Category: Vertebrates

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Elusive Wolves

Wolf Footprints in the River of No Return Wilderness Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Wolf Footprints in the River of No Return Wilderness
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
“A deep chesty bawl echoes from rimrock to rimrock, rolls down the mountain, and fades into the far blackness of the night. It is an outburst of wild defiant sorrow…. Every living thing (and perhaps many a dead one as well) pays heed to that call. To the deer it is a reminder of the way of all flesh, to the pine a forecast of midnight scuffles and of blood upon the snow, to the coyote a promise of gleanings to come, to the cowman a threat of red ink at the bank…. Yet behind these obvious and immediate hopes and fears there lies a deeper meaning, known only to the mountain itself. Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf.”
Aldo Leopold, Thinking Like A Mountain

In January three wolves were killed by the US Department of Agriculture and Food in Cache Valley, near Avon. The wolves wandered into a corner of northern Utah (more or less north of I-80 and east of I-84) where wolves are exempt from protection.

These were not the first wolves in northern Utah in modern times. I came across tracks in the Bear River Range a dozen years ago. There have been at least 21 documented sitings of wolves in Utah since 2004.

Wolf Footprints Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Wolf Footprints
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

Wolf Footprints in Snow Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer Wolf Footprints in Snow
Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer

In the winter of 2002, on the last day of a four-day, fifty-five mile ski tour, deep in Idaho’s River of No Return Wilderness, a friend and I were setting a skin-track (a backcountry skiing term for breaking a trail) from the Salmon River up to the canyon rim. We traveled through spaced-out ponderosa pines through light snowflakes until we topped out on flat ground, 5,000 feet above the river. The forest abruptly transitioned to thick lodge pole pines. At our feet, all the snow was packed down with fresh wolf tracks. There was no new snow in the tracks, yet snow continued to fall from above. A pack of wolves had coalesced where we stood moments before our arrival.

Though I had seen wolf tracks before, I was still taken aback by the sheer size.

There are only two known cases of wolves killing people in the last century in North America. Statistically, you are more likely to be killed by a dear, an elk, a moose, a snake, a falling tree, an insect sting, lightening, or just about anything else than you are to be attacked by a wolf. Even with that knowledge, we could not escape a feeling of vulnerability. We looked around cautiously.

Five sets of evenly-spaced wolf tracks, parallel to one another, lead down the trail—the trail we had to follow. After about one hundred meters of skiing, one set of tracks peeled off to the left, disappearing into the lodgepole pine forest. A hundred meters later, a second set of wolf tracks turned off, this time to the right. A hundred meters more, and another set peeled off to the left. Consistent with pattern, a fourth set veered off to the right one hundred meters later, once again.

The wolf pack undoubtably watched us from all points of the compass. On high alert, we scanned the woods constantly for flashes of movement, for golden eyes peering from behind the timber, but saw nothing.

The middle set of tracks—the fifth wolf’s tracks—continued for another mile down the snow-covered trail before they too, turned off into the forest and vanished. We never caught a glimpse of any of them.

I think about those elusive wolves frequently. A wolf encounter is an zenith wilderness experience.

In Thinking Like a Mountain, Aldo Leopold described his younger self shooting a wolf and coming upon it in time to watch it die:
“I was young then,” he wrote, “and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die [in the wolf’s eyes], I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.

I’m not suggesting wolves shouldn’t be managed, but I would like to see wildlife biologists making those decisions and that they are applied with consistency.

Leopold concluded,
“…Too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run. Perhaps this is behind Thoreau’s dictum: ‘In wildness is the salvation of the world.’ Perhaps this is the hidden meaning in the howl of the wolf, long known among mountains, but seldom perceived among men.”

I am Eric Newell and I am wild about Utah.

Credits:
Images: Courtesy & Copyright Eric Newell, Photographer
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © Hugh Jones (Rubber Rodeo-Before I Go Away) and to J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin
Text: Eric Newell, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Utah State University
Additional Reading: Eric Newell

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah Pieces by Eric Newell

Moilanen, Samantha, State officials killed three wolves in northern Utah. Here’s why., The Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 27, 2026, 4:09 p.m., Updated: Jan. 28, 2026, https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/01/27/utah-officials-kill-three-wolves/

Lofton, Shelby, 3 wolves killed in Cache County; picture prompts concern over ‘lethal removal’, KSL.com, KSL Broadcasting Salt Lake City UT, Deseret Digital Media, Jan. 28, 2026, https://www.ksl.com/article/51439305

Allen, Corbin, USU ecologists weigh in on wolves killed near Avon The Herald Journal a.k.a. HJNews, Jan 30, 2026, https://www.hjnews.com/news/local/usu-ecologists-weigh-in-on-wolves-killed-near-avon/article_8132fca5-2ca1-4d69-9ae7-3107b4008f52.html

Gilbert, Lael, USU Ecologists Offer Expert Perspective About Gray Wolves Found in Cache Valley, Land & Environment, USU Today, Utah State University, January 29, 2026, https://www.usu.edu/today/story/usu-ecologists-offer-expert-perspective-about-gray-wolves-found-in-cache-valley/

Leopold, Aldo, Thinking Like a Mountain,, Ecotone, Inc, https://www.ecotoneinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/aldo-leopold-tlam.pdf
See also this copy on the Sierra Club website: https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce/rocky-mountain-chapter/Wolves-Resources/Thinking%20Like%20a%20Mountain%20-%20Aldo%20Leopold.pdf

The Yellowstone Wolf Reintroduction: A Timeline, The Greater Yellowstone Coalition, https://greateryellowstone.org/yellowstone-wolf-reintroduction

Wolves in Utah, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Department of Natural Resources, Last Updated: Tuesday, September 9, 2025, https://wildlife.utah.gov/wolves.html

History of Wolf Management, Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/historyculture/wolf-management.htm

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Bug World Athletes

Dragonfly Courtesy Pixabay, DerWeg, Contributor
Dragonfly
Courtesy Pixabay, DerWeg, Contributor
As the Winter Olympics were getting into full swing , I was glued to the TV. I was dazzled by the super speed and skills of the athletes. Then I heard the Natural History Museum of Utah had just opened its traveling exhibit Bug World, which could teach me about the small super athletes of the insect world.

I turned off the TV and took a trip to Bug World.

When I walked in the door of the exhibit, I found myself face to face with an Orchid Mantis. This insect has the unique ability to blend into a patch of orchid flowers, so when another insect comes looking for nectar, the mantis snags it out of the air at dazzling speed. I watched this drama play out on the museum’s video screen. It looked very fast.

Just how fast? The exhibit invited everyone to find the answer using the nearby light board. I stepped up to the board and hit the start button. A light came on in one of the 12 dots on the board. When I tapped the lighted dot, it would go out and another dot would light up. I had 30 seconds to see how many dots I could put out. I got 12. That put me in the range of Slug. That stung. I took a deep breath and hit the start button again. This time I got 25, moving me up to Butterfly speed. So, I took off my jacket and handed my purse to my husband. I gave it all I had. I hit 33, almost getting me up to Spider speed. The mantis can do 50. They are the undisputed champions of attack speed.

I moved on to Japanese Bees. Bees are the champions of wing speed. They can hum along at 200 beats per second. The unique Japanese bees have figured out a way of use this wing speed to protect their hive. When a dangerous wasp enters their hive, they swarm around it, beating their wings fast enough to whip up the temperature to117 degrees centigrade. That’s enough to kill the wasp.

Once again, the museum invited people to test how hard it was to raise the temperature by sliding their hands over 6 lighted dots. Two small kids were already rubbing 4 of the dots and getting nowhere. I stepped up and started working on the last two dots. The temperature went up a little. “Harder!” cried the onlookers. All three of us were rubbing the lights like crazy. I started to sweat. Suddenly a light flashed. We’d hit 117 and killed the wasp. I now know just how hard the bees need to work to defend their hive.

Next up was the Dragonfly. The dragonfly can only flap its wings at 60 beats per second. But each wing operates independently, giving it the ability to fly with pinpoint accuracy. Combine this with its bulging eyes that can see in all directions, and you have the insect predator champion of deadly accuracy. The lion, pointed out the exhibit poster, will bring down its prey 20 times out of 100. The Dragonfly hits its moving target midair 95 out of 100 times.

Every time I turned around I learned something interesting. But this Bugworld traveling exhibit was also interactive and fun.

It’s going to be in Salt Lake at the Natural History Museum until September.
I heartily recommend it.

This is Mary Heers and I’m Wild About Utah

Credits:

Photos: Courtesy Pixabay, DerWeg, Contributor, https://pixabay.com/photos/dragon-fly-insect-leaf-lotus-8105990/
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman Utah Public Radio upr.org
Text: Mary Heers, https://cca.usu.edu/files/awards/art-and-mary-heers-citation.pdf
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Wild About Utah, Mary Heers’ Wild About Utah Postings

Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, http://nhmu.utah.edu
301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108

Bug World Exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah through September 7, 2026, https://nhmu.utah.edu/exhibitions/bug-world

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Life is Like a Box of Wood Ducks

Leap Out Like a Wood Duck Duckling: Wood Duck Hen & Ducklings, Courtesy US FWS, Jim Hudgins, Photographer
Wood Duck Hen & Ducklings
Courtesy US FWS,
Jim Hudgins, Photographer
Sweet aromas of Indian Ricegrass are lifted by the breeze, whirled into a miniature maelstrom within the watery globes of morning dew. The dewdrops quiver and are dislodged from their positions on wisps of down. Tender webbed feet – ornamented with streaks of yellow so reminiscent of the sunlight now greeting them – grip a ledge of fracturing wood. A chick peers out, out away from everything it has known in its near 24 hours of life. The canopy, the spring, the cacophony of bird calls – The world is reflected in the wonderment of its eye. Does the beat of its heart accelerate? Does its breath catch or its muscles seize in this moment? In the second, right before… it jumps?

Duckling, Courtesy Pixabay, Terbe Rezso, Contributor
Duckling
Courtesy Pixabay, Terbe Rezso, Contributor

Duck Nesting Box Courtesy Pixabay, Ray Shrewsberry, Contributor Duck Nesting Box
Courtesy Pixabay, Ray Shrewsberry, Contributor

Wood Duck Pair Courtesy US FWS, Larry Pace, Photographer Wood Duck Pair
Courtesy US FWS, Larry Pace, Photographer

I’m Sally Smith, an intern with the Bridgerland Audubon Society. And the fellow I just introduced you to, is a Wood Duck. Wood Ducks nest in man-made boxes or tree cavities ranging from 2 to 50 feet above the ground or water. Just one day after they hatch, the chicks are called by their mother to take a daring leap. Necks straining, wing buds flailing, they plummet an astonishing distance before splashing into water or ground cover from whence they bounce, uninjured. This ‘bouncing’ is made possible by the lightness of the chicks as well as the malleable nature of their bones. One might relate this malleability to the desirable characteristic of perseverance – being able to bounce back when the trials of life come at us. This would be a good lesson indeed, but as I pondered on these things, my mind came to rest on a slightly different topic.

I suspect there are people listening to this podcast who are similar to me. Who from the windows of their school building or work office, observe a universe of curiosities, hear the enticing meadowlark calls, feel the playful Utah wind beckoning. People who ache to be embraced by that universe, immersed in an expanse of discoveries, a life worth living. I was, and perhaps you are, very well acquainted with the word “wait”. Wait for the right time, wait for the opportunities to come to you, wait for your heart to stop beating so vigorously…. Could it be that that word is only an excuse… we tell ourselves because we are afraid that if we leap, we will fall?

I recently received admissions results from a university I had applied for. I had set my ambitions high, I expected to be like most other birds, to leap from the nest and fly! However, my wings weren’t quite as developed as I’d thought, and rather than soaring through the magnificent clouds – I plummeted into the foliage. But, turns out the foliage is pretty amazing, something I never would have known. And it was there, I discovered this internship in ornithology. We tend to dread failure, fear the possibility of things not going the way that we expect them to. And guess what, we do fail. But so what? Failure is only the route to a more comprehensive success.

Ecology and conservation is rewarding work. Work that is ever in need of more hands. The web of resources and opportunities to get involved is larger than you realize! So, my friends, we might take courage from the Wood Duck, ruffle our feathers, and leap! Not expecting to fly right away, but realizing that the fall can be every bit as majestic.

I’m Sally Smith and I’m wild about Utah!

Credits:
Photos: Courtesy US FWS, Jim Hudgins, Photographer
Duckling Courtesy Pixabay, Terbe Rezso, Contributor, https://pixabay.com/photos/duckling-nature-pen-feather-cute-9660597/
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © J. Chase and K.W. Baldwin as well as Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman Utah Public Radio upr.org
Text & Voice: Sally Smith, Student Intern, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/

Additional Reading

Listen to archived pieces by Sally Smith on Wild About Utah

Wood Duck, All About Birds, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
Overview: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/
Life History: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/lifehistory

Wood Duck, Audubon Field Guide, https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/wood-duck

Curtis, Paige, 10 Fun Facts About the Wood Duck, 10 Fun Facts About the Wood Duck, Audubon Magazine, December 13, 2023, https://www.audubon.org/magazine/10-fun-facts-about-wood-duck

Watch a clutch of ducklings leap in the ‘Baby Wood Ducks’ video, in the Duck Stamp article below:
“In late summer, Wood Duck nestlings fledge by the dozens from their nest cavities, hurling themselves to the ground or water far below when prompted by a special contact call from their mother. –more–”
Freeman, Alexandra Class, How Hunters and Artists Helped Save North America’s Waterfowl, Bird Academy, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2015, https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/duck-stamps/

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Citizen Scientists

Black-capped Chickadee with Leg Band Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer
Black-capped Chickadee with Leg Band
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer
“Get more! Snap another one! Keep shooting, Dr. Koz!”

Silent whisper-yells bombard, as if I’m a paparazzi capturing exclusive, behind the scenes footage of Taylor Swift or some other super star. However, these are kid whispers, and I’m just a 2nd-grade teacher leaning out my exterior classroom door, taking pictures of a curious little Black-Capped Chickadee happily pecking seeds from our class millet feeder which dangles just outside our window.

I happily comply with the entourage’s request and snap picture after picture of the little black and white songbird.

Black-capped Chickadee Leg Band Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer
Black-capped Chickadee Leg Band
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer

Cracking the Code, Leg Band Analytic Cyphers Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer “Cracking the Code”
Leg Band Analytic Cyphers
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer

Bird Banding Certificate of Appreciation USGS, Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Contributor & Photographer Bird Banding Certificate of Appreciation USGS
Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Contributor & Photographer

Eventually it flies away and I return to class and connect the camera to our large screen so students can see the close-up pictures of our little friend. I display the images and voices erupt from the students “Look at its leg! There is something shiny stuck on it!”

Sure enough, a metallic band encircled its right tarsometatarsus (fancy word for lower leg).

We zoomed into the picture and students noticed faint numbers and letters. They asked to see the various other pictures I had captured. The band was visible in each picture. Additionally, a different perspective of the band was visible in each picture based on the way the bird had adjusted its body between shots.

The students had an idea. Zoom into the band of each picture and print them. Each picture would have the band from a different angle, which may allow them to ‘crack the code’ of the specific 9-digit identification number that was encrypted upon it.

I did as the kids suggested. Soon kids were madly puzzling around the room, moving pictures from here to there, trying to see what clue from one angle of the band might inform a clue from a different angle of the band. It was a complex puzzle, but they wouldn’t give up.

A kid yells out, “We got it!” and everyone rushes over to their large whiteboard, which by this time, looks like a rocket scientist has been planning the next launch.

[287035209] was inscribed on their whiteboard

We accessed the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website for reporting banded birds and entered the number along with associated data.

Up popped a corresponding specimen:
Species: Black-Capped Chickadee
Banded: 2019

Scientist: Dr. Clark Rushing
Location: Cache County, USA

Students cheered and shouted when they read the information, and were most excited to learn how old our little friend was. They quickly decided looking up Dr. Rushing (now a professor at University of Georgia) and emailing him was necessary and formulated a message sharing their experience.

To our surprise, Dr. Rushing responded to the students sharing his memory of the banding project and how a 7-year-old Black-Capped Chickadee was a very rare scientific discovery.

The students sat with amazement, feeling like real scientists. Leaving the classroom that day for carpool, I hear a little girl giggle, pull her friend over, and whisper in her ear, “One day, I’m going to be a bird scientist just like Dr. Clark Rushing!”

This is Dr. Joseph Kozlowski, and I am wild about outdoor education in Utah!

Credits:

Images: Courtesy & Copyright Joseph Kozlowski, Photographer, Used by Permission
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright © Kevin Colver, https://wildstore.wildsanctuary.com/collections/special-collections/kevin-colver and including contributions from Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman.
Text:     Joseph Kozlowski, Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Utah State University https://edithbowen.usu.edu/
Additional Reading Links: Joseph Kozlowski & Lyle Bingham

Additional Reading:

Joseph (Joey) Kozlowski’s pieces on Wild About Utah:

Reporting a bird with a federal band or auxiliary marker, U.S. Geological Survey(USGS), U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.usgs.gov/labs/bird-banding-laboratory/science/report-a-band

The USGS serves as the primary science bureau for the DOI, integrating geological, hydrological, and biological research to support decision-making on public lands. Who We Are: https://www.usgs.gov/about/about-us/who-we-are#:~:text=What%20We%20Do,features%20available%20to%20the%20public.