Talking Rockies

As far as anyone knows, there are no Canadian Lynxes (Lynx canadensis) in Utah, but in 2004, 2 cats wandered over from Colorado for a brief visit. Wildlife workers were able to track these felines because they had been introduced into Colorado in 1999, and still have radio collars.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that for the next few months wildlife officials will be checking around the Uintas to see if they can find any more of these endangered felines. Teams on the ground will look for live Lynx or paw prints in the snow, and air crews, one assumes, will cover greater areas looking for wandering cats.

It’s hard to count Lynx, so population estimates might not be any more accurate than IPCC predictions. By one of these estimates, however, there are only a few hundred individuals in all of the contiguous 48 states. Lynx are listed as Threatened.

What’s the cost? Just $15,000 for the whole study.

Years ago, a group of us took a hike up Mount Elbert (14,433′, 4,402 m) in Colorado. Most of the hike was above timberline, and a member of the group told us that he kept seeing little furry creatures with tiny rabbit ears. By the time we got to the summit, we all got a chance to see some. Since then, over the years I’ve seen them in talus slopes all over. We found out later that they’re Pikas, also called “rock rabbits,” and their scientific name is Ochotona princeps. Years later, on Nevada’s Wheeler Peak (13,065′, 3,982 m) we ran into a botanist who showed us Acomastylis rossii, a low, touch plant with yellow flowers, and a member of the rose family. He told us that the Pikas stockpile the plant matter from these tough plants under the rocks, so they have something to eat up on those high peaks in the winter, under a layer of snow. He also did an excellent imitation of Pikas squeaking to defend their stockpile of alpine forage.

This botanist also told us that the prevailing sentiment about these plants — they’re delicate and hikers should never step on them — was not based in science. He said that A rossii is a resilient plant that pushed out new branches each year with vigor. They had to be this way to handle the Pika browsing.

Pikas are in the news this week. Part of their makeup is that these little rodents can’t handle the heat, and given the talk about climate change, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service might add them to the Endangered Species List. They’re supposed to make their pronouncement tomorrow, February 5, 2010. Whatever your take on climate change might be, it seems strange to add an animal to the list because it might get hotter. Given how complex weather is, it’s hard to know what’s going to happen in the future. For the last decade, for example, global temperatures have remained stable. Some scientists argue that the heat is just going into the ocean, and will come back into the air with the next “El Niño” with a vengeance. The UN IPCC publishes estimates that have air temperatures rising a few degrees in the next century. Others think the heat is dissipating out to space. Global Warming is a serious, complex issue, and we should all be informed.

The question is, what science is there behind putting these furry guys on the list? Is this decision based on merits or something else? Also, what does it mean to have Pikas listed? There’s not much development above treeline, and most of this property is already in federal hands. What will be different next Monday if they get special protection?

The Utah DWR is always busy moving critters around, with the goal of boosting populations. Helicopters are always one part of the activity, and everyone has seen animals suspended from slings. This is the first time I’ve ever seen five ungulates dangling from a cable, however.

These Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsonii) are being moved to Utah’s remote Desolation Canyon. This transfer took place in January 2009. I’m sure the experts say this is fine, but I’m sure the sheep don’t think this is a good time.

One big problem with Utah’s herds is a lung parasite that spreads from hobby herds of sheep . The same month that sheep were moved, volunteers went to the same area to monitor sheep health. We’ll see how Utah’s sheep do over the next few years.

In 1941, some people in Utah’s Department of Fish and Game decided the state needed a herd of wild bison in south central Utah, so they trucked 3 bulls and 15 cows from Yellowstone to the a ranch on the Dirty Devil River, in the San Rafael Desert. The next year they added 5 more bulls. About 20 years later the bison made their way to the Henry Mountains and have been there since. By 2007 the herd numbered 340. Today the Henry Mountain herd still has about 300 head, which makes it big enough to seed other areas.

Utah’s bison moving crew is at it again, but this time they’re working on building a herd in the Book Cliffs area. On January 15 and 16, state employees captured 40 bison from the Henry herd, to add to the other 50 head placed in the Book Cliffs area in 2008 (30 of those also came from the Henrys; the Ute Tribe of Utah donated 14, and 11 calves have been born there.) The new bison will join the small herd on January 20th. DWR officials hope to see the Book Cliffs herd grow to about 450 individuals.

Utah, one of the few states with free-roaming herds of wild bison, as three herds. The Henry herd, the new Book Cliffs group, and the herd on Antelope Island.

Unlike their domestic bovine cousins, bison aren’t easy to herd. To make it safer for workers, only cows, calves and male yearlings will be transported.  Even so, the specimens can weigh between 300 an 800 pounds, but adult males can weigh in at 2,000 pounds. It’s a labor-intensive operation, and must be expensive. To catch a single bison, a spotting crew flies over the area in an airplane, looking for the herd. When they find it, they call a capture crew, which flies out in a helicopter, singles out the individual to be transported, and drops a net onto it. The helicopter then drops down to let “muggers” out, who blindfold and hobble the animal.

The helicopter takes the animal to a nearby land crew, where it is loaded up in a sturdy horse trailer. The crew does the requisite health checks and takes blood samples at this time. Before going on to the Book Cliffs, the humpback critters have to go to Antelope Island for quarantine until they’re certified as healthy (the biggest threat is brucellosis, a bacterial infection that lowers birth rates and causes other problems).

If the bison are deemed healthy, they’ll go the Book Cliffs on January 25, 2010.

The Utah DWR is hosting its annual eagle-watching events on two different saturdays in February. Find out more here.

February 6

• Fountain Green Fish Hatchery, east of Nephi. There will be a sign about 1 mile east of the town of Fountain Green, on UT-132. At the hatchery, state employees will hand out area maps showing the best places in Sanpete valley to see the raptors.
• Rush Lake Ranch,  (UT-130), 12 miles north of
  Cedar City

February 13

• Salt Creek Waterfowl Management Area (Compton’s Knoll), near the Great Salt Lake.
• Farmington Bay.
• Split Mountain, on the Green River, north of Jensen.

Take your binoculars!