Muskox Get Shaggy

Muskox Get Shaggy

Muskox Get Shaggy

2 minute read – 
In late Spring, Muskox start to look pretty shaggy and not very impressive.  They look like they could use a good combing – why is that?

To best answer the question…..let’s first talk a bit about muskox.

Muskox live on the tundra of the high arctic. This is a harsh environment and to protect themselves from cold temperatures, blowing snow and a lack of protection like hills, mountains….or even trees….the muskox has evolved some physical adaptations to not only survive, but to thrive.

The focus of this article and video is one of those adaptations:  their hair coat.

In this photo, guard hairs are clearly a coarser, darker brown hair.  Qiviut appears fleecier, greyish or lighter brown in colour and appears in straggly patches from the shoulder, across the back and over the hip.

Muskox sport long guard hairs that reach all the way down to their hooves. This acts as “almost” a weather proofing – it keeps the wind, snow and ice out.

Qiviut is the underlayer hair – a soft, warm, fleecy undercoat. The two layers – guard hairs and qiviut, work together to keep the muskox warm and dry through the long arctic winters, which can last up to 8 months! 

During spring, the muskox shed their qiviut, otherwise they run the risk of overheating.  The qiviut comes off in long dense layers – making them appear straggly and patchy. The qiviut gets caught in the environment on rocks and bushes. Other animals like ground squirrels and birds will gather it up to line their nests.
Humans are another animal who will gather qiviut – but we do so in order to knit with this very soft, fine and warm fibre. While we can knit with 100% qiviut, it is sometimes blended with other fibres, such as sheep’s wool.

Adaptations like qiviut and guard hair must be working, because muskox has survived since the last ice age. Now, that’s impressive.

Photo and video credit L. Caskenette

Lindsay Caskenette & Julie Kerr

Lindsay Caskenette & Julie Kerr

Visitor Services Manager and Visitor Services Coordinator

Lindsay and Julie love to share the Preserve the same way they explore life – full on and full of adventure!  They have a collective love of:  Animals....Lindsay dogs, Julie foxes; Adventure.... Lindsay dog mushing, Julie extreme camping;  both take on animal personas during story telling.  Together they support the Preserve with a strong Visitor Services presence and often, they even get work done (this happens most often when the other one is out of the office).   

867-456-7400
 info@yukonwildlife.ca

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Wild Spring Adventure!

Wild Spring Adventure!

Wild Spring Adventure!

6 minute read (and/or) watch the video!

Spring is the sign of new life! It’s the circle of life intertwined and flourishing from increased sunlight.

It’s a time of birds migrating. Some, like swans, stop only a short time on their way to nesting grounds further north; some stay for the season, like the chickadee and bluebird – they build nests, attract mates and raise their families.

There’s a saying – “Spring is in the air” – that implies a renewal of spirit and perhaps a bit of friskiness in certain species, like Red Foxes, that may lead to becoming parents to this year’s young (or perhaps they already ARE parents!). Of course, some species breed in the autumn, so that as spring progresses, we will start to see babies being born – at Yukon Wildlife Preserve we are hopeful that we will see Bison, then Caribou calves in the coming weeks and months. We expect to see wild fox kits and ducklings as well.

At the Preserve, Arctic Ground Squirrels started popping their heads above ground April 7 this year, with the males the first to break their winter hibernation. Juveniles and females are soon to follow their lead. We see, sitting on the cliffs and soaring above fields, birds of prey like bald eagles, coming in to hunt this prolific prey species. Spring is a notable return of the constant cry of alarm calls of ground squirrels, as their many predators hunt them from land or sky – displaying the full Circle of Life.

New growth has begun with grasses and early flowers like crocuses, to name only two plant species. This is important nutrition to many animals after a long cold winter, and grazers like Thinhorn Mountain Sheep can be found on south facing slopes, enjoying the tender new shoots, and the ease of eating, now that the deep snow has melted.

Crocuses are one of the first signs of spring – and important nutrition to many animals after a long cold winter.  Here we see a very early crocus found by the authors on their spring adventure hike at Yukon Wildlife Preserve.   Photo by Lindsay Caskenette

Water, water, water everywhere! Swans have returned with a splash – their honking fills the air with the best kind of noise as they stop over to feed while on their long migration to their northern nesting grounds . There is a year round marsh in the moose habitat at the Preserve, but the seasonal one next door in the mule deer habitat seems to be preferred by the swans – to the seeming curiosity of one of the female mule deer.  Everyone seems to love jumping and running through puddles, no matter how big or small the puddle…..or animal…..moose, humans and muskox! After a winter of conserving energy while food is scarce and energy is focused to survival, jumping in a puddle can lead to manic runs around the yard (or habitat). It seems spring can be about fun and burning off extra energy!

Swans have a long migration in the spring – open water at Yukon Wildlife Preserve is a frequent stop over for food and rest by migratory birds.  Some, like bluebirds, stay for the season, some, like the swan, typically move on to nesting grounds further north.  Photo Lindsay Caskenette

When you need a meal, sometimes you have to “spring” into action. Lynx are natural jumpers and we took the opportunity to provide enrichment to our resident lynx females by placing their food in trees. In the wild, lynx prefer snowshoe hare and will use powerful leaps to catch their meal within only a few “springs”….we mean jumps…..

Limited smells in winter mean that spring unearths a plethora of new scents on the air. Red Fox have an excellent sense of smell, making it easy for them to follow their nose to food sources. When they’ve eaten their fill, they will cache extra food as snacks for later. They keep an eye and ear out to avoid anyone following them to their cache site – other foxes and many birds in the Corvidae Family – grey jays, magpies, and ravens are known to steal their snacks.

Whether you’re human or animal, winter coats are shedding – and that wool, hair and fur can be found on the environment – rocks, trees, and fences (and sometimes finds its way into lining the nests of birds and small mammals like ground squirrels…..)  Shedding coats leads to a period of time not known for its fashion sense….and much shagginess in animals like bison.

Winter is over and the cycle of the year continues. Spring arrives, bringing increased sunlight and changes in everyone’s behaviour and appearance – humans and animals alike. We shed layers, feel the sun on our faces, enjoy the smells and the sounds of life renewing around us. We experience a rejuvenation of our spirits. Be well and enjoy spring, wherever you are.

Lindsay Caskenette & Julie Kerr

Lindsay Caskenette & Julie Kerr

Visitor Services Manager and Visitor Services Coordinator

Lindsay and Julie love to share the Preserve the same way they explore life – full on and full of adventure!  They have a collective love of:  Animals....Lindsay dogs, Julie foxes; Adventure.... Lindsay dog mushing, Julie extreme camping;  both take on animal personas during story telling.  Together they support the Preserve with a strong Visitor Services presence and often, they even get work done (this happens most often when the other one is out of the office).   

867-456-7400
 info@yukonwildlife.ca

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Phenology of Molt in Mountain Goats

Phenology of Molt in Mountain Goats

Phenology of Molt in Mountain Goats

Nov 12, 2020 Update

This original Yukon Wildlife Preserve blog article was written while the research was still in progress in 2018. Several articles have come out since then, with more insight on the outcomes of this research project:

All mammals shed but some shed more hair and more slowly than others. Mountain goats are one such mammal. Remarkably, we know very little about their molt or about the molt of most mammals and birds. Knowing how our warming climate might affect cold-adapted animals like mountain goats or muskoxen may help inform conservation planning and management as well as husbandry for captive populations.

The Yukon and Alaska encompass the northern extent of mountain goat range. The two herds of mountain goats at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve provide opportunities to better understand molt at northern latitudes. Studying them may also reveal how age, sex, pregnancy, social status, and behaviour affect molt.

Slide across to see how analysis of trail camera images reveals molt progression. Remote camera images of the 4-year old billy at the Preserve. Rendered show shed areas in black and unshed area in red. Post-processing in Photoshop reveals he was 1.8% shed on May 20th. Images: Katarzina Nowak.

In the middle of May, Preserve staff helped set up four remote cameras. Since then, the cameras have captured thousands of mountain goat photos1The Yukon Wildlife Preserve Research Committee evaluates proposals. Find out more under Learn > Research.

Molt first became apparent in late May and early June. As of June 20th, a 4-year-old billy, and a yearling have shed most (the billy) or all (the yearling) of their winter coats. Close behind them, is 10-year-old billy, Geronimo. The last to molt are the nannies. And we predict the two nannies with this year’s twins will shed last. So far, this follows the molt chronology we expected.

Slide across to see how analysis of trail camera images reveals molt progression. Remote camera images of the 4-year old billy at the Preserve. Rendered show shed areas in black and unshed area in red. Post-processing in Photoshop reveals he was 41.6% on June 13th. Images: Katarzina Nowak.
The Preserve has also allowed me to observe how mountain goats cope with heat. I have watched the goats take frequent dust baths and rub their coats on trees, branches, and feeding stations. The nannies especially have sought – and competed for – shade and pits in the dirt.

We are also remote camera trapping wild goats in several locations in the southern Yukon. And we are amassing photographs from members of the public or “citizen scientists” from across the entire mountain goat range. We expect to learn more about how thermal change is affecting molt. For example, we hope to see if nannies, especially those with kids, face a disproportionate risk of heat stress if they do not molt earlier or faster, or thermoregulate behaviourally.

…animals acclimating to warming in the wild will continue to confront challenges like busy roads and other human pressures.

My recent observations near Montana Mountain in Carcross/Tagish First Nation territory suggest that mountain goats are descending steep slopes to use the Windy Arm of Tagish Lake. To do this, they must cross the Klondike Highway and they opt to do this at night. We will be investigating the drivers of this lake-use over the coming months; to understand if it is for drinking, cooling off, or for minerals. Water pools or artificial shade may prove to be good mitigation options in captive facilities. But animals acclimating to warming in the wild will continue to confront challenges like busy roads and other human pressures.

If you have photographs of mountain goats that you are willing to share with the project for the purpose of analyzing shed patterns, please submit them by e-mail to mountaingoatmoltproject@gmail.com or one of our citizen science portals: CitSci.org web portal or iNaturalist. Thank you for your help!

Dr. Katarzyna Nowak

Dr. Katarzyna Nowak

Researcher

Dr. Katarzyna Nowak is a researcher and fellow at The Safina Center. The Mountain Goat Molt Project relies mainly on participatory science in the form of mountain goat photo contributions from members of the public. It is supported with funds from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y).

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