OR7, A Wolf Conundrum

Conundrum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conundrum

After spending the afternoon with a gray wolf stakeholder group, I have concluded that California gray wolf  management is a conundrum.

First question: Why is it important to re-establish wolves in California? Answer: It is not very important.

Second question: Why is it important to facilitate the successful rehabilitation of California wolf habitat to accommodate a stray wolf that has wandered into California? Answer: It is not very important.

Third question: What problems do wolves create for California ranchers, conservationists and wildlife managers? Answer: Too many to list.

Last question: Why are we holding meetings to make decisions about gray wolf management in California when there is only one known gray wolf in California? Answer:  California politics are out of control and we are driven by  a form of insanity, which is the result of guilt feelings (for all the evironmental destruction man has wreaked on the earth) and an out of control emotional attachment to iconic creatures – like wolves.

I am a wolf fan and I will be thrilled when I see my first wolf and hope to have a wolf  hide hanging on my wall some day, right next to a couple of coyote hides. You can bet that wolf hide won’t be from a California gray wolf.

Here are four possible solutions to the gray wolf situation. The simplest and most cost-effective approach? Have the gray wolf classified as a varmint so that it can be eradicated. This solution is simple, painless, proven and cheap. It worked well for almost 100 years. End of discussion.

If the simple, cheap, proven and painless solution is not acceptable, the second solution would be to work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to create a recovery plan under the Federal Endangered Species Act. The recovery plan would establish management goals and create opportunities to fund activities like monitoring, study and mitigation for negative impacts to the species and its habitat. Hopefully, this would also create opportunities to manage other species, such as ungulates, that are critical prey species for wolves. But, I have to believe that the last thing the USFWS wants is to drag California into the already colossal fiasco that is taking place in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington – so odds are that this will not be the approach taken.

Another option is for California to take the lead in wolf recovery using a management plan as a guide. This option could create some problems by attempting to create a wolf program without proper funding. This approach would be particularly undesirable if wolves were delisted by the USFWS or is they make some type of formal decision that California is not important wolf habitat.

The last option  is for California to list wolves under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and use the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as a tool to fund enhancement of wolf habitat and also habitat of related prey species. Land managers and conservationists could use the enormous power of CESA and CEQA to fund mitigation for habitat losses and compensate stakeholders who are negatively impacted by wolves. This type of action would prevent the creation of a (potenitally) huge unfunded mandate (option 3). And, politicians would be making the decision to go forward with a better idea of societal costs. Under this plan, wolves could thrive and so could their prey species.

(A side benefit would be that college freshmen planning a career in wolf management will have their chances for a success enhanced.)

The complexity of  this solution would be mind-boggling and also extremely expensive. Maybe that’s a reason for it to happen.

Californians can’t resist the temptation to spend money – especially on iconic creatures. The best thing about this last option is that it could result in improved habitat for and boost awareness of the other species out there that share wolf habitat – like mule deer. Wouldn’t it be ironical if one stray wolf accomplished all that for California wildlife?

Oh. There is another solution. California’s lone wolf (OR7) could go back home to Oregon and never come back. That would be nice.

Now, having this off my chest, maybe I can go to bed and get some sleep.

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Let the Wolf Study Begin

Here’s the Mercury News report. Although not reported, I believe the vote was 3-0 with the two descenting commissioners, not in attendance. The other three had already made up their minds.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_21692274/calif-agrees-study-protections-gray-wolf

For a few hundred thousand dollars we’ll learn nothing we don’t already know.

I suppose China will loan us the money.

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Springtime Ponds

The ponds of spring and early summer are alive with insects, amphibians and reptiles. Here are a few from yesterday’s pond survey.

As the weather warms, California red-legged frogs are more visible. This frog is a sub-adult.

The California red-legged frog is listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and is classified as Threatened. http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=D02D

Each pond has tadpoles, sometimes just tree frog and other times tadpoles of red-legged frog, western toad and tree-frogs.

Tree-frog tadpoles were present in every pond.

The California tiger salamander larvae we found were approaching about half the size of mature tiger salamanders. Their gills are apparent.

This cts larvae is not quite half  the adult size. All California tiger salamanders are listed as either Threatened or Endangered.  http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=D01T

A garter snake sunned itself on a floating log.

Garter snake.

This is a Pacific newt larvae that overwintered in the pond.

The ponds contained many dragonfly nymphs. At one pond a “squadron” on red dragonflies gave me a photo opportunity.

These red dragonflies appeared to be reproduction mode.

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California Tiger Salamander Metamorph

Talking about a California tiger salamander (CTS) metamorph, can be confusing. A metamorph is a CTS that is in the late stages of morphing from a pond-dwelling guilled larvae, to an adult. How do you view a metaphorph? I don’t know many people who have. Calafornia tiger salamanders (CTS) morph into an adult form (typically), three to six months after egg laying. Once they no longer have guills, they become a land animal and walk away from the breeding site in search of some type of underground burrow in which to live. Around here, burrows of California ground squirrels are most likely targets.

According to sources, the CTS usually leave the pond during the cover of darkness. However, earlier today I discovered one taking a hike during broad daylight on a cool, foggy morning. This discovery was a first for me. I have never seen a CTS metamorph before today.

Here he is in all his glory.

This guy was found on top of a ridge on a gravel road, about 150 yards directly up a steep hill from the nearest possible breeding site.

The young CTS was about four inches long. I didn’t think to put my knife in the photo next to him for comparison. I was kind of in a state of shock, and then another hiker came along with two dogs and I didn’t want to get the little guy killed.

However, I did get several reasonable photos with my iphone.

Here’s one more shot.

He was mostly the green color of the pond living guilled version, but was beginning to develop spots.

If you click on the photo it will enlarge.

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April Weekend at the Ranch

 

It was a good weekend to be in the hills. Here are a few of the photos I was able to take while traveling around the ranch. (Click to enlarge.)

 

Here's the typical view of a ranch road coyote.

Surprise. It’s unusual for ranch road coyotes to pose for a broadside photo.

Another rarity, only in spring will you see two great blues together like this.

Nice cape on this great blue heron.

Rob pointed out some baby blue eyes – with bug.

Mules ear is having a good year. Maybe it likes the cool spring.

Checkerbloom I believe.

The goldfields were looking good.

My first whipsnake of the season. He was sold cold I could have picked him up.

I don’t know whose brand this is.

Fence lizards were out in force for the first time this spring.

 

Pacific newts have a rubber look.

 

The does were in hiding with fawns, but a few bucks were around.

We went to a spot I’d never been before.

Instant replay of the earlier coyote.

For the second time in a weekend, a coyote stopped and looked back.

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Spring in the Altamont

We remained a ways off from the burrowing owls, not to disturb them.

Joe spotted a couple Swainson’s hawks gliding high overhead. Red-tails were hanging around a stand of eucalyptus trees and a ferruginous hawk was spotted on the horizon. 

Several Swainsons hawks passed high overhead.

 Joe also found a young king snake under a board. We took quite a few photos of the willing snake.

 

We found this very small king snake under a board.

 

 Burrowing owls were in their usual haunts. It was a nice day to observe.

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Mending Fences – with Distractions

The pace of work changes when you spend a couple days in the hills. It’s really hard to get in a hurry and there are many distractions. The main event- mending fence. The sub plots – turkeys, wildflowers and other photo ops.

Rob and Terry looking down at a half mile of very old or non-existent fence, an intimidating project.

 (Click photos to enlarge.)

When you’re working on a project that looks overwhelming, it pays to not get in a hurry – so we didn’t.

The starting point for the fence project was at the top of a very steep drop off into a spot we had to exit the same way we went in. In other words what you carry down, you also carry up unless it’s fence material. A few hours per day is all we could handle on a project like this. A couple hours of hanging on to the side of a cliff while working is enough.

In the mean time distractions were all around us. On the way in I came across a group of four old gobblers that have been a making a living eating grain from horse feed.

These old toms have been hanging out near the neighbor's barn.

Wild flowers were blooming. Johnny-jump-ups, shooting stars  and butter cups were everywhere. The yellow and white flowers seem to bloom early while the blue flowers like lupins seem to bloom later on. There’s likely a reason, but I don’t know what it is.

Johnny- jump-ups (wild pansy) are a butterfly host plant.

The plant, which most locals call johnny-jump-ups, is also known as wild pansy or yellow pansy. The scientific name is viola pedunculata. It is a host plant for the Callippe Silverspot Butterfly, which is endangered. http://essig.berkeley.edu/endins/callippe.htm

Other early favorites include the shooting star (“mosquito bills” variety). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecatheon_hendersonii

Mosquitobills shooting star.

While checking the spillway on one of our dams, I found a fresh mountain lion scat. The scat, about the size of my labs scat tends to be clay-like and greenish is color when it’s fresh – and if really fresh, extremely stinky.

Mountain lion scat. This is a medium-sized scat.

We also found a few stinkbells in bloom, but they seemed to be a little past their prime.

The stinkbell is somewhat rare.

The scientific name for the stinkbell is fritillaria agrestis.

The California buttercup is very common on our ranch.

The scientific name for the buttercup is ranunculus californicus.

With some fence progress and obligations at home, I departed while Rob and Terry continued to work on the fence. On the way home I came upon more turkeys. This time two gobblers were hanging out with three hens. Looks like nesting time is about here, but they were not very active.

These birds slipped into a creek and moved quickly out of sight.

It’s a little early in the nesting season and the turkeys were not in full breeding mode. The gobblers were more interested in eating than strutting for the hens.

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Night Search for Salamanders

Nice boots.

 

Searched for California tiger salamanders in the middle of the night last weekend. Took my daughter Betsy along for company. Her question, “Does it make you nervous walking around in the dark at night?”

My answer, “No, except when I don’t know where I am.”

Darkness is a fun adventure when you’re in you comfort zone. The more time you spend out at night, the more you can enjoy the medium. And, you can find more critters in the dark.

We didn’t find the salamanders, but we found a couple western toads and a few California red-legged frogs. One pair was in amplexus, a scientist’s word for mating.

Toads will soon be laying eggs in the nearby ponds.

 

California red-legged frogs in amplexus.

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California Tiger Salamander Breeding Activity

December and January are typically the months when seasonal pools begin to fill up. As the ground saturates and water levels rise, the California tiger salamanders come out of their dry season hides and seek out ponds for breeding.

This CTS in swimming in a few inches of clear water. Note the structure. In this pond, eggs are disbursed.

The females lay single eggs and the males come along behind them to make them fertile. The eggs are laid singly, but sometimes so close to each other that they appear to be in the same gel. Here are a few photos of this seasons crop.

This is the classic single CTS egg. When a pond has a lot of structure, eggs seem to be distributed more evenly about the pond and may be more difficult to find.

 (double click to enlarge for closer look)

When structure is limited, the salamanders will lay eggs close to each other.

Sometimes, when eggs are laid next to each other, the gel almost combines giving the appearance that more that one egg was laid in a single mass of gel.

This CTS breeding pond is on the rise. It will need additional rain in order for it to last until the larvae are mature.

 

 

This larvae was photographed in summer when it was nearly ready to depart into the upland.

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A Walk Around a Revived Pond

Two summers ago we repaired the dam on one of our best ponds. It was also filled with bass and bluegill, something that gave use pleasure on many occasions. However, as we prepared to make this parcel ready for a conservation easement for endangered species, we were required to remove the fish.

We pumped the pond dry last fall and all the fish died. Of course we invited some friends to come up and catch as many fish as possible first, but they only caught a small portion of what the pond held. The rest  were sentenced to flop on the ground until dead.

Nearly a year later, we circled the pond, me with camera in hand. Here’s what we found.

A juvenile red-legged frog sat at pond's edge - ready to hop into the pond for protection.

A large California tiger salamander larvae floated near the surface.

There were juvenile CRFs along the shore and in the pond.

Here's a CRF tadpole with legs.

Here's a good look at a California newt larvae. Much smaller than the CTS.

As we watched a red-legged frog tadpole turned on it’s side, swam in circles and floated to the surface dead.

This tadpole died right before our eyes.

From bad to worse. Not long after that we found the remains of the young buck. I guess that’s life and death at the former fish pond. The good news? It was the first time in many years that any of the above critters survived in the pond, as the fish did a very good job of consuming all of them.

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