01-31-13 Field Note

01-31-13 Field Note

February 3, 2013

Jeff Clarke details the discovery of a racoon latrine, as well as seed spreading and aspen protection efforts.

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01-31-13 Field Note

Thick aspen and cottonwood forests grow on the Clubhouse Floodplain.

We erected buck and rail fences between the down trees and leaned dead trees on them like a lean-to.

We will broadcast seed over areas that are inaccessible to the seed drill this winter.

Sainfoin is the rough seed in this photo, and wheat is the red, smooth seed.

Erosion bars stabilize fragile hillsides. They also collect snow which provides added moisture to the seeds that collect behind the bars.

The Schoeder Ranch had a large shooting preserve that covered most of the ranch’s floodplain. This week, I removed the old signs and posted new ones with a different message.

Metal wire from some signs girdled small trees as they grew. The wire severed the flow of water and nutrients to the upper extremities.

Hundreds of fresh beaver tracks lead to fallen trees along the Bitterroot River.

I discovered a large mound of scat at the base of a fallen cottonwood in the floodplain.

When predators lurk near by, deer either remain motionless or flee.

By Friday, all the snow had melted into surging streams in every draw.

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01-31-13 Field Note

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