Lower Crofton Ridge station

Shorthorn Trail station

Three American marten, presumably siblings of this year, investigate a new station on various days in August.

Upper Crofton Ridge station

This black bear swiped the entire chicken wire bait set-up and took off to munch in privacy after a brief investigation in front of the camera.

Section 3 Lake station on the east side of the Goat Rocks Wilderness

This station was set near the Section 3 Lake and Bear Creek Mountain Trailhead on Pinegrass Ridge above Rimrock Lake while the snow was still 3 feet deep.

Station 45: New montane fox detection

Mountain lion and Cascade red fox at Bear Mountain Trail station

New Section 3 Lake station

A new Cascade red fox and an ungulate visit this east side Goat Rocks Wilderness station.

June.26.2010: Cascade red fox on east side Goat Rocks Wilderness

Cool Common Raven shots from Station 33 on the south side of Mt Adams

April.28.2010: The bears are out of hibernation!

Today Dean and I snowshoed to a couple of higher elevation stations on the north side of Mount Adams. At the first station, we encountered larger tracks covered in snow. After checking the second station and returning past the first station, we came across fresh black bear tracks on top of our own tracks. These are the photos from the camera at the first station.

New Wildy the Wolverine Detections

On Friday, I headed to Randle, Washington to take down the last survey stations in the Goat Rocks Wilderness for our winter field work. Much to my surprise, Wildy, our wide ranging wolverine visited two lower elevation stations both for the first time. I should probably not be surprised as these stations are 5 mi (8 km) and 10 mi (16 km) from the only other detection of this individual in Goat Rocks we've had in 2009.

The elusive genetic sample and a name for the wolverine

Well, the laboratory in Montana that generously analyzes all potential wolverine samples we collect during our field research returned their analysis of the scat I collected while following wolverine tracks on February.4. The identity of the tracks as being wolverine were confirmed by photographic detections at two nearby stations within a day of finding the tracks. Unfortunately the analysis shows the scat is from a coyote! Many carnivores, such as coyotes, are known to follow other carnivore's tracks marking their presence as they go. It looks like this is what happened along the wolverine tracks. Now we are really determined to collect a new genetic sample to understand the origin of the wolverine in the central Cascades!

Since we didn't get to discover the sex we are choosing to name the wolverine Wildy, a fitting name for this elusive, wide-ranging critter. Thanks very much to all who contributed donations and a name. We will be using the funds raised to purchase a new remote camera!

What is it?

April.8.2010: Coyote floundering in the heavy late spring snowfall

The Wolverine Blog

Rebecca Watters writes a perceptive blog, The Wolverine Blog on wolverine conservation in general and the Greater Yellowstone populations in particular based on insights gained from her role as project manager at the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, home of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wolverine Project. Be sure to have a look at the Dramatis Gulae to learn about the unique personalities of this wolverine study. In addition check out at her nod to my project as well as information on a super exciting evening on wolverines in Jackson, WY on her recent post.

Name the Wolverine competition..... extended

A DNA sample from our intrepid wolverine collected in February is being analyzed at the genetics laboratory and we will soon know its sex. So we are extending our Name the Wolverine competition until we find out whether its a male or female. We have had many generous donations and need only a few more to purchase a camera. Please donate!

Mar.22.2010: New red fox detection in the Goat Rocks study area

Looks like a fox?! Finally, the winter weather is abaiting, at least briefly and we can get into the wilderness to check stations.

Why no blog posts lately?

If you are wondering why I haven't posted photos recently, the reason lies in the massive amount of snow we have recently been blessed with in the Cascade Range. The usual snowy foothills, bare all winter this year, are blanketed once again. Huge, repeated snowfalls in the past two weeks have made access to high-elevation survey stations difficult in addition to pushing subalpine critters to lower elevations.

CCP 2008 to 2009 Report

Get the CCP 2008/2009 Report

NAME the
CENTRAL CASCADES WOLVERINE!

Make a donation and send us your choice of name.
Instructions:
1. Donate using paypal or credit card
2. Email your choice of name to cascadescarnivore@gmail.com

We will pick our favorite name on March.31.2010. All donations will be used to purchase a remote camera for our field work.

The Central Cascades Wolverine
This individual wolverine roams from Goat Rocks Wilderness to the south side of Mount Adams and was first photographed on May.29.2009 at a remote survey station. It visited a second station one mile away on June.23 and July.6 and on September.14, it was detected in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, 18.6 miles to the north. This distance is within the average home range of a wolverine, which can be 500 to 1000 miles squared. On February.2.2010, we came across wolverine tracks on the south side of Mount Adams at 4200 ft and followed them to a deer carcass. We set a camera at this spot to see what might come by. A wolverine did! It was the same individual as our north side and Goat Rocks wolverine! This wolverine has since visited two additional stations on the south side of the mountain. The distance between the furthest detections is 27.8 miles. We think it is incredible that a wolverine's activity area encompasses all of Mount Adams and the south half of the Goat Rocks Wilderness and look forward to tracking its progress as it hopefully visits more stations during our current field season. Please join us in this adventure and help us name the Central Cascades wolverine. We do not know whether it is a male or female and if it interacts with other wolverines but genetic analysis will yield this information soon.

Wolverine (Gulo gulo)
The wolverine is the largest terrestrial member of the weasel (Mustelid) family and has a reputation for being a feisty, wide ranging scavenger. Its distribution encompasses Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia.
For more information on current wolverine research, visit The Wolverine Foundation

Station 41 bobcat detections

After 23 days without a detection, Station 38 photographed these great bobcat shots.

Wolverine detected in 2010 for a third time

After leaving the deer carcass site, our wolverine headed to a third site on the south side of Mount Adams.

Deer carcass site

On Feb.2.2010, I followed wolverine tracks to a deer carcass on the south side of Mount Adams. Nothing remained except for hair, hoof, and bone fragments. I set a camera at the site and baited it. The wolverine returned on Feb.14.2010 and I captured this photograph.

Wolverine detected on south side of Mount Adams

Our wandering glutton visited a station on the south side of Mount Adams, a distance of over 30 miles from Goat Rocks, where it was last detected in October.2010. I followed his tracks to a deer carcass and was able to collect scat, which will hopefully yield a genetic sample.

Station 38 American marten

This American marten was detected near Council Lake on the north side of Mount Adams.

Station 27 and 42 detections