April 23rd, 2016
I’ve had a variety of animal and bird encounters that haven’t been included in the posts. I’ll recount a couple here. Those bored by that sort of thing can skip on.
The night in Goshen Canyon was amid some deer. I kept hearing the hoof falls close by in the night but was surprised to see fresh droppings on the ground tarp I had laid the sleeping bag and pad on. He/she practically stepped on me. Slept through that part.
At the toadstool camp I woke fairly early and got the usual “breakfast in bed” which is facilitated by having the stove, coffee accouterments, water and so forth right near where I’m sleeping. I wake up and pull myself into a Crazy Creek chair and light the stove. Before I can get my favorite powdered coffee/hot chocolate concoction into the cup, the water’s boiling. It’s really easier and more convenient than descending the steps from the bedroom to the kitchen at home. So, I’m sitting there motionless, with the exception of raising the cup to my mouth every so often, and I notice “activity” about five feet away in a clump of cheat grass (or at least a weedy brome of some kind). Out pops a pocket gopher! I’ve never seen a pocket gopher. They spend the vast majority of their lives in their tunnel systems and evolution has just about eliminated their eyes altogether. Olaus Murie had a hard time finding one as well and finally got pissed off and shoveled out a burrow till he dug one up. I’ve never been that curious (well, maybe once, but it was unsuccessful) but here was one to see, doing what ever it is they do at home. And what was that? He began nipping the cheat grass stalks, one at a time, at the base, and then dragging it trunk-first into the hole. He’d pop back up, fell another stalk, then down the hole. It was hilarious. I didn’t move through the whole episode. After a few minutes the “stand” was “felled” (in a radius about that of a lengthwise pocket gopher) and he disappeared into the hole, plugging it back up from the inside. I should have taken a picture of the “clear cut” but didn’t. It was better entertainment than a Republican debate.
At the camp at the end of the 75 mile day I had a restful night but did wake up once and noticed movement about 30 feet away. In the light of a nearly full moon I could tell it was a badger. And he was coming towards me! I was maybe 8 feet up on a slickrock shelf and he was down on the sand, but I really didn’t want him to get any closer. At 20 feet I made enough of a rustle in the sleeping bag to get his attention. He stared at me for about a 1/2 minute, surely sizing me up, and ambled off in another direction. The next morning I looked at his tracks and, below, you can see them “on top” of the tracks I made the evening before pushing the bike to camp. Look close and you can see the “offset” (one a little ahead of the other) characteristic of mustelids.
At the “windswept” camp, just between dusk and full dark, and a lull in the wind, I had a smallish owl fly over me, maybe 20 feet up, and hover for a couple of seconds checking me out. He was beating his wings frantically to hold a motionless position, but I could hear nothing! If it would have been a crow doing that you would have heard whoosh, whoosh. Owls are pure stealth.
About every night sleeping out owls and coyotes are heard. A couple of nights, poorwills. But all of this fun wildlife, I hate to admit, is the result of not having a dog along. Nothing better than watching your best friend altogether thrilled to be alive in the great outdoors, but it really hampers any kind of animal encounters. The dogs will always find themselves between you and anything sentiently alive. And I’d hate to think of where an encounter with the badger might lead.
I’m so glad “he/she” dropped on the tarp and not on you! You are having an adventure to be envied Steve. 🙂 I raise my glass to you. Ride on…………. and on and on and on!
Not even a little bit bored with all your interactions with other life forms out in the wilderness! Just loved hearing about it. Recently bought into Terminix services which also includes two very sticky pads just inside my garage door. I didn’t realize such “vermin” protection involved a creature becoming stuck and languishing miserably before succumbing . At their last check-up visit I was informed that I had caught a vole, now dead. I was horrified. Just minutes ago, however, having accidentally left the garage door open, I discovered a poor little bird, both wings spread out as far as possible (in an attempt to get away, I’m sure) and stuck in the sticky goo as were other parts of him. WELL, Dawn to the rescue!! First I gave him a bit of water and then placed the bird and the sticky pad that held him bound into a bucket containing a shallow mixture of Dawn and hot water, I gently moved the bucket around, washing the solution over the wingtips and the rest of him. Well………it worked! This has made my day. He’s gone, and happily so! There was no way to tell if any of the stuff remained on that little bird, causing him further problems and possibly shortening his life. I do hope not.
Have a great day, or maybe it’s a sleep, Steve. Be well. Be safe. Be in possession of your belongings. Love, Pam