Photo courtesy of the National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/redfox.htm
I started to think I would never see one . . . but now I am certain I will. Not that what I will see is as rare as catching sight of a Sierra Nevada (SN) red fox. No, seeing that fox in the higher reaches of the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges of California continues to be an extremely unlikely event.
The SN red fox has always been known to be averse to the presence of humans and wary of their scent. At one time, however, in the early 20th century, its presence in California did cover much more territory. Grinnell et al (1937) wrote that it once roamed “the entire Sierra Nevada mountain range in California from Tulare County northward to Sierra County, and from Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak westward to the Trinity Mountains of Trinity County.”
As of 2010, however, the only verifiable population consisted of about 20 individuals in the Lassen Peak area of Northern California, according to a 2010 US Department of Agriculture report on the status of the SN red fox.
Consequently, most experts then believed that the SN red fox no longer traversed the vast wilderness areas of Yosemite National Park. Reports of sightings in and around Yosemite National Park boundaries did occur, but without a photograph or other tangible evidence such reports could not be confirmed. John D. Perrine, the primary author of the US Department of Agriculture report, wrote that Graber and Chow indicated that the unverifiable sightings “mean it is unlikely that significant red fox populations exist in Sequoia-Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks. It was believed to have been extirpated in Yosemite National Park.“ Prior to January 2015, the last verifiable sighting of the SN red fox in Yosemite occurred ninety-nine years earlier in 1916!
In January 2015, however, that changed. Two Yosemite biologists, acting on data from a thesis by Casey Cleve, hiked a couple of days journey into Yosemite’s remote back- country and placed motion-sensitive digital cameras in an area believed to be a likely spot for capturing photos of the red fox. After placing the camera and hiking back to their tents, they excitedly viewed the results of their efforts (see opening image above). A verifiable specimen of the SN red fox, with its white-tipped tail and handsome reddish-brown coat, tripped the motion-sensitive shutter and shared its presence with the biologists. Rejoicing filled the room at "headquarters" as the two biologists shared the news with their comrades that the SN red fox still counted Yosemite as home!
Given the shy and reclusive nature of the SN red fox, the news of its sighting came as a surprise since good reason existed to believe it no longer moved about within Yosemite’s boundaries. For example, with the introduction of the automobile in the Park in 1913, visitors to the Park soared from 13,735 to over 130,000 by 1923. In 2016, the Park welcomed over five million visitors!
If you were averse to the human species, how far would you go to avoid the impact of five million invaders encroaching upon your home and livelihood?
Of course, not all five million visitors enter the higher reaches of Yosemite’s designated wilderness where the red fox seeks its solitude, but according to the Yosemite Conservancy's website, “The park’s vast back-country welcomes thousands of hikers and backpackers each year, with numbers increasing as wilderness travel gains in popularity . . . [backpackers] inadvertently affect wilderness ecosystems, by setting up camp in sensitive areas, trampling plants and soil, and carrying invasive plant seeds.”
The increasing traffic in the back-country is reflected in the competition for Yosemite wilderness permits issued by the National Park Service (NPS) for overnight stays. Anyone spending a night in the back-country must have a wilderness permit or be cited. Day hikes are permissible but overnight camping is forbidden in the back country without a permit.
The demand for wilderness permits has increased to the point that a lottery system has been instituted. In some of the more popular areas, such as Yosemite’s High Sierra Camps, the efforts needed to get a permit rival those required to get a campground in Yosemite Valley.
On any summer day, 1,035 permits are issued for 50 trailheads within the Yosemite wilderness (617 permits can be reserved and 418 permits are reserved for walk-ins). On average, every trailhead can accommodate only about 12 reserved permits and eight walk-ins per day.
After a number of failures in reserving a permit over the years, I finally succeeded by submitting an online application at 12:01 am 24 weeks ahead of my planned trip for late August 2020. I received notification that I had been granted a permit two days later.
I never thought I would see one. Well, I haven’t actually seen it yet, but I am going to see it. I cannot pick it up until the day before my trip begins in late August. One could say it is more like having a photo of a red fox but not really seeing it in person. I know the permit exists and am certain I am going to see it when I arrive to the Tuolumne Meadows Ranger Station the day before my trip begins (assuming the Park is not closed due COVID-19).
When I do see it, I will be just as elated as those two Yosemite biologists who trekked through the snow and received the stunning photo from that well-placed camera.
I also understand that on the day my journey into Yosemite’s wilderness begins, I will be one of those thousands who encroach upon the ancestral lands of the SN red fox. Naturally, its response to the human presence makes any sighting of it an extremely unlikely event. Still, when I have my permit in hand, I must also acknowledge that it will increase my chances of saying about the SN red fox, “I’m going to see it” as well.
CITATION:
Grinnell, J., Dixon, J. & Linsdale, J.M. (1937) Fur-bearing mammals of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA
See "Reserved Wilderness Permit" Below:
Comments