In the late 90s, I spent four summers finding the best route to the top of the highest 50 mountains in Eastern Washington. It turned into a hiking guide that has since been published and gone out of print. I didn’t carry anything to deter bears on those hikes, and I still don’t.

My rationale is a complete lack of reported bear attacks in Eastern Washington. After all those miles on remote trails, I can recount nine encounters with black bears while hiking. Every bear fled, frightened. Except one.

Hiking the Thirteenmile Trail south of Republic, Wash., I awoke a bedded down bear just off the trail. He started running toward me, so I yelled and waved my arms. He didn’t respond favorably. I tried shinnying up a tree even though black bears climb trees.

Realizing there was no way I’d get far enough up, I dropped down and gave one last, deep-voiced yell and threatening wave of arms. The bear was undeterred. It quickly closed the gap between us. Standing my ground, the bear slid to a halt, inches away. I could’ve pat him on the head. After a brief pause, he turned and ran away.

Never growling or acting aggressively except to run toward me, I theorized he was groggy after being startled awake. Realizing I was human, he did what bears normally do. I resumed my hike, making noise for a while, then not even worrying about it.

On another one of my hikes in Northeast Washington near Horseshoe Lake, I stopped for a good view while descending a ridge. Seventy feet below me, I noticed a pair of bear cubs. The sow was a bit farther down.

After a few moments watching, I tossed a pine cone which landed below me. The cub ran to mom, whimpering at being startled. The sow, suddenly alert, scanned the landscape thoroughly before relaxing. I was amused something so simple as a pine cone falling to the ground scared the cub. I retreated, made plenty of noise, and resumed hiking down the ridge.

As I expected, the family of bears had disappeared. I was lucky I’d stopped at just the right spot to see them without being seen. Had I walked straight into the bear family, it could’ve been bad news.

Things didn’t turn out so pleasantly for Michael Reasoner, a Forest Service assistant silviculturist. In August 2017, traversing through the thickly wooded Caribou Creek Drainage in North Idaho, he happened upon a black bear cub who ran, whimpering, to mom.

Reasoner believes what he did next caused a dangerous encounter. When he turned to walk away, the 300-plus pound sow galloped after him. She came within 20 feet, growling and huffing aggressively. Reasoner talked to the bear calmly and soothingly.

Eventually retreating, the sow returned, charging again. More talking caused the sow to back off, but then charged a third time, coming within 10 feet of him. He raised his hands and yelled. A loud, aggressive standoff ensued as the bear responded likewise.

The sow eventually backed off before charging a fourth time. Reasoner pulled out his core auger, a forestry tool used to determine the age of trees, and behaved as aggressively as possible while slamming the auger against a tree. Agitated, the bear came within five feet, growling loudly, spit flying from her mouth.

When the sow turned to check on her cub, Reasoner hid behind a large Douglas fir. Shortly after, she returned, searching and sniffing about but didn’t find him. Able to slip away, Reasoner moved quickly until coming to a steep hill. The 20-minute adrenaline-fueled encounter had left him completely drained, and he could barely exert himself, but he had made it away safely.

Reasoner told me he has five to eight encounters with bears each year. The bears, he says, almost always run away. Crossing paths with a sow and cub was a first and his only frightening bear encounter.

It took a couple years before he could begin his daily forest trudges without feeling uneasy. He didn’t have bear spray that day, but now carries it, always. His story gives good reason for me to do likewise.

James P. Johnson’s book “Spokane and Coeur d’Alene Freshwater Shark Attacks,” came out March 2022. He wrote about five things to never do at a lake for the July-August 2022 issue.

Find stories in the OTO archives about bear safety, including “Bear Country Safety Advice” by Crystal Atamian.

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This spring has seen higher than usual deaths of tundra swans in North Idaho. Under the bucolic waterway of the Chain Lakes of the Coeur D’Alene River lies the toxic legacy of the Silver Valley’s productive mining history.

According to the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission, the Coeur d’Alene River delivers 200 tons of lead to Lake Coeur D’Alene each year. Along with signs along the basin stating not to disturb the sediments, the most visually striking evidence of this ongoing heavy metal pollution is the death of migrating tundra swans.

In early April 2022, the lakes near Harrison, Idaho, were dotted with numerous white piles of feathers in the cattails and along the shoreline. These swans in particular accumulate lead while they feed and digest sediments in flooded fields and along the shore. Counts of dead birds for this season are still preliminary, and there can be a number of factors on why this spring has seen higher mortality.

The remediation of toxic sediments in the CDA basin is one of the largest brown field projects in the country and involves the EPA, local counties, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, and both Idaho and Washington states. Most of the work so far has focused on areas around Kellogg, but this year work to dredge contaminated sediment from the river will move downstream near the Old Mission State Park.

Additionally, there is the task of restoring the wetlands. In 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked with a local landowner to create an easement on farmland that contains uncontaminated wetlands. One thought is to try to haze swans away from the contaminated wetlands to those that get water from uncontaminated streams. There is plenty of restoration work still needed along the river to safeguard the health of wildlife and water quality.

Learn more about Idaho’s wetland habitat.

Find more wildlife stories in the Nature column archives.

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The Bighorn Show is an annual tradition for seasoned sportspeople and a great opportunity for anyone who loves the outdoors and wants to learn more about procuring some of the food we eat through hunting and fishing. We are giving away 12 pair of tickets to this year’s show too. Enter here!

Each year, the Big Horn Show packs hundreds of outfitters, travel destination representatives, and hunting, fishing, and outdoor adventure-related vendors into the Spokane Fair and Expo Center (also known as the Spokane County Fairgrounds), making it the place to learn about fish and wildlife, hunting and fishing techniques, bucket list destinations, and the latest gear.          

Established in 1960, the Big Horn Outdoor Adventure Show, sponsored by the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, is one of the oldest and longest continually operated sports and recreation shows in the United States and features seminars, demonstrations, and the most current information for outdoor enthusiasts of every kind.

Get tickets at a Ziggy’s Home Improvement store locations in Spokane or buy online at Bighornshow.com.

Learn about other happenings in our News & Events department.

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However, when the commission voted in November 2021 on whether or not to have a bear hunt in the spring of 2022, the commission was short one member, which led to a 4-4 vote. Without a clear mandate to hold the hunt, the commission defaulted to halting the season.

Since that controversial decision, another commissioner, Fred Koontz, who voted against the spring bear hunt, resigned in December.

The canceled hunt first gained attention when two sisters attempted to sue WDFW, stating that the public was not properly notified about the halt, but that lawsuit was struck down. The lawsuit did, however, bring the hunt into the national spotlight, particularly with animal rights groups like the Humane Society.

Those opposing the spring black bear hunt claim that it is unethical, citing that female bears can be harvested who may be rearing young, and those cubs would likely not survive. They also have concerns that WDFW does not have sufficient data on bear population numbers.

Washington’s current spring black bear hunt has occurred since 1999. The hunt was implemented to manage populations, reduce human-bear conflicts, and to reduce young tree mortality when bears are foraging in the spring, which can cause damage to commercial timber interests.

The 2022 special permit hunt would have issued tags to 664 hunters with an anticipated 145 bears harvested.

WDFW’s data states that only 2-percent of cub mortality is related to the spring bear hunt. The agency also requires that hunters notify the agency within 72 hours of a kill.

Hunters must present the raw pelt, with evidence of sex, and the skull to the department within five days. This data is used in part to estimate bear populations and set hunting limits.

Several of the commissioners who voted against the hunt stated that they are listening to Washington State as a whole—with hunters being less than 3-percent of the population—and that halting the 2022 hunt could give WDFW the needed time to collect more robust population estimates.

Other commissioners who voted for the spring bear hunt, including Spokane’s Kim Thorburn, state that Washington has a healthy bear population and WDFW is using standardized methods to estimate populations. Commissioners supporting the hunt also state that WDFW has the right to offer recreational hunting opportunities when it is deemed to not hurt population numbers.

The suspension of the 2022 spring hunt has upset many hunting groups. The Washington chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers released the following statement: “The announcement regarding the 2022 spring bear hunt was incredibly disappointing for our organization, which advocates for the tenets of the North American Model of Conservation, particularly in regards to the use of science to set wildlife policy and that hunting is an appropriate tool for wildlife management.”

Dan Wilson, the secretary of Washington Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, adds that “Predator hunting can obviously elicit strong emotions, but the truth is that our bear populations are incredibly stable, deserve honest management policies, and provide a great source of meat for hunters seeking out healthy and sustainable foods.”

Despite disagreements, getting the commission fully staffed is something all sides seem to agree on. The current state of Washington’s wildlife commission, which as of January 2022 had two vacant seats as well as several sitting members whose terms ended in 2020, has raised the hackles of groups on both sides of the issue.

Case in point, the first action of the new nonprofit Washington Wildlife First, that is seeking to restructure state agencies to focus on the non-consumptive values of natural resources, was to write a letter to Governor Inslee along with other groups encouraging him to fully staff the commission.

Originally published as “Report on the Spring Bear Hunt and Washington’s Wildlife Commission” in the January-February 2022 issue.

Adam Gebauer has seen many bear on his wanderings but more bears have probably seen him. He last wrote about the need for more fire in a fire-prone forest.

Find more stories about Northwest wildlife in the Nature column archives.

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“As a kid, I used to watch nature shows on TV. My passion was sparked by sitting and watching TV when I was seven,” she says with a laugh. That passion has since become an extensive education and career studying the movements and behavior of large carnivores.

“Really I just wanted to start big with the really big problem, the really big animal,” she says.

Focusing on large carnivores has a proportionally large impact. These “umbrella species,” as they’re termed in conservation, need the most space and require the most specific resources. If you work to protect them, “you’ll likely be protecting a lot of other species that fall under that same habitat,” Wynn-Grant explains.

Wynn-Grant will present her show, “The Secret Life of Bears,” at the National Geographic Live event in Spokane on January 26, 2022. During her engaging visual presentation, she’ll share some of the “really crazy behaviors” and “some of the mysteries scientists still haven’t figured out yet.”

National Geographic Live presenter: Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant holding a cub (left) and at a bear den. // Photos by Peter Houlihan, courtesy of National Geographic Live.

“There are eight species of bears around the world. In this show, I’m going to take the audience around the world to learn about all the things you were never taught about bears,” she explains.

One species of bear she’ll cover “has a fur pattern so interesting that every bear is unique—so you can actually identify a bear by the pattern on its fur, like a human fingerprint. No two bears that ever lived, ever in the history of the world, have ever matched. Scientists are just uncovering that.”

She’ll also talk about a bear species that today eats only plants—but scientists have discovered the species probably used to be entirely carnivorous. “Sometime over the past several thousand years of its evolution, it has evolved into a totally different animal than it used to be.”

Discoveries like these illustrate that even with more familiar, well-known species, “there’s still a lot of science to be done, still a lot of discoveries to be made,” says Wynn-Grant.

“For a Spokane audience, I imagine folks at that tour stop will already know a lot about bears, especially black bears . . . and that’s really cool,” she says. “They’ll know what I’m talking about in some ways, but there’s just going to be so much [new information] to talk about.”

“It gives me so much joy to talk about nature on TV, on stage, wherever it is,” says Wynn-Grant. “I’m definitely trying to inspire people to see themselves as curious scientists and people who can make a difference and keep asking questions.”

Wynn-Grant will be in Spokane for the National Geographic Live “The Secret Life of Bears” on January 26, 2022, at 7 p.m. at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox.

Find more stories about wildlife species, conservation, climate, and other environmental topics in the Nature column archives.

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Checking for oncoming traffic, I jumped out of my truck and picked the first one up. Instinctively I knew to hold it at arms lengths just like it knew to start peeing, releasing a huge stream for such a small animal. I quickly gathered up the others, each one contributing to a stream of predator deterrent on the warm pavement.

Painted turtles, chrysemys picta, get both their common and scientific names from the bright yellow and red stripes on their head, legs, and tail and the similar colors found on the underside of their shells. These are the most wide-ranging turtles of North America and can be found from coast to coast from southern Canada to northern Mexico.

Like their slow gate, painted turtles preferred habitat is in slow water, particularly ponds and lakes. These habitats are known as lacustrine ecosystems and refer to their characteristic still water.

The depth and size are what separate a pond from a lake. And depth and size can have a big impact on the aquatic environment of these water bodies. A pond with shallower water has sunlight that penetrates to the bottom, allowing rooted aquatic plants to grow throughout.

The water is also a more consistent temperature no matter the depth. A lake on the other hand only has aquatic vegetation around it edges and has a stratified water column with layers of warm water on top and colder water with depth.

Water temperatures in lakes are usually only subject to the changes in the seasons. Where as the water temperature in ponds is more subject to change from variations with wind, precipitation, evaporation, as well as the changing seasons, making a fluctuating habitat for aquatic species.

Lacustrine systems are broken down into three habitat zones. Bottom-dwelling animals use the littoral zone of shallow water where light penetrates to the bottom and rooted plants. The limnetic zone is the area of open water where light can penetrate and support animal and plant planktons. And the profundal zone is the area below where light can penetrate.

Painted turtles spend most of their time in the littoral zone where old turtles can snack on aquatic vegetation and younger turtles can find tad poles, snail, and crayfish. When not feeding they spend the bulk of their time basking on docks, rocks, and down trees near the shore where they can easily slip into the water to evade predation.

In some cases when these turtles mate in fall, the females are able to delay fertilization till spring. In spring and early summer, females will dig holes in the sand to lay a clutch of 2-20 round white eggs that will hatch in the fall.

Unfortunately, I know my “rescue” efforts are probably short lived and those turtles will be back, crossing that same road again soon. Beside predation, the main threats to these turtles is vehicle collisions, especially when females are moving back and forth from their nest.

The next time you are driving by those lacustrine lake and pond habitats, keep an eye out for turtles basking in the sun and, more importantly, for any slow-moving rocks crossing the road.

When Adam isn’t rescuing turtles off of roads or working as a field biologist, he is likely on some hiking, biking, or skiing adventure somewhere in the Northwest. He wrote about red band trout in the May-June 2021 issue of Out There.

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Since Inland Northwest lakes range from desert-like terrain in central and eastern Washington to lush mountain lakes in North Idaho and Western Montana, the types of wildlife you can encounter at lakes varies widely. Here are a few ideas of lakes to visit with the chance of catching sight of some less-seen Inland NW wildlife.

Western/Clark’s Grebes

These cool-looking birds can be found at several eastern Washington area lakes in the summer, including Lake Spokane. The birds build floating nests and have an athletic, water skating mating ritual. Their chirping calls stand out too. Hike into the Fisk Property at Riverside State Park on Lake Spokane or launch a kayak or canoe at the Riverside State Park Nine Mile Recreation Area.

Moose

These potentially massive ungulates can make an appearance at many forested regional lakes. But two relatively wild places on Lake Pend Oreille where moose can be regularly spotted from paddle craft or boats include the Pack River flats wildlife management area on the north end of the lake and the Clark Fork River Delta on the northeast end of the lake.

Bald Eagles

For a quick urban wildlife fix, paddle over to the wetlands at the south end of Washington’s Liberty Lake , east of Spokane, for likely encounters with eagles, osprey, and other wetland critters.

Mountain Goats

There are many Idaho alpine lakes where mountain goats can be seen, but you can also try your luck at spotting an elusive goat along the south end of Lake Pend Oreille near Bayview. Look for the distinctly white ungulates on the rocky slopes of Bernard Peak near Echo Bay.

American White Pelicans

The White Pelican is one of the largest birds in North America with a wingspan of 8-9.5 feet. Look for these giant white birds by boat or paddle craft at the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene near the mouths of the Coeur d’Alene and St. Joe rivers.

American White Pelicans. // Photos: Shallan Knowles.

Find more widlife stories in the OTO archives.

Learn about more lake destinations and recreation in the 2021 Inland Northwest Lake Guide.

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With the probable extinction of the ivory bill woodpecker in the Southeast, the pileated is the largest of the woodpeckers in North America, similar in size to crows. They have a distinctive “mocking laughter” call reminiscent of the cartoon character Woody the Woodpecker. The name pileated actually refers to the red crest that runs along its head. Males can be distinguished from females by a red mustache stripe behind their beaks.

Woodpeckers use their powerful beaks to hammer holes in trees in search of insects, and the drumming noise also stakes out their territory. Pileated woodpeckers will bore deep into the truck of a tree in search of carpenter ants and beetle larvae, their holes differing from other woodpeckers by their rectangle shape. They will excavate cavities in dead standing trees called snags that are big enough to lay eggs and rear young. When the pileateds move out other animals such as squirrels, owls, and ducks use these cavities, making some of these snags apartments for numerous animals.

It is easy to wonder how these birds don’t end up rattling their brains with all that pounding. Recent studies have found that these birds can transfer up to 99% of the pecking force away from the head and into the body. Studying these birds has even helped in research to reduce head trauma in humans.

Many woodpeckers also have incredible long tongues with sticky bards that help them rake ants and insects out of crevices in the trees. Sometimes these tongues are so long that the muscle wraps around the outside of the skull and terminates in a nostril. Pileateds, however, have relatively short tongues. This is partly because their powerful beaks can penetrate deeper into a tree than many other woodpeckers.                   

Watching a woodpecker fly from tree to tree it is easy to be amazed how they can land directly on the vertical surface of a tree trunk. Woodpeckers use their strong stiff tail feathers like a kickstand that allows them to stand on vertical trunks while they hammer away in search of food.

Pileated woodpeckers range across a large territory east of the Rockies to the north and south, but west of the Rockies they are found mostly in mature northern forests. Their presence indicates a healthy forest habitat with a mix of mature and standing dead trees with little human disturbance.

In many western Native American tribes the presence of a woodpecker is a sign of friendship and happiness. Certainly for me it truly was a happy experience to be gliding through the woods on skis at the same speed as my new, winged pileated friend.

Originally published as “Close Encounter of the Pileated Kind” in the March-April 2021 issue.

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Continued reports of sick or dead birds at backyard feeders across Washington and other Northwest states prompted the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to recommend people continue to leave their wild bird feeders down or to take extra steps to maintain them this winter. “You can help to stop the spread of salmonellosis by discontinuing backyard bird feeding until at least April 1 to encourage birds to disperse and forage naturally,” says WDFW veterinarian Dr. Kristin Mansfield. With spring food sources emerging, WDFW had updated their warning to say that slowly adding back in clean bird feeders is now possible. Read the updated FAQ here.

The department first asked residents to remove or clean feeders in February in response to a die-off of finches, such as pine siskins, as well as other songbirds. Salmonellosis, a common and usually fatal bird disease caused by the salmonella bacteria is to blame. When birds flock together in large numbers at feeders, they can transmit the disease through droppings and saliva. 

Signs of Bird Sickness

The first signs that a bird may have salmonellosis is often a seemingly tame bird on or near a feeder. Birds infected with salmonella become very lethargic, fluff out their feathers, and are easy to approach. Unfortunately, at this point there is very little people can do to treat them. The best course it to leave these birds alone and report them (as well as any dead birds) via WDFW’s online reporting tool.

WDFW explains that discontinuing feeding of wild birds will not leave them without food supplies during the winter and spring months. “Birds use natural food sources year-round, even while also using backyard bird feeders, so they should be fine without the feeders for another month,” Mansfield says.

Clean Feeders Daily

If people do not choose to remove bird feeders, please clean them daily by first rinsing well with warm soapy water, then dunking in a solution of nine parts water and one part bleach. Finish by rinsing and drying before refilling.

Also please reduce the number of feeders to a number you can clean daily, as well as using feeders that accommodate fewer birds (such as tubes rather than platforms) and spreading out feeder locations. Keep the ground below bird feeders clean by raking or shoveling up feces and seed casings and turn over or cover bird baths so birds cannot access them.

It is possible, although uncommon, for salmonella bacteria to transfer from birds to humans through direct contact with infected birds, droppings, or through domestic cats that catch sick birds. When handling birds, bird feeders, or bird baths, it is best to wear gloves and wash hands thoroughly afterward.

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