Great wildlife viewing in Basin

MOSES LAKE - This is the first of a two-part series about wildlife viewing in the Basin.

Often I discuss the availability of outdoor related activities available in the Columbia Basin. Actually the phrase often used is, "We are blessed," and indeed this is true.

Basin residents and visitors participate in hunting, fishing, camping, outdoor cooking, hiking and much more. The one constant to all of these activities is wildlife viewing.

I once had a newspaper publisher ask me, "Do you think farmers and ranchers participated in outdoor-related activities?"

"Every last one of them," was my reply.

The explanation following the answer established the fact not all are hunters or anglers or campers, but every last one of them will look at wildlife a bird, deer, elk or any other type of wildlife crossing their path.  

Of course if geese appear overhead everyday, the farmer might not say to a friend over coffee, "Several flocks of geese flew over the tractor today."

But if a moose walked through the field, still green and growing, the sighting might be shared at the next coffee. More likely, the farmer will call a friend or relative right away and make a report right away.

The call might go like this, "George, this is Bill. Just had a moose walk through my wheat north to south headed in your direction."

Such an action might cause George to call others and all might travel to a specific location to see if they might intersect the creature. Having too many people looking for an animal out of their normal habitat is not a good thing, so let's set the record straight, we are talking about wildlife viewing, not harassing wildlife.

Seeing a moose in the Columbia Basin and surrounding areas was never heard of in the past. These days one might be spotted at Sun Lake State Park, along Lake Lenore or in the Laguna area.

Deer are currently plentiful throughout the Basin. One man west of town told me he has plenty of rose bushes, but hasn't had a rose in years. There is a herd of between 15 and 20 in the Japanese Garden area, which wanders through neighboring housing areas.

Several are living in the sand dunes between the south end of Moses Lake and Potholes Reservoir. Don Justesen sent me photos from last December of four deer, three nice bucks and a doe in a farm field with the circle visible and also several houses in the background.

In December of 1964, when I was a senior at Moses Lake High School, a mule deer doe was spotted near the intersection of Broadway Extended and Highway 17. Someone snapped a photo and it appeared in the Columbia Basin Herald as an unusual sighting. Today deer are spotted everyday within the city limits.

An antlered animal, such as elk, deer and moose, shed their antlers each spring and grow another set throughout the summer. The shed antlers are an interesting find. They are used for knife handles and for other decorative items. People actually hunt for the sheds and with more and more deer in this part of the Basin, shed hunters will make it a sport.

A couple notes about hunting sheds: First it is not proper to harass an animal at any time, but especially to try to get the antlers to drop. This action has been noticed in other areas and we don't want it to start here. Chasing the animals causes them undue stress when they are trying to gather nourishment after surviving the winter.

The second note is the law which states: You can pick up and possess naturally shed antlers.

This means a skull with two antlers attached, it not legal. Most likely such a find is the result of an animal dieing during the winter or several years ago and the skull just being found.

However, unethical people have been known to kill an illegal animal and come back for the skull later. If you find a deer, elk or moose skull with antlers attached, simply leave it alone. Feel free to pick up all antlers you find not attached to the skull.

When there are so many deer in an area, such as the Basin, wildlife biologists will tell you the potential for cougars in the area is high. We have deer, thus we have cougar. In the past 10 years or so two were killed within 10 miles of Ehprata in one hunting season and the following February, one was killed near outskirts of the town.

Several have been spotted over the years near Wilson Creek. One was spotted near the school in Mattawa. A cougar was found on a patio of a house between George and the Columbia River. Another was killed on the west side of Lake Lenore.

Now don't panic, but be aware when a healthy population of deer is present, they may be hunted by cougars. We have deer, thus we have cougar.

I haven't seen one in the wild, but such a sighting would be great.

Next week: Bird watching for the young and old.