“Easy buddy”—Brian the moose in one of his favorite thickets in west Spokane.
A sampling of wildlife and flora beyond the burbs and suburbs
It wasn’t that long ago that the people in charge of promoting Spokane billboarded the hook “Near Nature, Near Perfect.” There’s something to that although I gather the marketing phrase receded in part because it was dripping with hubris.
In any event, the near nature part is true. I would only add that regardless of where you are in Spokane, you are likely closer to a moose than you think. There are still wildlife corridors throughout the metro area and I’m still amused at what can wander in. That said, some critters and birds are much more wary than others and that evolving list comes from my field notes and more than a few indelible memories. Here’s a start…
Western Meadowlarks are a reliable sign that you’ve left the city and suburbs behind. This one was photographed on a lichen-encrusted basalt knob a couple miles from the small town of Lamont in western Whitman County.
An American badger in the scablands beyond Sprague, WA. They’re rarely seen so it was something of a shock, a decade ago, to see one crossing Northwest Blvd, in broad daylight on its way from Audubon Park to the river.
American White Pelicans at Clear Lake on the plains southwest of Spokane. With their 7 foot wingspans the pelicans are the second largest North American bird, after the California condor. They’re fairly common south of Spokane (Sprague Lake, for example) but I’ve never seen one on the Spokane River or anywhere else within the city limits.
Rabbitbrush near Antelope, OR. Perhaps because my mother hails from “God’s country” (as she referred to it) near Pasco, WA, I seek out rabbitbrush in late summer/early fall, when it flowers in the waning days of the summer heat.
Trumpeter swan at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge near Cheney, WA. Trumpeter and Tundra Swans visit our ponds and lakes on their annual migrations to and from the arctic.
Western rattlesnake in the deep vegetation surrounding a scabland lake west of Odessa, WA. I actually went out of my way to look for a rattlesnake on the day I photographed this one. I just hadn’t seen one in a while and it was starting to bother me. I did get the memo that not everybody shares my interest in rattlesnakes, but a couple notes. I’ve never seen one in Spokane, although I did have a recent close encounter with one in Deep Creek out near Nine Mile. Second, they generally prefer not to bite people, unless people go out of their way to provoke them. Last I checked there hasn’t been a fatal bite from a western rattler in Washington state in this century.
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