scat!

Scat! While out in the back country it's always good to be alert. And that means examining the smaller signs, looking for prints and scat. Poop that is. Yes, I'm putting pictures of poop up on my blog. lol We came upon alot of scat in our travels. Lots of ungulate, smaller critters, big bird and predators. Scat tells you all about the animal, the species, how big it is, what it has been consuming, when it came through. All valuable information for the hiker.

Sometimes you see the scat and not the animal who left it. This can be a good thing. Sometimes you are seeking the animal and never see them because they are elusive yet know they are nearby because of fresh sign. That is thrilling.

Above is fresh bear and below is recent wolf. I found another scat pile that was wolf and forget to get a picture of it.

It's good to listen and look and pay attention when in the wild. Stories unfold all around you if you allow yourself to become a part of the scene. I honed this skill early on when living in that wild place, part necessity, part love.

A funny story:

We were hiking back to a remote hotspring just South of Yellowstone Park. We had tried one trail head and then another one and there was a third. At the mouth, very near the information board-which warned of bear in the area, among other things, was this big pile of fresh scat (pictured above). We noted it, aware and alert at this point. As an aside; I have never purchased nor carried bear spray in all of my time living in prime bear habitat. I saw a man and woman enter the trail about 10 minutes ahead of us and said aloud that it was good that we were not the only folks back there on this day. We hiked on for a mile or two at which point we stopped and observed more bear sign and then more. Different sign, not scat. Then the trail spit and we consulted with our guide (which wasn't very helpful on this hike) scanned the area and made some guesses as to where the secret hot pool gems were hiding. Through a lovely richly green creek side meadow and up over a knoll and down through another meadow. This is were we found several hotsprings and caught up with the two hikers.

I talked with them a bit about the area and the springs. They seemed disenchanted with the bog and temperatures of the many pools. I explained about how sometimes you have to 'make' them dippable especially in the back country. Rearranging rocks, adjusting river flow in and out of pools, digging. I noted that they looked like the hiker-type with all of their fancy new gear, yet clean and uncertain. As apposed the my mucky sandals, sweaty t-shirt, simple bag over my shoulder and casual attitude. At this point I asked them if they had seen the bear sign at the trail head. Both looked instantly alarmed and irritated. The man told me not to talk about bear around the woman, as it wasn't something "we do". Huh?! I brushed that off by saying that it is good to know, when in a place like that. I wanted (needed) to be aware of where this bear was while I was in his home, on his turf.

I went on to say that it was fresh scat, maybe an hour old, he had been eating greens, he had come up along the opposite side of the creek as we had seen his swath left in the tall grass and judged his size by the depth and width of the belly drag. We told them where we had seen his river crossing as he had left his footprints and belly drag along the creek bottom in the fine silt. Another confirmation that this bear had passed by merely an hour before. I talked about how he had walked along the hillside just below the trail then followed it for a bit and up and over the knoll toward the trail head and beyond. This was his valley, his meadows. He was nearby.

I watched as their terror grew. Feeling for their inexperience and wanting to calm them I said that is was OK, it was (only, lol) a black bear. A big black bear. And me, in those circumstances, make enough noise to let all bear in the area know that I am there and though friendly and alert very much not wanted to intrude and catch them by surprise.

So after that as Toby and I took another side trail, which was not so much a trail as an idea of direction, we sought out more springs in the area along an adjacent creek. The other hikers kept themselves just paces behind us, not wanting to hike with us as I had suggested is good in bear country, more numbers, but just behind us, saying that I "seemed to know where I was going". At that point I had given up on the scant directions in my guide and used my 'land logic' to scout the springs with better luck. The second group of pools another mile on, there was a third another mile past that, looked promising. Again the hiking couple converged with us and they seemed to think the springs looked too silty (or something) for their taste, leaving us alone at this point and wishing us "good luck".

Alone after that, I hoped they were noisy on their trip back out, I had already chosen a different route out, we had a lovely nude soak in some hot and delightful pools along a bubbling creek (that we would later forge) with high clear blue skies and the glorious Teatons looming in the distance.

Did we ever see our bear friend? We did not. That was my plan and being alert and aware was part of that. We knew he was there and he knew we were there and through mutual respect we managed to skirt around each other and go about our business. I was thankful that he shared his lovely valley home with us and allowed us a dip in the hotsprings. We were respectful leaving nothing behind and taking only pictures. I thought he had chosen a very nice place to live!

Upon returning back to our car (and dogs who were not allowed into the back country in this area and for obvious reason) we found wolf scat there on the ground inches from the tire!