#keepwildlifewild

[mountrainiernps]

As a person not raised in the western U.S., I met my first marmot when I moved to the Cascade Mountains. What fascinating and cool creatures, I thought. Their lifestyle is certainly appealing to some folks. Some of us might very well like to sleep for many months. Crawl out of your burrow when the snow melts. Then proceed to chow down as much as possible while setting some aside some food  for emergency stores in the winter. Plus their homes are in some of the most beautiful places around.

Here are Mount Rainier National Park, our marmots are hoary marmots. Hoary as in frosted, and geesh does it look good on them? They’re found in the subalpine meadow areas of the park. Perhaps you’ve noticed one or two?

What has fascinated you about these little animals? Is it their amazing whistle to warn their companions about nearby predators? Is it how they can radically increase their body weight to get through winter? Or how about their great method of cooling down; lay spread eagle on a rock. What’s your favorite marmot fact, picture, or story? ~ams

Please remember that while hoary marmots appear fluffy and squishy, they are also wild animals. Please give them space and never feed a wild animal. For more information please visit this website https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/rodents.htm

NPS/I. Metzen Photo. Marmot near trees in Paradise. June, 2018. NPS Photo. Marmot chilling out trailside in Paradise. June, 2015.

[glaciernps]

Wildlife Safety

Observing wildlife in their native habitat can be a fun, thrilling, and educational experience—filled with wonder and adventure. When you follow safe wildlife watching practices, you protect the health of the wildlife...and yourself! 

Always enjoy wildlife from the safety of your car or from a safe distance. Do not approach wildlife to take photographs. Feeding, harassing, or molesting wildlife is strictly prohibited and subject to a fine. Bears, mountain lions, goats, deer, or any other species of wildlife can present a real and painful threat, especially females with young.

For most wildlife in Glacier, like moose, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, deer, and coyotes, visitors are to be at least 75 feet (25 yards/23 meters) away. For wolves, grizzly, and black bears, visitors need to be at least 300 feet (100 yards/91.4 meters) away. This isn’t just for your safety, but for theirs, as well.

Know the risks of getting too close to wild animals and how to avoid them. Read more at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/watchingwildlife/smart.htm

Image Descriptions: (Top) Graphic illustration warning against petting wildlife. (Bottom) Illustration demonstrating safe distances for wildlife viewing.

[nonbinary-nature-lover-jeri]

Gibbons Are Real Tree Experts. They need to be because they travel by swinging from branch to branch and tree to tree by using their incredibly strong arms. This method of locomotion is called brachiation. Humans also do this (remember “monkey bars) but are only a fraction as amazing as gibbons. Gibbons need strong arms because they’re apes and apes do not have tails so they use their arms to travel high in the canopy of rainforests. This is a #repost from@grp_phuket via @PhotoAroundApp The way that gibbons swing through tree canopies is called brachiating and they can move up to 56km per hour (35 miles per hour) and have been known to swing distances of up to 15 metres (that’s nearly 50 feet)! #funfactWednesday #fun #fact #Swinging #gibbons #gibbonrehabilitationproject #grp #conservation #thailand #phuket #southeastasia #warf #brachiating #sofast #stretchyarms #notmonkeys #apes #whitehandedgibbons #keepwildlifewild #wildlife #ArmchairNaturalist #ISawGibbobsInIndonesiaAndThailand #MyFavoritePrimate https://www.instagram.com/p/B81clKJAwVa/?igshid=iwqr02tugyuj

[takethewildroad]

No matter how many times I see them, or how often, I never get tired of watching bears. From up to eight black bears a day while working in Yosemite, to my first grizzly in Yellowstone, my fascination with these intelligent creatures seems endless. This experience was a great unexpected start to my summer in the park at 5 AM on day one.

[mountrainiernps]

Oh deer!

Hey elk!

When was the last time you saw a member of the deer family, Cervidae, while visiting Mount Rainier National Park?

There are a few of these large, hooved mammals that call Mount Rainier their home. (https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/hoofed-mammals.htm)  The elk are not often seen. Though some herds make the park their home, they’re rarely where the humans are. Seeming to prefer the quieter meadows and forests. But when you do find them, gee what a sight. Their rich brown fur helps them blend in while walking through the woods. A female elk can weight 400-600 pounds and stand 4 feet high at the top of her shoulder. A male elk can get even bigger at nearly 800 pounds (though sometimes 1,100) and 5 feet tall at the top of his shoulder. Through the end of the summer and in the fall, males will grow antlers that can also be quite large, sometimes several feet high and across.

In comparison, the black-tailed deer is much smaller. Females, does, grow up to 90-130 pounds while males will grow to 200 pounds. They are also quite a bit shorter than elk; standing just over a yard high at the top of the shoulder. Just like elk, only the males grow antlers that they grow in the summer, show off in the breeding season and then drop in the winter. Unlike the elk, deer can at times be frequently seen in the more populated parts of the park.

During a visit to the park, have you see any black-tailed deer or maybe an elk or two? ~ams

Hopefully, in all your animal adventures, you’ve remembered to give wildlife their space and stayed far back from the animal. https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/keep-wildlife-wild.htm

NPS Photo (top). Elk track in mud. 2018. NPS/K. Bacher Photo (middle). Bull (male) elk lying on the forest floor at Northwest Trek, Eatonville, WA. 2014. NPS/S. Redman Photo (bottom). Black-tailed deer standing in forest. Paradise area. 2015.

[nonbinary-nature-lover-jeri]

Gibbon Friendship. • This is a #repost from GRP (Gibbon Rehabilitation Project) via @PhotoAroundApp Did you know that in Thailand Gibbons are called Chanee? Photo GRP/WARF #grp #gibbonrescueproject #gibbonrehabilitationproject#apes #animalrelease #gibbons #nature #wildlife #whitehandedgibbon #thailand #southeastasia #keepwildlifewild #volunteer #conservation #phuket #WARF #khaophrathaew #kpt #volunteer #rescue #rehab #wild #charity #photooftheday #cute #beautiful #wildlifephotography https://www.instagram.com/p/B8jMG_mAd4h/?igshid=15dr5m0jwmb5i

[mountrainiernps]

Walking around Sunrise in the summer and fall, you might think this is a pretty marvelous place to live.

But if you and I slogged through the snow to get back here in the winter, would you find it so fabulous?

Some living organisms do.

Some plants and animals have found this and many high and dry places throughout the North American West to be great places to live. Despite soaring elevations, say around 5,000 feet above sea level or higher. Despite long, snowy winters. Even with strong, dry winds some plants and animals have found ways to survive in places like Sunrise.

One key to this marvelous ability; it pays to have friends.

Say you’re a tree like the whitebark pine, Pinus albicaulis. You adore living in sunny, drier places and are a natural at dealing with high elevations. So places like Sunrise appeal to you. You’ll even grow up into the alpine environment which is almost defined by having no trees. I’m not saying it’s a glamorous life up there because you do get quite twisted and forced to hug the earth (also known as a krumholtz). But you manage to thrive in all but one thing. You don’t do well with seed dispersal. Big, heavy, wing-less seeds don’t travel far especially when the pinecones don’t open on their own.

Then a friend steps up to help you out.

A few animals have learned about the seeds of whitebark pines but your biggest friend is a Clark’s nutcracker, Nucifraga columbiana. These gray and black members of the corvid family are brilliant at getting the whitebark pine seeds out of the cone. Not only will the Clark’s nutcracker eat the seeds, they also plant them, albeit accidentally. They harvest the seeds and then store them in the ground in places that don’t get too much snow. One bird will store thousands, sometimes 30,000-90,000 seeds in a year. (It pays to have birdy-GPS to remember so many storage locations.) Of course not all of these will be eaten by next summer so some seeds get the chance to germinate and grow.

The bird gets food and the tree gets it’s seed planted. It really pays to have friends. ~ams

P.S. Please remember that in Mount Rainier National Park, pinecone seeds need to be left for the wildlife and not harvested for human consumption. The animals thank you.

NPS/E. Brouwer Photo (top). Wildflower meadow and trees near Sunrise. July, 2014. NPS/L. Lane Photo (middle top). Aerial view of Sunrise area under winter snows. Day Lodge visible near center of image. January, 1976. NPS/S. Redman (middle bottom). Whitebark pines near Sunrise. August, 2011. NPS/B. Klopp Photo (bottom). Gray and black Clark’s nutcracker sitting on stone wall. June, 2005.

[mountrainiernps]

If variety is the spice of life, then cascade red foxes are spicy from birth.

Vulpes vulpes cascadensis aren’t found in many places, mainly around Mount Rainier and Mount Adams. And they aren’t very big, only 8-15 pounds. And they’re only found in a few environments, normally subalpine and alpine forests and meadows. But they sure are colorful.

Yes, they’re called red foxes and can be found sporting some wonderful hues of red. But they might also have fur coats of tan, silver, or black. Two things that always stay the same – the end of their tail has a white tip and their legs are black.

These are spicy, colorful, little animals and pretty rare too. Please try and help these foxes out by not feeding them. Wildlife, like the cascade red fox, depend on natural behavior for survival, once a wild animal becomes food-conditioned it loses its natural fear of people and public places. Not feeding park animals keeps you safe and the wildlife wild. Thank you. ~ams

NPS Photo (top). A cascade red fox walking past a rock in Longmire. Fox is mainly black in color with white frosting on its fur. April, 2005. NPS Photo (middle). Two cascade red foxes, one standing and one laying down, on snow. Foxes are tan and black in color. NPS/S. Redman Photo (bottom). A cascade red fox sits in some gravel. Fur is tan in color. Paradise. July, 2010.