March Nature News by Cathy Shill
Posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008
The slaughter of Bison outside of Yellowstone National Park has been a hot topic this month. The bison historically leave the park in search of lower elevation, which offer more forage with less snow. The Montana Department of Livestock doesn’t want brucellosis (an infectious disease transmitted by a bacteria, genus Brucella) transmitted to cattle, so the bison who wander outside their boundaries are corralled and sent to slaughter.
While this disease causes a female cow or bison to abort her first calf, transmission between domesticated livestock and wild bison has never been documented.
I have heard horrible stories: The bison are driven hard to pens by men on horseback, ATVs and even helicopters. Then they are corralled and sardined into 18 wheelers and trucked off to slaughter. As a goodwill gesture, sometimes the meat is given to local Native American tribes.
I guess it is better than the 1980’s when there were just shot and left to die.
There are some interesting parts to the story. First, elk have been proven to transmit brucellosis to cattle but aren’t managed in the same way. Second, bison return to the park before the cows are put on the pasture, so transmission would be difficult or impossible. Third, in one case, a private land owner chose to purchase land to protect the bison and give them a place to winter, yet the five agency group that “manage” the bison (including the National Park Service and the Department of Livestock) is still killing the animals. Fourth, how are the animals supposed to see an imaginary line where they can and can not safely live? Finally, will we learn that we are all part of the web of life and we will benefit greatly if we support wildlife diversity and the different species that are also dependent on the earth? Will we realize this before it is too late?
In lighter news, back in Jackson Hole, the snow pack has changed a bit with some warmer temperatures and contains higher water content at lower elevations. Occasionally the sun heats the base of a tree long enough to expose some dried grass before the next snow storm covers it up. Nature dances with sun, snow and rain. One day the sun warms your face and you feel like it is spring. The next, the wind howls and cuts to your core while the snow pelts your face. We now have 596 inches in the mountains and snow is predicted for the start of April.
As one local said, “is this the winter that never ended??”
[Editor's Note: We hope so!]
Well, it does seem to be the endless winter. I do have to remind myself at this point that the moisture is needed. Last year we only received 340 inches of snow and the summer was dry.
Even with all the storms, I have seen signs of spring. The eagle welcomes me each morning as I start my drive over Teton Pass. The pair added bulk to the nest, so all I see is the top of the eagle’s head. Both males and females incubate the egg and they will sit on it for about 34 days. Normal clutch size is two eggs.
I have also seen swollen buds on the Aspen trees. It is just a small wisp of cotton at the end of the bud. Red tail hawks and Canada geese are seen more frequently as they return to the valley. Red-winged blackbirds are back in the wet lands. Ravens and magpies have been seen with nest building material. Starlings are mating. We have to look closely since we won’t have yellow daffodils for quite some time, but the signs are there. Oh, spring!
Tour Suggestion:
Once spring settles into the valley, this is the time to bike, roller blade or walk the inner park road in Grand Teton National Park. For the month of April, the road will be closed to vehicles. You can access the road at the Bradley-Taggert Lake trail head near Moose, WY or north in the park near Signal Mountain. If we get warm days and freezing nights, we will get a corn cycle of snow. This is when the top frozen layer of snow softens in the morning so when you ski, you stay right on top. My favorite corn adventures are early runs on Mt. Glory on Teton Pass or skate skiing in the Park. If the snow is firm, you can pretty much go anywhere to enjoy that softening snow. Just start early. It doesn’t take much sun to soften it and make it mushy.
Biologist Cathy Shill is a monthly contributor to The Mountain Culture and owns The Hole Hiking Experience – educational, inspirational and fun tours for all ages.
Lauren – it is obvious that PEOPLE really don’t give damned about their brother/sister creatures – unless they are cute, edible or somewhat troublesome; THEN they do something about them!! The inconsistency of bison and elk mangement is a great example and so many of the anti-wolf folks are rady for a shooting spree!!
IF the population of the world, Wyoming, the Tetons and so forth continues to grow with Humans – the only thing we’ll see is MORE conflicts and they will get more violent! Why is no one, especially the Presidential Candidates, discussing this very touchy issue? Cowardice is the only thing I can see – tough decisions, takes tough leadership and I don’t see ANY of that in any of these Politico’s!! The Carrying Capacity of this land has been exceded and we need to REDUCE the Supplus pop. if we are to have any sustainabilty for the next 10,000 yrs.!!
On the PLUS side – it is time to Enjoy the transition to Spring/Summer; be careful of the chnages (thin ice, wet slides, ect.) and Change with the seasons!! accept the fact that this has been and is going to be a TOUGH winter to… CHange!! ENJOY everyone!!
Jay J:
Thanks for your comment. All these ARE touchy issues. As we head into the next billion in the earth’s population, you should check out Andrew Revkin’s NYTimes blog, Dot Earth. He does a good job at starting discussions on these topics. By the way, I did not write this post. Cathy Shill did. Thanks!