NATIONAL ELK Mr. Lurib January-April 1963 Mro Frmson
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NARRATIVE SEPDI.T BOUTBKJ SLIP NATIONAL ELK January-April 1963 Cmp!JS OFFICES Mr, Gillett Mr. Ackerknecht Mra Fftnaanich Mr. Goldmn WnJBLIFE MNACCTHNTs Mr. Bankc Mr. Stiles RESOURCE MANAggMENT; IlTo Morley Mr* Stollberg Mr. Lurib OPERATIONS; Mr« Hmenecke Mr, E^gan HJBLIC! USE: Mr. DuMont Mro Frmson PLANNING; Mr, Hickok ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICESs Miss Baimi table of contents X • GEWiiiiiAL A, Weather Conditions page 1 B. Habitat Conditions Page 1 II. WILDLIFE A, I-Iigratory Birds Page 2 B. Ducks Page 2 G. Canada Geese Page 2 D. Upland Game Birds Page 2 B. Big Game Animals Page 3 F. Fur Animals, Predators, Hodents & other Mammals Page 4 G. Hawks, Eagles, Owls, Crows, Havens & Magpies Page p H. Other Birds Page 6 III. HEFUGE DEVELOPiiEHT AND MIHTEHMGE A. Physical Development Page 6 B. Plantings Page B iv. ruioouhce iiai^agepent A. Grazing Page 8 v. field investigations O'd applied RESLIiGH A. Disease Page 8 VI. PUBLIC RELATIONS A. Recreational Use Page 9 B. Refuge Visitors Page 9 G. Refuge Participation Page 10 VII. ITEMS OF INTEREST Page 11 PERSONNEL Robert L. Means Refuge Manager Willard E. Blanchard Assistant Refuge Manager William Sperl Foreman III Maintenance Nels T. Je Winters Foreman II Maintenance James W. Flower Mechanic Wesley W. Goetz Maintenance Kenneth K. Leavitt Maintenance Allan G. Steed Maintenance Barbara C. Tarver Clerk-Typist Temporary Donald R. Taylor Maintenanceraan WAE Allen E. Beck Maintenanceman WAE Paul L. Luton Laborer Kenneth L. Carlson Laborer Harold W. McClary Laborer Duane V. Wright Laborer national elk kefug® January, February, ^b, April 1963 x. gi^iiiii ^eathar Kational Forest west of the reiu"h ^ters- q w kinnawp. i21i£ sss^|g tox EBSH, Trr—T-april ' , . ^ nn Ground ild * —'— PrecistaiiS^ — — ,, i,!0 s" -'+9 56° nuary ^ 2"59° r.u —— — rcl, 2.26, xb—" -^0 r 7,88 ' e the 20-year The 7.88 inches o! ^ l^W previous high -p 1, hi inches ®.na - /erage 01 /+*/4' f 7-32 in0heS" .nt.r it was a most eumming up completely bare ^ci'htation fell « .efube with t qO of this report, x° '0f the time. SarreW january ani above no^ ^if'an with March abi^pr^^ gave th impressi^ corapiXed dominance o ^ total morstu - Onfall, «e oame * sxr'«» -"«°m 2'26 p a 20-year record. Habitat donuiti^H-- lst Vj.lth less „ the fround on Jr,nl 13 fell on There was no ®fw°nf^'lowlands, but Uth. The 9000 head in the r - below zero xi crnwl® than /-Ouu u temperature d-L thermometers ami- ,- t ne 10th with the t'eLlt in the refuge une ^ temperature 50° ^ tsiK the Forest Headquar below zero; howcv. , -2- was a much warmer 49° below. These conditions moved many elk onto the refuge bottoms and feeding of baled hay began Monday, January 14th. There was plenty of feed available in the loose snow, but neck banding of elk was necessary in line with the Jackson Hole Cooperative Slk Study banding program. II. WILDLIFE A, Migratory Birds: Peak Trumpeter numbers during the winter period occurred February 11th with only 29 birds tallied. This is down from the 3S birds a year ago, but up from the 19 wintering birds in 1961. Supplemental feeding was done at Miller Springs from January 14th through the 30th when portions of Flat Greek began to open again and the birds moved out of the Spring. A total of 3200 surplus pounds of wheat was fed to the waterfowl concentrated in this warm open water, three-acre pool. On the last day of feeding only 7 swans were present at the Spring along with 400 ducks. B. Ducks: Waterfowl numbers peaked during the cold snap when much outside waters froze over and the local birds were forced onto the warm springs. Quacker numbers doubled during this cold weather and peaked on Miller Spring at 1360. lumbers dropped to 330 total the following week as temperatures moderated and the birds scattered. Numbers remained at this figure until mid-March when birds began migrating through. At the close- of the period, all that was left was 200, primarily Mallards, Gadwalls and Greenwinged Teal. G. Canada Geese: Canada Geese in small numbers (up to 40 birds) were present except from mid-January to mid-February. They frequented the elk feed grounds in late winter to glean kernals lost in feeding oat hay. At the close of the period several pairs were nest- building in the refuge marsh and pond developments. D. Upland Game Birds: Sagehens were scarce as usual. One flock of 17 was seen moving into the valley on March 14th. I understand that most of the Sagehens migrate south out of the valley. At least, they move off the refuge to winter. In late March, four Sage- hens showed up on the Peterson Unit. No Ruffed or Blue Grouse were seen during these winter months. -3- E. Bip, Gfame Aniiiials: Winter feeding operations got under way on January 14th and the last bale of hay for the winter season was fed out on April 5th. A total of 23,126 bales of hay were fed during the 81 day period. This years feeding operation was minor compared with a year ago when we fed 102,28? bales in a 12? day period to a maximum number of 8,222 elk. Three feed grounds were again maintained this year. The feeding was started on January 14th in connection with the banding and tagging program of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, During the first week of feeding, 175 animals were trapped, tagged, and banded. During the entire feeding pro gram, a total of 521 elk were tagged and banded. This number includes 289 cows, 83 male calves, 80 female calves, 4 calves unclassified, 62 spikes and 3 bulls. All of these animals were marked with a white neck band and further adorned with a metal ear tag in each ear. In addition to the above markings, 188 of the animals were individually marked. The individual markers consisted of plastic ear tags in various combinations of red and white in various sizes and shapes and with two inch high numbers large enough to see in the field. Two classifications were held during the winter period. The count of January 3 showed 4>086 cows, 614 bulls, 3^5 spikes and 762 calves for a total of 5,827* The March 4 classification showed 4,191 cows, 1070 bulls, 531 spikes, 1,874 calves for a total of 7,666. Losses during the winter feeding operation were extremely light. Of the 22 animals tallied, eight were cows, nine bulls and five calves. Three abortions were noted and fortunately the aborted calves were picked up and forwarded to the Wyoming Game and Fish Research Lab at Laramie. Snow conditions were relatively light this winter; con sequently, our feeding operation varied from week to week. The open winter allowed the elk to move from refuge to forest quite frequently. Many of the biologists in the area feel that the elk have come through this winter in excellent condition due to the fact that the animals have been able to forage on the open range to a greater extent than is possible during an average year. The Game and Fish Department furnished cotton seed cake this winter for the feeding of some of the animals in the herd. This cake was distributed so that calves and the hospital herd had first choice. During the week of March 10, the bulls oegan losing their antlers and by mid-April, most of the bulls were bareheaded and -4- just a few of the splices were sporting their emblems of fertility. On March 18th, 21 head of elk were trapped and released in the Exhibition Pasture, Our herd this year consists of 7 bulls and 14 cows. At the end of the period, approximately 3*000 elk were still on tne refuge. During the fall of 1962 the hay stand on the Hitter Place was left standing. This stand is composed of smooth brome and alfalfa, covers approximately 100 acres and is on one of the major migration routes of the elk. Our intent in leaving this field standing was to determine the amount of usage this field would receive when compared with the usage on a field where the stand had been cut and roll baled. The standing crop received no usage during the fall, winter, or spring months. The ad jacent field, whicn was roll baled, was grazed during the three seasons• Big horn Bheep Peak numbers of Big Horn sighted on the east boundary vms 11. This observation was made during the third week in January. This compares with 36 sighted in 1962 and 26 in I960. On March 10th a young ram again took up residence on Miller Butte. This young ster stayed around for approximately 30 days and then moved east to Sheep Mountain. Mule Deer A siiis.ll herd of Mule Deer again spent the winter in the Miller Gap area. Twenty-nine were tallied on the 14th of Feb ruary for the peak count of the winter season. Antelope One lone antelope spent the winter with us, but this year our fleet-footed friend banded with the elk rather than the deer. F, Fur Animals, Predators, Rodents, and other Mammals: Coyotes A bumper infestation was expected on this four-bit-bandit, but winter conditions were sucn that he was not pushed onto the refuge. With much of the precipitation falling as rain and good crusty traveling conditions over the entire Jackson Hole Country, coyotes had the range of many square miles and their sign was exceedingly plentiful in the fresh skiffs of snow.