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NATURE & HIKING, THE YUROK RESERVATION
WILD LIFE On the Klamath River - we might see turkey vultures, golden eagles, bald eagles, merganser ducks, cormorants, King Fishers, Great Blue Heron, night heron, white heron and osprey. Forty years ago there were only 6 osprey nests on the river, due to DDT depleting the calcium in the eggs of the females. Now there are over 325 osprey nest sites on the river. Ospreys are said to be monogamous, and they migrate every year from South America. Each of the little swallows that skin the surface of the river in the morning and early evening eat more than 1000 mosquitoes a day (Yaay!) We occasionally see a harbor seal who comes upriver in the summer to avoid the competition at the mouth of the Klamath. We also have seen a family of river otters that live just downstream, and an occasional river beaver. We have never seen a sturgeon at Otter Space. Sturgeon is a fish that has been the same for 20 million years. The biggest sturgeon caught in the Klamath was in pounds, 16 feet long, 300-325 years old. They don’t mature until they’re 45-48yrs old. A female will lay 700,000 eggs in her lifetime. Only 2 will reach maturity. There is a “sturgeon hole” about 7 miles downstream where they live.
Black bears - If you are lucky, you might get to see one of the timid black bears that live in the Lower Klamath area. They are not aggressive unless it is a mother bear protecting her cubs. They run the other way when they see or smell humans. We do not have any brown bears in this area. There is a cinnamon colored black bear that visits us sometimes. Please do not ever feed wild animals.
We also have silver fox, chipmunks, possums, raccoons, one guest saw a very rare lynx and black-tail deer graze in the meadow in the morning and evening. We do not have poisonous snakes in the area, but sometimes there are garter snakes in the orchard.
Mountain lions - are dangerous. We have never seen one, but they do live in this area. Here are the California Department of Fish and Game’s suggestions based on behavior analysis of attacks by mountain lions. Do not hike alone. Make plenty of noise to reduce your chances of surprising a lion. Go in groups, with adults supervising children. Take a sturdy walking stick: you can use it to ward off a lion. Keep children close to you. Observations of captured lions reveal that they seem especially drawn to children. Keep children within your sight at all times.
- Stop! Do not run from a lion. Back away from it slowly, but only if you can do so safely, as running may stimulate a lion's instinct to chase and attack. Face the lion and stand upright. Make eye contact. If you have small children with you, pick them up so they won't panic and run. Although it may seem awkward, pick them up without bending over or turning away from the lion.
- Do not bend or crouch over. Do all you can to appear larger. A person squatting or bending over looks a lot like a four-legged prey animal. Raise your arms. Open your jacket, if you're wearing one. Throw stones, branches, or whatever you can grab without crouching down or turning your back. Wave your arms slowly and speak firmly in a large voice. Never approach a lion, especially one that is feeding or with kittens. Most mountain lions will try to avoid confrontation. Give them a way to escape. Fight back if attacked. Try to stay on your feet if a lion attacks you. Lions have been driven off by prey that fights back. Some hikers have fought back successfully with sticks, caps, jackets, garden tools, and their bare hands.
HIKING We are surrounded by old logging trails made by the lumber companies 80 years ago when they clear cut the old growth redwood on our side of the mountain, and now it's completely reforested with 200 ft. tall Doug Fir, Madrone, Cedar, Oak, other pine species and Pepper wood trees. The property surrounding us is mostly owned by Green Diamond Company that cuts trees for lumber and then re-forests with saplings. There are also other properties that are not clearly marked or fenced in. Mostly everyone we have met here are friendly, and we have never had any problems exploring the trails and creeks in this area, but please use discretion and politeness while hiking. If you see marijuana growing, please DO NOT HELP YOURSELF. It’s not wild, and growers do not take kindly to people helping themselves. Even if you get away with it, they may want to “teach us a lesson” at Otter Space. Please respect these wishes.
The Yurok People The Yurok live on the Pacific coast of northwestern California. Many of their villages were either on lagoons or at the mouths of streams; others were along the lower course of the Klamath River. The Yurok placed great emphasis on accumulating wealth and asserting status. The wealthiest members of Yurok society owned multiple sets of dance regalia and served as hosts for ceremonial gatherings. They wore distinctive clothing, such as highly decorative basketry caps, as a means of displaying their wealth. Even their style of speech was more elaborate than the contracted version spoken by commoners.
The natural resources of northwestern California were abundant, permitting the Yurok to live in permanent, year round villages. They harvested salmon, sturgeon, eel, surf fish, shellfish, sea lions, deer, elk, and acorns. Dense redwood forests provided the Yurok with wood for their distinctive split-plank houses, constructed with either single-pitched or double-pitched roofs. Redwood also was used for the manufacture of a variety of household items, such as wooden stools, storage boxes and cooking implements. Using stone adzes and wedges, Yurok craftsmen carved blunt-ended dugout canoes from large redwood logs.