It's that time again! Spring has finally arrived at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, but we are still fending off everything that the weather has thrown our way this year. With spring, we always expect to have those long spring showers, but this year we had some torrential downpours that flooded lots of western Oregon. On one of my Corvallis days, we were thwarted by floods along the Willamette River that closed down both lanes of highway 34, and we were forced to detour through Albany. While we were up in Corvallis, rain in the Cascades was loosening the ground and sending landslides into the roads. But all this rain has been accelerating the melt of the snow around here and is waking up the wildflowers. The trillium and violet flowers are popping up all over the forest floor and adding some more color to this emerald wonderland.
Another sign that spring is here? The pair of harlequin ducks are back on Blue River and the Blue River Reservoir!
These signs of spring also mean that it is time for us to start trapping skunks again! Ever since the snowpocalypse, we've had a tough time finding our collared skunks. Over the last few weeks, we've had 2 skunks die. One appears to be a predation event by a bobcat and the other is still a mystery. But the rest of the collars are quiet, which probably means that their antennas have taken quite a beating over the winter. Unfortunately, I broke my ankle playing indoor soccer, so I'm relying on Ben to do most of the leg work to set traps in the forest. Not much hiking in the woods with this gigantic thing on my leg!
So far, we've been able to recapture 3 of our skunks from the fall and an additional new skunk! Because we have had trouble with our collar antennae breaking off, we are trying out some new collars with whip antennae. The old antenna model is on the left and the new one is on the right. We're hoping these new antennae, which are much more flexible, will help us be able to track the animal for longer periods of time. Right now, it seems like the old antennae last about 6 months before they start breaking off. Only time will tell!
Until next time, Happy Earth Day!