Make Room for Wildlife

I was hiking around Meeker Park with a neighbor who has lived here a long time and remembers when things were different: when few people lived here all winter long; before moose arrived but after some animals disappeared.

Along the creek she pointed out Marmot Rock, a place where marmots once sunbathed on the rocks. But I haven’t seen marmots in the 15 years I’ve lived here. Where did they go? She thought coyotes got them. It’s possible, but in the more than 50 years I’ve lived in Colorado, I mostly see marmots at high elevations—especially on the tundra, where I’ve never seen coyotes. They are safe from predators above tree line, where their biggest challenge is eight months of winter. Or did something else push them up there? Some change in the climate so it was too warm at lower altitudes? Or did human encroachment chase them away?

Around the planet, humans are slowly pushing animals out of their habitats, which are taken over by new subdivisions, energy development, and ranching and farming. During the pandemic, when people were shut in their homes, wildlife started moving into human realms—along highways, into towns and into bays and rivers where ship and boat traffic had ceased. But when human activity returned, wildlife retreated. Studies show that most wildlife seek to avoid contact with humans when possible—such as circumventing hiking trails or coming out only at night when people are in their beds.

It's happening all over the West, as population growth forces wildlife into ever smaller areas. It’s happening here in Meeker Park. In addition to the long-gone marmots, raccoons and porcupines have apparently disappeared, according to another neighbor. I used to regularly see coyotes, but it’s been several years since I last heard their eerie cries. Is that due to more year-round residents, so the coyotes have moved farther from humans and their habitations?

A few weeks ago, I was startled to see a herd of elk come by the cabin. Elk are rare here because it’s mostly wooded. These large animals prefer open fields with plenty of grass to eat and where they can see predators coming.  With its big open valleys, Rocky Mountain National Park is a perfect habitat for them. But when they leave the park, especially in winter as they flee the snow, the elk encounter a bustling city. Unfortunately for the elk, more people are moving to Estes Park every year. Some are retiring in this tourist town, while others who can work from home choose a beautiful natural setting that also has urban amenities: restaurants, a hospital, rec center and library.

Every week it seems I see new development—bulldozers tearing up a field where I often saw elk. Where do the animals go now? They somehow have to thread their way through neighborhoods and shopping malls and cross busy roads to find places to graze and rest. People think it’s amusing to find elk on the golf course in winter, posing in front of motels or crossing the main street. But this is the elk’s historic winter grounds, where they’ve been coming for centuries, much longer than the (white) human usurpers.

This is happening all over the world: monarch butterflies losing their jungle home; sea life pushed farther out by commercial ship traffic; animals killed by cars as highways sprout everywhere. Soon the majority of wildlife will be like the marmots: clinging to one small habitat while humans take over the globe.

Comments

[Kathy]

I think it was Sand County Almanac that described the history of wildlife agencies and concluded they no longer conserve or protect wildlife, but have evolved into game husbandry agencies - managing wildlife populations to accommodate human desires to hunt, fish and view. Ironically, there are now more elk and deer in Colorado now than there were at the turn of the century. Likewise, the rainbow and brown trout species used as indicators of stream corridor health are non-native. The debate about whether moose are native here has never been resolved. We just move animals around to different locations to serve our needs. Not sure what the answer should be.

[Susan Richards]

The marmots may be like the picas: They've moved/been forced higher and higher because of the increasing heat at lower altitudes. We're in danger of losing pikas altogether, which would be a tragedy in my book. Both picas and marmots were fixtures on my childhood hikes. Hard, and sad, to imagine a trail without them.

As for the other critters -- given the explosion of human presence in Wild Basin, I'd leave too.

[Kathy Kaiser]

Susan, I agree. I can't imagine a world (and don't want to) without marmots and pikas.

[Kathy Kaiser]

Kathy, I read once that the moose were brought here (first to the Western Slope around Granby) for hunters. My question has always been: are the moose chasing out other native wildlife, as well as eating more than their fair share of willows and aspens.
I know that environmental groups are still fighting the Forest Service and BLM to protect the ecosystem rather than pleasing hunters.