What Has Four Legs, Hair Between Its Toes, and Lives in Glacier NP?

Hello everyone!

I hope you're not too busy studying for those tests. I hope you still have some time to get outside and play in the snow. It seems as though you are getting all of the snow out east. You might even have more than we have out here. What an unusual winter we are having out here in Montana! It has been very gray here on the west side of the park for a few weeks, but we haven't gotten any new snow. Finally, this weekend we saw some blue skies! Many Glacier, on the east side of the park, got four inches of snow this week. Yay! Of course, it didn't snow until after I left the valley!

So, I told you last week that I had made it into Many Glacier valley. When I posted the blog last week, I had only been there for an hour, so let me tell you what happened. While I was at the cabin posting the blog for you, my friends, Shayla and Jesse, skied up the road towards Swiftcurrent. Shayla had never skied before, so it was a trial run. They had only made it about 300 yards from the cabin when Jesse spotted a lynx! The lynx walked casually across a patch of snow before disappearing into the woods. I have never seen a lynx, but I have seen their tracks before. In case you don't know what a lynx looks like, check out the photo below:

We spent most of Sunday night relaxing in the cabin so that we could have an early start on Monday. Monday morning, I got up for the sunrise. We had seen a spectacular sunrise from my apartment in Whitefish, MT the morning before, so I was excited to see a good sunrise without the view of buildings in the way. Unfortunately, the sunrise was not as good, but it was great to get up early and get some fresh air and peace and quiet. Shayla, Jesse, and I headed out for a ski to Fishercap Lake after breakfast. The snow was great for skiing, so we made good time. The wolverine research site at Fishercap Lake had been completely cleaned out (the deer leg was devoured), and there were some nice long wolverine hairs stuck to the gun brushes. We relaxed at the lake for a while, taking in the sunshine before we started the ski back to the cabin. After lunch, the three of us headed back out on our skis. This time we headed out to Grinnell Lake. I really enjoy going out to Grinnell Lake because I get to ski across three lakes and there is no real avalanche danger out there. Anyway, all of the three wolverine sites along the way (one at Swiftcurrent Lake and two at Lake Josephine) have also been cleaned out. Looks like it's about time to go out and collect the hair samples! While we were skiing across Lake Jospehine, we found a young of year mountain goat (this means it was born this season) that had fallen off a cliff and died. It was lying at the edge of the lake. It hadn't been there more than a few hours because it was still warm. Its fur was so thick and so soft. It was sad to see, but it is good for the animals that will find it and eat it. We skied on to Grinnell Lake. We didn't see any wildlife, but we saw lots of tracks. We found the tracks of a snowshoe hare that must have been taken by a hawk or an eagle. The tracks just ended, and there was a shallow hole where the hare must have tried to dig in to avoid its predator. Once at Grinnell Lake, we skied around for a while, rested, then headed back home to beat the fading sunlight.

Tuesday morning we headed back out of Many Glacier. Once again, we had to walk the road with our useless skis strapped to our packs. It was very windy while we were hiking out, but luckily the wind was at our backs!

Saturday, in honor of the beautiful sunshine, I took a trip out to Tally Lake. Tally Lake is a beautiful, frozen lake not far from Whitefish. There was not a soul around, and the only sound was that of the birds in the trees. I walked around the lake for a while before returning home. Life is good!

So, let's talk just briefly about wildfires. Last week, I wanted you to find both pros and cons to wildfires, so let me tell you what I've found.

PROS:

Wildfires are great for the biodiversity of a forest. When a fire goes through a forest, it burns most of the dead trees and brush, and some of the living trees. It opens up the forest and allows more sunlight to reach the ground. New plants are then able to start growing on the forest floor. This also brings more animals to the area. Larger animals that may not have been able to easily travel through the thick forest move back into the area, and other species like birds come in to feed off of the new plants. Wildfires also reduce disease and insect infestation because weak trees are destroyed in the fire. Also, the ash from wildfires restores lots of nutrients to the soil. Some species, such as the ponderosa pine, cannot reproduce without fires. Their seeds are locked inside its pinecones which are covered with a thick, sticky resin. When a fire moves through a ponderosa pine forest, the resin melts off of the pinecones and the seeds are released.

CONS:

Wildfires can be extremely destructive. We, as humans, have spent hundreds of years suppressing fires. Now, our forests are so thick with dead material that when a fire does occur, it burns at a much higher temperature than it natually would. These fires also spread rapidly, often destroying homes and buildings. When the fires burn too hot, everything is destroyed, even the large healthy trees. Also, some animals will be killed in forest fires, and some of those that do survive the fire may perish later due to the lack of food. Not to mention, wildfires send a huge amount of smoke and carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.

For many years now, scientists and land owners have been conducting prescribed burns. This means that they go into areas and intentionally start fires. These fires are controlled by fire fighters so that they don't get out of hand. Scientists conduct these burns during the cooler months to clear away some of the dead material of the forest floors. That way, if a wildfire does break out, it doesn't burn at such a high intensity.

So, below is the short video Jeff created while we were setting up the wolverine sites. I know we talked about wolverines a long time ago, but it took a while to get this video on here. Hopefully, you will be able to get it to work! See you next week!