Wildlife at Powell

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Randy Helzer

Randy Helzer

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We have been coming to Powell since 1978 and I have never seen as much wildlife in all of those years as we have seen in the last few days. We were beached in the end of the south reaches of the Rincon. We have seen mule deer (as many as 9 at a time) come down for water not more than 300 ft from the Houseboat, a family of otters swimming in and out of our cove, a jack rabbit, and a gray fox that walked right by our boarding plank just at dusk. The creature I haven’t seen, thankfully, (however I must admit I haven’t looked extensively) are mussels.
 

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Dungee

Dungee

Escalante-Class Member
First read this as "wildfire" at Powell ha, I was super confused. Coolest I've seen is some Bighorn Sheep in Scorrup very close to the water.
 
P

Pegasus

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Docker said:
Someone camping in Moki last week just showed me this. I've been out here 4 years and have never seen one.

Ringtailed Cat
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Two weeks ago, at 12:30 a.m., 2 ring-tailed cats boarded my friends HB parked near the tip of GunSight Butte. It took several people over an hour to 'negotiate' an exit for the cats to get back to shore. If you happened to hear grown men screaming like little girls around this date and around this location, it was them!
 
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ROSCOELAB

ROSCOELAB

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years ago had a friend on a cot on the beach in front of the houseboat, we woke to her screams and followed the family of cats into the rocks just behind the bow of our houseboat, you would look into all the cracks of the rockfall and there would be a set of eyes...........
 
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Pegasus

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We saw this horse getting a drink at the mouth of Face Canyon where it meets the main channel last week. It was at the water line when we first saw it and had no interest in us getting close enough to get a good photo. It looked to be in good physical condition.
 
Meatwagon

Meatwagon

Escalante-Class Member
Funny you posted this today, going thru the Castle Rock cut this morning we saw a coyote swimming across it. At first I thought maybe it was an otter, but it was to large, then I thought maybe a lost dog. By the time It got out of the water it was gone before I could get its picture.
 
T

TightLines

Active Member
Randy Helzer said:
We have been coming to Powell since 1978 and I have never seen as much wildlife in all of those years as we have seen in the last few days. We were beached in the end of the south reaches of the Rincon. We have seen mule deer (as many as 9 at a time) come down for water not more than 300 ft from the Houseboat, a family of otters swimming in and out of our cove, a jack rabbit, and a gray fox that walked right by our boarding plank just at dusk. The creature I haven’t seen, thankfully, (however I must admit I haven’t looked extensively) are mussels.
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This week I was lucky enough to see my first otter in Bullfrog Bay opposite the south east buoy field

I couldn't figure out what I was looking at from a distance ... but got a closer view as it traveled near the boat

Very cool !

What was not cool was a brownish 3" scorpion on the house boat a few days ago ( the HB was on buoy) but the HB had been on the beach numerous times during the summer....with beach chairs etc ...must have been a hitchhiker!

Not what u want to see at midnight ...

It disappeared when I saw it that night but the next day it met its match with a heavy duty flashlight.
 
PowellBride

PowellBride

Moderator
Staff member
Docker said:
Someone camping in Moki last week just showed me this. I've been out here 4 years and have never seen one.

Ringtailed Cat
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A few years ago on the SJ we had one that came on board several times. Raided the Twinkie box that was under the couch. Also jumped on the speed boat and raided the ritz crackers and twizzlers. We were more scared of it at midnight than it was of us
 
Waterbaby

Waterbaby

Escalante-Class Member
West Canyon is also a common place for cows late at night if you are camped in the large cover at the entrance to the canyon. Often saw Big Horn sheep in the canyon just past Dangling Rope and in the canyons across the channel to the entrance to Rainbow Bridge. Otters in Oak Canyon, Donkey's on the San Juan, never, ever saw a fox, though we did see obvious cat tracks a few times.
 
nzaugg

nzaugg

Well-Known Member
PowellBride said:
A few years ago on the SJ we had one that came on board several times. Raided the Twinkie box that was under the couch. Also jumped on the speed boat and raided the ritz crackers and twizzlers. We were more scared of it at midnight than it was of us
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We had four ringtail cats come aboard in August while we were camped up Cedar Canyon. I had never even heard of them before. One woke me up by chattering on the top of the boat where we were sleeping. Somebody had left the back door open and I saw it inside the living room where it was trapped by the front door and the screens. It jumped up on top of the TV, which is mounted up near the ceiling. I was able to shoo it out without incident. They came back the next three nights as well to explore the boat. I didn't get a lot of sleep!
 
bobco

bobco

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had coyotes coming into camp Saturday before dark at Hite ramp, seems that any raven activity brings out the local dogs as well. When leaving to fish Sunday morning the coyote came running into my camp as soon as I was leaving the dock, seems to have a good system to finding food to eat but will probably not live a long life with that habit.
 
PBH

PBH

Well-Known Member
bobco -- those coyotes were entertaining to watch. As soon as a boat would launch or load, they'd come running down to see what they could find. We left them plenty of fish to eat!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9WMTmZr9fWbaOoam2

Lake Powell is a mecca for wildlife. Many have already been listed, like coyotes, raccoons, ringtailed cats, fox, beaver, and otters. Numerous birds call this area home: osprey, heron, Western grebes, coots, and numerous other migratory birds. Hunters utilize Lake Powell for the numerous hunting opportunities it provides for big game species like Bighorn sheep, mule deer, and even mountain lions. Bears, although extremely infrequent, have also been seen at Lake Powell. Native American petroglyphs in the area depict sheep, deer, and even elk long before the lake was here. And we know that dinosaurs roamed this area too. Sure, it's a desert and it's remote, but wildlife love that canyon country too!
 
Bill Sampson

Bill Sampson

Escalante-Class Member
PBH said:
bobco -- those coyotes were entertaining to watch. As soon as a boat would launch or load, they'd come running down to see what they could find. We left them plenty of fish to eat!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9WMTmZr9fWbaOoam2

Lake Powell is a mecca for wildlife. Many have already been listed, like coyotes, raccoons, ringtailed cats, fox, beaver, and otters. Numerous birds call this area home: osprey, heron, Western grebes, coots, and numerous other migratory birds. Hunters utilize Lake Powell for the numerous hunting opportunities it provides for big game species like Bighorn sheep, mule deer, and even mountain lions. Bears, although extremely infrequent, have also been seen at Lake Powell. Native American petroglyphs in the area depict sheep, deer, and even elk long before the lake was here. And we know that dinosaurs roamed this area too. Sure, it's a desert and it's remote, but wildlife love that canyon country too!
Click to expand...

According to some of my friends, I was one of the dinosaurs roaming the area.
 
Outside

Outside

Well-Known Member
Docker said:
Someone camping in Moki last week just showed me this. I've been out here 4 years and have never seen one.

Ringtailed Cat
Click to expand...

That reminded me I saw one 2 weeks ago in the middle of the night on the beach using headlamp, it didn't spook for a minute and got a good look at it. It also cleaned out the mouse traps on front deck a few nights too leaving them on the beach. first one I've seen
I've seen desert bighorn in mt sheep canyon, otters in iceberg and main channel, and a condor soar over once at the south end, huge bird!
 
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