We took a quick trip
back to Northern Idaho this month to see family and some of the local
wildlife. The area around lake Coeur d’Alene continues to recover from
years of mining. This is evident by native
flora and fauna returning to the area in abundance.
The big wildlife
news this summer was twofold. First, a black bear was spotted in our
family orchard for the first time ever. It was up in one of the cherry
trees eating before my parents chased it away.
Second, two families of Striped Skunks were living nearby and making
daily excursions to our yard to graze on sunflower seeds dropped by the
birds around the feeders.
In addition to these
rare sightings (how often can you stand 10 feet from a family of skunks
as they happily forage for food?). We also saw dozens of Osprey (they
have really recovered), three Moose, lots
of White-tailed deer, muskrat, beaver and our first Idaho snake.
Lastly, we also saw two American Mink. Our first ever Mink sightings so
we weren’t 100% sure they were Mink (versus juvenile River Otters) until we
saw the video that I managed to hastily take.
Unfortunately, my
main camera lens died on the trip so I have few pictures to share.
Luckily, our little hand-held Sony camera takes great video. We compiled
all the footage from the trip here.
Striped Skunk Family:
White-tailed Deer Fawn:
Painted Turtles:
Common Garter Snake:
Unknown Shrew. We found this little guy beside a bike path. He was still moving so I put him underneath a bush and he was able to standup a little so we hope he made it.
New Mammals:
American Mink
Unidentified Shrew
Unidentified Shrew
New Herps:
Common Garter Snake
Western Skink
