August 1st - 15th Range Rider Update
Everything continues to be going smoothly overall. There has been minimal sickness or other concerns to report in participant herds. Unfortunately, there was a confirmed wolf depredation, the first depredation of the season, in a participant herd. Wildlife Services found the carcass and responded promptly by removing the problem wolf, which had also been involved in several other depredations outside of the Valley.
Although we have had some warm days, areas of the Valley continue to get just enough moisture to keep things green, especially up at higher elevations. This in turn has helped keep most of the herds relatively content and healthy. One storm brought 0.66” of rain in about 15 minutes to the Metzel Creek area of the Valley. We hope to keep getting these spurts of rain throughout August and September!
Hunting season for special tag archery pronghorn started on August 15th, increasing traffic to the Valley. General archery for most ungulates, black bear, and mountain lion opens September 3rd and hunting for grouse species opens September 1st. Just as a friendly reminder: If you are a hunter please be respectful of the Centennial Valley and its community; do not trespass, practice good hunting ethics, clean up after yourself (i.e. garbage and toilet paper), and drive respectfully. Thank you!
The Team’s grizzly bear observations included one sighting of a sow with two young cubs, one game camera event, and one observation of tracks. As fall draws nearer, increased grizzly bear activity is expected as hyperphagia sets in. The Team also had three black bear observations on game camera since the last report. Each observation was a different bear based on physical traits and distribution.
There were two wolf observations, including one observation of wolf scat and one report of a wolf depredation and removal.
CVA game cameras captured a ton of deer events in the last couple weeks, especially up in higher elevation areas in or near trees. There were fewer elk and moose observations, which could be due to these species holing up in coole areas due to the warm weather. Pronghorn are herding up around the Valley as they prepare for mating season later this month and into September.
The Team and the cameras cannot capture the entire Valley each day, so community reports are extremely valuable to understand how wildlife use the Valley. If you have any wildlife reports to share (big or small!) please contact one of the Range Riders. We look forward to hearing from you!
Erika Nunlist, Wildlife Program Coordinator: wildlife@centennialvalleyassociation.org
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