11-06-15 Field Note

11-06-15 Field Note

November 6, 2015

Jeff Clarke's field note details habitat piles, buck and rail fences, chipmunks, and elk ivory.

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Elk ivory, tumble weeds, chipmunk, habitat piles, buck and rails

More than an inch of rain soaked the ranch this week. Rain morphed to snow above 5,000 feet.

I almost missed this sneaky old gal who was bedded a few yards from the Top House.

Every year, the elk traverse the steep river banks and cause great disturbance; invasive weeds fill the slops as a result.

I approached this wild rice patch like a ninja in hopes to photograph feeding ducks. As soon as I determined that the patch was duck-free, 12 mallards burst from its cover.

I watched this chipmunk feed on what I thought was a plant root. Upon closer inspection, dried earthworm was on the menu!

We erected this buck and rail fence around a cluster of aspens and snowberries three years ago. The plants within thrived and filled the exclosure. Last week a tree fell on the fence and created a pile of debris. We decided to leave the fence and tree where they lay. The fence served its purpose and is now part of a habitat pile.

An aspen sucker grows in the path of next spring’s river channel.

Coyotes traversed through a quarter mile of beaver activity without touching the ground; notice their sandy paw marks on the beaver laid trees.

The Northern Floodplain only has a few young pines. Most saplings that have managed to survive are browsed and show signs of ungulate rub. We will continue to protect these vulnerable trees!