I love this video. Few things are funner than getting a trout to eat some kind of crazy fly.  In this case…a baby rattlesnake.  Love it!

The Utah DWR has released 3 more river otters on the middle section of the Provo River, with the stated goal of establishing a population of 25-30 otters on the section. Also recently, the DWR said that overpopulation of trout is stunting the growth of the the trout population on that stretch of the river (KSL 5 TV).  Perhaps this is an attempt to reduce the trout population.  Interestingly, the DWR reported the same stunting of growth on the Green River which already has a steady population of otters, so perhaps they may not be the answer, or at least not the complete answer. I don’t really have anything against otters and have spent time enjoying watching them in the past on the Green River.  In fact one time I was guiding my cousin on the Green and we had stopped to land a fish.  I mentioned to him as we sat that there were otters on the river and maybe we would see them. I stood up to pull my anchor and to my surprise a whole family of otters were standing on a rock near the boat watching us.  Pretty funny.

Beaver dam from space (Google Maps)

From Fox News comes an article about the world’s largest beaver dam, which is visible from space.  Those beavers are committed to getting the job done and done right!  This thing is twice the size of the Hoover Dam.  I have a theory that they were aided by bigfoots.

World’s Biggest Beaver Dam Visible From Space (via Fox News)

Mountain goat (Utah DWR)

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is hosting a Rocky Mountain Goat watching party at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake County.  I have been a couple time before to this event and it is really great.  The goats are very close, usually just right across the street and up on the hillside.  It is a great way for kids to see this amazing mountain climbers without too much hiking.  Details in the link below.

Mountain goat watch, April 10 (Utah DWR)

NASA screen grab of deep ice shrimpy thing.

Cool article about a NASA inner space exploration of the Antarctic ice sheet.  In the first ever long term camera aided exploration deep under the ice, they found two compelling signs of life including a shrimp link creature and a tentacle from a jellyfish.  Pretty amazing to find two complex organisms in such a small area.  It likely means there is much more life down under the ice sheet than most scientists had first predicted and gives them cause to wonder what might be beneath the ice sheets of some of the moons in our solar system.  Interesting stuff.

Scientists go ‘gaga’ to find creatures beneath 600 feet of ice (AP via Yahoo! News)

Two things going on in this post.  First, I am celebrating my 100th post for Under the Aspens.  I started this blog over the Christmas holiday on a whim of boredom, but it seems to have stuck.  I am enjoying spending an hour or so each night writing stories for the next day.  So far, the response has been pretty good and readership seems to be growing steadily thanks in large part to Twitter and a few other areas where links are posted.  I hope to keep it coming.  If you have enjoyed what you have read, give me a shout out in the comments below.

Second, which I guess really should be the primary focus here, is I came across a cool project today, thanks to Maker Blog, called project NOAH.  The project makes it possible for all us regular Joe’s to unleash our inner scientist and contribute to a worldwide catalog of species.  To make it even easier, they have created a new iPhone application that uses GPS to pinpoint observations and you can upload photos as well.  I haven’t yet submitted anything, but the application is simple to use with a clean interface.  One cool thing I like is the targeted missions to which you can contribute.  Currently there are 6 missions listed that cover cataloging squirrels, ladybugs, mushrooms, butterflies, and more.  In all it looks like it should be pretty fun to contribute.

Links:

• Project Noah: Networked Organisms and Habitats (via Maker)
• Project NOAH
• Get the app now! 

Mule deer buck (photo nps.gov)

I purchased my first hunting license in 22 years today.  I got a small game permit so that I could be eligible to draw out a tag for the general deer hunt in October.  Still not 100% positive that I will go, but if I didn’t at least enter before the deadline at the end of this week, I definitely would not be going.  So I guess if I draw out a permit, that will help me make my decision and I will be looking for input from followers of this blog as to how to prepare for the hunt.  I think I can line up a gun to use and I may have a hunting buddy lined up that is a seasoned veteran, but obviously there is a lot more to it than that.  So I will post again about this topic when I find out if I got a permit or not.  Until then…wish me luck.

This article in the Deseret News details efforts to determine if Utah has a resident population of lynx living in the back country.  It would be pretty cool to find some lynx here, but come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever actually seen a cat in the wild in all my time outdoors.  I must be too loud and clumsy or something, because it seems like by this point in my life I would have come across at least a bobcat by now.  Guess I need to keep my eyes even more peeled than I normally do.  Judging by the comments on the article, it sounds like a lot of people think they have seen lynx in Utah, but that seems highly unlikely.

Crews search for elusive lynx in Utah mountains (Deseret News)

Ever have a run in with a wildcat?  Share in the comments here.

Pocket gopher laughs fiendishly as he surveys another mound

So far the Great Gopher Hunt of 2010 has been a complete bust. I have come to the conclusion that this gopher may not be an ordinary gopher. He seems to be some breed of super gopher and clearly I am going to have to step this up a notch if I hope to claim my trophy. I may need to set up a tree stand or find some gopher musk to mask my scent or something.

My only other successful hunt was two years ago in the spring. This hunt started off similarly, with new mounds of soil appearing daily. The first time I actually saw him digging I approached cautiously using an army style crawl. I was able to get within about 3 feet from his hole and pathetically missed him on a near point blank shot. He didn’t reappear for a while. A couple of weeks later I was working as usual from my office in the basement of my home. I was on a conference call with a customer discussing a project. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed some activity in my window well. I turned to look as the gopher finished pushing up a mound of dirt and emerged from his hole. He was apparently disoriented and started trying climb up the window. I immediately recognized that the moment of truth was at hand and resolved that I wouldn’t let it slip away. Knowing I needed to move quickly I muted my phone and made my way upstairs to get my … Continue Reading

Winter mule deer herd

Yesterday my family and I returned home from a weekend vacation to southern Utah to watch my oldest son play in a soccer tournament.  The weather was fantastic and we had a great time.  The drive home was full of great wildlife sightings.  We had one stretch where I spotted 3 bald eagles and 2 golden eagles in about 8-miles of road.  The other highlight was a huge group of mule deer around Mona, UT that consisted of about 100-150 head and there were numerous other groups of deer along the entire drive.  It is fun for the kids to see those animals (well and for me too).