Blog From The Bog

Coyotes, blue snail

I made a complete circuit of the wetland today and couldn't find any fresh bear scat.  I talked to Scott Buck and he said that he hasn't seen any recently either, so I took the bear signs down.  It seems that our bear was just traveling through.  In all likelihood, our little park was much too busy for this fellow.  I mean, how can a bear settle down to a decent meal with all of those baby carriages, bicycles, walkers, runners, and squealing kids around?  It just isn't fair! 

Photo courtesy of John R. Quick

Coyote scat, on the other hand, can be found from one side of the wetland to the other, often right in the middle of the boardwalk and the gray gravel trail.  I found two new fresh piles of coyote scat today.  Both loads of scat contained apple chunks, nuts, seeds, berries, grass, and fur.  As you can see, coyotes have a very diverse diet.

I also found evidence of coyote dining.  As you can see, the coyote ate the front half of his prey and left the back half behind.  This is quite common.  I've seen cats do the same thing, as well as bears when the salmon are running.  The highest concentration of calories and nutrition is contained in the head; so, if you're trying to fatten yourself up for winter, it makes sense to spend your time eating the parts of the animal that provide you with the most benefit.  Once again, the Western thatching ants are trying to take advantage of what's left behind, although I think these ants are going to have to do a lot of slicing and dicing because I don't think they're going to drag that to their mound all in one piece.

By, the way, I read in the Federal Way Mirror that coyotes are dining on cats at the fifth hole of the Twin Lakes Golf Course.  The number of half-eaten cats being found at hole number five is growing weekly.  Please keep an eye on your pets!

Coyotes eat rabbits.

 

Squirrels.

Mice, and just about anything else they can find in the park.  That includes your dog.  The coyotes are very thin and hungry right now.  Please leave your pets at home where they're safe (except around the golf course and the BPA Trail, where they're coyote food).

The land snail migration season is over, so you can easily travel down the blue gravel trail these days without having to worry about stepping on them.  You still have to look out for the tiny baby snakes though, as they seem to find the gravel very attractive, especially on warm days.  Anyhow, just as I was really beginning to miss our wonderful little land snails, I started running into these huge blue snails.  Someone is busy tagging the entire area around the park with these blue snails:  walls, rocks, road signs, they're everywhere!

Today, the temperature got all the way up to 62 degs F by 3 p.m., under gray cloudy skies.  A nice breeze kept itself busy blowing leaves off of the trees.  The great blue herons and river otters should be moving down to the Lower Fife Marsh to wait for the salmon to start running up West Hylebos Creek.  Vees of geese have started honking their way over our roof.  Autumn is on the way.

Teri Lenfest

Western Thatching Ants

Western thatching ants live all over the Pacific Northwest.  They can be identified by their huge red heads and black bodies.

They build huge mounds on the forest floor using whatever is available:  leaves, twigs, pine needles, fir needles, small sticks, and anything else they can find.  I've been looking for this particular ant mound all summer and finally found it today.  This mound measures two feet across and is seven inches high.  In the world of Western thatching ant mounds, this mound is actually very small.

In this closeup of the mound, you can see that it's swarming with ants.  This photo is a bit blurry because I took it from rather far away.  Western thatching ants are fierce warriors; ready, willing, and able to do battle with anything that threatens their mound or food source.  When I stuck my ruler beside the mound to see how tall it was, these fierce little ants immediately attacked it, stubbornly clinging to the ruler even after I picked it up and shook it really hard.  These ants have huge heads and their enormous mandibles can bite really hard.

Not only do they bite really hard, after they take a nice big bite, they like to follow it up with a nice spray of formic acid, which burns like crazy!  You do not want to mess with these ants because they'll mess right back with you.

Another interesting thing about these beautiful ants is that they're aphid farmers.  They actually herd aphids together, like little aphid cowboys, and then tend and protect them.  Aphids are an excellent source of nice, sweet, honeydew, which Western thatching ants have a particular fondness for.  These ants are tending an aphid farm near the gray gravel trail in between the historical cabins and the hawthorn tree.

Western thatching ants work hard all day long, forever marching back and forth between their mound and food source, toting home food many times their size and weight.  It's a constant parade of ants traveling in both directions, surmounting every obstacle in their paths.  They're really quite remarkable, don't you think?

Teri Lenfest

Snakes, Dragonflys, Raccoons, and Apples

I promised I would post no more scatology and I'll try to stick to my promise.  Fish and Wildlife has asked me to keep track of the scat that I find in the park and keep them informed, and the blog is the easiest way to post a huge number of photos at one time, so I may have to go back on that promise.  But, so far, so good.  I didn't find any fresh bear scat in the park today and only one pile of fresh coyote scat, so maybe the bear has moved on.  The coyotes, on the other hand, are year-round residents.

While I was searching the trail for fresh scat, I ran across this series of footprints at the tree-well where I usually see all of the frogs.  Something clearly took a step off of the boardwalk, then took two additional steps towards the tiny bit of water that's left in the tree-well.  Anyone's who's familiar with that area knows that it's a long step from the top of the boardwalk to the ground, so the print nearest the boardwalk is very deep.

This is a close-up of the last foot-print.  It isn't very clear, but I believe it was made by a raccoon.

When I got to the bridge on the Brooklake spur, I could clearly see more footprints beneath the bridge headed towards the creek.  I'm an old lady with a rebuilt leg, so there was no way that I could get down there to lay a ruler alongside any of these prints.  I did hold my ruler up in front of me and eyeball it against the prints and I believe the prints to be about 3 inches long.

In the close-up of one print, you can see the long-skinny toes tipped by sharp claws.  I believe these to be the prints of either a raccoon or a muskrat, both of whom live in the wetland.  The muskrats live in the creek very near this area.  The prints could belong to either one.

Adele Freeland and I discovered these raccoon footprints on the boardwalk several years ago.  The raccoon could not have passed too long before we did, and yet we never saw him, just the wet prints he left behind.

While I was looking for scat around Marlake, I ran into another one of the little baby garter-snakes.   Life is not easy for these tiny snakes, so I feel very protective of them.  He's just a skinny little guy trying to stay out of our way.

I kept finding apples floating in Marlake.  Apple trees don't grow around the perimeter of Marlake.  Apple trees grow in the orchard and before and after the sign-in kiosk.  So, how are the apples getting into the lake?  Someone or something has to be carrying them there.  What and why?  Very interesting, don't you think?

Remember how I questioned why the wasps and bees seemed to be interested in wood these days to the point of obsession?  This beautiful dragonfly was exhibiting the same behavior.  It was totally absorbed in this wood, to the point where it would leave very temporarily, only to return to the very same spot, over and over again.  That blows my nest theory right out of the water, as dragonflies do not build nests out of wood pulp.  So, what is the attraction of wood at this particular time of the year?  Once again, I'm going to ask for the insect people to chime in, even though, so far, there don't seem to be any insect people out there to help us out.

And, some little mammal has dug a tunnel right beside the blue gravel trail.  It's too small for a rabbit, even though it's located right in the middle of rabbit territory.  Keep your eyes open.  You might be lucky enough to catch sight of the new owner of this piece of turf.  If you do, please let me know.

A lot of people were taking advantage of this opportunity to have fun in the park, including a family of three, all of whom were on bicycles.  What fun! 

Teri Lenfest

Possible Black Bear Visiting West Hylebos Park

The current vote stands at four votes for a black bear and one vote for the coyotes.  So, fully believing in the maxim "better safe than sorry", I thought I would post the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's information on how to avoid an encounter with a black bear and what to do if you accidentally come into close contact with a black bear.

Since camping is not allowed in West Hylebos Park, I have chosen to ignore all of the information pertaining to camping in bear country.

Note:  Scat examination indicates that the animal in question is consuming the apples, plums, and berries along the blue gravel trail from the parking lot to the sign-in kiosk, around the sign-in kiosk, in the meadow, and in the orchard, but scat has been found throughout the park.  Stay alert to your surroundings at all times.

HIKING RULES

1.  Always hike in small groups

2.  Make your presence known by singing or talking

3.  Keep small children close and on the trails.

4.  Leave your pets at home.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU COME INTO CLOSE CONTACT WITH A BEAR

1.  Stay calm

2.  Avoid direct eye contact (this could elicit a charge)

3.  Stay upwind

4.  Identify yourself as a human by standing up, talking, waving your arms above your head

5.  Do not approach the bear, give the bear plenty of room

6.  If you cannot safely move away from the bear, and the animal does not flee, try to scare it away by clapping your hands and yelling.

7.  If the bear attacks, fight back aggressively.  As a last resort, should the attack continue, protect yourself by curling into a ball or lying on the ground on your stomach and playing dead.

8.  In an emergency, dial 9-1-1

9.  If you encounter a black bear problem, and it is not an emergency, contact the nearest regional Department of Fish and Wildlife office between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.  In King County, the number to call is (425)775-1311.  If you need to report an non-emergency black bear encounter when the F&W office is closed, contact the Washington State Patrol or nearest law enforcement agency.

Once again, if this is a black bear, his sole intent is to consume as many calories as possible, so that he can get big and fat before he enters winter hibernation.  You are not part of the black bear food chain, but you may get in between the black bear and his food.  If the bear is really hungry, he may choose to defend his food source.  When the food is gone, the black bear will be gone as well.  So, if this is a problem at all, it's a temporary problem.

I have traditionally encouraged visitors to go slowly and be quiet, so that they can see the wildlife that lives in the park.  At this particular time, I would like to encourage you to pick up your pace and make a little noise. 

Keep your eyes open, stay alert, make noise, and have fun!  And, no, encouraging your kids to get closer to the bear so you can get a good photograph for the family scrapbook is not a good idea!  Believe me, I can't tell you how many times I've witnessed just exactly that along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Smokey Mountains.  I know you're all smarter than that! 

Teri Lenfest

Last Scat Blog, I Promise

Scott Buck, long time bear hunter, and current caretaker at West Hylebos Park, says the scat we've been finding belongs to a black bear.

Russell Link, from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, has identified the scat as belonging to a coyote.

Michelle Tirhi, from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, believes the scat belongs to a black bear.

This is a good example of how difficult it is to identify an animal by it's scat.  I guarantee you that I don't know what's leaving this scat all over the park, so I'll leave it up to you.

This is a photograph of apple scat that I found on the boardwalk at the park.

This is a photo of black bear apple scat that was taken by Kim Cabrera.

This is a photo of coyote apple scat that was taken by Russell Link.

This is a photo of scat that I took on the boardwalk in the park.

This is a photo of black bear scat taken by Alan Bauer.

This is a photo of coyote scat taken by Russell Link.

Coyote or bear?  Your call.  I'll be darned if I can figure it out.  I do know the following:  we do have a pack of five coyotes living in the park.  I have seen them many times, as have Adele Freeland, and Chris Carrel.  We have no black bears living in the park, but a visitor to the park swears that he saw a black bear there last year, and several years ago a black bear was traveling all over this area, eventually being trapped on the Weyerhauser property.

In my book, it's more likely that the scat belongs to the coyotes.  Yes, coyotes do eat fruit.  But, there's still a slim possibility that a bear is moving through.  If so, the bear will leave when the fruit is gone, which could be a while.  The coyotes, on the other hand, will be with us forever.  Coyotes have adapted to living with humans very well.

For the time being, I recommend that you travel the trail in groups and make lots of noise so that nothing gets surprised by your presence.  Most people do that anyway, so all should be well.  I would also recommend that you pull the earbuds and headphones out of/off of your ears.  First of all, you need to be aware of the environment you're traveling through, so you aren't surprised, and you don't surprise anything.  Secondly, you can't hear the birds singing when your ears are stuffed full of electronics.

Unplug and tune in.  It's good for the soul!

Teri Lenfest

Kingfisher, Dragonfly, Frog, and Snake

Okay, this blog is for those of you who have been really grossed-out by all the scat blogs.  I do apologize, but the scat blogs were necessary.  If there is a black bear dining in the park, we need to trap him and move him elsewhere, for it's safety, as well as yours.  Before we can get Fish and Wildlife to do that, we have to present them with evidence of the fact that we actually have a bear in the park.  So, now that that's done, we can get on to much nicer things.

As I was sneaking around Marlake looking for bear scat, I discovered this beautiful belted-kingfisher.  The kingfishers usually start showing up around the time that the salmon start running.  Of course, the weather around here has been so dry lately that there's not enough water in West Hylebos Creek for a salmon to get up, but the kingfishers know that the salmon are congregated out there in Commencement Bay, so here they are, right on schedule.  Scott said that he saw three beavers frolicking in Brooklake, but I think he probably saw the river otters.  River otters, muskrats, and beavers look a lot alike.  The river otters have been here for about a month now.  They are also one of the creatures who follow the salmon.  This is so exciting!  When the great blue herons, belted kingfishers, and river otters show up, you know the salmon can't be far behind.  All we need is some good hard rain.aq

Autumn is quickly approaching.  I don't know about you, but I live directly beneath the goose flyway, so every Spring and every Autumn, huge vees of migrating geese fly over my apartment.  We can hear them going, "honk, honk, honk" as they fly west over the apartment in the morning, and "honk, honk, honk" as they fly east over the apartment in the evening.  Yesterday morning, an entire vee of geese flew over our apartment, headed west.  A few minutes later, a lonely straggler flew over our apartment and his "honk" was so pathetic.  I know it's anthropomorphic, but the whole tone of his pathetic little honk indicated that he was scared and lost and didn't know what to do, and he was all alone.  Poor guy!  I hope he caught up with the others.

Remember the crazy prehistoric-looking dragonfly who has been making me cross-eyed for weeks?  Ha! Ha!, I finally got a picture of this great big teaser!  That's the best I've been able to get. His wings are moving so fast that you can't even see them!  Compared to the other dragonflies, this fellow is huge!  He's easily twice the size of any of the other dragonflies mating around Marlake.  He really, truly, looks like he could have lived with the dinosaurs.  I love this guy because he's so curious.  He reminds me of these fish I snorkel with in Hawaii who remind me of swimming luggage.  They get right up between your eyes and look at you with wonder.  Ooooh, what's this?  Are you good to eat?  No?  Are you a mate?  No?  What are you?  I absolutely love them!  I guess it's because they're doing exactly what I'm doing, so we're kindred spirits of a sort.  I'm as interested in them as they are in me!

Although most of the baby frogs have hopped off into the woods, where you can hear them singing their little hearts out, there are still a few stragglers hanging around in the bushes edging Marlake.  I wonder why they didn't follow their brothers and sisters on their trip into the forest?  Very few are left among the leaves surrounding Marlake, but if you look hard enough, you can find them.  This one seems to be facing off with an fly.  This little fly is in a very precarious position right now and I'm torn between rooting for the frog or the fly.  That's the exact moment that Scott Buck showed up, though, so I never got to see whether the frog ate the fly or the fly got away.  What do you think?

Then I ran into this little guy.  He's so tiny!  He's one of the baby snakes and he was trying really hard not to be noticed, even though he was sitting in the middle of the blue gravel trail, where his camouflage wasn't working very well for him.  Right after I took this photo, a man came up behind me on the trail with these expensive looking headphones covering both ears.  I frantically hollered at him not to step on the snake, while waving both arms and pointing at the poor little snake.  Mr. Headphone guy was completely oblivious to me and the snake.  I wondered why he even bothered to visit the wetland if he couldn't unplug his expensive earphones and wasn't paying enough attention to see me yelling and waving my arms, much less the baby snake on the trail.  He simply walked around me, stepping withing half an inch of this poor little baby, and continuing on his way, not having heard or seen a single thing.  I was relieved to see his foot miss the baby by millimeters, then seeing the baby abruptly change direction and charge into the grass to my right.  Another tiny baby lived to see another day, but not because plugged-in, wired-up, mankind was paying attention.  He got lucky today.  As a snake lover, I hope his string of luck continues long into the future.  As for the man with the very expensive earphones.......phhhht!  He needs to unplug and tune in to what's going on around him.  In all probability, he thinks this is an empty park, containing nothing worth seeing.  Not so, my friend.  Not so, indeed!

Teri Lenfest

Scat Found In West Hylebos Park Aug 2010

I have to apologize to my readers for posting another scat report.  This is directed towards Lili Allala (Friends of the Hylebos), Adele Freeland (volunteer with Friends of the Hylebos), and Russell Link and Michelle Tirhi at the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.

West Hylebos Park is a public wetland park located in Federal Way, WA.  It includes several historical cabins, two meadows (one wild and one mowed for picnicking), an unkempt orchard, a blue gravel trail, a boardwalk trail, and two lakes (Brooklake and Marlake).  At this moment in time, apples are falling from the trees and laying on the ground, plums and cherries are on the trees, and Himalayan blackberries are beginning to ripen.

In the past several weeks I have found a great many loads of scat scattered from one end of the park to the other.  This scat is being found directly atop the boardwalk trail, in the middle of the blue gravel trail,directly adjacent to both trails, in the meadow, in the orchard, and around Marlake.  All of these areas are frequently traveled by people.

I am finding two different kinds of scat.

Some is loose, orange, and full of apples.  I found this pile right in the middle of the boardwalk, halfway down the long side of the trail.  I did not have a ruler with me at the time and the scat was no longer on the boardwalk when I returned.

This is the stain left by the missing pile of scat.  As you can see, it was about a foot across at the widest point.  That's a lot of scat!

I found this scat in the wild meadow between the historic cabins and the weed fabric around the hawthorn tree.  Once again, I did not have a ruler with me, but this is clearly the same kind of apple-filled scat I found on the boardwalk.

This was all that was left of that scat two days later when I returned with a ruler.

The other kind of scat is black and full of what looks like peach or plum pips.  Apparently, the consumer is better able to digest the plums or peaches, as just about all that's left in the scat are the pips.  This example was found in the middle of the muddy trail that encircles Marlake.

This is really fresh scat that was found directly adjacent to the blue gravel trail in between the weed fabric around the hawthorn tree and the sign-in kiosk.  This scat was not there when I entered the park in search of scat to measure.  I made a full circuit of the trail and a full circuit of Marlake, talked to Scott for a few minutes, then crossed the meadow and returned to the cabins.  So, it was maybe 45 minutes in between the first time I walked past this point and the time I took this photo.  In that interim, three different families, all with children, some with strollers, traveled this same trail.  If this is a bear, it's not afraid of people and, it's only a matter of time before the bear and the people meet.

Scott Buck is one of the park caretakers.  He lives in the old Marckx house adjacent to Marlake.  He says he's a hunter and he's hunted bears his entire life.  For the past three weeks, he's been telling people that there's a black bear in the park, but no one believes him, because there are so many people hanging out in the park, and people don't believe that a black bear would be eating apples along the same trail where so many other people are pushing baby carriages.

So, here's the scat!  Scott says he knows bear scat and that this is bear scat.  So, what do we do now?

Teri Lenfest 

Do We Have A Black Bear In The Park?

After I posted the Scat blog, my friend Adele Freeland made a visit to the park.  Later, she sent me an email saying that she hadn't seen anything near the weed cloth on her way into the park, but on her way out she found fresh scat where the ground is covered in weed cloth.  Whatever left the scat must have crossed her path within minutes of when she went down the trail.

She sent me the following link:  http://www.bear-tracker.com/blackbearscat.html.

That link includes the following photographs of black bear scat:

Doesn't this look like the scat in my scat blog that I first thought was apples, then later decided was nuts?

And, doesn't this look like the scat that I thought contained a slug?

Oh, my goodness!  We might have a black bear in the park.  Please keep your eyes open and stay alert.  I found four loads of apple scat and two loads of the darker scat scattered throughout the park and Adele found the new scat near the weed cloth along the blue gravel trail today.  There are a lot of apples on the ground near the sign-in kiosk and both blackberries and salal berries throughout the park.  Bears also seem to dine on wasps, bees, and dragonflies, which are also in abundance in the park.

We know that people are walking dogs in the park despite the fact that the park is posted as a no-dog zone.  Please be aware of the fact that dogs and bears do not mix.  If your dog goes after a bear, your dog is going to lose.

So, keep your eyes open, stay alert, and be safe!

Teri Lenfest

Wetland Scat

First of all, for those who don't know, scat is poop, feces, number two.  This blog is going to be rather graphic, so if a discussion of animal feces offends you, please move on to something else and check the blog from the bog on another day.

A week or so ago, I was walking down the boardwalk and discovered some scat on the trail.  It looked very odd to me, not at all like dog scat.  It looked like it had some kind of vegetable matter in it, but it was in the middle of the boardwalk, and I didn't want visitors to step in it, so I quickly disposed of it.

Several days later, I received an email from a couple, including a photograph of the interesting scat, asking me if I could identify it.  Since I'm not a scat expert, and haven't ever thought about becoming one, I referred this question to my friend, Adele Freeland, hoping she knew someone who could identify the scat.  Adele seems to be able to find someone who can identify anything.  She's amazing!  She went on-line and actually found a scat-identification site.  After studying the scat available on this site, she determined that the scat belonged to either a skunk or a raccoon.  We know we have raccoons in the wetland, but I've never seen a skunk there.  None of us were able to identify the vegetable matter found in the scat.  Our visitors had wanted to collect the scat, take it home, and subject it to further examination; but, in the end, opted to return on the other side of the loop trail.  That was a wise move, because, had they returned to retrieve the scat, they would have found it missing, as I'd disposed of it.

During my trip through the park today, I found four different piles of this very same scat scattered throughout the park.  Once again, I wondered what that plant material in the scat consisted of. 

What in the heck is this plant material?  It definitely looks like plant material.  I poked it with a stick and the plant material did not feel soft and mushy, instead it felt firm and leathery.  What could it be?  Anyone who's walked down the trail lately has seen the plethora of fallen crab-apples and smelled that apple cider smell permeating the air.  A lot of those apples appear to have been half-eaten by something.  Since rabbits are usually found in the vicinity of the half-eaten apples, I assumed the rabbits were eating the apples, but these are not rabbit pellets.  And all of the crab apples I'd found in the park were considerably larger than the chunks I was seeing in the scat.

While I was standing around studying one of these scat piles, something fell out of a tree and whacked me right on the top of my head.  "Ouch!", I yelled, as whatever hit me bounced off and landed on the ground.  As I stooped to retrieve the thing that had whacked me, another like object whacked me on the head once more, landing very near the first object.  When I picked them up, I could clearly see that they were half-eaten nuts.  Something was eating half a nut and pitching the other half out of a tree, directly on top of my head.  Upon further examination, I discovered that the half-eaten nut shells looked much like a half-eaten apple, but considerably smaller.

I went back to the first pile of scat that I'd found and separated a chunk of the plant material.  Compare this chunk with the photo of the nut remnant above.  What do you think?   Does this look like a nut to you?  It does to me!

So, then I ran across two examples of scat that looked like this.  Check out the piece just above the bottom-most piece.  Does this look like a slug to you?

It looked like a slug to me.  During my trek around the boardwalk today, I found four examples of the possible nut scat and two examples of the possible slug scat.  That's more poop than I've seen on the trail the entire rest of the year combined.  So, I guess we can call this "Fun With Scat" week!

Very interesting, right?  Who says that poop can't be fun?

Teri Lenfest

Slugs, Snakes, Sparrows, Squirrels, Cones

Even though it was very quiet in the park today, there were still things going on.

This little sparrow played hide and seek with me, but I finally found her.  These little birds seem to love attention.  They will sing and sing to you, then fly away, only to show up not far away, singing and singing once again. 

I never got to see this beautiful blue jay, but he left his feather stuck in the side of a tree like a dart.  It was his way of saying, "I was here!"

I didn't expect the slugs to be out because it's been so dry, but this beauty was making the best of life.  That is one gorgeous slug!

This little fellow must have been really hungry.  He could hardly wait for the sun to come out and the temperature to start rising, even if it was less than 10 degs.  The sun hardly managed to break through the clouds before this small snake made a zigzag for his favorite sunning spot, the board dipping into Marlake near the dock.  Food is not as easy to catch now that the baby frogs have hopped their way into the trees.  Something this small has to be concerned about being eaten himself.

Squirrels are everywhere in the park, but they're not too happy with us right now.  Cones are falling from the trees and smart squirrels know that gathering these cones and storing them away can mean the difference between life and death come winter.  So, when a little Douglas squirrel scolds you, he has a good reason.  You are in his way and he's a busy little mammal.  His sharp yell is telling you to go away because he has work to do.

I found this beautiful cone on the ground in the coniferous arboretum.  I thought is was absolutely perfect.

Lying right next to it was a cone that had been raided for seeds.  Cones are beautiful to us, but they're an important source of nutrition to much of the wildlife living in the park. 

Teri Lenfest