With little of the foliage she prefers to browse in the understory, Okapi vigilantly watches the lumbering. unlike anything she has ever seen in the dense Ituri forest of equatorial Africa, her home habitat. Through the tree trunks, Okapi gazes in wonderment at a small, fuzzy mammal with black, brown, and streaks of golden fur. The meadow is colder than Okapi's preference and she quickly shelters in a stand of pine trees to block the breeze. MMMagic delivers Okapi to the squishy margins of the ephemeral wetland in a meadow surrounded by ponderosa pine-mixed conifer forest. One Wolverine dispersed into Northern California in ~2008, making the California Sierras their lonely home for a decade and efforts are ongoing to bring back the Wolverine throughout its historical range. Wolverine once roamed the Sierras, but became locally extinct in the mid-1900s from trapping, poisoning, and extirpation of other large carnivores whose kills were essential for wolverine scavenging. Jumbled logs, known as "coarse woody debris" uprooted by past mudslides, have created a log jam that slows water flow and deepens the vernal pool (Harmon et al 1987).
We encourage everyone to follow the advice of public safety officials and avoid entering waterways if asked… Be aware of fluctuating water levels" and "Rising water levels in rivers and streams will be very cold, very fast and can easily overwhelm those that aren’t prepared.” In the Sierra foothills, an ephemeral wetland has formed, a combination of rain and beginning snowmelt. Just yesterday, the California Department of Water Resources, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and California State Parks released a Public Service Announcement: “As the temperature rises, snowmelt-fed waterways can quickly induce incapacitating cold-water shock to even the strongest swimmers.
Now early April, in the Southern Sierra foothills, with warming temps and above freezing in the nighttime, the melt has begun. The 2022-23 winter snowpack eases, but does not solve, the ongoing California drought and is an indicator of global warming "climate whiplash." Due to short-sighted water management decisions in the 1900s, the Big Melt is expected to cause widespread devastation this spring. Specifically in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains in the Sequoia National Forest, currently under emergency closure restrictions from late March until late April due to winter damage and in anticipation of the perilous BIG MELT. Tonight's randomized battle habitat is the ephemeral wetland. Wolverine Dad's tolerance of subadult offspring may be an important way for wolverine subadults to develop survival skills under Dad's protective umbrella. The period of exploratory independence from mom's territory can be a particularly dangerous period for lethal attacks from other wolverines, wolves, and cougars for young wolverines. Skunk Bear 'may be the most fitting because of the broad yellow-brown lateral stripes that sweep from the neck to the rump and the anal musk glands that produce the pungent odor typical of mustelids' (Beauvais & Johnson 2004). For Okapi, the leading threat is the presence of armed groups in the areas of the "forest giraffe." The Wolverine (Gulo gulo), a "blocky and bear-like mammal has been bestowed colorful names such as devil bear, devil beast, and skunk bear" (Beauvais & Johnson 2004). Often under-recognized as a conservation issue, human conflict and warfare is a major source of stress and poaching on wild animals. But compared to closely-related giraffes, Okapi have poor eyesight and rely more on hearing and olfaction in a low-light environment. "Follow me stripes" and prominent white socks help Okapi visually find each other in the dark forest. The Congo rainforest is dense and dark with thick vegetation. The distinctive posterior stripes of Okapi (Okapi johnstoni) are sometimes called "follow me stripes" to help baby Okapi follow their mothers through the forest after the nesting period (and not defecating for 2 months!).
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