The plants in Escalante have finally started seeding! The spring showers brought a flood

Nelson’s Globemallow (Sphaeralcea parvifolia),

of blooming flowers. Nelson’s Globemallow (Sphaeralcea parvifolia), is one of my favorite plants that my co-intern Elise and I are collecting. The Hopi Indians used this plant for multiple purposes, some of which include curing sores, cuts, and wounds (Colton 1974). I even found a rare white S. parvifolia! Another fun

A rare white Nelson’s Globemallow (Sphaeralcea parvifolia),

plant that we have to collect is Indian Rice Grass (Achnatherum hymenoides). Apache Indians used this plant to make bread (Reagan 1929) and it is an important plant for cattle grazing (Ogle et al. 2013).

Besides seed collecting, I also joined the wildlife biologist for the Forest Service, Lisa Young, and the wildlife biologist for the BLM, Terry Tolbert, when they went bat trapping! We traveled to the Last Chance wash near Lake Powell and set up two, thirty foot

Lisa holding a Brazilian Free-Tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)

high nets above the creek. When the bats swooped down to drink water, they would get caught in the nets. Terry and Lisa would then go untangle the bats and then collect data on them. Data collection included identification, tarsus measurements, wingspan, and weight. After the data was collected on a bat, they were then released.

Terry has also been showing Elise and me how to rope lizards. We take simple fishing polls, string them with fly fishing string, make a loop at the end and then the hunt begins! After hunting in the hot desert sun, searching under sage brush and cliff rose, it is

BLM Wildlife Biologist Terry Tolbert releasing a Desert Spiny (Sceloporus magister) that I caught

most satisfying to catch a lizard. The lizards we catch are

Desert Spiny (Sceloporus magister)

measured from snout to anus and then from snout to the tip of their tail. After the lizards are weighed, they are released and a GPS coordinate is taken so we can estimate their range of habitat.
This internship has so far allowed me to expand my knowledge of plants and has given me the opportunity to work with wildlife. I cannot wait to see what else my time in Escalante will bring!

Me with a Desert Spiny (Sceloporus magister)

Since my last blog post, the weeks have become a whirlwind of work! I have really started focusing on SOS, and figuring out how to determine seed readiness and collection strategies. I think the biggest challenge so far has been adjusting to the level of variety in the work, as collections for virtually every plant species is performed differently. It has been helpful to have resources like the SOS flickr page that showcases past collections, as well as the office’s own data files from past SOS interns, but overall it appears that most of my job is learned in the field and as I go.

Gaillardia aristata– one of the populations that I will (hopefully!) be collecting sometime this week

During the first part of this month, myself and the office’s two range interns, Jade and Sara, performed the first seed collections of the season! This first collection was Needle and Thread grass. It definitely was a learning experience, as on the day of the collection we found that much of the seed had actually dropped over the weekend. 🙁 We collected what we could, but overall it was a lot less productive than what I was planning for. But like I said, I’m finding that a lot of my job is “learn-as-you-go”. Plants definitely work on their own schedule, which means that monitoring populations for readiness requires a lot of travel to-and-from the office and a healthy amount of estimation. That being said, the next week was a lot more productive as far as seed collecting! With the help of Jade and Sara, three more collections were performed all in ONE day (& all in the same allotment thankfully!) Bluebunch Wheatgrass, Lewis Flax, and a boatload of Miner’s Candle (~120,000 seed)…shout out to Sara for her enthusiasm for collecting Miner’s Candle! Just this week, I have sent out the shipment to Bend of these species and continue to monitor other populations I have found. Hopefully all goes well in processing the collected seed!

On a personal note, over the Fourth of July weekend, myself and some of the other interns made a road trip to Yellowstone, Jackson WY and the Tetons. This was my first trip out to this area, and I had a blast! We spent four nights camping in the area and sightseeing during the day. It was exhausting to say the least, but we saw so much wildlife during these four days including elk, pronghorn, bear (grizzly and black), mule and white-tail deer and even a moose! I’d say our time in the Tetons was definitely my favorite part of the trip, and I’m already dying to get back there to explore more trails and sites!!

Our view of the Tetons from our campsite over the fourth of July weekend.

A bear we came across in Yellowstone one early morning.

-Katie

Buffalo Field Office, WY