Road Trip Adventure- Wind Cave

As promised, this week we are going inside Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. This little gem is separated from Custer State Park by just a cattle guard. Eastern tallgrass and western shortgrass prairies mingle with Rocky Mountain and boreal forests here, all on top of the largest cave system in the US. Enjoy another story from the road.

I was looking forward to visiting Wind Cave NP, even before I learned just how extensive the cave system is. I was even more excited when I got to the visitor center and saw black-footed ferret on display. Shortly after crossing the cattle guard from Custer State Park, I saw a little weasel run halfway across the road, then turn around and run back. In the visitor center, I immediately recognized the black-footed ferret as the little critter I saw. I was excited because that little guy is one of the rarest mammals in North America. 

Black-footed ferret (NPS photo)

Thought to be extinct, wildlife managers recently began reintroducing the black-footed ferret after a colony was found in Wyoming. They began a captive breeding program and ferrets were reintroduced in several locations in the west, including Wind Cave, but only four colonies are considered self-sustaining. Threats the ferret include habitat loss, loss of prey (prairie dogs), and diseases such as plague and canine distemper.

Moving on to happier topics, I was delighted to learn the National Park Service offered a variety of cave tours. All tours are ranger-led, because with over 100 miles of known passages any many more miles yet to be entered, they don’t want a bunch of people roaming around unattended. I volunteered to enter the cave last and act as our caboose. 

Wind Cave's largest natural entrance

The tour I chose was the “Natural Entrance” tour, because it is shortest and most frequently offered. The cave’s largest natural opening is a very small hole that only a child could fit into. We entered the cave through a door a few feet away from the natural opening. It was put there in the early 20^th century when what is today’s national park was then a private homestead. The cave has many different formations, but the most impressive is the rare boxwork formation. Boxwork is thought to form from mineral deposits left behind when water seeps into cracks in the rock, remaining even after the rock erodes or dissolves away. At the end of our tour, I was proud to report that we didn’t lose anyone. 

Boxwork, a rare cave formation

Close-up of some of Wind Cave's intricacies

Inside Wind Cave

Back above, I enjoyed the panorama of Black Hills, prairie, and pine forest. I even saw a few bison lazing the day away. 

Lazy bison

I also noticed some clouds, and remembered how Wind Cave got its name. In the early 20^th century a young boy was roaming the prairie when he heard a rushing noise. He located the cave’s natural opening. The noise he heard was wind rushing out. It blew the hat off his head. He thought it was a cool trick, so he brought his friends the next day. Instead of blowing his hat away, the wind sucked the hat into the cave. The direction of the wind is based on air pressure, and the wind was blowing in when our tour began, a sign of storms in the area. Not long after we left the park, we had a thunderstorm. The cave was true to its word. 

A storm's a-brewin'

Watch this video of a park ranger and Lakota Sioux member telling the story of her people’s emergence from Wind Cave. 

This week's information on black-footed ferrets comes from US Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency overseeing implementation of conservation plans for endangered and threatened terrestrial species. National Park staff frequently request that visitors report sightings of certain animals. Mount Rainier wants us to report mountain lion and bear sightings. Olympic wants us to report fisher sightings. Wind Cave wants us to report black-footed ferret sightings, which I did. The rangers were excited to hear about my sighting because ferrets haven't been seen in the area where I saw mine. Citizen science at its finest!

Road Trip Adventure- Black Hills

One of my favorite areas in the US is the Black Hills of South Dakota. I first visited the area in 1990 en route to Alaska. Passing through, we stopped at Mount Rushmore. I always wanted to return, and I did in 2007 when moving from Pennsylvania to Washington. However, we were short on time and money so all we got to do was cruise through with another stop at Mount Rushmore. While living in Washington, I always hoped for a vacation that would give me at least a week in the Black Hills. This summer, as part of the Nature Minute road trip, I was able to return for a few days. Enjoy another story from the road.

What makes the Black Hills, or Paha Sapa as the Sioux call it, such a special place? To the Sioux, Paha Sapa is sacred as the heart of the world, and from space it actually looks like a human heart (from Native Americans Online). To me, it’s just this wonderful mix of pine trees and granite rising above the Great Plains. I felt like I was on top of the world. It’s also melting pot of sorts, as the northern and eastern forests converge with the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains.

Black Hills from space (from Four Winds 10)

The Black Hills were originally part of the Sioux reservation until gold was discovered there. The land was stolen and Custer was involved, but that’s another story for another blog. We’re here to focus on nature, and there are a few natural areas protected within the Black Hills. I didn’t get to spend my week there and I didn’t hike at all, but the three areas I got to see from the car were Black Hills National Forest, Wind Cave National Park, and Custer State Park.

The Needles, granite spires in the Black Hills

Black Hills NF is the largest of the three, covering most of the Black Hills. It’s a working, mixed use forest, meaning it is shared by loggers, wildlife, campers, and other recreational users. Ponderosa pine, spruce, birch, and aspen are common trees. Wildlife includes elk, mule and white-tailed deer, coyotes, mountain lions, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep. Birds of prey such as bald eagles and many songbirds are also present.

White-tailed deer right outside our campground

Coyote

Mountain lion

Wind Cave NP is on the fringes of the Black Hills. Eastern tallgrass prairie mixes with western shortgrass prairie topside, while the largest cave in America sits largely unexplored beneath the surface. Mammals there include bison, prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets. More on this location will follow in another Nature Minute.

Prairie dogs

Custer State Park hosts bison and pronghorn herds, along with majestic vistas of rolling hills, vast prairies, and interesting rock formations. It also sits on the fringes, just north of Wind Cave NP.

Bison herd

Pronghorn

Black Hills scenery

Black Hills scenery

How did the Black Hills magically rise above the rest of the prairie? The mountains formed as a result of volcanic activity and uplift in the Tertian period. The central portion is made of granite, pegamite, and sedimentary rock, ringed by increasingly younger layers of sedimentary rock. In most cases, when viewing layers of rock, the older layers are on the bottom. However, there are some areas in the Black Hills where due to uplifting and folding, the older layers are actually on top.

The Black Hills have something to offer, no matter what your interests. History, wildlife, scenery, culture, geology- this place has it all! If you are ever trying to decide where to go for vacation, consider South Dakota.

This week's information comes from Native Americans Online, Black Hills National Forest, and Carleton College.

Species of the Month

September’s Species of the Month is our first fish to be featured. Pink salmon are returning to their birth rivers along the Pacific coast. They are the smallest and most abundant of the five Pacific salmon species found in North America. When you buy canned salmon, it is most likely pink. Besides feeding us, they also support entire ecosystems.

Scientific name: Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Class: Teleostei (ray-finned fishes)

Order: Salmoniformes (salmons)

Range: Northern Pacific Ocean from East Asia to California and upstream

Habitat: Rivers and ocean

Lifespan: Two years typically, some may live three years

Diet: Insects and plankton (juvenile) and fish (adult)  

Predators: Bears, killer whales, osprey, eagles, sea lions, seals

Conservation Status: No special conservation status

Other Information: Pink salmon is an anadromous fish, meaning it is born in freshwater then moves to a saltwater phase before returning to the stream it hatched in to spawn. These fish typically spawn close to saltwater, sometimes even in the saltwater. After hatching, the salmon fry immediately swim downstream to the ocean. Pinks are also known as humpies, named for the large hump spawning males grow on their backs. The two-year life cycle of the pinks is the only completely predictable salmon life cycle. Other species may spend 2-5 years at sea, depending on the species and the individual. Pinks, like other salmon, are an important food source for bears fattening up for winter. They are also incredible swimmers, amazingly agile in just a few inches of water. I walked in the river with them and despite their fins being above the surface and my longer stride, I was unable to keep pace with them. Due to low river levels followed by flooding that affected the 2015 spawners, the 2017 pink salmon run is forecasted to be a fraction of the previous run.

Info this week is from USGS  and Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Spawning female pink salmon, Mashel River 2015

Spawning male pink salmon, Mashel River 2015

Road Trip Adventure- Volcanic Idaho

Continuing on our road trip, this week’s Nature Minute takes us to Idaho’s Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Located in south central Idaho, the area was once a hotbed of volcanic activity. Ancient lava flows created a unique landscape and habitat. Enjoy this week’s story from the road.

The lava flows that give Craters of the Moon its signature look and name sprang from the Great Rift between 15,000 and 2,000 years ago. The lava beds cover over 1000 square miles, flowing from 25 vents that spewed in at least 8 volcanic events during that time period. Craters of the Moon is the largest of several lava beds in the Great Rift.

Volcanic landscape of Craters of the Moon

Lava in the midground, sagebrush steppe in the
foreground and background

Geological features of the Monument are spatter cones, cinder cones, fissures, lava tubes, and kipukas. The cones and fissures are volcano types. Lava tubes and kipukas are formed by lava movement.

Spatter cones are formed when thick lava is ejected from a volcano. It remains molten when it hits the ground, but due to high viscosity, the blobs of lava do not flow away. Rather, new molten blobs are ejected and they stick together, forming a cone. Cinder cones form similarly, but the lava blobs cool and harden in mid-air, becoming lava bombs (actual geological term). The size and shape of the bombs is dependent on gas content.

Spatter cone (NPS photo)

Fissures are large volcanic cracks in the ground. A full-length fissure eruption is probably the rarest of all volcanic eruptions. Spatter and cinder cones can form in a fissure if it becomes clogged in any area. 

Lava tubes form when the outside of a lava flow cools, forming a hard rock shell. After the remaining molten lava drains, the hollow tube remains. I have been inside a lava tube, the Ape Cave at Mount Saint Helens in Washington.

Lava tube (Oregon State University photo)

Kipukas are islands of older lava flows surrounded by newer lava flows. Vegetation on kipukas is different from the surrounding lava flow areas. At Craters of the Moon, the kipukas are islands of sage steppe surrounded by black lava rock.

Kipuka (NPS photo)

Despite its barren appearance, Craters of the Moon supports a diverse ecological community. Plants include sagebrush, prickly pear, limber pine, and Indian paintbrush. Animals in the Monument include the pika, sage grouse, pygmy rabbits, northern harrier, and common nighthawk.

Limber pine

While visiting, I observed a northern harrier overhead. I took a nice stroll through the Devil’s Orchard, so named by a 19^th century preacher who failed to see beauty in Creation and declared the place to be a garden fit for the devil. I enjoyed seeing the lichen that are working around the clock to turn rock into soil so larger plants can colonize. The twisted branches of the limber pine, knotted by mistletoe, set against a stark black backdrop made for an eerie sight. I enjoyed my brief visit and would like to return for a more in-depth look around. I chose not to linger because Craters of the Moon was the undercard for the main even, Yellowstone.

Limber pine with "witch's brooms"

Polished lava rock with swirls

Hardened slow-moving lava flow

Information this week comes from the National Park Service about kipukas, including the picture above. Great Rift information comes from a paper by the folks at Idaho State University. Photo credits go to National Park Service (spatter cone) and Oregon State University (lava tube). All others are my own.

Nature Minute Road Trip- Wolves of Yellowstone

Predators are an essential part of a healthy ecosystem. Owls and snakes might be patrolling your neighborhood, keeping the rodent population in check and out of your house. Birds and bats target pest insects. Top-level predators, the large killing machines, are equally important but have suffered from human ignorance. To demonstrate the importance of top-level predators, enjoy the story of the gray wolf and how its return impacted life in and around Yellowstone National Park. This is the first story from the Nature Minute Road Trip. 

Wolves were extirpated (made locally extinct) from Yellowstone in the 1930s. They were a menace to neighboring ranches’ livestock and preying on the park’s more charismatic wildlife like bison and elk. Mind you, this took place before the National Park Service placed much emphasis on the “preservation” part of its mission and focused more on the “enjoyment” part. This was a time of public bear feedings.

Gray wolf (in captivity)

By the time 1995 came around, the elk population had gotten out of hand. After much deliberation, a wolf pack from Canada was transported to Yellowstone. The wolves were carefully selected to ensure that their preferred prey was elk, since that was the target species for culling. Yes, different wolves prefer different prey, but they will switch depending on availability.

Elk

The wolves were placed in kennels to quarantine them and let them acclimate to their new surroundings before being released into the wild. Contact with rangers and biologists was limited so they wouldn’t get used to being around people. After release, the fun began.

With large predators on the loose again, the elk had to adapt. They began spending less time in open areas. Lower elk numbers combined with elk lifestyle changes led to young trees growing. Previously, the elk had eaten nearly all new trees before they had a chance to reach maturity. With new trees like willows growing in the river bottoms, beavers began migrating back to Yellowstone. The new trees, even newer beaver ponds, and lower coyote populations (out competed for food by the larger wolves) brought in a host of birds and small mammals that had left. With the birds came smaller predators like foxes and hawks. 

Wolf being released at Yellowstone (NPS photo)

The leftovers from wolf kills attracted more corvids (ravens, crows, and magpies) and benefited eagles (bald and golden) as well as bears (black and grizzly). The absence of elk in the river bottoms and the emergence of trees there changed the course of rivers by stabilizing the banks. This was a two-fold move. The elk were eroding the banks with their constant trampling and the trees added stability by holding soils and rocks in place.

The wolf reintroduction was not without its critics, people we will call lupophobes for their fear of the wolf. People to this day still deny that the wolf reintroduction has done any benefit for the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Science hasn’t proven that all these changes are caused directly by the wolf’s presence, but it does prove that the benefits took place after. You decide. I'd been to Yellowstone before the return of the wolf, but I barely remembered any of it, let alone enough to do a before and after comparison.

This week's wolf information and picture come from the National Park Service.