nate sather
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I rarely post on the board, but I love the podcasts. Zach, you clearly go to great lengths to gather as much variety as possible. I am consistently impressed with the level of detail you coax out of your interviewees. You produce one of the three podcasts that I deem worth my time to listen consistently listen to, the others are produced by NPR.
Your work is greatly appreciated.
*Disclaimer* I don’t have access to all of the most recent work done in the field right now because I am working at a pretty remote site in the Aleutian Islands. I would guess there has been more work done looking at the relationship trends between the Bears and Wolves in Yellowstone. That being said, this discussion peaked my interest in what had been published in the peer reviewed journals on the topic of Wolf – Bear interaction in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Here are a excerpts couple papers that I found in a quick search.
Grizzly Bear, Ursus arctos, Usurps Bison Calf, Bison bison, Captured by Wolves, Canis lupus, in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
MacNulty, DR | Varley, N | Smith, DW
Canadian Field-Naturalist [Can. Field-Nat.]. Vol. 115, no. 3, pp. 495-498. Jul-Sep 2001.“We describe an adult Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos) usurping a Bison (Bison bison) calf from a pack of five Wolves (Canis lupus) attempting to kill the Bison in Yellowstone National Park during early spring. Five Wolves grabbed the hind end and neck of the calf while it was trailing behind two adult male Bison. In 3 minutes a Grizzly Bear arrived and displaced the two Wolves attacking the hind end. For 1 minute the Grizzly Bear attacked the rear of the Bison while three Wolves attacked the front end. The Grizzly Bear subsequently pulled the struggling calf from the Wolves and made the kill. The Wolves were unable to displace the Grizzly Bear from the carcass. Our observation demonstrates the capacity for Grizzly Bears to exploit the predatory abilities of Gray Wolves restored to Yellowstone National Park. Kleptoparasitism by Grizzly Bears on Wolf-captured ungulates may be a selective pressure promoting group living in Wolves, and could provide an important new food resource to threatened Grizzly Bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.”
Yellowstone after Wolves
DOUGLAS W. SMITH, ROLF O. PETERSON, AND DOUGLAS B. HOUSTON
330 BioScience • April 2003 / Vol. 53 No. 4
“Grizzly bears. The grizzly bear population in the GYE (Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem) has increased dramatically since the 1970s, although the bears are still listed as threatened under provisions of the Endangered Species Act. In 2001 the population was estimated at 354 bears, including 35 sows with cubs at heel (Haroldson and Frey 2001). Fifty-eight wolf–bear interactions have been recorded in YNP. Most interactions occur at wolf kill sites, where control of the carcass is hotly contested; typically, bears pre- vail in the encounter even though wolves outnumber them. In one case a bear held 24 wolves at bay. Although fully capable of killing ungulates, especially in spring, grizzly bears now appear to seek out wolf kills and are often successful at driving wolves from carcasses.”Additionally, an excellent book on the topic of top level predators is called “Where the Wild Things Were”
As a fellow college student I can empathize… I just picked up this pack at the beginning of the summer: http://www.rei.com/product/778452
At $29.50 it has everything I really need in a pack. Room a couple for boxes, some organizational type features for leaders, tippet, thermometer ect.
Most of the streams I fish are less than waist deep so it works fine for me probably 95% of the time. Thus far it has been very functional.
In regards to packs I have loved my Gregory Baltoro 70 for extended trips. It has held up great and is really comfortable.
In my opinion the most crucial piece of gear for backpacking for any extended distance is a good pair of hiking boots. I am partial to Asolo, they make some great boots that hold up to a lot of trail related abuse.
Nate
I second the Chacos…
They offer a lot of support for the amount of time it take them to dry. In my experience they do well on slippery surfaces as well.
The one downside is the exposure your toes face… there is a risk of banging them on rocks and such. However, the exposure allows you to get uncomfortable gravel out from beneath your foot without having to take them off.
Thanks for the input fellas, I think the G3’s are gonna be the ones…
I have a feeling the reinforcement in the high wear areas will pay for itself this summer stumbling through the brush after the evening drakes and hex.
Enlightening articles, this is an issue that I am very interested in but haven’t really examined from a fly fishing perspective. I know the practice of mountaintop removal effects watersheds in huge ways which in turn effects fishing…
Have there been any organizations within the fly fishing community that have spoken out against the practice or worked to change public policy?
I too got my shot at the hexes… I stung a couple of big ones but only was able to bring one 14 to the net… It was my first shot at the Hex in Michigan and it was a pretty cool experience…
Hexagenia Limbata
Got a nice spinner fall, and big fish were going crazy
only 14, but I was amazed at how full his belly looked — Tim, it looks like we threw the same pattern for a while 🙂 , I love the rubber legs it…
I will be chasing the bugs and hopefully some big fish for a few more days before they fizzle out… then mousin’ season begins…
I’m not a pro, I don’t have an SLR, and I feel that this is a bit out of my league… but I am pretty resilient and there needs to be something for Phil to critique.
Thanks for a sweet learning experience!
Nate
Good timing for this thread… I just dropped my point and shoot in the river tonight… It might dry out, we will have to see but I may be in the market as well…
