June 16th - 30th, 2023 Range Rider Update
Moving into July, the Team is happy to be in full swing, riding daily through participant herds. Range Riders rode in the Lakeview parade, along with many other Valley representatives. The parade included bats, blue birds, pronghorn, eagles, Betsy Ross (not a valley representative, but the lady who sewed the first American flag), and many more. Fun was had by all!
Overall, cattle seem to be healthy and happy. There have been a few losses to larkspur poisoning recently on the valley floor. Recent losses occurred after cattle got through a fence, and into an area that had been specifically excluded due to the amount of larkspur. The larkspur on the valley floor is in the flowering and near-flowering stage, which unfortunately coincides with high palatability and toxicity. Range Riders put cameras on a few of the carcasses, but have not documented predator scavenging activity so far.
There was an uptick in grizzly bear observations over the last few weeks. Many of the observations were from CVA game cameras, but there were also several sightings of bears in the north-central portion of the Valley. This included two bears seen several times, one described as very large. Another observation of interest was again of two bears that may have been a mating pair based on the bears’ characteristics and the series of photos collected on a game camera. Fortunately, we have not documented any livestock-grizzly bear conflict yet and hope it stays that way!
There is a low stress stockmanship clinic, being hosted at the J-L Ranch, with Dawn Hnatow on July 26-29. If this is a topic that interests you, please reach out to Meg with J-L at 313-550-6209.
There were 11 grizzly bear observations in the last two weeks. This included seven game camera events and four sightings. Based on the distribution and physical characteristics of the bears, these observations represent at least six different individuals. Observations this go-round spanned the Valley, so please be diligent while out working and recreating throughout, high and low!
The CVA game cameras captured three black bear observations. Observations included one black and two brown black bears. These sightings also spanned the Valley.
There were two wolf observations, including one sighting and one game camera event. Both observations were of grey wolves, and were likely two different individuals.
The Range Rider Team collected numerous moose, deer, elk, and pronghorn photos over the last two weeks. Moose and elk seem to be done calving, but there are still some tiny deer and pronghorn calves in the photos, which is always so fun!
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 Erika Nunlist, Wildlife Program Coordinator, at wildlife@centennialvalleyassociation.org. We look forward to hearing from you!
*** 2023 content is property of the Centennial Valley Association. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without written permission. ***