Winter Comes To The Wasatch
During the late fall and early winter of 2015, we positioned an infrared motion sensitive camera near the ridgelines to the south and to the east of Pinebrook peak which is located just north of Park City, Utah. Most of the camera triggers occurred at night, reflecting the nocturnal preference of the animals, and made use of camera supplied infrared illumination. This produced pictures and videos of marginal quality but which were, nonetheless, informative . In the first location, as the first snows of the season came to cover the ground, the camera took bursts of still pictures when triggered. In the second location, over a period of ten days during which a massive winter storm dropped up to five feet of snow in the Wasatch, the camera took short video clips when triggered. In each case the snowshoe hike up the mountain to recover the camera or its data card proved to be significantly more strenuous than anticipated. Figure 1 shows that there is virtually no snow on the ground at the end of October when we positioned the camera wearing fall hiking clothes and shoes.
Figure 1
Figures 2-6 show a selection of photos of mule deer which passed the site during the ensuing six weeks. The total number of mule deer sightings was of order twenty with the majority of them being males, perhaps because it was mating season when the males are unusually rambunctious.
Figure 2
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Figures 7 is the only sighting of a rabbit that occurred.
Figure 7
Figures 8-10 show moose. The first is a bull and the second a cow, the latter choosing to bed down in the field of view for a couple of hours resulting in a large number of triggers. In total, there were approximately six moose sightings.
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Figure 10
Figures 11-15 are a selection of elk photos. The total number of individuals sighted was again of order twenty and again with a disproportionate number of them being males. The final three photos were among the rare daylight photos and show a couple of spike horn males and a cow. Independent observation of a herd of elk in this same region a few weeks later, in late December, revealed a single large male with about fifteen females and two spike horn males. He is shown in Figure 16 with some of his herd settled in the snowy brush about him. A possible explanation for the discrepancy between the sex ratio of the individuals in the triggered camera photos and the sex ratio in the observed herd could be that the camera was triggering on the leftovers after herd formation. The leftovers would naturally enough be mostly males , since the dominate male has managed to successfully round up most of the local females for his harem.
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Figure 16
Figure 17 shows us coming to retrieve the camera. We are now wearing winter mountaineering clothes and snowshoes. The ridgeline over which we had departed is now virtually impassable with a large drift, nearly a cornice, having formed on the leeward side. We were forced to cross the ridgeline at a low point and then move along parallel to it through the down slope woods in order to reach the camera location.
Figure 17
The following video, as mentioned earlier, was taken during the first massive snowstorm of the year. We positioned the camera as the storm was beginning and removed the data card several days after the storm had ended and the snow had significantly settled. Even so, we had great difficulty working our way through the deep snow up to the camera position until we located a well used game trail.
Video of first major snow storm of winter.
My impression is that the animals, in particular the ungulates, seemed very disturbed by the heavy snow. The moose and deer clearly struggle greatly and have a strong motivation to herd up and share pathways plowed through the snow. The great caution and alertness shown by a number of the deer is clearly justified by the presence of this mountain lion in the area during the same storm.
