High Sierra Topix

I saw the picture of the Belding ground squirrel in the photo forum that congiorno was trying to idenify. It got me to wondering what rare sightings anyone else might have.

About 25 years ago, I saw a beautiful Pine Martin at Eagle Lake, one mile from the Eagle Falls trailhead at Emerald Bay, Tahoe.

About 4 years ago, my wife and I saw a very big Badger in Hope Valley, about 10 miles south of South Tahoe.

I've also seen more than one Bald Eagle around Emerald Bay, and even in town at South Lake Tahoe.

Not captured in the Sierra, but how about a Two-Headed Elk.

A desert mouse stole my beer while watching the Pleides:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/499 ... 5309DMWRHZ

Weasel kills a Pika. We heard the victim's yell and watched it struggle for a few seconds before it went limp:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/175 ... 2534YOxalw

Scared baby pika on the summit of Mt Whitney:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/986 ... 0637CvMNWL

Two headed bighorn sheep on the left: http://community.webshots.com/photo/484 ... 0492ijcdhq

Other than the rare and infamous Jack-a-lope, I have seen a Badger at Bernice Lake, a Golden Eagle about 4 feet overhead when we were doing Washington's Column, a Snowy Owl in nest with babies near Vogelsang, River Otters at Benson, Long-Legged Weasels in Evolution Valley, also Beaver, Raccoon, Pika, Vole, and Porcupine. I saw a Flying Squirrel swoop down and get our food bag that we hung just below Water Wheel Falls, and an Opossum hanging in a tree in Pate Valley. I have seen Rattlesnake near Bunnel Cascade, and Gopher Snake at Washburn. I still have a Bobcat skull that I found too, and have seen and smelled skunk in many Sierra places. I have seen Wolverine track in the snow of Tuolumne in winter, and Mountain Lion track in little Yosemite Valley, on the way up to Half Dome. I suppose Deer, Bear, Marmot, and Belding Ground Squirrel do not count; they are everywhere.

The first Golden Trout my friend caught was eaten by what we thought was a vole. He was beside himself. I don't think he ever caught another one after that trip.

I think the strangest-looking animals I've seen in the "backcountry" were a pair of white pelicans soaring above Independence Rock in Wyoming. They were truly amazing -- kind of out of place (I thought, until I learned that they summer in Yellowstone, a couple of hundred miles away) and soaring at an incredibly high elevation in unbelievably clear air. I also "chased" a mountain bluebird from perch to perch some where in Tuolumne years ago -- what cool bird those are: like a patch of sky detached and come down to Earth.

All:

These are some great wildlife observations. If you're inspired on future hikes, the local agency -- but definitely NPS Yosemite and Sequoia Kings -- would like your sightings. This is true for all critters you see, not just the 'sexy' ones like martens etc. You can carry a card or notebook with you and write down your observations as you go. Information NPS would want is:

1) date of observation
2) species
3) if there are young present and how many
4) location (e.g. Glen Pass, Kings Canyon)
5) location in some sort of coordinate system -- UTM is much preferred. If you're using a GPS, note the Datum you're using -- NAD83 or 27.
6) Vegetation type (a little harder. THere's actually a code for this, but if you just note something like "scree slope"; foxtail/lodgepole forest; stream bank or meadow.
7) Comments. Anything unusual about the behavior? "marten chasing pika" is good. Something short.

Send it in to the park (or forest, but they're not as good about it) c/o the Resources Management office. You can collect a whole summer's worth and send them in at the end.

Markskor: the opposum observation in Pate Valley is a good one. If you remember some of the above details, send them to me and I'll file them. It's not out of their elevation range, but there are no sightings of them around non-inhabited, non-road areas. Same with the Wolverine tracks -- there have been no sightings in Yosemite since 1990. Tracks are difficult, especially in snow, so if you could include your experience and why you thought they were Wolverine?? (somewhere I've got a very good photo of a wolverine track in winter I'll try to find and post).

Snow Nymph: great photos. If you're interested, I edit Sierra Nature Notes and I'd love a short narrative and a couple of the photo sequence of the weasel taking the pika. I've got a section "Naturalist's Notebook" I'd post it at:
http://www.yosemite.org/naturenotes/Nat ... tebook.htm

Same for everyone else. If you've got a cool observation, even without photos, send it in to me at: SNNEditor AT sierranaturenotes.com.

Thanks,

George

George, some of those photos from Nature Notes are really incredible! Thanks for posting the link!

Just a fleeting glimpse of a ringtail (pretty sure, but it was dark) while out night hiking. A marten ran across the highway ahead of me one night. Two wolves in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley 1998.

A river otter on Butte Lake in LVNP. At 6500 feet it should be a bit high for them and the NPS was surprised I saw one on that lake. None of their people saw one there that summer (2004). Lower in elevations they are common, but normally not found that high locally.

While building fence we found a newborn fawn hunkered down in the grass right along our intended fenceline -- definitely less than a day old. Looked around for mom but did not see her. Left the fawn alone and went up the line about a half mile to finish working. The next day we saw a deer and fawn in the same area. Same fawn? Don't know but we liked to think so.

Watched a red fox snag a jackrabbit. Actually I flushed the jackrabbit out of the brush and it ran down the trail ahead of me around a bend. Then I heard a blood-curling squeal. As I rounded the bend I saw the rabbit in the jaws of the fox as he disappeared in the brush. I felt bad about it for a while.

Out for a run on a dirt road near my home one day. While returning on the same route I saw a fresh bear track on top of one of my twenty(?) minute old footprints. On a solo hike near LVNP I saw fresh bear scat -- how fresh? It was still steaming in the morning cold! I quickened my pace.

Eagles and osprey fishing are common.

I think the coolest I recall is while out in the Buffalo Hills of NW Nevada. I crested a hill and saw a small herd of wild horses in a flat below me. Two stallions were fighting while the mares were watching nearby. Of all the times NOT to have a camera...


Another time I encountered a young couple actively engaged in (how do I say this tactfully?) horizontal embrace sans clothing. Just off the side of the trail on a blanket. They didn't seem to notice as I quickly walked by firmly looking straight ahead. But I don't think that is the type of wildlife you meant.

1) date of observation - July 24, 2004
2) species - weasel and pika
3) if there are young present and how many - none
4) location: trail to Vogelsang Camp, Yosemite... we stopped by the creek for lunch
5) location in some sort of coordinate system: all I have is
http://community.webshots.com/photo/167 ... 3475jiwFNW
6) Vegetation type: stream bank, behind where I was sitting. I had to turn around to get the photo:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/167 ... 3889OATVCl
7) Comments. Anything unusual about the behavior?
We heard a high pitch scream, looked back, and saw a small weasel with a fat pika in its mouth, almost bigger than the weasel. The pika was squirming, and the weasel shook it back and forth til the pika quit moving. Then it looked at us, and ran away with the pika in its mouth. I only had time to take two photos, but you could see how vicious this weasel was by the look on its face.