Wild Critters Agree: Spring Has Officially Arrived

As the fickle weather patterns usually associated with the month of March move toward a more predictable April mildness, wild animals across the country are likewise doing their part as traditional harbingers of spring. On March 19, the swallows indeed returned to the Capistrano Mission in Southern California. The turkey vultures are confirmed arrivals in Hinckley, Ohio. And in Phoenix, rattlesnakes emerging from their winter dens are scaring the bejesus out of homeowners across the Valley of the Sun.

Also in this week's Outdoor News Hound, read about how the elk death mystery was solved in Wyoming in 2004, and how grizzly bears get a gut feeling each year in Yellowstone National Park.

Carrion Anyone?

In some circles, the official pronouncement of spring is the utterance of the phrase, Play ball! But in Hinckley, Ohio, it ain't really spring 'til somebody hollers, Buzzard!

It was Cleveland Metroparks Chief Naturalist Bob Hinkle (AKA the official buzzard spotter), who confidently pointed skyward at 7:09 a.m. on March 15 and thundered forth his divine proclamation.

You see, at the Hinckley Nature Reservation, a northern Ohio winter simply cannot evolve into spring without a proper buzzard sighting. And this year, about 100 stalwart bird watchers were not disappointed when a solitary buzzard was observed circling in the overcast morning sky.

Hinckley's semi-official public turkey vulture spotting began in 1957, when Metroparks Ranger Walter Nawalaniec told The Cleveland Press that he had personally observed the buzzards arrival in Hinckley each March 15 for the past six years. And he added that his predecessor, the late Charlie Willard, had personally logged their punctual arrival for the prior 23 years.

Further, legend has it that the winged scavengers with a palate for roadkill have a history in Hinckley dating back to the early 19th century. As the story goes, settlers conducted The Hinckley Hunt for livestock predators in December 1818.

The resulting carcasses froze that winter and hundreds of returning buzzards feasted during the mid-March thaw.

Cold-Blooded Critters

Now that the temperature in Phoenix has already reached a mild, spring-like 97 degrees, it means that rattlesnake season has officially begun.

Randy Babb, a biologist with Arizona Game and Fish Department, said he's not surprised that his office has received increased reports of urban snake sightings as warm temperatures have brought native reptiles from their dens a little earlier than usual.

And once the season begins, there's no turning back. Rattlesnakes in the desert Southwest do not return to their winter dens until well into October at the earliest.

In addition to the game and fish department, the Arizona Herpetological Association, Rural/Metro Fire Departments, sheriff's offices and commercial pest-removal companies each report receiving hundreds of calls in recent weeks.

We consider snake season all summer long, but even on a warm day in January you can encounter one, Babb said.

Typically, there are about 200 snakebites per year in Arizona, and in the past 10 years, four were fatal.

More people are struck by lightning than killed by a rattlesnake, Babb said, a fact that provides little consolation to the Tucson housewife who has just heard a rattle in her carport.

Wyoming Elk Mystery Solved

Biologists in Wyoming believe that usnic acid is responsible for the deaths of more than 300 elk in a span of two months in 2004. Authorities had previously been baffled by the untimely deaths of wild elk in one region of the state.

Scientists now assume the elk ingested the substance by eating a naturally occurring lichen. It is thought that heavy concentrations of usnic acid, which was once used in low doses in some weight-loss diet supplements, caused the animals to weaken and collapse, helpless to eat, drink or escape predators.

The lichen is native to many northern states, including Wyoming's sagebrush high country.

Usnic acid is known to have anti-bacterial properties and lichens containing it have several uses in traditional medicine, including as an anti-inflammatory. In pill form, it is known to promote weight loss by boosting metabolism. Questions about its side effects prompted the US Food and Drug Administration to recently ask a company to stop selling it as a diet drug.

Bears Get Gut Feeling'

Research biologists in the Yellowstone ecosystem say grizzly bears appear to know when elk hunting season begins on public lands in adjacent Montana and Wyoming they exit the protection of the National Park and make a beeline for the piles of intestines and meat left by hunters.

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team tracked Yellowstone bear movements for the past 17 years and found nearly 80 percent of the carnivores leave the park boundaries beginning in September when hunting seasons open.

The study appears to verify what bear managers and experienced hunters and outfitters have been saying for a long time: When elk start bugling, bears know it means food on the ground. The findings may further explain several recent grizzly/elk hunter encounters, including the mauling death of a bowhunter last year while he was field dressing an elk on the Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area near Missoula.

The report estimated hunters leave behind 370 tons of viscera and meat annually in areas near the park.

Quote of the Week

You can make remarks about the ancestry of my dog. Have your doubts about the gas mileage toted-up by my family sedan. Spread the story, if you wish, that my backyard barbecues could be best digested by a brood of Arkansas razorbacks. But if you cast aspersions on my .357 Magnum six-gun, get somebody to hold your coat, we'll continue this discussion in the alley.

Skeeter Skelton

Good Friends, Good Guns, Good Whiskey, 1988