Homecoming for wildlife
Wait and see
Self hopes that his presence can act as a buffer
for the wolves, but there is only so much he can
do. When the truck stops, we find ourselves on
a mountain road overlooking a valley, 4,000 feet
up, which is the perfect altitude for wolves. On
the ridge opposite us is the wolf den.
"They picked 'em a pretty place," Self said as he
unfolds a long radio antenna attached to his GPS.
Self flips on the device and it begins to emit
a soft crackle. He points it across the ridge at the
approximate place of the den site and through the
static buzz it begins to emit a consistent sort of
tone like the one given by a metal detector. As he
moves it closer up the far off ridge, the frequency
of the sound increases.
The tone confirms that the wolf with the radio
transponder is across the valley moving slowly up
the ridge. Only a few days earlier while Self was
on this ridge he heard the wolves howl just before
nightfall. Today we decide to try to answer back.
Our attempted howls echo through the valley.
However, no wolves answer. We try a few more
times but remain unanswered. We do not need to
hear them to know they are there.
On our way back from the ridge, we pass by
some of the Kayser cattle grazing near a creek. Self
and I both spot a calf lying on its side a little ways
from the rest of the herd. We both knew it was
dead before we even got out of the car
to examine it. On the way over, I see that
something has fed on the calf. Part of me
thinks that this could be the first cattle
kill by the Teanaway pack.
However, Self already knows what
has really happened to this calf. Based
on the tag, Self knows the calf is three
months old to the day. He suspects it has
died from pneumonia as it positioned itself near the creek to drink water. Based
on the bites, he knows that coyotes must
have gotten to the body. I realized then
why the rancher picked Self for this job.
Self is unsure if range riding will be
the best answer for managing the Teanaway wolf pack. But he knows we can
only do the best we can and learn from
whatever happens.
"It is just going to be a game of wait
and see," Self said.
As of this story's printing, Lloyd Self, for personal reasons, has moved on from this work.
The cattle rancher has already put another
qualified person in place as range rider to
keep this important work moving ahead.
James Rogers majored in journalism and environmental studies
at Western Washington University.
He served as editor-in-chief of The
Planet magazine and is currently
assistant editor of Bellingham's
Signed Magazine.
Lauren Owens, also a recent
graduate of Western Washington
University, is an environmental
photojournalist who hails from
Boston, Massachusetts.
(top left) Teanaway range riders, (below left) Lloyd Self with radio antenna, (top right) wolf at Wolf Haven in
Tenino, (below) the Cascades' Teanaway Valley (courtesy Lighthawk). All photos © Lauren Owens
Keeping the Northwest wild
Fall 2013 17
