Today, I discovered a pretty big (about 0.5-0.75  acres) swamp/pond on the other side of the hill:

A marsh/pond in the forests of the Selkirk Mountains of N. Idaho - there be ducks here!

I was crawling around on a game trail on the shore, and not really paying attention, and suddenly scared a female duck up and didn’t have time to snap a photograph of her. But just as I was cursing myself for not having the camera ready, this guy popped up right in front of my face:

Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis), full body shot

He’s a common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis), and they tend to live near ponds and eat salamanders and frogs and insects, and whatnot. He was really calm, and let me sit there shooting pictures of him for about 4 minutes — fortunately the dogs were too busy mucking around in the swamp to notice me oddly staring at the ground for so long. Here’s a closeup:

Common Garter Snake, closeup of head, from left side

But you can tell when you’re in it, that if they’d just leave the forest alone out here, that this place would seed life back into the area really quickly, and make it into a rainforest again.

This is what the forest looks like in there:

A picture of the open forest in "Cedar Grove"

And here’s a picture of one of the many marshy areas that are in it, full of devils club and wild ginger:

Marshy area full of devils club and wild ginger, in "Cedar Grove"

Of course, the photos don’t do it justice …

When we first moved here, I saw 8 of them browsing in a clearcut near our place, but up until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t seen any since then. Recently, the herd has moved back up to our place, and I see them almost every time I go out to walk. Unlike the moose tribe, the elk have not yet gotten accustomed to us, so they generally take off pretty quick when I come nearby. This has made it hard to get really clear shots (especially since I’m still so slow on the manual camera controls). But here’s what I’ve got so far:

This a a picture of part of the herd — there are 2 more in the woods behind this group.  They were grazing in a grassy area in the woods above (on Idaho state forest land). When they saw me and the dogs, they ran down the hill into the open forest on our neighbor’s land below.

Elk herd, running down a hill, onto our neighbor's land.

A moose was hanging out right near the elk herd. I thought that moose and elk usually kept their distance from each other, but not in this case. Not only was he grazing nearby the elk, but when they took off, he ran after them!

Male moose, with velvet antlers, running after a herd of elk.

The day before, I had decided to throw on my pack and go for a nice long 3-hour hike in a patch of woods I haven’t explored yet.

I walked up on this solitary elk, who was about 50 feet away, in a pine thicket at the end of an abandoned dirt road behind our place. We stared at each other for a few moments, startled, and then he took off once the dogs started moving towards him. (I’m not sure it’s a “him”, but he looks like a male to me — both in facial features, and his demeanor).

Elk, close by, standing in a recently clearcut, young pine stand.

And I had come across this lady a few days earlier (Friday), while she was browsing next to a forest service road, and didn’t notice us until we had gotten up pretty close. Marvin had no idea she was there either. If you look closely (click for larger image), you’ll see that she’s still got a mouthful of grass.

Elk, standing in Forest Service road with a mouthful of grass, just noticed us.

Once we become more comfortable around each other, and they’ll stick around and let me take photos, I’ll get a bit closer and get some clearer shots.

And fortunately, right after I studied up, I was barraged with wildlife. For instance, just this morning when I went out with the dogs, I saw a herd of elk, a mother turkey with about 8 chicks, a moose running after the herd of elk, and 3 red-tailed hawks circling over the rocky forest nearby. The only thing I wasn’t able to get photos of was the baby turkeys — because I was forced to herd dogs, so they wouldn’t kill the chicks — but I got a few (admittedly poor) shots of them yesterday anyway. And I know where she nests now, so when Stassj gets back on Wednesday, I’m going to go without the dogs and get some closeups of her and the babies.

Anyhow, here’s some of my shots — we’ll start with the hawk, because these are the photos that I like the most (click on the photos for a larger version):

Red-tailed hawk in flight, looking at the camera and screeching

I’m pretty sure that this is a Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), but my bird identification skills are still minimal. I’ll update this post when I’m able to make a positive ID.

Red-tailed Hawk, from below, wings fully spread.

There are several of these hawks in an area behind our place that is kind of open, with a lot of mossy/grassy areas full of boulders, and a bunch of big standing dead trees — somewhat healthy land, because it’s not owned by the state of Idaho and thus hasn’t been clearcut recently.

Red-tailed Hawk - sitting on a dead-tree framed by pines, with Roman Nose in background

And here’s a pair of hawks hunting together. Did you know that when red-tailed hawks find a mate, that they generally stick together for life afterwards?

Pair of red-tailed hawks, in flight, hunting together

Well, that’s it for the hawk, I’ll put up the elk and moose and turkeys in separate posts. I’ve also got a lot more photos of the hawk, so I’m going to create a separate page about them when I have time, and include some information on their ecological role, and some history folklore about them.

Here’s a few photos:

Cosmic running around on top of the cliff on our neighbor's land.

For the first few days, he was really scared to be away from home (his family lives in Olympia, WA) but he has gotten a lot more comfortable now, and him and Marvin are really enjoying each others’ company (when he’s not stepping on Marvin while he’s sleeping, or nipping constantly at Marvin’s face…).

Jesse in bed watching Cosmic play with Marvin

For the first couple of nights, Cosmic was shitting all over the floor every night, but he’s stopped now, so I don’t have to walk around with a lantern looking for turds before walking around anymore. He’s pooping outside now, and helping us build up some compost. (Here’s that dog/scat/bestiality porn you were promised)

Cosmic taking a shit in the woods and looking all sheepish.

It’s been really rainy and haily and snowy for the past week so Cosmic is getting a little bit of cabin fever. He spends a lot of time shredding up cedar bark, chasing his tail, chewing on bones, and pouncing on Marvin.

Cosmic with a piece of cedar bark between his paws

Cosmic loves snuggling with Marvin, and sometimes the feeling is mutual.

Cosmic and Marvin sleeping together in the bed.

Here’s Cosmic strutting around in a snowstorm, looking like a real mountain dog:

Cosmic walking around in a snowstorm.

Stassjy and Marvin found a bunch of antlers this winter, and you can tell that she's really happy about that.

Stassjy really enjoys them — and they made her wish that she could be a moose/deer thing … but she can’t digest the twigs

Is she a moose? Or a deer?

Marvin thinks this is really fucking weird.

Marvin's a little weirded out by his mom with a set of antlers.

Isn’t she a beautiful little deer?

Stassj showing off her new horn

Eyes rolled back in her head with pleasure!

Ahhhh that feels good.

Oh my goddy — there’s something creeping around on the roof!!!

Whats that on the roof?!?!?!?!?

It’s a deer/satyr roof gremlin!

Jesse/satyr on the roof

Industrial Foam in Schaeffer Creek, Natural Gas Production Chemicals Suspected

Clearville, Pennsylvania used to be a healthy rural town, a paradise for hunters, fishermen, and farmers.  The town is deep in Bedford County, surrounded by numerous state game lands historically rich with turkey, grouse and deer, streams thick with fish and aquatic life.  The soil was black and alive, and the vegetation is thick and green in the summertime.  Folks used to be able to drink straight from these creeks when they were out stalking a deer or taking a hike to pick berries.

Wayne and Angel Smith of Clearville, PA, don’t use chemicals on their farm.  Their blueberry bushes, milk from their cows, and their spring water were safe and non-toxic — until the gas drilling started.   Uphill from the Smiths, rumbling drill rigs ran day and night, and soon after the wells were capped, their cows started to die.  So did their neighbor’s cows. Same with the cats, horses, and all their hens too.  Arsenic was found in their wells in high levels, iron too, the DEP claimed it was naturally occurring but internal documents state that DEP agents could find no naturally occurring reason for the arsenic levels to “spike”.  Then three gas compressor stations came in, surrounding the Smiths on three sides with more noisy, toxic industrial machinery and noxious fumes.  Last August the Steckman Ridge Compressor Station blew motor oil all over the valley’s farmlands — the company warned everyone not to eat from their gardens without washing off the oily residue with soap — and then the toxic gas compound toluene showed up in water tests. And the battle extends to emminent domain, as landowners battle the federal government’s attempts to turn their property rights over to the natural gas companies that are already poisoning their lives.

Wayne and Angel worked for 13 years to create a healthy and sustainable organic farm, and now their land is being destroyed, along with all of their years of hard work.  Gas drilling over the past 4 years has changed this paradise into what Angel Smith calls “a nightmare.”  Now residents are having to buy water filtration systems that cost more than $10,000 so that they don’t have to drink or bathe in natural gas production contaminants.  Artesian wells, streams, and ponds have recently been bubbling with a thick chemical foam, and water runs are showing a pink liquid which floats on the surface.

Schaeffer Creek, which is currently deep in a foam that looks like lemon meringue pie, is a tributary of the Juniata River watershed which feeds the drinking water supplies of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s capital.  Also downhill from drilling activities is Evitts Creek, which gives drinking water to 50,000 residents living in the city of Cumberland, Maryland.  The Safe Drinking Water Act requires community water sources to be clean of harmful contaminants at a cost to local taxpayer; communities downstream will be burdened with the increased costs of new filtration technologies that still cannot remove all the harmful contaminants associated with natural gas production.

Residents first noticed that Schaeffer Creek was foaming back in early August, but by the time the DEP got to the site the foam had washed downstream; additionally, the DEP did not test the water for chemicals used in natural gas production.  Today, Schaffer Creek is foaming once again, fed by the springs and a pond which recently tested positive for methyl blue active substances (MBAS), a group of substances which include fracking chemicals called surfactants.  The DEP told residents that the foam is ‘just detergent from someone’s laundry,’ but this is a rural area and uphill from the springs and pond are drilling pads, not houses.  The natural gas industry, including Craig Lobins who is a leading DEP oil and gas division official, repeatedly exclaim to the public that natural gas production fluids are “just soap.”

The drilling pads uphill from the foaming pond and springs may have buried some of the drilling wastes on site, as is legal by Pennsylvania state regulations when the wastes are buried 18 inches underground.  Groundwater can carry contaminants downhill, and the contaminants from natural gas drilling and fracking include radioactive uranium, radium and lead along with mercury, and hazardous chemicals.  These chemicals then leak into nearby aquifers.

2-Butoxylethanol (2-BE) is a foaming agent used for natural gas production and is proven to cause cancer in animals. 2-BE is a primary component of AirFoam HD, a product that has been found on drilling pads in Pennsylvania — the MSDS sheets for Air Foam HD state that is dissolves in water and that chronic exposure causes cancer.  Testing for 2-BE costs over $100 per test, and the cost burden is on the landholder — the DEP has failed to test for drilling or fracking chemicals in their standard tests which are only performed when landowners report problems in their water supply, not before the problems occur.  Residents who will soon have natural gas production occurring in their region or upstream from their groundwater supply must hire an independent water testing company to do a “baseline test” to show the lack of contaminants prior to the drilling.  Without a baseline test, it is more difficult to convict a drilling operator for water contamination – the drilling operator can claim that there is no proof that the contaminant was not in the groundwater supply prior to the drilling.

“If you have a gas company that you can’t fight cause they went through FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] and you have a DEP gas and oil division backing the gas company up, then how can you win?” said Wayne Smith, but his wife Angel reminds us that the battle is long going and not conventional.   “If you can help one more person that doesn’t have to go through what we’ve gone through, then thats worth it, thats winning to us.  Most people are about the big bottom dollar, but its not the monetary dollar that important, its helping the next person thats important.”

To listen to an interview with Wayne and Angel Smith on WHRW Binghamton’s “The Point”, see the link for radio4all.net here.

For folks who are interested in other issues associated with natural gas production, please visit un-naturalgas.org

(Binghamton, NY): On Tuesday, residents near the Nancy Stewart Natural Gas  Compressor station in Mt. Pleasant Township, PA reported an incident involving natural gas occurring at around 1:15pm.  Raw natural gas was escaping from a pipeline with such force that it caused nearby homes to shake.  The high pressure gas was not being burned and was released for over an hour, causing a loud sustained noise to be heard throughout the area.  “It sounded like a rocket taking off,” said Martin O’Lear, who lives about a quarter mile from the compressor station.

“My eyes started to burn, and then I started to cough which lasted through the afternoon and night” said Mr O’Lear, who lives uphill from the compressor station. “I’ve lived here for 34 years and never before had my eyes start to burn when I stepped outside.”

MarkWest Liberty and Resources LLC, could not be reached for comment.

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) stated that the incident was normal operating procedure.  “At this point what we understand is that they were conducting some maintenance and repair on the pipeline near to the station,” Helen Humphreys, the community relations coordinator for the DEP, told Indymedia on Wednesday afternoon.  “We are continuing to investigate to see if there is more to the story.”

The DEP reported that they are currently performing air tests in the areas surrounding the MarkWest compressor station; air tests were stated to have been performed the day after the incident occurred.  Test results may be available next week.

Raw natural gas may include the known carcinogen benzene. Residents stated that the fumes were strong, similar to kerosene oil, but did not smell like sulfur – which would indicate the presence of hydrogen sulfide in the gas. Washington Hospital and the local veterinarian clinic reported that no patients have exhibited symptoms of hydrogen sulfide poisoning as of Wednesday afternoon.

CNG compressor stations use engines to push the gas down the pipeline and are a major component of the modern natural gas infrastructure.  Many CNG compressor stations also refine the natural gas coming out of the well head by removing the water and other contaminants.  Incidents involving compressor stations are common in natural gas drilling areas.

“We [in Louisiana and Texas] frequently have compressor stations that have either had an explosion or an over-pressurization” said Wilma Subra, a chemist who founded the Oil and Gas Accountability Project.  On Tuesday, Dr. Subra spoke at length about air pollution associated with CNG facilities on WHRW Binghamton’s radio show “The Point.”

On August 23 in Clearville, PA, a compressor station operated by Spectra had an emergency shutdown which caused surrounding fields to be covered with an oily substance as large amounts of natural gas were vented into the atmosphere.

MarkWest owns and operates at least 9 compressor stations in Washington County, there are at least two MarkWest compressors stations in Mt. Pleasant.

If residents smell an egg sulfur smell near a gas pipeline or gas well, this may be an indication of hydrogen sulfide, a known toxin.  Please call your local Emergency Management Agency (EMA).