Fish in Trees

It was only last week that my friend Ben Dennis and I stood on the river shelf gazing down at large Salmon spawning upstream. This was a good sight realizing that this once plentiful species still returns at least in smaller numbers to it's ancient beginnings. Then the storms began. (See previous post).

After the river receeded I walked out our trail with rubber boots and noticed more sand filtered through the native plants. Nootka Rose, Vine Maple, Red Osier Dogwood and other vegetation bent 90 degrees facing downstream. Flotsam of trash tangled in limbs have traveled in high waters from somewhere upstream .

The odor of dead fish everywhere, some in trees left there to dry and decompose. This is where these fish began. First as eggs deposited in a gravel "redd" by their spawning parents, protected by surrounding gravel from being eaten by predators. In a couple months they rise up as small fry to feed on tiny insects that have been nurished by the decaying flesh of the adults before them. It's miraculous in a stream full of organisms that would feast on them if provided the opportunity that they made it to the ocean and returned as adults to spawn and die. I ponder their survival as I gaze at their putred smelling bodies hanging in the trees before me. I use a stick to pick them up and place them in the stream to add nutrients which will help the next generation to repeat this amazing life cycle.
I rejoice at this time each year when I catch the drift of decaying salmon and see their dead remains in the water or stranded in the vegetation.
It reminds me that the cycle continues to thrive.

The ups and downs of living on a river

It has rained a lot lately as it usually does this time of the year in the Pacific Northwest. Our raingauge has collected 7.3" in 6 days and more rain is predicted through the week with possible let up by the weekend.
The USGeological Survey Water data at Heisson bridge on the East Fork of the Lewis river in Clark County, Washington recorded: 4,020 CFS and a gage height of 16.59 at 1500 yesterday. The photos below show the difference a day makes after continous rain for 24 hrs.


I stayed up this night watching the river rise, hoping that the rain would let up. The sound of the powerful river was like the roar of the large rapids that I remember while rafting the Colorado. Fortunately, the rain subsided by 20:00 and by 24:00 the river crested at 20 feet gage height, and 10,700 cfs. WHEW! Fortunately I recovered my beaver camera trap just in time.
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River Poetry

My wife Kimberley Pittman-Schulz is a Poet and several of her poems have appeared in magazines and periodicals including: Avocet, Cairn, the Oregonian, Rosebud, The Merton Seasonal, and The Sun. I share with you here a poem she wrote for me and is included in her recently reworked manuscript for her book of poems entitled :
MOSSLIGHT.





River’s Wind

For Terry

Late light on the river
shows us where the beaver lifts
his dark face
from darker water,
willow leaves in his lips, willow limbs
stripped and bare as bones
at our feet.

At the end of the day,
we feel the ending.
Two kingfishers rattle
in the firs and fall silent;
a single, yellow alder leaf
spins downstream,
sinking into dusk.

I look into your eyes
and see they are not pebbles.
The river moves in them—
both fixed and flowing, they are alive
in this moment, two blue flowers
caught in the river’s wind.

The beaver drifts
toward us, just forehead and wet eyes
glinting on the surface, so that
in the dimness he could be
nothing more than water
folding in on itself.

A coolness lifts and
the sky bruises purple,
a dozen bats suddenly above us,
licking into the night. All we want
is here, now. I lean into your left arm,
each of us holding on
as long as we can.

Another Beaver shot

I checked my camera trap today in pouring down rain and found 4 more beaver photos taken on 10-28-08 between 11:15 and 11:30 PM. These photos show more of the beaver since I removed some vegetation that had obscured part of the big fellow last time. No activitiy for the last 8 days.
It's amazing how excited I get each time I check my camera trap with the anticipation of catching a new and different veiw of a beaver. Old men are really just kids at heart!

Catching a Beaver.

I was fortunate this year to participate in a camera trap workshop with three former San Francisco State University Biology students of the 60"s era.

Photo by R.Tenaza

One of them Dr. Chris Wemmer (above center), a retired Smithsonian scientist, who lives in the Sierra Nevada foothills was our mentor and camera trap expert. Chris writes an outstanding blog on camera trapping: http://cameratrapcodger.blogspot.com/ We spent 3 days learning how to build a camera trap, how to use them and put them in the most productive sites.
There was much to learn and Chris had a captive audience of 3 old Biologists who were looking for new adventures capturing wild animals on a digital infra red camera. Just spending time with these great gentleman with storied careers as scientist and educators was a privilege. Dr. Richard Tenaza, Professor of Zoology at University of Pacific,
and Dr. Reno Taini, Outstanding Teacher awardee in California, were the other members of our codger group.


The photo above shows, from left to right: Tenaza, Taini and Wemmer.
Since then I have tried to get photos of the animals in and around my property here on the East Fork of the Lewis river. Until recently I have managed to get some good photos of opossums, racoons, birds, squirrels, mice and deer. This month I finally got the beaver photos that I was hoping for. I set my camera near a Big Leaf Maple tree that had been worked on by beaver for nearly one year. The tree with a base diameter of 2 feet had been cut but did not fall. Instead it's canopy of large branches got hung up on another larger Maple about 25 feet away. The beaver returns on a irregular schedule to continue chopping off chunks ("bullets") on which the bark has been stripped and eaten. To this date there are 4 "bullets" about 20 inches in length and the 5th shown in the photo below about to join the others.


This tree is more than 20 yards from the river with a well worn path through the vegetation leading to it.
The beaver eats the bark and cambium as well as leaves,twigs and roots of mostly deciduous trees. However, my wife and I have watched a beaver from our bench over looking the river eating the bark of a fallen Douglas Fir.


Because this river is undamned it's velocity and height fluctuate dramatically during the rainy season and sometimes wipes out the beavers bankside lodge.

This photo shows the broad paddle-like flat tail of the beaver which is used as a rudder when swimming. Obviously beavers can cause major damage to sensitive riparian areas but in some cases their activities can be considered beneficial. For more detailed information on Beavers see:


Stay tuned for further adventures and more beaver shots.

Close calls

In the early 70's while Murray Fowler was on sabatical leave I worked with Dr. Roy Hendrickson on Zoo rounds at the Sacramento Zoo. In those days the Zoo was a mish mash of farm-like enclosures for many of the Ungulates and Camels. We needed to restrain a camel to check it's foot for a problem noted by one of the keepers. It was roped around the neck and then tied to a large post in the ground. As we moved in to check the foot the camel reared back and the post came flying out of the ground. The camel more frightened by the post began turning in circles and the post became a flying missle which nearly wiped a couple of us out as it circled the entire enclosure.
Everyone luckily got out of the way but it was a very close call on that day.

While assisting Murray Fowler get a young camel into a cattle scale to weigh it the camel became nervous and got one of it's legs between the outer rail. As I grabbed the camels foot to push it back into the chute it turned and grabbed me by the back of the neck. Murray saved my life by punching the camel squarely on the nose which caused it to release it's hold on my neck. Had it shook it's head with my neck in it's teeth I wouldn't be sitting here writing about it today. I've always appreciated that Murray did what he had to do on that day. For the next week or so I walked around with my head slightly tilted and a very sore neck.

Murray Fowler and I were inside the Giraffe Barn at the Sacramento Zoo trying to get a long stomach tube down the throat of a recumbant Giraffe. During the procedure the Giraffe began thrashing it's long legs as if running on it's side. As it continued to thrash on the straw covered floor it became clear that we were cornered and the legs were getting closer and closer.

I realized that if hit by one of the thrashing legs it would be all over so I instinctively dove over the animals body and tumbled on the floor reaching safety. When I got up Murray was still cornered and I shouted to him to jump. I remember the look on his face was one of a person faced with a do or die decision. He soon dove over the giraffe also realizing it was the only way out. Another close call!

A young male elephant was delivered to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital for castration.

Dr. Murray Fowler would be the first person to successfully castrate an elephant. Male elephants go through a musth period not clearly understood physiologically but characterized by restlessness and aggressive behavior. Castration was indicated in this particular 8 year old male named Delinger due to it's recent history of destructive behavior. After the elephant had it's Testicle removed and was recovering in a outdoor enclosure it had to be medicated with large doses of Antibiotics on a daily basis. I was given the responsibility to deliver the antibiotics with a 30 cc syringe.

This responsibilty turned out to be not only difficult but treacherous. Although the elephant was tethered by chains to a metal fence it still had the inclination to slap at me with it's tail and trunk as I injected the very viscous antibiotic slowly into it's body. I learned to bob and weave while injecting with one hand using my other to deflect the attack. It was like defensive boxing which I had learned years earlier from my step father Jimmy Britt who was a former professional out of Tacoma Washington. I also learned quickly not to get between the elephant and the fence or it would squeeze you against it. It would additionally try to step on you if you were not careful.

A good friend and Zoo keeper at the Sacramento Zoo the late Tony Peters was seriously hurt by an Elephant. The elephants legs caught him as it attempted to get up from a recumbant position and knocked him to the ground. Tony recovered from that incident but his body was never the same.

Snakes in my life

I have always been curious about nature and as a boy I often brought snakes and other critters home to show to my parents. My mother always acted interested but I could always tell from her body language that she would rather I didn't bring them into the house. Back in the mid 60's I was a student at S.F.State University and working as a instructor in the Natural History of Vertebrates in the biology department. During this time I visited family and friends in Guerneville, California one spring weekend. My friend Tom King, a Banker in town and I decided to go trout fishing in the hills behind Armstrong woods which is now a State Park. While fishing I saw a young Rattle snake and snared it with my fishing pole and line. I Proudly showed it to Tom who backed off abruptly and wondered what I was going to do with it. I told him that I planned to use it in my class and then return it to the wild. As we walked across the creek to go to the place we left our gear I walked near a Yellow Jacket nest and was surrounded by agitated Yellow jackets. I responded by running rapidly,splashing through the water during which the snake came loose but where it landed was a mystery. We were both anxious for a few seconds wondering if the snake was on our person. It wasn't and we were both relieved.

A couple of years later I was on a expedition to Baja, Mexico while working with Dr.Frank Radovsky at the George Williams Hooper Foundation in San Francisco. We went there to collect mammals and look for a flea that infests them. A very unique flea in which the female becomes hypertrophied behind the ear of it's host looking much like a boil. While hiking near San Quintin I climbed to the top of a volcanic hill and put my hand very close to a beautiful nearly golden colored rattle snake that looked me squarely in the eye. The adrenalin pumping and sweat dripping off my forehead was an indication that I should slowly retreat to a safe distance. I was carrying a butterfly net and carefully netted it to take back to camp and show my colleagues. Frank decided to take it back and give it to the California Academy of Sciences where it was determined to be a rare species.

While working in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis we had a couple
of snakes in our lab in the early 70's. I remember that two fireman came in to do their annual fire inspection. They were very curious about the snakes and had me take one out and show them. A couple weeks later the same fireman showed up at my door and asked me to help them recover a rattle snake that had escaped on campus. I gathered my snake hook and a Muslin sack and we were off in a large Fire truck. I was told that a student was riding his bike with a bell jar and snake inside when he dropped it on campus allowing the snake to slither away under a parked car. Upon arriving it was my task to locate and restrain the snake. However, I couldn't locate the snake under the car so suggested that the fireman try to wash it out with their fire hoses. This method didn't work so we called a tow truck to lift the rear end of the car to get a better look. In the meantime the press had showed up as well as several dozen curious onlookers. I finally spotted the snake after the car was lifted and it was curled around the axle behind one of the wheels. With my faithful snake hook I prodded it to move and it dropped to the ground allowing me an opportunity to lift it and place it into my Muslin sack. My photo was taken as I rescued the snake and the story appeared in a couple of the local Davis Newspapers as well as the Sacramento Bee. The byline in the Davis Enterprise on May 19,1972 "Car has to be lifted to catch clever rattler". and "Sly Snake outwits fearful fireman". The author wrote:
"Schulz tried the professional coaxing approach but the snake wouldn't listen".
. In the Davis Democrat May 20, 1972 the headline was "Noisy victim has fire lads baffled". The last sentence read: "Schulz got the crawly critter with his hook, dumped it in the bag and the day was saved". Finally on May 21 the Sacramento Bee had a small story entitled: "Incident in Davis, Rattler is Recaptured". In the article is written: "the crowd cheered as Schulz took a stick and knocked the snake down. Then using a snake hook, he placed the poisonous belly-crawler in a thick Muslim bag". These were excellent examples of how newspaper journalist attempt to over dramatize reality. The story didn't end there however because when the Fireman drove me back to my office I stopped to answer questions from our curious Administrative Assistant Mary Watkins and while talking I placed the snake filled Muslim bag on a chair nearby. I didn't notice that Dr. Murray Fowler had entered the room until he was about to sit down on the chair that was inhabited by the snake in the bag. As he slowly started to sit on the chair I shouted don't sit down there is a rattle snake in the bag. He writes about this incident in his book entitled "Murray" " Hummingbirds to Elephants".
http://www.amazon.com/Murray-Hummingbirds-Elephants-Autobiography-Fowler/dp/0964661888/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226512475&sr=1-7
He admits that he had grown up with a fear of snakes and from his reaction my guess was that he was not pleased that I left the bag on the chair on that day or any day thereafter.

On another occasion we brought a portable X-Ray machine to the Sacramento Zoo to radiograph a 15 foot Anaconda in it's large enclosure. The enclosure was also occupied by some very large Boa Constrictors as well. I was holding the X-Ray machine over the area to be radiographed and noticed out of my peripheral vision that one of the Constrictors was 2 feet from my head with it's head facing in my direction and tongue protruding intermittently. I tried to ignore the possibility that he could strike me in the face at any moment and the few minutes it took to complete our objective seemed endless on that day.

While rafting the Colorado river in 1982 with my good friend Steve Boyd and five other folks I had another encounter with a rattle snake. We were camped out for 2 nights at a beautiful spot halfway through our 225 mile trip to rest and relax. I was coming back to camp after a brief fishing excursion when I heard Milt Blackman, a Davis Optometrist yelling loudly and holding a large rock over his shoulder. I asked him what was going on and he responded that there was a rattle snake under a bush. He said that he intended to kill it with the rock because he didn't want it in his sleeping bag during the night. I convinced him that I would "handle" the situation which turned out to be true both literally and figuratively. I immediately found a dry stick and prodded the snake to move away. Without hesitation I picked it up by the tail at the base of the rattles as it crawled away, holding it at arms length away from my body. I began walking away from our camp carrying the snake and looked back at Milt who appeared as though he couldn't believe his eyes, his jaw hanging while muttering you're crazy man. I must have walked over 200 yards then placed the snake down and watched it rapidly slither away out of sight. I had done my job saving a subspecies of Croatalis viridis that occurs only in the Grand Canyon.
My friend couldn't get over the fact that I had picked up a poisonous snake and that evening while sitting around the campfire he kept repeating "I can't believe Schulz picked that snake up with his bare hands". In retrospect I wish that someone on the trip had photographed me holding it because I can't believe it either.

In the ensuing years of my career in Zoo Medicine I was charged with teaching Junior Veterinary Students Restraint and handling of birds,reptiles and other exotic animals for clinical examination and drawing blood for analysis. On one occasion while demonstrating how to remove a rattle snake from its enclosure and handle it safely a female student collapsed apparently fainting from watching me handle the snake. It turned out that she had a morbid fear of snakes and it took much courage on her part to even attend the class.

While taking a freshman Veterinary class on a Zoological Medicine Tour of the Sacramento Zoo I came close to "Buying the Farm". I took them behind the scenes in the Reptile house and was explaining how the squeeze cages work for the poisonous snakes on exhibit. I opened the top door of the squeeze to show them how the wire insert below could be pushed down to restrain a snake. As I slid the door back with my left hand my right was near the top of the box. When I got the lid halfway back I saw the Green Mamba's head that had worked it's way above the wire squeeze enclosure and was no more than a foot from my right hand. My response was quick and deliberate thrusting the lid back so hard that if the snake had it's head between the lid and top it would have been decapitated. My adrenalin had peaked at that very moment as I realized that I came very close to being bitten by one of the deadliest snakes in the world. After that incident the enclosures were locked.