Teton Tuesday: Just around the bend...

I have been working for the Tejon Conservancy for almost two years now, and as 2015 draws to a close I am struck by how fast that time appears to flown by, while also containing so many remarkable memories. It feels like just the other day I was timidly venturing out into the ranch interior for the first time, trying desperately (and failing, ultimately) not to get lost; and yet when I consider all the incredible experiences I have had traipsing across this enchanting landscape, it is hard to believe I’ve only had a key for 22 months. I believe that part of the reason for this temporal dissonance has to do with the way in which remarkable experiences tend to occur out on the ranch. That is abruptly, without warning and more often than not when I am under-caffeinated, half awake and least expecting anything of interest to run across my path.

Such was the case two mornings ago while I was driving the Hual rd. along the north slope of Winter’s Ridge. I was heading out to set survey cameras around a remote spring when I turned a sharp bend in the road only to find not one, but three full grown mountain lions barely 10 meters from my truck, happily gorging themselves on the remains of a boar. Upon seeing me they flushed, and disappeared down the canyon before I even became fully aware of what I was watching! I was left stunned, with only the ravens overhead cawing out their thanks for giving them a chance at the fresh meat. Before continuing on I got out and surveyed the kill site, and was surprised at the formidable size of the pumas’ prey. The lions had worked their way through most of what used to be a very impressive boar, with large tusks, healthy teeth and powerful shoulders. This was not a score these cats would abandon very long, so I buried one of my cameras into the hillside facing the carcass in the hopes of recording them upon their return.

Mountain lion encounters, however unexpected, fleeting and occasionally nerve-racking, remain one of the rarest and most exhilarating experiences one can have on Tejon, or anywhere for that matter. Ask any Conservancy staff member, or anyone that spends enough time in the woods, and they will gladly relate to you in vivid (and only very slightly exaggerated) detail, every such encounter they have ever had, as these events crystalize in one’s memory like only the wildest and most beautiful experiences in life can. While population management strategies surrounding mountain lions remains an ongoing debate statewide, I believe it is important to appreciate these apex predators as the living embodiment of the unadulterated wildness that can be seen dying out all across the globe and that we at the conservancy fight to protect every day.   

Before the cougars returned, this golden eagle took advantage of the unguarded kill

A couple hours after my departure, the first of the puma returned and quickly reclaimed her prize

This next cat was a little late, but can clearly still smell blood in the air

She makes do on the scraps of what remained

TWO DAYS ON MARTINEZ RIDGE - Ben Teton

            The dazzling embroidery of the natural world is often too intricately woven to fully appreciate without first teasing out the individual fibers and following their unique stitch through the fabric of the ecosystems they inhabit. For wilderness and wildlife scientists, it could take a lifetime (perhaps many lifetimes) to understand even a single fiber, and so it is no surprise that gaining a nuanced perspective on the interconnectedness of this natural tapestry can be challenging. All textile metaphors aside (I apologize, I can’t help myself), it is one thing to know a single species- where it lives, how it survives- and another to understand how that species fits with the many other species that occur within a given ecosystem, and still another to visualize the way in which these species actually live their lives across the landscape they inhabit. It is in this visualization that one begins to fully appreciate the dynamic beauty and substance of the natural world, and unfortunately, opportunities to gain this perspective are often hard to find.

            For me, I was lucky enough to encounter one of the great literary presentations of this type of wilderness visualization at a very young age. In fact, my path to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy may have begun over 20 years ago, where sitting in my father’s lap, I was read One Day at Teton Marsh by the brilliant naturalist and nature writer Sally Carrighar. In it, Carrighar uses the perspectives of the many animal inhabitants of a small wetland outside Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to explore the secret proceedings of this natural habitat over a single day. In honor of Ms. Carrighar, and her simple, honest presentation of wildlife and their daily experience, I am happy to offer on the blog today Two Days on Martinez Ridge.

            The concept for this post originated when I discovered that one of my wildlife trap cameras, set to record the interactions between wild pigs and cattle at a seemingly innocuous upland trough, had recorded over 250 wildlife videos in less than 40 hours. I was shocked at the frequency and diversity of the species using this rusted trough, buried into the overexposed western slope of Martinez Ridge. The following is simple chronology of those encounters, with  a sampling of the recordings I found most interesting…  

June 26, 2015

-1523-1640: A group of California condors intermittently drink and perch upon the hillside, including the legendary AC-9 (Orange tag # 21 shown in the upper right of the video). At 35 years he is the oldest male California condor in the wild and was one of the last 27 living condors on the planet in the mid-1980s when major conservation efforts for the species began.

-1714-1740: A group of ravens perch and drink from the trough.

-2005-2011: As darkness falls a group of cattle stop for a drink as they lumber across the ridge.

-2136-2139: A large solitary boar takes a quick drink and heads north.

June 27, 2015

-0222-0224: Another large boar (possibly the same individual from earlier in the evening) has a drink and continues north.

-0242-0243: Bobcat stops by the trough for a drink and a look around, continues South.

-0408-0410: Likely thirsty from a long night hunting, a large puma stops by the trough for an early morning drink.

-0609-0706: A group of cattle, a family of raven and a young mule deer buck mingle around the trough for a morning drink.

-0736-0737: After the cattle have moved on, a mangy coyote lopes over for a quick drink as he heads north.

-0901-0932: A young golden eagle has drink while she surveys Bear Trap Canyon to the southwest.

-1010-1011: A brave ground squirrel risks the exposure and the raptors overhead to scamper up for a quick drink.

-1112-1301: Young golden eagle perches on the trough as heavy clouds roll in across the ranch.

-1301-1621: Three more golden eagle arrive, including one large adult that has been wing tagged,  and intermittently bathe and drink until a light rain begins to fall (One of these eagle spends over 45 minutes perched on my camera, distorting the videos).

-1654-1714: Solitary golden eagle returns and calls out for his comrades.

-1834-1911: A group of cattle move up to the trough for an afternoon.

 -1932-1934: A solitary doe tries to have a drink before she is pushed off by cattle.

 -2000-2002: Once the coast is clear, the solitary doe returns to quench her thirst.

 -2153-2156: Coyote stops by for a drink and heads west.

 -2228-2229: Large boar has a drink and heads north.

 -2255-2303: Lone cow ambles around the trough.

June 28, 2015

-0405-0406: Large boar has a drink and heads north.

-0734-0735: A young buck cautiously approaches the trough and begins to have a drink before he is spooked into the trough by his comrades creeping up behind him.

 -0735-0739: Three velvety bucks have a morning drink.

-0750- 0807: A group of ravens hold court over the trough and guard it fiercely against the encroaching morning doves.

-0814-0815: After the ravens leave, a family of doves move in to forage around the trough.

-0942: The final recording shows a beautiful American Kestrel perched on the trough surveying the landscape below.