September 16th-30th Range Rider Update
Range Riders continue to ride regularly, but as people ship cattle out and things slow down we will shift more time towards end-of-season wrap up (i.e. data entry, cleaning, maintenance, etc.). Calves have been weaned and shipped, two participating producers have left the Valley for the season, and the rest will mostly be out of the Valley by the end of October.
Unfortunately, one of the producers had several calf depredations right before gathering and weaning. Cameras placed on the carcasses captured photos of a sow with two yearling cubs feeding on the carcasses. Although this is not conclusive evidence that these individuals were responsible for the depredation, there were no photos of other bears in the area. The cattle were gathered for weaning shortly after the depredations, otherwise the range riders would have increased riding efforts in that herd to help reduce and/or document any continued conflict. Photos collected this fall will be helpful if there is future conflict in the area involving the same individuals.
Rifle season for pronghorn opened October 7th and will be followed by rifle season for deer and elk on October 21st. The Valley will see much more traffic due to rifle season for these species. 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!
Also, as more wild game carcasses result from hunting, it is important for everyone to continue to be bear aware. Grizzly bears are hyperphagic this time of year, focused on consuming as many calories as possible before hibernation. This causes more aggressive and defensive behavior around food sources (like carcasses) and is more likely to result in human-bear conflict. Some grizzly bears will start heading into hibernation soon, but the last individuals likely won’t den up until December.
Range Rider with Wildlife Services checking a carcass.
Predator activity really slowed down since the last report, despite similar efforts across game cameras and range riding. Although we can’t say for sure, this shift may be related to wild game carcasses left by archery hunters drawing the grizzly bears and wolves elsewhere.
The Team had several grizzly bear observations since the last report, unfortunately coinciding with depredated calf carcasses. Observations included a sow with two yearling cubs. There was one black bear sighting recently, reported by a community member who saw it run across the road at night while they were driving into the Valley from the East.
No wolves were observed in the second half of September.
Large groups of pronghorn continue to be regularly seen throughout the Valley floor. CVA game cameras have also continued to pick up a lot of deer traffic, and some elk traffic.
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. Thank you to those that submitted their observations this half of the month! 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!
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