Monarch Migration

I am thrilled to be a participating artist, and also have been able to help plan Insight: Art for Climate Action, an event and fundraiser for the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council. We encouraged submitting artists to create work in one of their priority areas, resilient land and water, waste diversion, or energy and transportation. Below is my artist statement sharing thoughts about the area I chose to work in, as well as a poem about monarch butterflies.
If you are in the Steamboat Springs area, please come to the Insight event on July 9 at La Joya Dulce, there will fantastic artwork and lots of fun! Find all of the details on YVSC’s website.

Monarch Migration, linocut assemblage by Jill Bergman created for Insight: Art for Climate Action

As a young person in the 1970’s, I developed climate anxiety, something that didn’t even have a name until recently. My parents are scientists, and engaged with environmental issues. There was talk at home about water and air pollution, pesticides, and the hole in the ozone layer. I cared so much, but felt unable to act. For decades I tried to ignore these scary issues, but I was sad and worried about what humans were doing to the planet. When I began to take action to engage with these problems instead of avoiding them, I tried to find ways to use my talents in the areas of conserving wildlife and natural landscapes. There are countless things to be done, but the bigger picture always returns to fighting climate change. Without green energy and a shift to respecting nature and the interdependency of life, we will only cause damage to wildlife, wild landscapes, and everything else including ourselves.

I’ve learned the way to fight climate anxiety is to get involved with fighting climate change, but I still have sad days. Last summer when the International Union for Conservation of Nature placed the migratory monarch butterfly on their Red List as endangered, I cried. Monarchs are strikingly beautiful, have an unbelievable migration story, and aren’t polarizing or harmful. But through our misguided policies and lack of awareness, they are in trouble because of habitat loss, pesticides, temperature extremes triggering migration before milkweed is available, and other issues linked to climate change. Even with these challenges, Emily Spencer, Natural Resource Specialist at Dinosaur National Monument who participates in tagging the butterflies, says monarchs are “smart, resilient survivors and surprise us in so many ways.” Citizen science is helping find new areas where monarchs overwinter inland and in smaller groups. There is still much to learn. Connecting pollinator habitats, stopping deforestation, and lowering greenhouse gasses will help the monarchs, but also help all of the rest of us inhabitants of the globe. There are countless ways to get involved!

Monarch Garland, 8’ long string of hand-printed paper butterflies

For the 3D assemblage I created, Monarch Migration, also the paper Monarch Garlands, and in my artwork in general, I wanted to focus more on using existing materials, reducing waste and buying less. If we can raise awareness on this issue, this will help reduce greenhouse gasses through lessened production of materials, less shipping, and keeping things out of the landfill. With printmaking I always have test prints and some that don’t work out. I save them. I also have not-favorite inks from the past, or materials that were given to me. As a picture framer, I have scraps of mat board, and frames that can be reused. Every part of the monarch work created for Insight (except the framing glass and clear plastic wire) was made from things that I could have considered trash, but chose to reuse. I’m excited to continue down this path.

Monarchs printed on Rives BFK printmaking paper, on the back and obscuring former reject prints.

Monarch
by Jill Bergman

In the garden like an extra flower,
the flash and slow wink of luminous orange, big as my palm,
a monarch sits resting in the afternoon sun.
Now heading crookedly through the breeze and sweet blooms,
on a mission, going places,
though you’d never know from looking.
How can this flutter-by travel 100 miles in a day,
going to a gathering place it’s never been before?
It’s astounding, and completely preposterous.

These days they are counted and tracked.
But how could you ever count something so light and uncontained?
Are they counted by little girls with butterfly nets?
Are they tracked by mountain men
who read tiny butterfly footprints on a milkweed leaf?
No, they are tracked by scientists and volunteers with stickers.
Net a butterfly, put a number on the wing,
and hope someone down the line will see it,
like a message in a bottle.

In their travels, are the monarchs guided by the sun’s angle,
or UV light, or the earth’s magnetism, or hocus pocus?
Are they guided by love?
Do they look forward to their winter gathering like a festive family reunion,
snuggling together on Monterey pines greeting long lost cousins?
We don’t know how they do it, but memory didn’t guide this migration.
The butterfly in my garden only lives a few weeks.
Her grandchildren in the fall will feel the bite of cold and head south or west,
living months longer while fasting, and battling winter storms.

Spring sends them fluttering like joy, to lay tiny eggs in milkweed nurseries.
Eventually, their grandchildren will reach my Colorado garden.
Go with blessings, carry our hope.
The world is hard, and we only make it harder for the delicate and powerless.
It feels terrible to be a member of the species
making this planet inhospitable for monarchs, and ourselves too,
causing heat waves, drought, and extinctions.
I’d like to be a member of the species who can change for the better,
who can stop making bad decisions.

I’d rather be guided by love.

Eric Quallen Champions the Least Chipmunk

Some of the most common wild animals we see zipping around forests or climbing trees in our backyards are still not well understood by scientists. In the western U.S., one of those small mammals is the least chipmunk. With distinctive dark and light stripes down their backs and over their faces, these chipmunks are the smallest in North America.

One scientist dedicated to studying the least chipmunk is Eric Quallen, a doctoral student at the University of Wyoming. Eric can often be found checking traps in the Laramie Range or hiking with a radio receiver searching through frequencies for the small collared chipmunks they are tracking.

Eric working in the field, photo provided by Eric Quallen

Eric’s advisor, Merav Ben-David, started the chipmunk research project in 2006 as a way for college students to learn about field work and collect data. Originally, the plan was to use squirrels, but they weren’t very resilient. Chipmunks were also getting into the traps, and they turned out to handle the trapping process well, so chipmunks became the star of the project.

Least chipmunks eat a wide variety of foods including nuts, berries, fruits, grasses, fungi, insects, and even small birds and mammals. They have cheek pouches to store food while moving it to a cache, or just to carry what they have foraged and eat it somewhere else. When trapping chipmunks, the UW students put an apple in the cage. Eric says:

“Chipmunks get moisture from their food, so the apple helps keep them from getting dehydrated if they are in the trap all day. We also put in a ball that is a mixture of peanut butter, oats and molasses. It’s fragrant and that helps attract them. It’s more food than a chipmunk needs, but if a squirrel gets in there by accident, it will get them through the day.”

Photo provided by Eric Quallen

In the fall, along their trap lines in trees and sage brush areas, Eric and the UW students open their traps early in the morning, and go back to check on them in the late afternoon for 5 days in a row. In the spring, Eric is back to trap and check on the chipmunks again before they reproduce. This helps the group understand the population growth from spring to fall, and also track the deaths that happen over the winter. Over the years, this research project has been a great teaching tool not just for UW students, but also high school students, middle school students, and citizen volunteers. As the students define new research questions, different equipment is used, and new tasks are added to the project.

Least chipmunk wearing a radio collar with antenna- photo provided by Eric Quallen

“In 2015 we wanted to know more about their movements, home ranges, and dispersal, so we started using tiny radio collars. Chipmunk necks are about the width of your ring finger, so we need really small collars. We thread a zip tie through a radio transmitter and then put tubing over it so it doesn’t rub on the chipmunks’ skin. It’s a sealed VHF transmitter, not GPS. Each collar puts out a radio signal with a unique frequency. There is a little antenna that we thread through the zip tie. The transmitters only last for about a month, but that’s enough data for us to determine home ranges. Someone has to go out and find these 20 chipmunks every day, because there is no way for the data to be downloaded. You hike around with a radio receiver listening to every single frequency, and record the GPS points when you find them. It’s quite labor-intensive.”

In addition to the radio collars, Eric and the students scan each animal for a microchip. If there isn’t one, the students insert one between the shoulder blades, just under the skin. These microchips are also called PIT tags, standing for Passive Integrated Transponder. They don’t emit a signal, but a scanner will register and provide an ID for that particular animal.

“If the chipmunk has a PIT tag, we weigh them and let them go. If not, we anesthetize them using a liquid poured onto cotton balls that turns into a gas inside a jar. The chipmunk also goes into the jar, and usually passes out after about 10 seconds. Then we pull the chipmunk right out. For a large animal, you’d need to have this gas metered and use a gas mask, but for the chipmunks that was impossible. So we anesthetize them by eye, which is nerve wracking. We did consult with vets and got approval for this protocol.”

“Next we determine the sex, and then weigh them. We weigh them in a bag with a hanging scale and if we’ve anesthetized them, we try to do this while they are still passed out, otherwise they jump around in the bag and that can be tricky. Then we insert a PIT tag between their shoulder blades under the skin using a hollow point needle. The tag is about 7 mm long, quite small, although proportionally it would be like putting a Twinkie between our shoulder blades.”

Photo provided by Eric Quallen

Eric had something dramatic happen once while anesthetizing a chipmunk. Although there aren’t usually problems, there is always the possibility there could be an adverse reaction:

“I took the chipmunk out of the jar and it was passed out like normal. I inserted the microchip and put the chipmunk in the weigh bag. When it was in the bag, I realized it wasn’t breathing. This has happened very infrequently to our group, but it hadn’t happened to me before. I have my Wilderness First Responder certification and I wanted to try to do something for this chipmunk! But you can’t just blow into a chipmunk’s lungs, you’d explode them. We always have our tool kit with us, like a fishing tackle box. I laid the chipmunk on its back on top of this kit, tilted its head back, and blew air toward it from about 6 inches away. I was blowing into the chipmunk’s mouth, and its stomach was actually rising up and down. Those are still what we’d call ‘dying breaths,’ so I took my finger and massaged its chest lightly. I alternated back and forth between those two things. After a minute or two, I could see the breathing move up from the stomach to the chest. I backed off a little and let it recover itself. It rolled over and slowly sat up, then ran off. At that point, I wondered if it actually recovered fully, or went off to die somewhere. But we caught it every day after that for the next four days. It came back every single time! Maybe it was either stupid or grateful?”

The trapping, collaring, and microchips have taught Eric about the lifespan of least chipmunks, which is actually not well established in current literature. Many chipmunks don’t survive their first winter. They have to dig a burrow called a hibernaculum, and cache food to get through the winter. Chipmunks are born in the spring, and by fall when the students are trapping, even the animals born earlier in the year look the same as the older adults, so that makes guessing their age difficult.

When we age the chipmunks, we underestimate. If we catch them for the first time in the spring, we assume they are a year old. When we catch them in the fall, we assume they are half a year old. Probably they live closer to two or three years. If the animal has a PIT tag, that identifies when we first caught them and we can age them based on that. Fairly regularly we catch three to five-year-olds. It’s rare that we get seven or eight-year-olds. One time we caught a nine-year-old. Chipmunks live longer than you think!

In Wyoming, least chipmunks hibernate from mid-October through April. They aren’t true hibernators, but conserve energy and enter a state of torpor for long stretches. They wake to eat food that they’ve cached, and if the weather is good, they will come out occasionally over the winter. Their burrows are underground, often near something that helps give it structure, like at the base of a tree. There is a main chamber, some food cache chambers, and usually an established latrine area.

Some species of chipmunk are beginning to reduce the time spent in their hibernacula because of climate change. When the winter is warm, it may not trigger chipmunks to hoard food or enter their torpor state as usual. This could expose them to more attacks by predators if they are foraging in the winter. Also because of climate change, they may be reducing their activity in the summer on hot days. Some species that live at higher elevations like the alpine chipmunk in Yosemite National Park have already started shifting their habitat further up the mountain to stay in their preferred temperature range. This creates islands of individuals and reduces genetic diversity overall. It is unknown how climate change will impact least chipmunks, but temperature and weather changes could start to affect any seasonal hibernators.

Photo provided by Eric Quallen

In the spring after the chipmunks come out of their burrows, they mate and the females prepare nests. The nests are lined with grass and leaves and tucked into protected places in brush or rock piles, in stumps or under logs. They typically have four to six babies each year. The young are born hairless, blind, and about one to two inches long. The mother cares for them and nurses them for about two months while they grow.

In addition to studying least chipmunks in the wild, the UW students also have a captive population. They learn a lot about the social structure of chipmunk groups from those in the enclosure. Chipmunks are mostly solitary, but they will work together, learn from each other, and huddle together for warmth when their burrows don’t have enough natural insulation.

Eric is interested in chipmunks’ memory and how they learn. He has created experiments with the captive group using simple mazes. Because chipmunks store food in different places, it’s likely they have good spatial memory to help them remember locations. He also has a 3D printed chipmunk model that could be manipulated to teach real chipmunks a series of steps to get a food reward. Another question Eric is beginning to investigate is whether chipmunks retain memory through hibernation.

“There’s a lot that we have to learn from these ‘backyard species.’ People assume we know so much about them, but we really don’t. The field of animal behavior is still so novel. There is a lot that we take for granted about animals that we don’t actually understand.”

Eric is interested in continuing to study common species over his career. He enjoys helping students and citizen scientists learn about the scientific process and wildlife biology, while increasing understanding of the animals that live around us.

Photo provided by Eric Quallen

Merav Ben-David and the Amazing North American River Otters

Merav Ben-David grew up on a small family farm in Israel. As a child, she rode horses and cared for abandoned baby birds and small animals found in the fields. Her fascination with animals eventually led to studies in biology, earning Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees at Tel-Aviv University and a Ph.D. at the University of Alaska. As a young woman during her undergraduate years, she began researching otters in 1982 around the Sea of Galilee. She floated the small streams from the Golan Heights to the Sea of Galilee on inner tubes to survey Eurasian otters.

Merav is now a professor at the University of Wyoming in the Department of Zoology and Physiology, but her decades studying otters have taken her many places around the world. She focuses on river otters. Most river otters actually live near the ocean in the marine environment.

“I have studied river otters that have probably never seen a river in their lives. If you do a global abundance survey, the highest numbers are in coastal environments. In the Rocky Mountains, you’d be hard pressed to find enough fish to support a large otter population. Otters used to live all over North America before trapping and water pollution reduced their numbers. But inland otters have low densities, while coastal otters occur at high densities.”

In the U.S. in the 19th and 20th centuries, otters were hunted for their thick fur and had become a rare sight by the 1900s. The last confirmed river otter in Colorado was taken by trapper Nat Galloway in the lower canyon of the Yampa River in 1906 or 1909. Reintroductions of river otters in the 20th century have brought them back to many different environments including rivers, lakes, ponds and marshes.

Otters are natural swimmers with short legs, webbed feet, a long flexible body and strong tail. Their eyes, nose and ears are on the top of their head so they can observe what is happening out of the water while most of their body stays underwater. On long dives, they can actually close their nostrils and ears, and their dense fur keeps them warm in cold water.

In the Rocky Mountains, otters are usually solitary except for mothers raising their young, or small groups that form where there is plenty of prey. According to Merav, “Otters are very flexible socially. They will form groups where there is more food to share. Otters are amazing. If one is injured and a healthy otter in the same group catches a fish, it will give it to the injured animal. The injured otter makes squeaky ‘pup noises,’ and other otters will feed it. But in most river systems in the Rocky Mountains, there are too few otters, and they are solitary because there isn’t enough food to share. If you do see a large group, 3 or 4 adults together, those will be all males. Usually the groups are male and the females are more solitary. That’s opposite of most mammals.”

River Otters, linocut by Jill Bergman

Pups are born in the spring in dens near the water. Otters don’t dig their own dens, but use empty hollows, abandoned burrows of other animals, or even beaver lodges. There are usually one or two pups per litter born in the mountains, but otters can have up to five pups in areas with more abundant food sources. Pups are born furry, blind and toothless. They are entirely reliant on their mother at first. As they grow, she teaches them to swim and hunt until they are ready to be on their own after about a year.

Otters communicate with squeaks, whistles, yelps, growls and body posture. Other important communication tools they use are scent marking and urinating or defecating in certain areas called latrines. Soon after a mother gives birth, she starts scent marking to announce herself to attract a new mate. Otters will breed shortly after the female gives birth, but embryo implantation is delayed for about 10 months while the mother raises her newborn pups.

River otters eat a variety of aquatic animals including fish, crayfish, frogs, reptiles and birds. They have a high metabolism and eat about 10% of their body mass per day. Mothers have to work extra hard to feed their pups and themselves. According to Merav, “Otters eat everything aquatic, occasionally birds, especially ducks. I’ve seen an otter and a bald eagle coordinate hunting ducklings. The otter rose from beneath and the eagle bombed them from above. Sometimes the otter won, sometimes the eagle won. The ducks always lost. When there is an abundance of food, otters coordinate with each other, too. They bunch up the fish schools and each grab a mouthful.”

As a top predator in their ecosystems, otters can have an effect on populations of their prey. In the Rocky Mountains, they don’t have many predators of their own. Merav and her colleagues have seen eagles or coyotes try to catch otter pups. But otters are versatile and can escape through the water where other animals don’t want to follow.

One of the things Merav studies is how river otters link aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. “They forage and rely on aquatic systems, but they do all other activities on land. Sea otters live nearly exclusively in the marine environment and are good indicators of the health of that environment. But river otters can tell you what’s happening in both water and on land. They eat fish from aquatic environments, but they scent mark, defecate and urinate on land. Otters eat fish and then bring all those nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen to the land which fertilizes the plants, including trees. Along the coast in Alaska, we found that Sitka spruce and western hemlock trees that grow on otter latrines are healthier and have more needles. Otters act as little pumps to bring nutrients from aquatic to terrestrial environments. In the Rocky Mountains we don’t see much fertilization because a single otter won’t bring enough nutrients to be noticeable. In Yellowstone where they were protected by the National Park and never disappeared, they do occasionally form groups and we find effects of their fertilization on vegetation there.”

Otters are an important piece of a complete ecosystem and a good indicator of water pollution. Where otters thrive, the water system is clean. When otters disappear from a waterway, it is worth checking for pollution. Merav and her colleagues did a study on the New Fork, a tributary of the Green River, in Wyoming. The New Fork flows through the Jonah Field and the Pinedale Anticline, areas with extensive natural gas drilling.

Fracking Drill Sites in the Pinedale Anticline and Jonah Field, photo by Bruce Gordon, EcoFlight

“There are otters above the Jonah Field, and up the Green River, and below the Fontanelle Dam, but there are no otters in the fracking area. We put in monitors that continuously sampled water quality and we found surges of pollution. If you do a grab sample, you would never detect the pollution because it had already moved downriver. They release polluted water to the river, and 2 days later it is all the way down at the reservoir. There is high salinity, or salt content, from the fracking fluid. We put sensors above and below the fracking sites and found high salinity below the site. Fish died because they put marine level salinity in fresh water.”

Otters usually move away when a waterway isn’t healthy, but sometimes they stay in an area with certain pollutants. In areas with elevated levels of contaminants like PCBs, DDT, cadmium, and mercury, it is found in the organic material and sediment of the river. The poisons are eaten by snails and insects which are eaten by fish and frogs, and then those are eaten by otters. This means the otters end up with high levels of contaminants. One study where otters live on the polluted Duwamish River through Seattle is collecting otter poop to test for levels of chemicals and heavy metals. Over the 17 years of planned cleanup of the river, otter latrines will be analyzed and hopefully show reduced pollutants over time.

To understand the movements of otters, they have to be tracked. Over the years, Merav has noticed, “Otters are very smart and difficult to live-capture. They quickly learn what a trap is and how to avoid it. We have to use leg hold traps, but they figure those out quickly too. If you catch an otter once, you can’t recapture it. Of hundreds of otter captures, we’ve only recaptured 6 individuals. Only one of those we caught 3 times. The only reason we caught her the 3rd time was because she was so old. She didn’t have any teeth left. She was so old, I think she was a little demented.”

To track otters, scientists have tried a variety of techniques. They can’t carry transmitters around their necks like many land mammals because they frequently dive or slide through narrow areas. The collars could easily be caught and trap the otter. Instead, they have been implanted with radio transmitters under the skin in the past. But these days, scientists use noninvasive genetic sampling, supplemented with camera traps. Fecal samples can easily be collected at latrines, where otters repeatedly visit to scent mark.

Merav describes another way of collecting genetic samples using hair snares. “They don’t seem to mind hair snares, they realize they can get out, so the same otters will pass through more than once, unlike box traps or leg hold traps. That’s how we identify individuals from their genetic fingerprint and monitor their movements. The otters have to go through the hair snare and it cinches around them as if it was a regular snare. We cut the strands into little barbs so it grabs hair as the otter passes through. Instead of the locking mechanism on a regular snare, we replace it with a paper clip. The snare is anchored to the ground, so when the otter struggles, the paper clip opens and the otter walks away. It doesn’t take very long for them to pull out of it, but it grabs some hair. I believe they enjoy it because it’s like brushing themselves. We set up cameras, so we have videos of some otters pushing the snares out of the way and walking past. But a lot of  the time they go through when we put them where they slide to the river.”

Photos of hair snares provided by Merav Ben-David

It is a pleasure to see river otters playing and fishing in the wild along a river or mountain lake. Their presence indicates clean water, a balanced ecosystem and a successful reintroduction in the Rocky Mountain region.

It’s a Wild Life: Dan Miller and the Otter Reintroduction in Colorado

Dan Miller is a retired Criminal Investigator for the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), a predecessor to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Although Dan spent most of his career in law enforcement related to wildlife, he started out as a game warden in 1974 with a fresh wildlife biology degree. He was assigned a western slope district based in Hotchkiss, Colorado. Following is Dan’s description of the beginning of the river otter reintroduction in Colorado in August, 1976.

Dan Miller, Wildlife Conservation Officer, West Elk Wilderness, Colorado, 1970s. Photo provided by Dan Miller

In my new district, Dave Kevin was on my northeast border. We called Dave ‘Mad Dog’ because he really liked chasing poachers. He had the Paonia District and I had the Hotchkiss District. My southern and western boundary was the Gunnison River through the Black Canyon. Dave and I used to partner and patrol together a lot.

It was towards the end of the 70s when CDOW decided to reintroduce river otters into Colorado. My district was chosen to be one of the release sites, on the Gunnison River. The other place otters were first released was the South Platte River and Cheesman Reservoir over on the Denver side.

For the otter reintroduction, Dave and I coordinated with biologists out of Denver, because otters were considered threatened in Colorado. We didn’t know of any otters in Colorado, they hadn’t seen one in a helluva long time, I guess. The otters they captured came from Canada and Wisconsin.

I had access through private property on a pretty bad road through the Smith Fork Canyon. We could get within 100 yards of the Gunnison River there. You still had to do some hiking and climbing to get to the actual river. We picked that spot to release the six otters.

They had these otters in traps and they flew them down to Grand Junction on Frontier Airlines. It was the middle of the summer, hotter than hell down there, and they’ve got these aquatic mammals in traps. I’m pretty sure they shipped them on a passenger flight instead of a commercial freight flight. They were down in the baggage hold, crying and making noises.

The plane arrived in Grand Junction late, so it was already starting to get dark. Mad Dog and I were up in Junction waiting for the otters to show up, and of course we had all the biologists from Denver with us. When the otters came out of the baggage hold, they were covered up with a brown canvas tarp. Someone had watered them down. But no one knew enough to put ice blocks or anything in there. The stewardesses took pity on these crying critters. They didn’t know otters are carnivorous and eat fish, crawdads, insects, and crap like that. The stewardesses were trying to feed them lettuce. The otters were in Have-A-Heart traps like boxes with all this lettuce in there.

By the time we got to Hotchkiss, east of Delta, it was already dark:thirty. There was no way we could get down the canyon and do anything safely. We had to put them all in my one car garage overnight. The otters kept us up all night making noises. We were fretting and going out there to make sure they didn’t drop dead. They were all alive the next morning.

In the morning the coordination started with the muckety-mucks from the Denver headquarters, the newspaper reporters, and everyone from CDOW who showed up. We had to get everybody together and figure out how to get the otters, and also all these looky-lous down to the river.

We drove the otters to the river, carried the cages over a cliff to get them down to the river bank and lined them all up so they were headed in the right direction, toward the river. We covered up the back part of the cages so the otters wouldn’t flip out because of all the people that were standing around. We slowly lifted the latches. They didn’t dart out. They looked around. They could hear people in the background trying to be quiet. We were right on the river, down at the lower end where the Smith Fork comes into the Gunnison. Finally they bolted out. The otters had been tagged with ID tags and sexed already. It was a photo opportunity, and then everybody went home.

Dan Miller releasing an otter along the Gunnison River, 1976. Photo provided by Dan Miller.

For the next couple of weeks, every other day, I’d make the long trip down the shitty road to look for the otters. Sometimes Mad Dog and I floated the river in canoes. We looked for sign- where they’d fed on something, or a slide going into the river. One of the smaller females never left the release site. She kept coming back. I had a freezer full of little brook trout that I had seized as evidence from a guy who was over his fishing limit. I didn’t want to try and move the otter, she just needed to learn how to catch fish. So I’d make trips down there with these fish that were evidence. I’d take them out of my freezer at home and let them thaw part way, and then I’d go down to the river. This little otter, she’d come up as soon as she saw me. I’d open up the fish wrapped in tin foil, hold it by its tail, lean it over my leg and squat down next to the river. That otter would come up and start eating it and put her paws on me to get at it. I did that 3 or 4 times.

The river otter reintroduction happened in 1976. After that I took the Division of Wildlife investigator position and moved to Grand Junction. Because of the law enforcement and investigative skills that I learned in the Army, I ended up as one of the four investigators in Colorado. There were four regions, and an investigator for each. When I retired I was a Criminal Investigator for the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Northwest Region. It was the best job I’ve ever had.

Along the River, linocut with watercolor by Jill Bergman

Rocky Mountain Wildlife Cards

It’s finally time to announce that an exciting art + science collaborative project is completed, for this round anyway! Over the last six months, with lots of help, I’ve been reaching out to Steamboat Springs area artists, wildlife biologists, and other wildlife experts to create the Rocky Mountain Wildlife Cards.

The goals of this project were to provide information and action items to help protect wildlife and reduce our climate impacts, while also showing off some of the great artists in Northwest Colorado. Each card has three informational areas for the featured species: facts, issues they face, and how to help. Below is the Black Bear card, one of 20 in the set, this one with text by Christy Bubenheim of Bear Aware Steamboat and painting by Pat Walsh.

If you’d like to see all of the cards, head over to www.rockymountainwildlife.net where you can explore each species along with bios of the contributors.

These cards are available two different ways, as a set of 20 5” x 7” informational cards in a fun tin case, or individually as folded greeting cards printed on cotton paper with an envelope. Below is the Pika greeting card with art by Sandi Poltorak, and text by Missy Dressen.

This concept was a natural growth from my last wildlife project that involved interviewing people whose work and interests revolve around wildlife, and then creating art and telling their stories in Wildlife Zines. The thing that I wanted to include in that project that was missing was the action items. So that was the focus for this project! Also, I knew it would take me forever to create all of the artwork myself, so I made it a group project and reached out to many of the great artists in the area to contribute. I love the variety of the finished work!

But back to those action items- check out these great examples:

Greater Sage-grouse- Help with restoration projects to improve sage-grouse habitat. Some have been done by Wildland Restoration Volunteers and the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council.

Osprey- Pack out your trash and pick up litter, especially along the shoreline to keep osprey and other wildlife safe. This trash, like fishing line or 6-pack rings, can get used for nest material and entangle the birds.

River Otter- Conservation can start at home! Take steps to prevent contamination to stormwater. Common household pollutants like animal waste, litter, yard clippings, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, paints, solvents, antifreeze, motor oil and soap should be disposed of properly to keep from entering our waterways.

Rainbow Trout- Stay out of the water when the Yampa or any other body of water is closed to protect stressed fish from low water flow, heat, and lack of oxygen. To help shade fish habitat, plant trees along waterways through Yampa Valley Sustainability Council’s ReTree program, or other volunteering opportunities.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird- Plant a pollinator garden with native plants loved by hummingbirds. Be sure not to use pesticides which can harm birds and beneficial insect pollinators.

These beautiful and helpful Rocky Mountain Wildlife Cards can be found online, or at the Steamboat Art Museum Store. Just the sets are at Pine Moon Fine Art, or just the greeting cards at Lyon Drug.

I’d like to thank every contributor: Libbie Miller, Eric VanNatta, Tracy Bye, Missy Dressen, Christy Bubenheim, Erin Gelling, Harold Bergman, David T. Moulton, Lisa Williams, Kevin Rogers, John Murtaugh, Sandi Poltorak, Joanne Orce, Gael Fetcher, Judy Jones, Julia Ben-Asher, Audrey Bortz, Jason Santucci, Maggie Smith, Pat Walsh, Kathryn Fresques, Kevin Dietrich, Cyndi Marlowe, Abby Jensen, Dedi Knox, Sista Luna, Carla Jones and Debbie McCulliss.
Head over to the new Rocky Mountain Wildlife website to read their bios, see digital versions of the cards, and find links to more of their artwork in the case of the visual artists.

Also:

Thanks to the CU Boulder Art + Science + Action Partnership Program for support and training with collaborative science and art projects, and especially to Emmanuelle Vital.

Mike Lockhart, Golden Eagles, and the Conflict with Wind Power

I’m really happy to share that Western Confluence Magazine has published Flight Interrupted: Biologist works to protect eagles on collision course with wind power. This was the piece that I wrote based on spending a day trapping golden eagles in Wyoming with Mike Lockhart. You’ll have to head over to Western Confluence to read the article (and subscribe while you are there!) But I wanted to share some more details and behind the scenes here.

Mike Lockhart is a biologist based in Laramie Wyoming who has studied and worked with eagles since 1972. Currently he works with a lure eagle whose wing was broken in the past. Do you see in the photo how her wings aren’t symmetrical? She can’t fly anymore, but she works with Mike to tempt wild goldens to investigate the bait and trap that Mike sets up nearby.
Mike is tracking the movements of golden eagles, especially around wind turbines. Golden and bald eagles have a tendency to collide with these huge turbines, and that’s a real problem as wind energy increases to combat climate change.

On the day my father and I rode with Mike, he wasn’t able to capture an eagle. But he shared these photos that show how he checks the plumage and health of an eagle. In the photo below you can see the small solar-powered tracking device high up between the eagle’s wings.

I learned so much spending the day with Mike! He is a very generous person, and passionate about protecting eagles and their habitat. I hope you are able to head over to Western Confluence to read the article to find out about this important issue.
At the end of the day, I was able to hold Mike’s eagle! She is pretty heavy- I was only able to support her like this for less than a minute before I had to use my other hand to help hold up my arm.

This beautiful eagle made a huge impression on me. Her large, sharp, hooked beak so close to my face was unsettling. But Mike says that golden eagles, even in the wild, are usually pretty calm when handled, and she is definitely used to being handled. Her feathers are soft- she doesn’t mind being stroked on the chest. Her eyes are really bright and intelligent! And those feet and claws, oh my!!

I knew I wanted to make a large black and white linocut of a golden eagle after having had the good fortune to be able to hold Mike’s eagle. I loved carving all of the feather details. I hope my print has some of the majesty of these beautiful raptors!

In the Bear Den, by Hank Harlow

Before I tell my story, I’d like to share some background on the research of the physiology of black bears during winter hibernation.

Indeed, bears do hibernate although it is different from ground squirrels and prairie dogs. Due to their large size, bears only drop their body temperature 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit below normal while small mammals let their body temperature drop to almost freezing. All small hibernators must arouse every 15-20 days to stretch and pee (urinate) to get rid of waste products such as urea. Bears, however, do not arouse, defecate or urinate for 5 months while in their dens. Even though their body temperature is only mildly hypothermic, their metabolism is depressed by 80%, which allows them to conserve a lot of energy over the winter.

By not arousing, bears do not get any exercise for five months. What they do is a medical marvel. First, they put on over 50% of their body weight in fat. They are adaptively obese with no heart problems or high cholesterol. They go into acute renal failure (their kidneys almost cease functioning) but rapidly recover. They recycle their urea waste and put it back into muscle protein. They have no calcium bone loss and don’t seem to show muscle disuse atrophy. Bears loose only 20% of muscle strength compared to 80% loss by a human confined to hospital bed for 3-5 months.

Our studies were designed to verify these claims and to quantify the responses. To do so, we captured bears in the summer, fitted them with radio tracking devices and located them in their dens during the early and late winter, 5 months apart. We measured their body fat, analyzed their blood and urine, measured their metabolism by implanting body temperature and heart monitor data loggers, took muscle biopsies for analysis of muscle fiber composition, and measured muscle strength with an apparatus used to measure the strength of children with muscular dystrophy in a hospital setting.

Bear dens can take different shapes, sizes, and locations. Sometimes dens are dug 5-10 feet into dirt on a hillside, sometimes they are 40-50 feet through tunnels between large boulders or in a maze of logs in a slash pile within a forest clear-cut.  Most often the entrance is covered with snow 2 to 20 feet deep, which means we had to dig for 1-4 hours just to get to the den entrance.

Our digging was often noisy enough to wake the bears up which made them very grouchy. We entered the den with a syringe of anesthesia on the end of a 3 foot long jab pole and a mag light. Once the bear was located, we delivered the drug into its hip or shoulder and waited for the bear to go under the anesthesia, usually 10-15 minutes. The bears were all different. Some bears fought to get over the top of you and out of the den, others stood their ground to fight, and some just lay there bewildered about the intruder into their dream state. In order to get out of the den rapidly if an encounter got physical, we always had a rope tied to our foot as we crawled through the den. Two hard jerks of your foot meant, ‘pull me out of here now!’ Out of 50 to 80 dens, we never had a bear or a person injured, except when being rapidly extracted from a tight den when rib cages and faces were scraped across sharp rocks and roots.

Hank Harlow inspecting a bear outside of the den.

So, given all of this, I guess I can tell a story.

It was the first bear den I had ever entered; and the first time I had been out with bear biologist, Tom Beck of the Colorado Division of Wildlife. He and his group were doing a mark-capture-recapture study to determine the population structure of bears in the Uncomphagre Plateau in western Colorado.

It was great snowshoeing into the backcountry and I watched the whole operation as described above. I was totally impressed by the procedure, however, this bear was a particularly large male and the team of biologists had to give it an additional dose of anesthesia in order to finish weighing it and putting on a VHS tracking transmitter. At the end, Tom said, “Well Hank, you crawl into the den and pull him in while we push him from the outside.”

Wow, it was like getting a cork into a wine bottle. I’m at the back of the den and this 380-pound bear is blocking my way out because it is taking up all the space. The only way out is to squeeze over the top of it, one leg, one arm at a time. As I’m doing this I don’t feel or hear the bear breathing. I yelled out to Tom that I thought the bear wasn’t breathing and I’ll never forget his response. “Well, give it mouth to mouth resuscitation, right now!”

Darn, I thought, how in the world do you I do that? I had to roll this huge bear over on its back in that small space and lay on its stomach. I put my mouth over its nose and muzzle while holding its lips tightly shut. Then I took a big breath and exhaled in through its nose and mouth. I could feel its chest expand as its lungs partially filled with my breath and then I felt it deflate. In doing so, a winter’s accumulation of mucus came out of its nose; man, that was gross! All I could do was wipe it away with my glove and keep putting in breaths. I was thinking this just wasn’t doing anything, when after about five minutes, I’m looking into its eyes and they moved rapidly to the left and right and then a little puff of warm, moist air came out of its nose and condensed in the cold den air. Man, this bear was not only breathing on its own, it was looking for escape terrain and I was lying on top of it. Rapid rollover and exit out of the den was my immediate strategy. The bear was really not happy about being molested by some human invader.

We quickly put pine branches over the den entrance and shoveled it high with snow. While we hoped the bear was thinking this was just a bad dream, we were jubilant that it was alive, healthy and we’d accomplished our mission. Wow, I was hooked, I had been in my first den and just loved being in there with a bear. It was quiet, warm (above freezing), and fresh smelling (remember, they don’t defecate or urinate). That night, back at camp, Tom and I talked about hibernation physiology, disuse atrophy, and adaptive obesity and came up with the outline for a proposal to the National Science Foundation for winter survival strategies of hibernating black bears. That led to almost ten years of research on black bears and later work on sun bears in Indonesia and polar bears in the Arctic.

Hank Harlow with a black bear.

If you’d like to learn more about hibernating bears or Hank Harlow, check out these links:

Black Bear Biology and Behavior, Western Wildlife Outreach

Harlow Receives Top UW Faculty Award, University of Wyoming News, 4/20/2012

Inside the Bear’s Den with Zoologist Hank Harlow, Conversations with Richard Fidler, ABC News Australia, 3/30/2016

Lockwood, Devi, Hibernation Works for Bears, Could It Work for Us Too?, The New York Times, 11/15/2019

Peterson, Christine, University of Wyoming Professor Crawls in Bear Dens, Wrestles Komodo Dragons, Casper Star Tribune, 9/25/2013

Reception Honors UW Research Center Director Harlow, University of Wyoming News, 9/12/2013

Rogers, Lynn, Bear Center Conducts Hibernation Study, North American Bear Center Newsletter, 1999

Ryan, Kathryn, interview, Animal Lessons to Bear in Mind, From Nine to Noon, Radio New Zealand, 4/21/2015

UW’s Hank Harlow AMK Ranch Speaker, University of Wyoming News, 7/10/2015

Illustrations by Jill Bergman

A Bit About Hank Harlow

When I was a kid in Laramie Wyoming in the 1970s and 80s, one of the coolest adults around was my dad’s colleague at the University of Wyoming, Hank Harlow. Hank wasn’t afraid of rattlesnakes, bats or badgers, and he had many display cabinets full of animal skulls and other weird things in his house. He was very laid back, funny, and a great storyteller. Having Hank along on a camping trip was better than watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

Hank is now retired from the University of Wyoming’s Department of Zoology and Physiology where he taught for 32 years. He was also the director of the University of Wyoming National Park Service Research Station in Grand Teton National Park for 20 years. This Research Station sits near the stunning Teton Mountain Range and in the summer hosts scientists, students and creatives to promote research, artistic and cultural activities in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Hank has done groundbreaking research with different bear species and Komodo dragons, among other animals. He has crawled into active bear dens and baited 150 pound Komodo dragons to chase him, all in the name of science. He is interested in how animals’ bodies are adapted to specific situations and if those findings might be able to improve the lives of humans. Bears hibernate without loosing much muscle strength, could that help people confined to bed or during long space flight? Understanding the physiology of bears may also help improve human cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, obesity and bone loss.

Hank is a dedicated researcher, and also a fantastic teacher. He was awarded one of UW’s highest honors, the George Duke Humphrey Award in 2012. He can explain complicated ideas in an understandable way that might even leave you chuckling. When I asked Hank to write down some of his experiences for me, he shared the story of the first time he entered the den of a hibernating black bear. Check out next week’s post to read that story!

To go with Hank’s story, I thought I’d create a black bear peacefully dreaming in his den, long before Hank ever arrived on the scene.

Above is my carved 9 x 9 inch linocut block with added hibernating worms, a chipmunk, and a tiny curled up mouse. Next, I inked the block with black, and then painted the final print with gouache. Gouache is a lot like watercolor, but with richer, more opaque colors.

I titled this piece Winter Sleep, even though Hank made it clear that hibernation is very different from sleep. I guess ‘hibernation’ just doesn’t have the same poetic ring to it. Check out Hank’s description of hibernation in next week’s post, and learn what happened as he was trying to squeeze past the bear and out to safety!

Joe Riis and the Pronghorn Migration

A small family farm sits in rural South Dakota with fields and orchards stretching to meet the blue sky at the horizon. When Joe Riis was a boy, the South Dakota prairie was a fantastic place to study the natural world and the interactions between people and wild animals. His father taught him to appreciate the realities of being both a biologist and a hunter providing food for the family. Joe watched birds migrating through the seasons and sometimes stopping over at their farm. He was also intrigued by his parents’ interest in wildlife photography. Joe absorbed those influences and started down his own path to becoming a wildlife photographer when he was a teenager.

The big predators like bears, mountain lions, and wolves are the usual favorites of photographers, but Joe was always more interested in ungulates. Ungulates are hoofed animals like deer, elk and pronghorn antelope that live on the North American plains and up into the Rocky Mountains. Learning about the great migrations of the world including the caribou of the far north and the wildebeest of Africa led Joe to wonder, are the animals here in the American west also migrating? If so, where do they go?

Doing some migrating of his own, Joe went to college at the University of Wyoming to study wildlife biology. While at UW, he decided that his strength lay in photography and documenting animal movements, rather than as a research biologist. He wanted to go on adventures in the wild and follow the animals where people didn’t usually go. He wanted to support researchers who were studying wildlife and then help bring that knowledge to the public.

Photo from the film Elk River

At the time, not much was known about the movements of ungulates that summer in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a huge area covering northwest Wyoming and parts of Idaho and Montana that border Yellowstone National Park. So, for his first adventure after graduating in 2008, Joe set off to observe the recently discovered pronghorn antelope migration in western Wyoming.

Actually, ‘antelope’ is a misnomer for the North American pronghorn. They are in a different family than the true antelope like the gazelles and impalas of Africa. Our North American pronghorn evolved at the same time as the now extinct American cheetah and other very fast predators. It’s likely that’s why pronghorn developed such speed. Pronghorn are the fastest land animals in the western hemisphere, running at 60 mph, and are said to be the second fastest animal in the world after the cheetah. But where were the pronghorn going during their migration? For such an amazing animal, no one seemed to be paying much attention to them.

Joe’s plan to spend six months following the herds that summer in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem eventually turned into years. He lived out of his truck with a camera and not much else, driven by curiosity about where the pronghorn were traveling, and what their obstacles were.

Photo by Joe Riis

With Joe’s photography work and research scientists following some animals’ movements with tracking collars, it was discovered that pronghorn were traveling farther than anyone had expected. Some herds walked more than 100 miles in each direction between their summer and winter ranges. At the time, it was called the longest land migration in the continental United States. Not too much later though, some mule deer in western Wyoming were found to be traveling even further, about 150 miles. These routes were mostly invisible to the people living right alongside them. Native Americans knew the migration routes of the past, but these days most people weren’t aware of the natural and manmade obstacles on this long and difficult journey. For example, there used to be eight paths that pronghorn herds would take to their summer range in Yellowstone National Park. Today, development has cut off all but two of those routes.

The herds that Joe tracked travelled from their winter range near Pinedale, Wyoming, to their summer home in Grand Teton National Park. The pronghorn winter where there isn’t much snow so that they are able to find grass and sagebrush to eat. As the snow starts to recede in the spring, the animals begin to move. Females migrate while pregnant, and babies are born at the other end of their journey in their summer range. Following the melting snow, the herd must shimmy under fences, through subdivisions, over highways, across snowfields and fast moving rivers, and avoid predators until they finally arrive in the green summer fields of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

When Joe tried to photograph wildlife on the move, his presence would spook the animals and send them running. Most of the migration images he’d studied were of the backsides of animals as they ran from a photographer on the ground or in a helicopter. It was important for him not to disrupt their journey, but he needed to get close to reveal images of the animals and their dangerous path. So, as camera technology developed, he was able to use motion activated digital cameras. With all he’d learned about the pronghorn migration routes, he mounted cameras at likely spots and came back later to check on them.

The camera traps generated plenty of photos that weren’t great, but when his planning was right and the camera was in a good spot for the wildlife to pass nearby surrounded by a beautiful natural setting, the photos were striking. These were unique images of pronghorn and other animals working hard, swimming a flooded spring river, straining with tongues hanging out on a steep climb, or making their way through deep snow. Normally people don’t get to see such an intimate view of skittish wild animals. When the pronghorn crossed in front of Joe’s carefully placed cameras, the world got to see their challenges and effort up close.

Migration routes are filled with both natural and manmade obstacles. One troubling problem for wildlife on the Wyoming and Colorado plains is the proliferation of petroleum drilling sites. Drilling for oil and natural gas is common where many pronghorn and mule deer winter. Fences and landscape destruction at these sites disrupt ungulate movement and restrict their habitat. Also, the methane pollution produced by extracting oil and natural gas contributes to global warming, another human-made challenge facing wildlife. Pronghorn populations fluctuate based on climate related problems like severe weather, drought, wildfire, and the quality and quantity of plants they can find to eat.

There have been some wins for pronghorn and other wild animals, though. Over time, the photos and tracking collars on animals have told individual pronghorn’s stories as well as the bigger picture. This understanding has resulted in some migration corridors being protected and modified to reduce conflict between animals and our modern world.
Another way to help is to modify fences. Pronghorn usually won’t jump, but instead will scoot under fences. Landowners can help by replacing the bottom wire of a barbed wire fence with a smooth wire and raise it so that it’s at least 18 inches off the ground. This lets the animals pass right through and be on their way.

Photo by Joe Riis

Near Pinedale, Wyoming, there is a narrow piece of land called Trapper’s Point. This is the 6,000 year old migration route of the pronghorn that is now squeezed between two rivers and a housing subdivision. The first fall season that Joe spent at Trapper’s Point was in 2008. As he stood beside Wyoming Highway 191, and sometimes in the middle of the highway taking photos, 800 pronghorn crossed in just a few hours. This is a challenging spot for drivers because they crest the top of a blind hill at 65 mph at exactly the point where animals are trying to cross. Joe was determined to document the problem, and shortly after his risky highway photo sessions, his photographs were in Washington DC at Department of Transportation presentations and discussions. Once the photos highlighted the problem, people began to support wildlife overpasses as a solution.

In 2011 and 2012, two overpasses and many miles of fencing were installed in the area near Pinedale to funnel animals to the safe crossings. During the 5 years before the overpass crossings were built, 700 pronghorn and mule deer were killed while trying to cross a stretch of Highway 191 and nearby Highway 189. After the Trapper’s Point overpass was installed, 2,000 pronghorn and an additional 7,000 big game animals used it in the fall in just 2 1/2 months. This is a major benefit for wildlife and everyone who drives these stretches of highway.

Photo by Joe Riis

In the early days, new digital camera technology helped Joe capture photos and video of wildlife like nothing seen before. Joe’s adventures following the pronghorn over highways and through the wilderness of Wyoming led to further travels with mule deer, elk, and more. What has motivated him is an interest in understanding the realities of wildlife and human interactions, connected landscapes and lives, and telling meaningful visual stories that make a difference. Joe’s images have helped shape policy and understanding around several ungulate species. He has also shared the beauty of the remote Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and its inhabitants through photos and film. It will be a pleasure to see where his camera and sense of adventure take him next.

Photo from the film Elk River

Further Reading:

A Landowner’s Guide to Pronghorn Friendly Fences, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4/20

Dayton, Kelsey, Yellowstone Migrations: A photographic cornucopia , WyoFile, 9/15/17

Kauffman, Matthew J., James E. Meacham, Hall Sawyer, Alethea Y. Steingisser, William J. Rudd, and Emilene Ostlind, Wild Migrations: Atlas of Wyoming’s Ungulates, Oregon State University Press, 2018

McKee, Spencer, Colorado Used to be Home to ‘Cheetahs’ - and Their Impact May Still be Seen Today, Out There Colorado, 3/25/22

More Methane, More Problems: Future for Bighorn Sheep and Pronghorns Imperiled, National Wildlife Federation, 12/13/2018

Ostlind, Emiline, The perilous journey of Wyoming’s migrating pronghorn, High Country News, 1/4/12

Perry, Abby, Take a Look at One of the World’s Fastest Animals and Wyoming Icon, University of Wyoming, Barnyards and Backyards, 2017

Riis, Joe, Yellowstone Migrations, Braided River, 2017
Riis, Joe, Joe Riis Prouctions

Scott, Clay, A way to save one of North America’s fastest animals, The World, 11/24/15
Telling the Visual Story of Migrating Pronghorn, National Geographic Case Study
Trapper’s Point Wildlife Overpass Webcam
UW Alumni Named National Geographic Adventurers of the Year, University of Wyoming News, 11/13/2015
WYDOT Highway 191- Trapper’s Point, Contech Engineered Solutions

Pronghorn- A Common but Unique Animal

I grew up in Laramie, Wyoming and antelope are a common sight in the area . Now that I live in northwest Colorado, we see them when we drive west into the dry rolling hills on the way to Utah. Even though they are familiar, I learned so many new things when I started studying these animals. For example, as a kid, we always called them antelope, but in fact they should be called pronghorn. These animals aren’t related to other antelope around the world, even though they look a lot like them. The horns of our North American pronghorn are one thing that make them unique. True horns on animals never shed, while antlers shed every year. The pronghorn have a combination- a bony core that doesn’t fall off, covered by a sheath that falls off every year and then grows back. True horns only have one point, but the horns of male pronghorn have a prong that faces forward, and that is how they got their name!

When I began this wildlife project, my dad introduced me to one of his former students, Joe Riis. When Joe finished college he was awarded a National Geographic Society Young Explorers Grant in 2007 to photograph the pronghorn migration in western Wyoming for the first time. After 10 years, lots of adventures, and adding in deer and elk migration studies, Joe produced the book Yellowstone Migrations with texts by several different authors who each have their own unique understanding of the area. This is a beautiful coffee table book featuring Joe’s intimate photos taken by camera trap during wildlife’s yearly travels through the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Joe loves wide angle photographs that show an animal in their surroundings, not close up portraits. He is also curious about the connectivity of the landscape, and the intersection of humans and animals. These interests place wildlife in context in an important way.

Joe has done pioneering photography and film work about wildlife, won important awards, and brought the perils of migration in North America to the public. I was a little starstruck when we talked. But Joe is a very friendly guy and he gave me permission to create a linocut based on one of his photos. I chose a photo of pronghorn picking their way along a hillside of red dirt with a female in the lead.

In Joe’s photo there were no male pronghorn with their long horns, either because these were all females or maybe because the male’s horns had already fallen off for the year. Horns are shed from October through December and the new horns are usually growing in February or March. But for my piece, I wanted one of the animals to have the distinctive looking horns, so with artistic license, I just added him in behind the lead female.

These days, instead of using watercolor to paint my prints, I usually paint with gouache. This is a very similar paint but is more opaque with richer colors.

And below is my finished print! I had a lot of fun with the sky and clouds, if you can’t tell. I also loved spending time researching, interviewing and creating art about these interesting animals that always remind me of my home landscape in Wyoming.

If you would like to learn more about ungulate migrations and are a book lover like me, I also recommend Wild Migrations, an Atlas of Wyoming’s Ungulates. This book also includes photos by Joe Riis and author Emilene Ostlind, a fantastic storyteller and contributor to Yellowstone Migrations.
And stay tuned for the next post which will be my article about Joe and the pronghorn migration!

Colorado Wolves Walk into Libbie Miller’s Life

Libbie Miller grew up with a love for the outdoors, especially wildlife, plants, and the night sky. From home in Boulder, Colorado, family vacations were usually to either Grand Teton, Yellowstone or Rocky Mountain National Park. No matter where they were, her family participated in naturalist-led hikes and campfire programs. Summers at home, Libbie went to outdoor programs investigating nature and wildlife. She dreamed of one day working with wolves, or maybe ocean mammals like orcas or humpback whales.

Not surprisingly, Libbie followed her interests into the natural sciences and eventually became a Game Warden with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Then, in 2017, after 20 years as a Wildlife Officer she transferred into her current position as a Terrestrial Wildlife Biologist with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). Her emphasis is in species conservation. Libbie works with a wide variety of species including sage grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, raptors, Sandhill cranes, boreal toads and most recently, wolves. After having posters of wolves hanging in her home for 35 years, in 2019, a wolf walked across the border from Wyoming to Colorado right into Libbie’s region. As Colorado’s wolf population grows, she now gets to realize a lifelong dream of helping to monitor and participate in wolf management in some ways.

A wolf migrating naturally into Colorado is exciting because about 100 years ago, they were systematically eradicated from much of the United States. It hasn’t been that long since wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming in 1995. Under protection of the Endangered Species Act in Yellowstone, they thrived and began to spread to neighboring states. 

Photo credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife (Press Release on 5/27/2021)

The wolf that walked to northern Colorado was from the Snake River Pack in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 1084M was a smallish black wolf, born in 2016 and collared with a VHF collar when he was less than a year old. He appeared in Jackson County, Colorado in the summer of 2019. The area in Colorado where this wolf settled is called North Park. It is a high valley surrounded by dramatic mountain ranges. Not many people live in North Park, but there are plenty of cattle and oil rigs. 

In January 2021, one of Libbie’s colleagues was flying to locate some collared deer. Whenever anyone conducted aerial work in North Park, Libbie had them also search for 1084M’s whereabouts. That day in January 2021, they spotted a second wolf with 1084M. He was a larger gray-colored wolf, definitely not a coyote.

Photo credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife (Press Release on 2/2/2021)

CPW decided to place a GPS tracking collar on this wolf later in January. These collars allow CPW staff to download past locations of the animal at regularly scheduled intervals. The wolf was netted from a helicopter, tranquilized, and received an exam. He was a healthy four-year-old weighing 110 pounds. His new identification became M2101.

These two wolves traveling together in North Park were both males, but even though that isn’t a traditional pack, possibly they were working together to help take down prey. Gray wolves are carnivores that hunt elk, deer, pronghorn, bison and also smaller animals like rabbits and rodents. Wolves are often smaller than their prey, and to take down the larger animals, they hunt in packs. A pack usually consists of an alpha breeding pair, their offspring, possibly other adult relatives, and sometimes some adopted family. They are social and communicate with body language, howling, growling, whining and scent marking. Different individuals have their own personalities and roles within the pack.

In late April of 2021, Libbie was reviewing the regularly scheduled downloads from M2101’s collar that showed a significant shift in his movements. The data points showed a centralized location where he was spending much of his time, with other locations radiating out like spokes on a wheel. CPW staff also confirmed that he was still with 1084M by detecting the black wolf’s VHF signal in the same location. This looked like denning behavior. Maybe there was a third unknown female as part of this group?

While flying over the spot indicated by M2101’s data points, CPW staff saw a big hole in the ground. Following the discovery, Libbie and other colleagues would go into the field 3-4 times a week to monitor the site. They watched from a distance through a spotting scope to minimize disturbance. Sometimes both adults were outside of the den, sometimes just  one. However, no one ever saw a third adult that could be the denning female.

Libbie Miller monitoring the North Park wolves.

Around this time, CPW reached back out to Wyoming Game and Fish to determine if they had a DNA sample for 1084M, the black wolf. It turns out that Grand Teton National Park did have a sample and had already completed a DNA analysis. According to this analysis, 1084M was misidentified and was in fact a female. CPW then renamed the smaller black wolf F1084.

About this discovery, Libbie said, “We now knew we definitely had a male (M2101) and a female (F1084), we had a big hole in the ground, and the two wolves were deliberately hanging close to that location. In many ways this confirmed our suspicions, but we still wanted to confirm actual reproduction.”

“One evening in early June, I was out monitoring the location. It was dusk and the light was fading fast. I was just about to give up when the gray male appeared. As I was focusing in on him, I saw all of these little flurries around him. Puppies.” In July 2021, a total of 6 wolf pups were confirmed. To CPW’s knowledge, these are the first wolves born in Colorado in 80 years.

On one visit, Libbie was watching the pups play when the parents both appeared. “Mom went one way, and dad headed up another way. You could see three of the pups follow him. Dad came back and his behavior looked like he was being stern with them. One pup went back towards the den but the other two didn’t. Dad disappeared and the two pups sat there looking around. Finally, it was as if they looked at each other and asked, ‘Should we?’ And then, the pair of pups took off in the direction dad had gone.”

“A short time later, I heard a very low ‘woof woof woof.’ At first, I wondered if it was some sort of guard dog, like a Pyrenees. I wondered aloud, ‘Are there sheep up there?’ Up until that point, I’d never heard a wolf bark before, just howling. Then I heard this awful whimpering and yapping. I thought, ‘Oh no, I hope the pups didn’t get themselves into trouble!’ I was afraid that one of them was hurt. All I could do was sit and wait. About 5 minutes later, here they came, all in a line. Mom was in the front, the two puppies walked behind her, and dad was pulling up the rear. The parents marched those little pups straight back to the den. The pups were walking with their heads down and their tails tucked under them. Usually in interactions between the adults and the pups, their tails are up and they have this happy bouncy energy, but this time you got the feeling that they knew that they were in big trouble. I could just imagine hearing, ‘You could’ve gotten yourselves killed!’ ”

As these six pups, all black, grew over the summer, they wrestled, played with toys like sticks or bones, and learned how to hunt from their parents. Now that these native Colorado wolves are full grown and working together as a pack, there is a lot we can learn about how a wolf population may impact the Colorado landscape.

Wolves are a keystone species. A keystone is a wedge-shaped stone at the top of an arch that locks the other stones in place. Without it, the arch will fall apart. A keystone species helps keep relationships between plants and animals stable, and ecosystems in balance.

When wolves were eradicated from Yellowstone, mountain lion and grizzly bear populations were also reduced. With no predators, the elk multiplied to the point that there was not enough for them to eat. They browsed the young willows, cottonwoods and aspen. Trees weren’t able to reach full height. As a result, bird habitat was destroyed. The rivers and streams became wider, shallower and lost their shade. Stream banks eroded, destroying fish and amphibian habitat. Beavers didn’t have the trees and shrubs they needed to survive. At one point there was only one beaver colony left in Yellowstone. Park rangers had to kill or relocate the elk to try to keep their numbers down.

After the wolves were reintroduced in 1995, mountain lions and bears came back on their own. Bears scavenge off wolf kills, so the wolves were providing them additional food sources again. It was noticed that the elk started moving around more. Because they were wary of predators, they spent time hidden in dense trees instead of at the stream banks. This let the vegetation regrow and shade the rivers. Root systems kept the banks from eroding which repaired the fish and amphibian habitat. Wildflowers grew back bringing more insects which fed more birds. Trees were given time to reach full height without the elk constantly browsing them. Beavers returned and got to work creating healthy wetlands. Coyotes had been a top predator while the wolves were gone, but after wolves returned they reduced the coyote population. This meant more prairie dogs and rodents to feed the raptors and foxes. Scavengers like eagles, ravens, magpies, bears and wolverines also thrived on the leftovers from wolf kills.

Scientists will continue to study the changes of Yellowstone’s ecosystem since the return of wolves for many years. What they have seen there could be mirrored in Colorado’s wilderness, leading to improved health of rivers, soil and vegetation. A healthy ecosystem can better combat the effects of drought and climate change likely to be felt across the west.

While Colorado now has a pack that arrived on their own, the real adjustment will be when wolves are officially reintroduced to Colorado. This decision, and the status and management of gray wolves in the United States has been an evolving process. On October 29, 2020, the Department of the Interior announced that the gray wolf would be removed from federal protection. Following that announcement, management of wolves transferred to CPW here in Colorado.

Just a few days later, On November 3, 2020, Colorado voters passed Proposition 114 that calls for the reintroduction of wolves west of the Continental Divide by the end of 2023. CPW began planning for the wolf reintroduction effort. A little over a year later, on February 10, 2022, a federal judge restored endangered species protections for gray wolves in the U.S. except for parts of the northern Rocky Mountains.

This changes things for Colorado wolves and the reintroduction plan. CPW has lost its jurisdiction over wolves already living in Colorado. The wolf reintroduction plan will move forward with CPW’s involvement, but now with the permitting requirements and processes established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Those most concerned about wolves on the landscape are livestock owners. The North Park ranchers have personal experience with wolf depredations now. Beginning in December 2021, the new pack began occasionally preying on livestock and attacking guard dogs. As wolf deterrents are tried in the area, it is hoped that ranchers can prevent many future depredations using a combination of methods.

Some of the techniques to deter wolves are: livestock guard dogs, fladry (fluttering flags) or electrified fladry (flags on an electrified wire), lights, noisemakers, range riders or night watchers, ranchers keeping livestock away from wolves’ den areas,  electrified birthing corrals for livestock, synchronizing livestock birthing seasons with wolves’ natural prey birthing seasons, and even introducing wild burros into livestock herds. Fladry, lights, and noisemakers are not permanent deterrents. They need to be rotated or only used during high risk times like birthing season or the wolves get used to them.

Photos provided by Don Gittleson from a game camera on his ranch in North Park.

Studies are beginning to clarify why these deterrents are better than killing wolves that prey on livestock. Because wolves are social and live in packs, the elders teach young wolves how to hunt and which animals make good targets. Wolves prefer to hunt elk. However, when they do take a livestock animal and pack members are killed in retaliation, the wolf family is thrown into turmoil. If the alpha parents are killed, younger wolves may not have the ability or numbers to take down their usual prey and may kill livestock instead. When some of the pack is killed, the remaining wolves may become unpredictable or the pack may dissolve. Having a lone wolf around livestock is more dangerous than having an intact pack with experienced elders who teach the young to hunt elk.

Also, as seen from wolves being shot just outside the boundaries of Yellowstone during a managed hunt in 2021-2022, when much of an established pack is killed, more females than just the alpha may become pregnant. The pack quickly tries to build its numbers back up with many new pups. It will take time for the new pups to learn to hunt, and meanwhile, the adults are working very hard to feed them. Easy access to prey to feed the new large family will be important. It would be unfortunate if this was happening near vulnerable livestock.

Libbie understands the concern and financial loss that can come from wolves living in ranching areas. Some of her colleagues work closely with the livestock owners in North Park who are experiencing wolves on the landscape again. In January 2022, Libbie wrote, “Unfortunately, we have recently experienced a number of depredation incidents involving the loss of livestock and of working dogs. I sincerely care about the impacts wolves have already caused these livestock producers. It has been a terrible and incredibly challenging situation for them to have to deal with. CPW fully understands that future depredation incidents are inevitable and we intend to continue to work alongside these operators to develop both short-term and long-term solutions with the ultimate goal that somehow, someway, someday… livestock operators and wolves can eventually  successfully coexist as part of Colorado’s landscape.”

Photo credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife (Press Release on 2/10/2021) Image: Wolf 2202, CPW/Eric Odell

On February 9, 2022, CPW placed a GPS collar on one of the female pups of F1084 and M2101.  In their press release the next day, it states that F1084's collar had stopped transmitting, so the decision was made to collar another member of the pack. CPW also clarified how they will be identifying wolves in the future:

“The collared pup will be identified as 2202. The first two numbers (22) indicate the year the animal was captured. The second set of numbers inform biologists of the wolf’s gender (males will have odd numbers, females will have even) and the order in which it was collared.” Under this new naming system, the male alpha of the pack is now just referred to as 2101, instead of M2101.

Unfortunately on June 17, the news was released that neither the collar on 2101 or his daughter 2202 are working. This means no collars on the North Park wolves are currently transmitting.

Now that it is June, under good circumstances new wolf pups would be out of the den. Instead, there hasn’t been a confirmed sighting of F1084 in months. With no active collars on this group, the only way to monitor them is through visual sightings. This can be tricky because of the landscape, wolves moving around, and the distances involved. Because F1084 and all of her yearlings are black, it’s challenging to quickly determine which one of the group may be missing.

The North Park wolf pack will continue to evolve or disband. The issues they bring up are examples of situations that we can expect in other areas of Colorado after the reintroduction. Wolves can migrate naturally or be brought here intentionally, but either way they will interact with the landscape, prey animals, and livestock. Colorado ranchers need support in implementing approved wolf deterrents and receiving appropriate compensation following depredations. Future wolves in our state need protection and understanding that they are wild and will not stay or react exactly where and how we want them to behave. Hopefully through this transition we can appreciate the benefits of returning a keystone species to the land. New generations of Coloradans can appreciate an ecosystem balance that includes wolves, and have the opportunity to study and appreciate them as Libbie Miller has.

Libbie Miller listening for a signal from F1084’s VHF collar

References and Further Reading:

25 Years of Wolves in Yellowstone, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park

Behavior Changes, Genetic Data Drive Discovery that Jackson County Wolf M1084 is Female, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 5/27/2021

Blakeslee, Nate, American Wolf, Crown Publishing, 2017

Blumhardt, Miles, Concern Grows Over Fate of Alpha Female of Colorado's Lone Known Wolfpack, Coloradoan, 6/2/2022

Brasch, Sam, Gray Wolves are Back on the Federal Endangered Species List. Here’s What That Means for Colorado, Colorado Public Radio News, 2/11/2022

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Locates, Collars Gray Wolf Pup in North Park, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 2/10/2022

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Observe Pups with Wolves M2101 “John” and F1084 “Jane”, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, 6/9/2021

CPW Confirms Wolf Depredation Incident in Jackson County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 12/21/2021

CPW Donates Burros to Help North Park Rancher Prevent Further Wolf Depredations, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 3/17/2022

CPW Locates, Collars Gray Wolf Spotted In North-Central Colorado, Colorado Parks and Wildlife News Release, 2/2/2021

Duncan, Travis, Wolf Update: Tracking Collars, Colorado Outdoors, 6/17/2022

Farquhar, Brodie, Wolf Reintroduction Changes Ecosystem in Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park Trips, 6/30/2021

Fox, Alex, Gray Wolf Pups Seen in Colorado for the First Time in 80 Years, Smithsonian Magazine, 6/17/2021

Government Data Confirm that Wolves have a Negligible Effect on U.S. Cattle and Sheep Industries, The Humane Society of the United States

Gray Wolf, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park

Kesselheim, Al, The Howling Wilderness: Doug Smith Tells the Truth about Wolves, but will Anyone Listen?, The Sun Magazine, 1/2021

Koshmrl, Mike, 1084M was a Thorofare Wolf, Jackson Hole News and Guide, 7/12/2019

Koshmrl, Mike, Yellowstone: Wolf Hunt Altered Behavior, Damaged Research, WyoFile, April 26, 2022

Lay, Jennie, Return of the Wolf, Steamboat Magazine, 7/31/2020

McIntyre, Rick, The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone Book Series: The Rise of Wolf 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone's Underdog, 2019, The Reign of Wolf 21: The Saga of Yellowstone’s Legendary Druid Pack, 2020, The Redemption of Wolf 302: From Renegade to Yellowstone Alpha Male, 2021, Greystone Books

Miller, Libbie, personal interview conducted with Jill Bergman, 11/23/2021

Peterson, Christine, 25 Years After Returning to Yellowstone, Wolves have Helped Stabilize the Ecosystem, National Geographic, 7/10/2020

Sherry, Jennifer, Wolves and Livestock: Tools Like Turbo Fladry Prevent Losses, National Resources Defense Council, 10/28/2020

The Wolf Management Working Group, Findings and Recommendations for Managing Wolves that Migrate into Colorado, 12/28/2004

Wolves, Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Wolves and Our Ecosystems, Living with Wolves

Wolves in Colorado FAQ, Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Wolf Resource Guide: Hands-on Resource Guide to Reduce Depredations, Colorado Parks and Wildlife pdf brochure

Wolf Restoration, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park

A Portrait of Colorado Wolves

I first met Libbie Miller about 15 years ago, when I reconnected with her husband, Dan Miller, an old family friend. Coming from different parts of Colorado, we’d all wound up in Steamboat Springs, a rural area in the northwest part of the state. I only saw the Millers occasionally over the years, but when I started a wildlife + art + storytelling project, I knew I had to interview both of them because of their long work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).

Libbie and Dan were aware of my plan to write up some of their adventures around wildlife and then create artwork. Dan had a story to share about river otters during the 1970’s. While Libbie’s work involves a variety of different species, I asked if she could share any personal experiences of the wolves that were new to Colorado. She directed me to the CPW wolf information website pages and press releases, and shared some of her observations from monitoring these wolves that migrated naturally into our state.

Wolves are the hottest wildlife topic in Colorado by a mile. Everyone has an opinion, and they are often in opposition. Voters narrowly approved wolf reintroduction to Colorado west of the Continental Divide by the end of 2023. Currently, after some surprising legal decisions, wolves are back under federal protection. Now the reintroduction will move forward with CPW using the permitting requirements and process established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

When I was talking to Libbie in November 2021, much of the difficulties surrounding wolves in Colorado were still theoretical. The summer of 2021 was a happy time for wolf lovers in the state. A male and female had made their way into northern Colorado independently. They met, mated, and were raising the first litter of wolf pups born in Colorado in 80 years.

Libbie Miller monitoring wolves in North Park

Libbie was involved with the field work monitoring this new wolf pack in North Park. Long before the pups came on the scene, both adults had tracking collars. The female, F1084 had an old collar that used VHF technology, and the male, 2101 was wearing a GPS collar that provided data periodically for his past locations. These collars helped CPW locate the den. Libbie spent the spring and summer watching this new wolf pack and their behavior.

Although I’ve been a professional artist for decades, I am still a ‘junior reporter.’ I am learning as I go- both interviewing and writing. This talk with Libbie and Dan Miller was the first interview I’d conducted by myself, without the help of my journalist friend, Jennie Lay. It turns out I didn’t need great interviewing skills that day, because Libbie and Dan are both great storytellers with a lot to say, and I mostly just sat back and listened.

Wolves are such a controversial subject, I knew I needed a thorough background understanding before I started writing about them. I already had an interest in wolves, and had read books and articles in the past. But for a couple of months, I read every single reputable thing I could find. I read, and wrote, and drew onto a sheet of blank artist linoleum. While my article came together, I decided for the artwork, I wanted to make a portrait of the two alpha wolves of the new pack in North Park.

There weren’t many photos of these two wolves to base my drawing on. Libbie showed me the photos with the CPW press releases, and I found images of different wolves with the same coloring online to use as reference. The male is gray with a mix of pale fur and darker areas, and the female is black and starting to show some gray from age. When I had a solid sketch, I photographed it and sent it to Libbie. She came back with pointers like, the female is smaller in comparison to the male, and their paws need to be bigger. When I was happy with the drawing and ready to start carving, I felt Libbie’s approval gave it a little extra authenticity.

It was during the time I was carving the linocut that the wolf pack started getting into trouble. Beginning in December 2021, they were occasionally killing cattle and working dogs in North Park. This caused a huge uproar, fed by the fact that the official wolf reintroduction hadn’t begun yet, so the details of wolf deterrents and compensation for livestock owners hadn’t been put into place yet. Again, everyone had an opinion, and now the wolf detractors had some real fuel. As things limped along with investigations, discussions of compensation, hazing techniques being introduced, inflammatory news articles, frustrated ranchers, and even the official oversight of wolves switching from state to federal management, it felt like the wolves were placing themselves in a really dangerous position. I was worried that they would be killed before I had a chance to finish their portrait.

As time passed, the public seems to have reached a new understanding that there will be unavoidable wolf depredations now that wolves are on the landscape. It’s a catch-up game to get rural Colorado to the point where other parts of the west have been for years with big predators. We need a variety of hazing techniques and livestock protections in place on ranches where wolves are likely to be, with the compensation process established for animals killed by wolves. Currently, CPW is reimbursing livestock owners based on their policy for animals killed by mountain lions or bears. I hope these systems can keep wolves on the landscape and give people time to adjust.

The alpha wolves in North Park did manage to stay alive longer than it took me to complete their artwork. I make linocuts by carving the image into a piece of linoleum. The result looks like a big rubber stamp when it’s done. I roll thick, sticky ink over the raised surface, lay paper over the top and print it using an etching press. To print, the inked block with paper lays on the bed of the press and a hand crank slides the bed under a cylinder that applies pressure. Then, you ink the block again and start over.

Now it’s June 2022, and around this time last year CPW was announcing the birth of the new wolf pups. This summer, things seem to have gone wrong. The collar on the alpha female, F1084 stopped working last winter. Although she was seen at different times with her pack mates, according to a recent article in the Coloradan, she hasn’t been seen for several months. CPW put a GPS collar on one of the pups last February, but now, CWP has shared through Colorado Outdoors Magazine that neither of the collars on the pup or her father are working. No den site has been announced, denning behavior hasn’t been reported, and F1084 seems to be missing. There is still a chance that there is a hidden den, or that F1084 is around but didn’t give birth this year. But as time goes on, it feels to me like the portrait of F1084 and 2101 together is a memorial.

Next week, I will post the article I wrote with Libbie’s observations from last summer of the new Colorado pack, and background about wolves in general.

This post was updated on 6/18/22 with the new info and link to Colorado Outdoors Magazine.

Tracking Mountain Lions: Wildlife Photographer Kevin Dietrich

Dressed for winter and with his camera strap around his neck, Kevin Dietrich hikes quietly through new snow around the wild places near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He is looking for mountain lion tracks. Early morning or late afternoon when the light casts long shadows across the snowy landscape, he’s often out checking the likely places. Kevin pays attention to the deer and elk movements also. In deep winter when the Yampa Valley fills with snow, the grazers need to migrate to places with more to eat, and the mountain lions go where they go. But there are places, and times of day, and seasons when a quiet observer might see a mountain lion.

Photo provided by Kevin Dietrich

Kevin is comfortable in the wilderness. He grew up in Buffalo, New York, spending time along the shores of Lake Erie exploring with his father. During long sunny days they would hike and fish along streams, searching for crayfish, snakes, and turtles. Sometimes they would take an old wooden boat on the lake to fish and then cook their catches on the shore. Looking for more distant landscapes, the family vacationed at State Parks, camped, and searched for wildlife. On a family trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado as a teenager, Kevin decided that he would move there as soon as he could. In 2002, Kevin drove across the country to make Steamboat his home.

The Colorado mountains and rolling foothills of the western continental divide lead to the beautiful Yampa Valley. Here, the Yampa River flows from the Flat Tops Wilderness, through Steamboat Springs, and onto drier lands to the west. Formerly the home of the Utes, and then early fur trappers and settlers, the Yampa Valley has kept its ranching heritage strong even after the Steamboat Ski Resort opened in 1963. Now, the resort draws visitors from all over the world. The skiing originally drew Kevin’s family to visit, and access to wild places made it perfect for him as an adult. As he began to see and photograph the moose, elk, black bears, foxes, deer and Sandhill Cranes that call the Yampa Valley home, wildlife photography took on an important role in his life.

More than any other animals though, Kevin wanted to see a mountain lion. He knew patience was key. For example, it took about 40 trips to a likely pond before he saw a moose. Most of the time, he would hike, search, wait, go back, hope for something exciting, and then do it all again the next day. To find a mountain lion was going to take even more patience.

For years, Kevin would track in new snow where there were deer or a past lion sighting. Finally, there was a day he found mountain lion tracks heading onto private property and a rocky area that looked like a good den site. He went back again and again. There were more prints each time, but no big cats in sight. One afternoon it stopped snowing and Kevin went out in the early evening. There were two sets of mountain lion tracks in the fresh snow walking along a path. He measured them against his hand thinking they were a little small. Because it had just snowed, they had certainly passed by recently, so he set out to follow.

Kevin walked a long way, imagining that the tracks would vanish without a sighting again. He trailed the prints around a bend in the creek, and there they were, two kits about two years old. They were off the main path and plowing through deep snow. With shaking hands, he lifted his camera. He only had about five seconds to take photos. It was getting dark, and the mountain lions were heading toward aspen trees away from him. Most animals turn to look at you one last time to be sure you aren’t following them. Kevin was hoping these cats would look back, and they did. They both turned and looked right at him before vanishing into the aspen grove.

Silent Exit by Kevin Dietrich

The two mountain lions were probably in their last year with their mother, who was likely nearby. Kevin learned later that they were traveling back and forth from a deer carcass. Newborn kitten are completely reliant on their mothers until they are about six months old and sometimes longer. When the kittens are between one and two years old, they start to become independent, learn to hunt, and are called ‘subadults.’ Sometime soon, the two lions that Kevin saw would leave to find a new area of their own.

Mountain lions have very large ranges, especially in drier areas. They are obligate carnivores, meaning they eat only meat. They will eat many different animals, but are very reliant on deer. Where the landscape is arid and can’t support many deer, the lions need large ranges to find enough to eat. Where the landscape is lush with plants, there are bigger deer populations, more mountain lions, and smaller home ranges for the cats. This is important to understand because of the way our world is changing.

Global warming leads to more drought which changes the vegetation, the deer population that it  supports, and the mountain lions that prey upon them. There is a growing tendency for deer to linger in agricultural and urban areas because people water and create greener landscapes. This encourages mountain lions to overcome their reluctance to be near humans. Where the deer go, the predators follow, and there are more conflicts between the big cats and people.

Mountain lions used to live in a wide range of habitats all over the western hemisphere. As settlers arrived in the New World and the human populations grew, mountain lions were pushed west in America and now live in about half of their historic range.

Mountain lions are ambush hunters. They stalk and hide in cover, and then chase their prey in open areas. These powerful animals can reach speeds of 50 mph, and can leap 40 feet. After killing an animal, they will move it to a safe place, eat their fill, and then bury the uneaten portion under leaves, sticks, plants or snow. They return to this cache to eat for several days.

As a top predator, mountain lions help regulate their environment. They keep deer populations in control so that they don’t overfeed, allowing more cottonwoods, cattails and wildflowers to grow along streams and rivers. This supports a biodiversity of pollinators, birds, and amphibians. They also tend to keep disease down in deer and elk populations. Those animals are easier to catch, so mountain lions hunt the weak, sick animals and the herd is healthier. The carrion they leave feeds scavengers like bears, coyotes and raptors. Protecting mountain lions and their wild ranges can help protect many other species of plants and animals and keep the whole system healthy.

After his first sighting of the young mountain lions, Kevin saw two more over the next couple of years. One lion was protecting a recent cache of food- an elk kill along the Yampa River. Kevin and his friend were exploring on a winter day, looking for eagles who nest in the area. They noticed a lumpy pile of snow mixed with fur and settled on a high shelf across the river to watch and wait. After about 30 minutes, a large male mountain lion came strolling out from the brush to the buried carcass. It was about 10 feet long and 150 pounds.

Kevin was far away from this big cat and doesn’t get close to the wild animals he photographs. Emphasizing the distance and story behind an image helps educate the public about safety around wildlife. Kevin also doesn’t put out bait to attract wildlife, draw their attention to face the camera, or interfere with their activities. Some photographers aren’t as ethical. There is a long tradition of hunting mountain lions with packs of hounds. These chases can go for 10 or more miles and be exhausting and dangerous for the lion and the dogs. Eventually the dogs chase the mountain lion up a tree to be photographed or shot by the hunter. When photographers share images of mountain lions snarling from trees, they were chased there by dogs.

While Kevin sat across the river watching the lion feeding over four days, the cat wasn’t aware of him until a moment at the very end. Kevin had gotten closer after that first sighting, but was still on the other side of the river from the mountain lion. He watched it chase away birds and coyotes without ever going far from his meal. As evening approached, Kevin was laying in the snow taking photos. His hand shook the camera a bit, and light reflected off the lens. Right then, the mountain lion turned and looked directly at the camera. As soon as the sun set, Kevin packed up quickly and moved out, looking over his shoulder countless times.

River’s Treasure by Kevin Dietrich

Mountain lions live in the Yampa Valley and all over western North America but are rarely seen. With motion activated wildlife cameras at people’s homes and online sharing, we are getting more used to seeing these big predators pass by in the night. It’s exciting to catch a glimpse of them living their lives alongside ours. Photographers like Kevin Dietrich who document their activities with respect are important to help us understand and appreciate these wild predators.

References and Further Reading:

About Mountain Lions, Mountain Lion Foundation

Colorado West Slope Mountain Lion Management Plan, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 9/2/2020

Dietrich, Kevin, personal interview conducted with Jennie Lay and Jill Bergman, 6/29/2021 and personal email, 11/11/2021

Dietrich, Kevin, Natural Exposure website
Lion Country Part 1: When Mountain Lions Meet People, Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Lion Country Part 2: What We Know about Mountain Lions, Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Russell, John F., Local Photographer’s Vision Captured in New Gallery, Steamboat Pilot and Today, 1/26/2021

State of the Mountain Lion, The Humane Society, 2018
Stoner, David, Mountain Lions in an Era of Rapid Climate and Land-use Change, Mountain Lion Foundation, recorded webinar, 11/18/2021

Studying Lions from Space as Climate Changes, UCAR Center for Science Education

Mountain Lion in the Snow

Last year I hatched a plan and started creating a body of work including wildlife art, interviews, and articles. While I’ve been a working artist for many years now, I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone by interviewing and writing about scientists and others who work around wildlife. Jennie Lay, journalist extraordinaire, helped coach me through this process. I discovered that I felt awkward and lost plenty of the time, but I also remembered how much I love writing, and love creating artwork with a purpose.

After interviewing Kevin Dietrich, Steamboat Springs, Colorado wildlife photographer, I began carving a linocut based on his experience tracking young mountain lions through the snow. Kevin gave me a photo for reference with a lion standing in deep snow and looking back before heading into a grove of aspen trees. I knew I would make this image as a large black and white print to go with the series of other animals I’ve done. But the challenge was, how to make a very white and snowy scene using black ink.

I had fun making stylized snowflakes, and tried to carve them so that the lines of the snowflakes were white instead of black. And I carved away most of the linoleum to let the white paper show through.

I was very happy that Steamboat Magazine was interested in publishing a bit of the article I wrote based on the interview with Kevin. You can read that here. The whole piece I wrote was a combination of Kevin’s background and experiences combined with information about mountain lions. My goal in writing has been to combine personal experiences of people who spend time around wildlife, with information and issues faced by the animals. So, following this post I will share the whole article with photos by Kevin Dietrich. To see the article including the lovely book design by Paulina M. Johnson, click here.