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rwedgee
Ice climber
canyon country,CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 29, 2015 - 07:36am PT
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Rare fox spotted in Yosemite National Park
By Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/29/us/california-sierra-nevada-red-fox/index.html
It's the first confirmed sighting of the fox in Yosemite National Park in nearly 100 years.
It's the first confirmed sighting of the fox in Yosemite National Park in nearly 100 years.
(CNN)—It's not every day that a fox sighting makes headlines. But when it's a once-in-a-century sighting of a rare Sierra Nevada red fox, it merits a mention.
Researchers on staff at Yosemite National Park made the find during a five-day trek through the backwoods of the park. The scientists, part of the aptly named Yosemite Carnivore Crew, went to check on motion sensitive cameras. That's when they saw them: two images of the fox, one from December and another in January, trotting through the snow.
Don Neubacher, the park's superintendent, said he's "thrilled" by the news. He called the species "one of the most rare and elusive animals in the Sierra Nevada." It's the first time the fox has been spotted in the park in nearly 100 years.
Indeed, little is known about the fox in part because they're so hard to track down. According to a fact sheet from the U.S. Forest Service, the Sierra Nevada red fox lives in remote and rugged habitats. They're solitary and have a habitat range from California to southern Oregon and western Nevada. It's thought 50 of them may remain, but the fact sheet notes that there could be as few as 15.
It's not known why the population of this specific species has dramatically dwindled. Their bright red fur once made them a popular target for hunting, but that has been ruled out as a factor, says the Forest Service, noting that hunting and trapping them was banned in 1974.
Scientists now hope that this sighting could help protect the foxes.
The Yosemite Carnivore Crew will now scour other cameras for signs of any additional foxes. They're outfitting the cameras with "hair snare stations" to collect samples for genetic testing.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Jan 29, 2015 - 07:39am PT
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I read that last night. So cool.
I hope there's more than 15 of them!
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John M
climber
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Jan 29, 2015 - 08:20am PT
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I"m with Walleye. I saw one on glacier point road in the eighties. I got to stop and watch it play in the snow for about 20 minutes. It was sliding down a snow bank. It would run to the top, and then jump down tucking its tail underneath it and slide down. Pretty cool. I wish that I had had a camera. I didn't realize that they were so rare.
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Jan 29, 2015 - 08:30am PT
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I've seen at least three over the years but didn't fill out the confirmation paperwork.
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Jan 29, 2015 - 08:42am PT
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15 seems like a manageable number...oh wait, we talking about NPS?
A master plan with a 20 year timeline should do the trick...duty now for the future.
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Jan 29, 2015 - 08:45am PT
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pretty sure I saw a honey badger at the deli mid-80's. Walleye can confirm.
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Ward Trotter
Trad climber
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Jan 29, 2015 - 08:52am PT
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I believe I spotted one on a backpack several years ago near the outlet of Fourth Recess Lake late in the afternoon. I was struck by how red the coat was and how softly and quickly the fox was moving along a trail leading north out of the west side of the lake.
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dave729
Trad climber
Western America
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Jan 29, 2015 - 10:05am PT
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Sierra Nevada Red Fox. What a beauty.
Wiki says they have a monogamous mating system and highly specific mate selection. Give birth in winter so there
might be a den with several hungry kits up there.
Also says they are so shy of people stomping around near by, such as the carnivore crew, likely made them run away abandoning the young.
http://www.sierraforestlegacy.org/FC_SierraNevadaWildlifeRisk/SierraNevadaRedFox.php
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Jan 29, 2015 - 10:14am PT
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Double check the tip of the tail next time you see a red fox. Grey foxes are really common and can look almost completely red. If it's a red fox the tip of the tail is white, if it's a grey fox (or coyote) the tip of the tail is black.
Kinda like when people see "brown bears" in the sierra. Just a brown black bear
Also, there's an invasive red fox that lives all over CA at low elevations. The Sierra Nevada red fox is usually only above 5,000 ft.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand, I'm a nerd
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Jan 29, 2015 - 10:50am PT
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What the nerd said. I've seen a "red fox" by the camp four lot/swan slab meadows are several times, but it had a black point tail.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Jan 29, 2015 - 10:59am PT
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Hey crab, the fox situation in CA is way more complicated that we'd like to think, and Ben Sack's group at UC Davis recently determined that there is a native population of red foxes in the Central Valley. Unfortunately, there are also non-natives wandering all over the damn place, and they can cross and dilute the two native races. One showed up at Donner Lake this summer. Check it out: http://foxsurvey.ucdavis.edu/documents/30May2010_FinalReport_ForDistribution.pdf
There have even been some interesting fox sightings in Owen's Valley in recent years, and it's been tricky to determine what's what.
If anybody has any fox sightings, anywhere in the state, I'm sure Ben would love to hear about them (http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/cdcg/bensacks.php);. And if you ever find a fox roadkill, definitely scoop it up!!!
I work with Sack's lab on the bunny stuff. Great bunch of people!
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zBrown
Ice climber
Brujò de la Playa
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Jan 29, 2015 - 11:32am PT
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I saw this Redd Foxx and there wasn't a spec of white on him. Must confirm that I did not spend much time on the inspection of his tail.
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Jan 29, 2015 - 06:14pm PT
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Thanks Willoughby, I didn't know we had any undiluted low elevation red foxes in CA!
I'm guessing it's a different subspecies than its Sierra cousin but I didn't even know there was a different subspecies around here.
Learn something every day
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scooter
climber
fist clamp
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Jan 29, 2015 - 06:51pm PT
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I live in Fish Camp. 1 mile from Yose. I see a Sierra Red Fox about once or twice a year. I also see tons of Grey and Kit Fox. The one thing I rarely ever see, actually only twice since 1999, is a Ranger on foot in the forest. And never more than 20 ft from a trail or road. No joke. Badger and wolverine are the only two Sierra animals I haven't observed at close range or with binoculars.
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Risk
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
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Jan 29, 2015 - 08:29pm PT
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scooter, where did you see a mink? What was the forest ranger doing? Where was the kit fox and red fox? Probably not at "fish camp."
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scooter
climber
fist clamp
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Jan 29, 2015 - 09:58pm PT
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The foxes that I have seen are almost always running across hwy 41 at night, and yes they do live in the area. The area around here is also loaded with all the weasel type critters. It is about the only place you will ever see a fisher or martin. But, I guess you are right I haven't seen a mink onless I mistook it for a martin. As far as the Ranger goes one was checking stock permits in the back of Lyell Canyon and the other was sitting reading at the Junction to North Dome on North Rim trail.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
extraordinaire
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Jan 29, 2015 - 10:14pm PT
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If memory serves- one of Walt's girls WAS a red head.
In my stint there, alls I saw was that giant woodpecker (pileated), a bobcat, and a porcupine.
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RP3
Big Wall climber
Twain Harte
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Jan 29, 2015 - 10:31pm PT
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I bet it showed up to watch the Dawn Wall
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Risk
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
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Jan 29, 2015 - 10:59pm PT
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I saw the red fox just once near Tioga Pass. Saw mink at Bear Valley lake in northern Yosemite. Forest rangers are very, very rare. Park Rangers in the backcountry are more common, but often stay hidden from tourists until needed.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Jan 29, 2015 - 11:07pm PT
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saw a red fox in the warehouse gym the other day, killed by a hydrogen peroxide spill in pukeit sound moments later,
how do they taste? kind of in between a spotted owl and the desert tortoise, it's all lunch meat to me,
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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Jan 30, 2015 - 12:03am PT
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it's all lunch meat to me,
is that you, Senator?
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Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
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Jan 30, 2015 - 08:10am PT
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Gray fox at the Pinns last march
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zBrown
Ice climber
Brujò de la Playa
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Jan 30, 2015 - 09:01am PT
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Apparently legal to bow-hunt them as long as yellow arrows are used.
Rare badger found in Red Fox hole outside of Yosemite
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'Pass the Pitons' Pete
Big Wall climber
like Ontario, Canada, eh?
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Jan 30, 2015 - 10:03am PT
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This species of Fox is not so rare a sight in Yosemite, and is easily identified by its rather long snout:
and is occasionally spotted free climbing hard bits for me on various El Cap routes:
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Jan 30, 2015 - 10:21am PT
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There's grey foxes in my neighborhood, once in a while I'll see one or two. I'll just sit quietly on the front patio and there they are, out patrolling for an evening meal. The thing that strikes me is how perfectly groomed they are. They must take care of each other to maintain such a coiffure. Beautiful creatures.
These ones are not extremely shy of humans. We're as short walk from the Angeles Nat Forest but there's houses, streets around too.
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melski
Trad climber
bytheriver
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they don;t always cooperate when you try to check the tip of the tail,,,,
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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^^^^ Nice, nice, verry nice, Mike Bolte. ^^^^
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C4/1971
Trad climber
Depends on the day...
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Dave Bircheff and I saw a mating pair of them as we came down from a climb (The Braille Book) on upper Cathedral in the early seventies. The climb was epic with lightning strikes hitting the main wall as we finished the fifth pitch, followed by a rappel as the wall above us took direct hits.
On the descent, that is basically a talus scree these two came out right in front of us....we were blessed. But then we remembered when the ring-tailed cats hung out behind Lewis Memorial...
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Ring-tails are way cool. Once coming down off a big solo in the dark something caught my eye. I turned and saw about 16 pairs of eyes bunched up reflecting my headlamp in the bushes 10m away.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Thread drift - ringtails can be seen on the rock wall along the side of 140 on many, many nights. And in the daytime, you may notice that there's little piles of ringtail poop all over the wall.
My neighbors have been getting decent gray fox pics on their webcam recently. This is from last night.
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