I’ve never identified cougar scat or seen tracks on the property, yet…

Been hangin’ out in the BC woods for over forty years now, only seen cougar twice, both times they didn’t know I was there (pretty awesome, though, I must say). Many’s the time I’ve followed my tracks in the snow out of the woods and realized I was being followed most of the day by a big cat. Found some cougar scat about ten feet from my front door last fall; I could tell because it had both a deer’s hoof and a cat’s skeleton in it. Also, I hadn’t seen my own feral cat (that’s an oxymoron, I know) for a few days: he was smart enough to make himself scarce. But, you know what?…I would never have known unless I took a closer look at that turd in my driveway. They’re regularly seen across the Sound here, so many of ‘em the young males swim across (about a mile) to find their own space. Buddy of mine followed one in his boat while he was fishing—it was on its way to Hornby Island. Swimming’s easy for them. Bears swim over, too, at least one a year.

A lot of the old cedar stumps around my place, springboard notches and all, have full-on trees growing out of them, kind of like giant flower pots.

I expect to find some more fawn carcasses when the snow melts–the harsh side of nature. I find a few each spring. They’re too small to keep warm and the cedar foliage they stuff themselves with apparently has little caloric value.

Yes, we truly are blessed. I hope you put that photo album together. Can’t wait for you to post it. Thanx.

Never refrain from speculation; as long as one isn’t dogmatic about it, it’s often the nucleus of understanding and, at the very least, source of more questions. All the years I worked in the woods taught me if you don’t see something that’s totally puzzling every single day, you’re probably not doing your job. Well, that and the fact that we probably see only 10%—at best—of what’s really going on. The view from the porch provides a lifetime of discovery.

The defoliation pattern you speak of in the bigleaf maples I noticed last year as well. The alders did it too.

It seems counter-intuitive that some tree species demonstrate drought tolerance by being able to live in swamps, like cedar; all tree roots need air to absorb water efficiently, otherwise they drown; drought-tolerant species have extremely fine roots and thus a relatively huge absorption surface area, making them very good at getting water and able to grow in dry, rocky soil—or around swamps where water, though plentiful, is difficult to absorb from saturated soils. That’s why cedar and lodgepole pine, for example, can be seen on rocky knobs and in swamps.

Cedars have a peculiar ability to top-die and survive. Most other species, when they die back from drought, they’re goners. Not cedar. It might have something to do with the famous durability of cedar wood: dead cedar tops, the grey candelabras and spires commonly seen in cedar stands, do not host fungal decay (the only conk I’ve ever seen on a cedar was a root pathogen and extremely rare in any case) whereas dead tops of other tree species are usually quickly colonized by some fungus or other (there are many kinds here in BC) which may assist in the hosts’ demise. Purely conjecture on my part. Anyways, see a cedar with the top half dead…probably drought; usually happens in one season. The difference is every single leaf (on the affected top half), not discrete fronds here and there, turns red and dies.

Tree pathogeny is complex so I hesitate when it comes to rules of thumb. Nevertheless, I think I’ll risk proclaiming hemlock as being the canary-in-the-mine species when it comes to drought. Might have enough time to pump out a heavy distress cone crop a year or so before dying. Hemlock seems to wink out suddenly and, if it does, drought is usually the cause.

Finally, maples, particularly big-leaf maple (our maple on the coast), have no summer dormancy period like most other species, therefore their water demand is “awake” all summer; water deficit is expressed by aborting leaves from the top of the crown, extending down as far as the tree needs to conserve water—even to the extent of completely defoliating the tree. I’ve seen such maples re-foliate in October; unfortunately, if it hasn’t time to re-develop buds for the following spring, it will die the following spring.

We missed out on rain the whole month of November—never saw this before. Be interesting to see what gonna happen. Don’t know what it’ll be but it will definitely be something. I can’t see, at this point, any amount of rain that will make up for that missing November.

Good luck with everything.

Scotty

Water is so important – I am so glad you pointed that out and guess who else is also speaking up for water? Yup… Maude Barlow:

“First, water is a human right and must be more equitably shared. The United Nations has recognized that drinking water and sanitation are fundamental rights and that governments have obligations not only to supply these services to their people but also to prevent harm to source water.”

“Second, water is a common heritage of humanity and of future generations and must be protected as a public trust in law and practice. Water must never be bought, hoarded, sold, or traded as a commodity on the open market and governments must maintain the water commons for the public good, not private gain.”

“Third, water has rights too, outside its usefulness to humans. Water belongs to the Earth and other species. Our belief in “unlimited growth” and our treatment of water as a tool for industrial development have put the earth’s watersheds in jeopardy. Water isn’t merely a resource for our convenience, pleasure, and profit. It’s the essential element in a living ecosystem. We need to adapt our laws and practices to ensure the protection of water and the restoration of watersheds — a crucial antidote to global warming.”

So… if you want to read more I pasted the link below but I really think your post brought home to me… here in BC… just how close are we to being an impoverished wasteland. All that lies between have and have not is water, making the difference between life and death.

in Peace and with hope – Priscilla

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/02/26-9