Month: January 2013

June and July 2004

I worked on the Idaho wolf recovery project as we tried to monitor how the wolf population was growing.  Most of the packs in the state had a least one animal that had a radio collar. We would start with a flight over the area, to find where the pack we were going to be going into the field to find was currently at. The next day we would head out into the field for ten days, we would start by driving the forest service dirt roads looking for wolf tracks and scat. When we would find then, we would get out and scout the area for more signs.  When we found an area that had lots of wolf activity we would set up a trap line. Each line would have approximately ten traps on it. The traps are modified in a way to minimized injury to the animals. Each line was monitored daily.  A pack of wolves can move twenty miles in a night, so frequently they would have left the area. So frequently we would return after ten days without a catch or a siting.

My partner and I had not seen any new signs near one trap line. We had decided that this line was no longer active. One trap was only a 1/3 mile (1/2 K) off the road but it required walking through a wetland. Since we were sure there wouldn’t be a wolf we decided only one of us would go check (Every trap must be checked every day, no exceptions!). I lost the coin toss, so I headed across the wetland. After a while I was in the woods on a dirt trail.  As I came around the curve in the trail I paused at the site of a mound of dirt. It took a second for it to sink in. We bury the traps, when they are sprung there would be dirt flying up into the air and leave a mound of dirt. To lessen the chance of injury to the wolf, the trap is not attached to any thing. Instead It has a long chain with a couple big hooks on it, As the animal runs the chain will leave a trail and after a while the hooks will catch on something. I followed the trail as it went back into the wetland through tall grass. The trail disappeared, so I stopped to look around for the trail, suddenly I saw him! He was sitting there looking  at me less then twenty feet (6meters) away; a chill went up my back. I was this close to a wolf in the wild! I had caught a wolf!

I backed away slowly. when I got to the woods I took off running back to the truck and my partner.  Carter saw me running through the wetland and knew we had one. He hopped out and grabbed our gear and came running. When we got back to the area, he wasn’t visible. We found him hiding in the grass. The normal method of containing the animal is one person has a noose on a pole (the noose is design to be snug but not to tight on the neck), the other person has a shot on a pole to put the animal to sleep. I said that is the normal method, this wolf was so afraid that he wouldn’t lift his head off the ground, I couldn’t get the noose around his neck. Carter gave him the shot without the noose on. Since he wasn’t moving we had no way of knowing when the drugs had kicked in. After a couple minutes we decided it was safe. We began with putting a radio collar on, ear tags and recording some data, age, sex, weight etc. Then we give it a reversal drug and move away to wait for the animal to recover enough to run off.  While we waited we took some photos. My first wolf! What a beautiful animal! What a thrill to be able to hold a life wolf in the wild! I love all animals and have been fortune enough to have held many different kinds of them, but none compare to this. To this day I say this was the most exciting and thrilling moment in my life!

My partner had caught many wolves, for many years. He said this particular wolf was the most timid and passive wolf he had ever seen. The very next day we got to see the other end of the extreme.  We were lucky, the next day we caught another one nearby. They were both two year old males from the same pack, and yet they couldn’t have been more different. This one was the most aggressive he had ever seen. We couldn’t noose him either because he would just bite the noose and hang on to it. We finally decided that while I kept him occupied with the noose, Carter would be behind him and jab him with the shot. This shows how the personalities of animals can be just as different as people, from one extreme to the other with two males from the same litter. The second one was destine to be an alpha.

On another outing another partner and I moved in on what we were expecting to be the den site. We found it! There were the pups, some laying in the sun, some playing with each other, one noticed us and watched us just as interested as we were. We watched for several minutes always looking for the alpha female who had to be nearby. We never did see her, but left after a while so as not to alarm her.

On another occasion we were stalking a pack. We kept getting close but they would sense us and move off before we could get a visual.  Finally we knew we were very close, but still not a visual, so we crept in a little closer, staying behind the trees. I grabbed on to a tree I was behind and slowly moved my head out to look forward. There 25 ft (8m) in front of me was a black wolf, doing the same as me, he was behind a tree with just his head peering around it. It was both beautiful and comical to see this wolf peering around the tree like I was,

The first leg of our trip was Arches NP. There are dozens of arches throughout the park, ranging in size from quite small to over 300 feet (100 meters). Spectacular views and not just the arches.
Even in a park most people are to busy to stop and smell the roses. We found a baby rabbit just off the trail. Only one other couple stopped for more then a second, everyone else left the second they found we were only looking at a rabbit.

The next stop was Canyonlands NP.  For all of the time that I have spent canyoneering in Utah it s surprising that I have never been here before.  We both immediately decided that this is more spectacular then the Grand Canyon. This is where the Green River merges with the Colorado River. You can stand in one spot and look at one canyon and turn 180 degrees and see the other one, both equally impressive. Farther down you get to where they actually come together, an amazing view. We timed it to be there at sunset, the rocks all turned incredible hues of red.

A funny story, we were out looking at the view by ourselves when another couple showed up. They were speaking Italian,  one of them then started saying I can say what ever I want to because nobody here can under stand us. They then said a few silly things, at which point Claudia started talking in Italian to them. At which point the three of them all started to laugh (as I still didn’t know what was happening).  Whats the chance of one of only two other people nearby while  in western US being an  Italian. You have to watch what you say no matter where you are.

Next on the list was Grand Tetons NP. Views of majestic mountains and large  herds of Bison. We also got up close to some Prong Horn and one owl.

Next was Yellowstone NP the worlds first National Park. The geysers and hot springs are great and unique but for us this park is all about the wildlife. We saw numerous herds of  bison; also elk, moose, deer,  mountain goats, a couple Grizzly Bears, a pack of wolves and several Black Bears. The wolves were far away but with binoculars it was a good view and we got to look someones spotting scope (I need to get one) which brings them right up close.  The one Grizzly was quite close to a large crowd of watchers, with a few rangers on hand to keep the occasion fool from trying to get even closer. What would have been my best picture of it ended up being of the rangers head as he walked in front of me just as I took it. 🙁

One of our Black Bear sitings was a mother and two cubs, there was a group of people but most would only watch for a few minutes. We followed them for nearly two hours, at one point the rangers told everyone we had to leave because the terrain was steering them over to the road. So as we left I determined where they would cross and we went just past that spot and stopped again. At this spot we stayed by the vehicle because it was going to be a little closer then we had been before. What a true treat to be able to watch such beautiful animals for an extended time.

We stopped at a little secluded picnic site that clearly didn’t get many visitors (yes there are a few places in the park) we stayed for about an hour, sitting by the river. As we were just about to leave a buck came into the area, we stayed completely still and he came within about 12 feet (4 meters) of us. After several minutes a doe came out too, but not as close. We watched them for several more minutes as they slowly moved farther away.

The final park to visit was Rocky Mountain NP. We saw more elk and moose closer then we had in Yellowstone, but the one we hoped to see, Bighorn Sheep eluded us. In many areas of the west there are large numbers of dead conifers due to the virus that is spread by Bark Beatles. Rocky Mountain was the hardest hit area of our trip. It is hard to see so many trees dead or dieing.

 

The highway down the east coast of Baja is little used but most of it is in great condition as it is being built now or over the last few years. Ttowards the end there is a stretch of about 35 miles of rough dirt road. As we were heading down this road one evening we picked a spot to camp that was right on the coast and a secluded area that would be hidden from the road. After dark we had two visiters, young coyotes they came very near us, the first one was only about 5 feet( 1 1/2meter) behind Claudia. Some of you might think this is scary but to Claudia and I we could hardly ask for more of a gift. Beautiful.

About an hour later we turned off the light in the back of the truck and we notice three flash lights on the beach about half kilometer away. We continued to watch as they got closer. Finally it was to close for Claudia and she became scared (I know no fear of swiming with sharks but she does have her limits) so I hopped out and threw some of our gear in the back with her and I drove off. When i got to the road I stopped and she hopped up front with me. We were in an area that was several miles from the nearest building but we drove back 15 minutes and found a little camp ground and stopped there. Altough I do not believe we were in danger. We could not be seen from the road and the approaching people were probably just looking for something on the beach as they wouldn’t have know we were there and wouldn’t go out to the middle of no where to look for some one to rob, but it was probably prudent to leave as it is still Mexico. (Baja however is unlike the rest of Mexico in that there is little crime and many Americans drive down every year).

A few days later we were camping on the beach (at a camp ground) when many Bottle Nosed Dolphins swam by. It was great as we got to watch them circle around in a group which is how they hunt for fish. The next day we hired a boat to go out to sea and look for wildlife. No whales or dolphins but we saw lots of great birds and came up to a colony of sealions suning them selves on an island. Claudia and the guide put on wetsuits (non available for me) and went snorkling with them. Many of the sealions immediately got in the water, not out of fear but to go play with the human visiters. When they would dive under or splash around the sealions would come close and show off there skills under water. Dancing as they twirllerd and spun around. As Claudia got out as she was cold, even with the wetsuit, I decided I couldn’ tresist and decided to go in with out a wetsuit for a while. (My canoneering friends know how unlike me this is). I couldn’t go out in the deeper water and dive under (way to cold) but I could stay near the shore (warmer water) where a few came to check me out. After a while, I slowly got to within a meter of one that was laying on a rock. Face to face, watching it close its eyes for a few seconds of napping and then opening to watch me. Finally uncontrolable shivering sent me back to the boat.

Ok here is one you don’t see everyday, a seagull sitting on a cactus, check out the picture.

We then took the chance of driving to the Sur Baja Californis border even though we probably would not be able to cross the border since we didn’t have a visa for the state (only place in mexico that either of us needed one. No problem we got in, I don’t know if we got lucky or if most people get in without being asked. The reason we tried is this is where the Grey Whales go. The males where just arriving and no females yet. The courious infants are what allows you to get close, so for now we only saw them from a disatance of about 30 yards or so. For me this was still great as I had only seen them closer then this three years ago in the Dominacan Rebpublic. Claudia on the other hand has swam with and touched whales many times.

On our way north we went back to a place we had camped before that was a secluded beach. We heard sealions at night and saw 2 coyotes on the way into it. This was are favorit camping site as the weather seems better, great wildlife and nobody but us camping right on the beach.

Claudia has filmed wildlife all over the world and done both land and sea. Her real specialty is the sea and is especially known for swiming with sharks.

We will be filming four different doucumentaries this winter.

Before the filming starts we have the month of December to just travel. We are driving down to Baja California, Mexico. We first stoped in Bosque Del Apache National wildlife Refuge. This is the wintering grounds for many waterfowl inluding over 50,000 Snow Geese. We got up in the dark to be there pre sunrise so we could watch when a flock of about 10,000 took off for the morning to go feed. It was spectacular to watch them all take flight at once. Many of them flew right over us only about 12 feet (3 meters) over are heads. It was amazing, you could feel the temperture drop by the moisture they added to the air as they took flight from the pond, we also felt the breaze from the beating of thousands of wings right above us. There were also several thousand Sandhill Cranes there. THese birds are about a yard/meter tall and are one of my favorites. They are both prehistoric looking and very gracefull. I’m sure it is hard to invision that if you haven’t seen.

We have been in Baja for almost a week now. We discovered that altough nothing was said on the internet or at the border, that we both need visa to goto Baja Sur, even though niether of us need them for the rest of Mexico. This means we won’t be getting as far south as we wanted or to the best Whale watching area. We have discovered that it still gets verycold here at night like 10 degrees, (ok so that is celcius which is about 50 F) how do people live with such cold. Claudia hates the cold even more then me, (I know its hard to belive). We have been camping in the truck half the time and getting a room half the time.