One of the joys of working out in the wilderness every day is the increased opportunity for stumbling upon wildlife. I have had several interesting and/or exciting (and unexpected) encounters with wild creatures. I'll start with the most recent.
Part 1: Here, Kitty
Location: outside Boulder
Date: Last week! (summer 2010)
The purpose of my job with mountain lions along the Front Range is to walk in to GPS clusters to see what the lion was doing there. The GPS collars send the animals' locations to a satellite every 3-4 hours, and at the end of the month all the points are downloaded and analyzed in GIS to recognize and prioritize clusters of points. These clusters represent places where the mountain lion hung out for multiple satellite fixes, and most of the time this means the cat had killed something or bedded down. Since lions usually sleep during the day, we usually only visit the clusters that occurred at night, to maximize the chance that we'll find a kill.
Sometimes we can predict what the cougar killed; if it was there for a LONG time (multiple days), it probably means the cougar killed an adult elk or deer. As the amount of time decreases, it could mean we'll find the remains of fawns, elk calves, coyotes, raccoons, porcupines, or (unfortunately) domestic cats.
After we've downloaded all the points for that month, we spend the next month hiking in to the top priority clusters (selected randomly by the computer) of the previous month. So, in August, we were visiting locations the cougars went to in July.
By the end of August 2010, my boss Kevin and I had finished all the July clusters, and, well, we didn't have a whole lot to do until September 1. Kevin decided to have me do some pilot work on a possible project evaluating the detectability of kill sites as the time lag increases, and to start off, he wanted me to visit some really fresh kills. He downloaded the GPS locations of a particular female cat, found some good clusters that were made only three-four days previously, printed out some maps, and sent me on my way. He was certain the cat was gone from the area - the latest GPS point indicated she was many miles north, across several major highways - but I was sure to bring my bear spray, in case some hungry bears decided to scavenge on the carcasses.
The very first point was located just off a canyon road outside Boulder. It was only 100 yards or so above the road, but up some very steep hillsides. I parked the truck at a trailhead and decided to hike up the trail until I got to the right elevation, then hike back toward the highway to reach the potential kill site.
It was about noon. It was hot, and the sun cast deep, dark shadows under the large pines. After hiking the trail for about five minutes, I turned 90 degrees to the south and began to search for the kill. The first GPS location, somewhat separated from the rest of the cluster, was on the way. I stopped at the point but there was nothing there - no sign of a bed, scat, scrape, mound, or anything. I continued south toward the bigger cluster.
Our nifty GPS units are pretty high-tech, and have ArcPad installed so we can see exactly where we are in relation to the rest of the GPS points, in addition to a pretty exact measure of the distance yet to go before arriving at a selected location. As I approached the nearest cluster point, I began looking around for bones, fur, or areas of crushed grass where the prey could have been brought down before being dragged to the cover of a bush or tree. The area was very open; there was little undergrowth, no deadfall, no boulders - just mature pine trees and a floor of soft brown pine needles.
The GPS unit indicated I was about 15 meters away. I had been alternating my gaze between the screen of the GPS unit, the shadows of the trees around me, and the ground just before my feet to make sure I didn't trip over roots or rocks. I shifted my gaze to the black shadow of a huge tree just in front of me about 15 meters - exactly the right spot indicated by the GPS unit - and noticed a shallow depression at its base. In the shadows, I perceived a large shape there; perhaps a rock, or maybe the body of an elk calf or deer. Bingo. Right?
Slowly, my eyes adjusted. The mass in the shadows began to take shape. I'm not sure which part I noticed first, or if it all came together at once in a flash of recognition. A thick body, rear lost in the shadows, perhaps the hint of darker spots. Two dark eyes. A dark nose. A round face, with a white snout outlined in a black that matched the spots above its eyes and on its cheeks. Dark ears, laid sideways - not backwards, as you'd see in an aggressive animal, but sideways, the way the ears look when a cat is trying to remain hidden, like when stalking its prey.
My pace never faltered, but it shifted. I walked west, exactly 90 degrees from the way I had come, not wishing to turn my back on the animal but not wishing to come any nearer. I kept my eyes on it. Was it a bobcat? No. The face isn't right.
It was a cougar. A young one, from what I could tell - it was slightly bigger than a bobcat, and covered in dark spots. I had come within 15 meters and it hadn't moved an inch - just stared at me, hoping I wouldn't see it. Doing just what Mom had trained it to do.
I returned to the truck, sliding down along the steeper hillsides beside the highway, and called my boss as soon as I'd gotten in cell phone range. He didn't answer, so I left a voicemail.
"So, Kevin, I got here to the cluster, and, well, I hope you don't mind, but I decided not to investigate it. Because, ummm, you see" - pause for effect - "therewasacougaronit. Bye!"
When he called me back, he told me that it's common for older kittens to be left at kills while the mother goes off and hunts for the next dinner. When she's successful, she'll come back and pick up the kittens, and take them to the new kill. Apparently this kitten - and perhaps others that I didn't see - were just waiting for her to come back.
I was glad my gut reaction to encountering a cougar in the field wasn't to run.
I was also glad that, not a minute previously, while I had investigated that lone point some distance away from the rest of the cluster, I had decided to take out my bear spray and hold it in my hand. Just in case.
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