The Yukon Environment Department believes the infestation may be due to the warming climate. The winter tick doesn’t hurt elk much, but often greatly weakens moose.
Story Winter ticks invade Yukon elk herds. CBC News.
post 1037
Moose and wolves have been studied on Isle Royale for 50 years now. It is of great scientific interest because the number of variables affecting predator and prey are much smaller than on the mainland (Isle Royale is a large island in Lake Superior, and a national park). Wolves are the only large predator and moose are they prey, and the populations of each have gone up and down many times of the fifty years. They do not move in in exact concert.
Now unusually warm summers have increased the tick population that debilitates moose in the winter on the island (and pretty much whereever moose live). Moose numbers are declining due to their weakness, and the wolves are getting hard pressed for food with interpack strife and they are declining in numbers too.
There are fox on Isle Royale too, and they are suffering as well.
I can’t help but hypothesize that some elements of this are present in the elk number decline and wolf number decline on the northern range of Yellowstone.
Story from the International Wolf Center. Slim Pickings for Wolves on Isle Royale
Post 1002
Parasites and disease have greatly reduced northern Minnesota moose population. Studies indicate its not hunting or predation, but parasites, disease and malnutrition. These are probably due to the change to a warmer climate.
Outdoors: Scientists look for moose clues. By Glen Schmitt. St. Cloud Times outdoors writer
The National Wildlife Federation has paid to buy out Stanko’s Bacon Creek grazing allotment on the Bridger-Teton national forest, which is home to very important elk, deer, bighorn sheep, moose and pronghorn habitat as well as grizzly bears and 3 wolf packs.
The buyout was voluntary.
Story in the Billings Gazette. Deal expands wildlife habitat. By Mike Stark of The Gazette Staff
Here’s another elk herd in wolf country that is deemed too populous — Wyoming’s Fall Creek herd (just south and SW of Jackson)
On the other hand, there are too few mule deer in the Wyoming Range, especially the buck to doe ratio. Wolves are not tolerated in the Wyoming Range (too far south WY says).
The number of moose in the Teton Wilderness has made a comeback since a three-year closure of three hunting areas in the Wilderness was implemented. There are lots of wolves in this huge Wilderness along the south boundary of Yellowstone Park.
The point is, once again, there are many deer and elk herds inside and outside wolf country in addition to the Northern Range Yellowstone elk herd, which anti-wolf folks always point to with alarm. Hunting rules and the quality of the ungulates’ range are the major factors in the how the elk and deer are doing in terms of population.
Story- State to target Fall Creek elk herd. By Angus M. Thuermer Jr., Jackson Hole News and Guide.
Ted Williams put this link on his blog.
Since then folks have been circulating them around the Internet. I got them by email described as the Bitterroot Valley, Montana. Ah the Internet, rumor mill.
Look at these amazing details.
Look and see if you can detect the effect of wolves. Remember wolves were reintroduced in 1995. At first there were just a few, and at the end of 2005 about 600 wolves, so the evidence of their effect should increase each years after 1995.
Link to the figures.
Teton County and other NW Wyoming areas have a tremendous problem with vehicles hitting wildlife and even vice versa, and a lot of it is larger than deer. The article below says “256 elk, moose and mule deer have been killed on roads. In addition, nine bison and one black bear were killed by cars.”
New measures are being tried such as lighted warning bulletins on the roadside and sensing devicies. One problem with the latter is false positives–a warning when no wildlife are at the roadside.
Article by Whitney Royster in the Casper Star Tribune.
BOTH THE GOOD AND THE BAD
A Wildlife Officer’s View of Hunting Season 2006
By George Fischer – Idaho Department of Fish and Game
For many hunters the 2006 season is winding down, yet for others the season is just beginning with whitetail rut hunts and late season elk hunts. Many bird hunters are just starting to hit the field as temperatures cool and upland birds concentrate in thicker cover. Below is a quick run down of what officers in the Grangeville area have observed this fall.
ELK – It’s been a real hit-and-miss season for elk hunters. Some have found lots of bulls and some real trophies, yet others have worked hard just to find a track. As you would expect, wolf issues have weighed heavy on many hunters though out the season. Wolves are changing elk behavior patterns and appear to be concentrating elk in small areas.
When visiting with hunters this fall, it was common to hear many hunters finding elk bunched up in small areas with many traditional hunting areas devoid of elk. Generally, back-country elk hunters found the elk moved down low early this year. Hunters have been doing great the past several years heading high for early bulls. However this fall, hunters down low had some of the better success.
DEER – Deer hunters are enjoying average success. White-tailed deer are still rebounding in lower elevations from the Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) outbreak of several years ago. Does and small bucks are plentiful in most areas, but as the rut approaches the larger mature bucks will begin to show themselves more.
MOOSE – Many hunters are concerned about moose numbers in many of the local units, especially in Unit 15 and the backcountry areas. Moose herd health is on the biologist’s “radar” screen. A data check shows hunter success and antler size is about the same as it has been historically. But hunters are most concerned with the number of wolf kills they are finding and the lack of cow and calf moose observed while they pursue other game.
WILD TURKEY AND UPLAND GAME BIRDS – Turkeys continue to expand into new territory in the region with numbers increasing to stabilizing. Chukar, Hungarian partridge and quail numbers are also decent. While overall numbers are down from the glory days in the early nineties, they are up from a few years ago. Pheasant numbers are about average where you can find good cover to hold them. Forest grouse made it into a good number of stew pots this year, as numbers appeared to be a little better then average in many areas.
This fall, our officers have spent the majority of their time visiting with hunters, responding to citizen calls of poaching incidents and patrolling to detect and deter poaching. Overall, most of the hunters and anglers we contacted were having a great time and doing their best to do things right. A major enforcement check station was also conducted on Highway 95 near Riggins in which several hundred hunters were checked for law compliance. Only 28 game violations were detected. For the number of hunters that passed through the check station, officers were pleased with the overall compliance.
Unfortunately, we have also responded to several “drive by” shootings of deer on private land with several animals shot and left to rot or just shot with only the antlers taken. Like it or not, there area a visible minority out there that are destroying the hunter image. They don’t care about ethics, sustaining game populations or helping assure that the tradition of hunting continues for future generations. Most poach for bloodlust and greed.
Many hunters and non-hunting citizens alike are no longer tolerating the abuse of our local wildlife treasures. They are reporting the crimes to authorities, providing crucial information that has helped bring many poachers to justice.
Please don’t tolerate poaching, even in your friends and family. To report a wildlife violation, a phone call to your local conservation officer or sheriff’s department is often the quickest route. A call to Citizens Against Poaching 1 (800)632-5999 can assure your call is kept confidential and you may be eligible for a reward.
Some of the best hunting of the year is still to come. Please do your part to help the future of our great heritage by obeying all game laws, practicing ethical hunting and passing on the tradition by taking a youngster or new hunter afield.
George Fischer is a District Conservation Officer for IDFG stationed in Grangeville.
U.S. 191 that cuts through a piece of Yellowstone near its NW boundary has long been a wildlife slaughter alley (elk, moose, deer, bears, wolves, and human slaughter too). A high tech warning system was installed in 2002, but glitches kept it inoperative, and there was consideration of dismantling it. Now it has got the go ahead.
Of course it is still inoperative.
Story in the Billings Gazette by Mike Stark.
Tom wrote:
“We had had an interesting wolf experience this past weekend.
We canoed across lower Green River Lake with my 7 year old daughter and her friend, camped on the nice beach on the southern shore. Saw a few moose that evening: a large male and then a mother and calf.
Between 4 and 5 am, we heard frantic episodes of moose running along the beach, in the water, and through our camp (I purposely placed the tent among the tight trees so we wouldn’t be trampled.)
I got out of the tent a couple of times to see what I could see, but couldn’t see anything. Several times, I sat up in the tent after hearing some very strange noises. I was wondering what was making the moose run.
In the morning, we went out and the beach was riddled with wolf tracks. Moose tracks in the mud in the water told us that the moose found safety in the water…20-40 feet out from shore. There, the wolves (between 1 and 3 individuals) could not catch them. So as the moose ran along the shore in the water, the wolves would run along the shore on the beach. Back and forth along the beach they danced for an hour. Every so often, a wolf would dart into the water in an attempt to spook the moose back onto the beach where they could be attacked. There would be a flurry of activity with the sounds of running hooves through water becoming more quiet or louder depending on which way the moose were running. No blood or carcasses visible, and we saw the mother and calf nearby the next morning.
It was very exciting. My daughter really enjoyed it. Her friend was terrified.”
The Upper Green River area has probably seen the death of more wolves (government control to benefit the livestock industry) than any other place in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. It’s very good hear that, nevertheless, there are wolves that people can see at the north end of the Wind Rivers.
Note that Turiano is the author of what I think is the most comprehensive book ever written on the mountains of the Greater Yellowstone. It is “Select Peaks of Greater Yellowstone: A Mountaineering History and Guide.”
Here is a link to his website and “Select Peaks” and two other impressive books he has authored.
Lower Green River Lake and the Wind River Mountains.
Copyright Ralph Maughan
AP. State wildlife biologist Pat Matthews doesn’t have to see the moose to know they’re moving into Oregon from neighboring Idaho in record numbers.
The 118 piles of droppings he saw on a walk along an overgrown logging road in northeastern Oregon told the tale.
There may be about 30 moose, including eight bulls, in the northeast corner of Oregon, immigrants from Idaho.
There are probably more, Matthews said.
For the full story click here
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