A Critter-Filled Weekend While Golfing and Camping

I had a fun weekend ahead of me last Friday morning. It would include golfing and lunch for a work activity and camping with my twin sons. We would be enjoying some father-son time in the great outdoors around Timpooneke Campground in Utah County while our wives were enjoying some girl time at our home. I could picture the image below when I thought about a weekend in the outdoors.

Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

However, there were some minor details that required my attention at the crack of dawn Friday morning. All of which had to be done in a period of time that allowed me to get to the golf course twenty minutes from my home before an 8:45 tee time. We were unable to reserve our campsite in advance so I had to drive thirty minutes up American Fork Canyon, stake a claim on one of the first-come-first-served campsites, and pay the fee to the caretaker when he was officially available at 7 AM. I found an open site, set up an empty tent to stake our claim, and then paid the fee.

I noticed a rabbit running across the road ahead of me on my way out of the campground. I saw that its hind legs were huge and white so I realized it was a Snowshoe Hare, a very secretive hare that generally hides in thick mountain brush. I tried to stop and get an image of the hare while his large hind feet were still visible, but it got into the grass before I could do so. These hares transition between an all-white coat during the winter months and a brown-gray coat during the summer months. The white winter coat makes them extremely hard to find when there is snow cover in our mountains.

Snowshoe Hare in Summer Coat at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

I made it home without further distractions and quickly showered. I was making good time until I realized I had a tick free-loading on the back of my lower thigh. I had picked up an unwanted hitch hiker while in the mountains. A quick Google search confirmed it was a Rocky Mountain Wood Tick and not a Deer Tick which is known to carry Lyme Disease. I consulted Dr Google and his friend, WebMD for the proper way to remove a tick and followed those directions successfully, including the part about putting the tick in a Ziploc bag for later reference if needed. Here's a link on how to remove a tick. It's a good refresher as we go outdoors during the spring and/or wet summer months when they are thriving:

Click Here for How to Remove a Tick From Your Skin

I'm a little fascinated by nature and all of its critters and this post is about critters so here you go! This is the very beast itself. It was about a 1/4 of an inch long. The tiny nub up front is the part that was embedded in my skin.

Top Side of a Rocky Mountain Wood Tick

Bottom Side of a Rocky Mountain Wood Tick

The tick episode set me back a little in my time management, but I made it to the course right at 8:45. I teed off for the first time in over a year without a single practice swing and it was a solid drive, straight down the fairway. I can't say the same for many of the other swings during the morning, but golfing with coworkers was fun. We didn't really have serious golfers in our group so we simply had fun and enjoyed the spring weather. The course was situated in the foothills near Corner Canyon in Draper, Utah. We spent a bit of time chasing balls that we hit into the sagebrush and hillsides. While checking for a lost ball in the ruff near the putting green of hole #8 we discovered two Gopher Snakes that were both over four feet long. Another coworker and I retrieved one from the ruff and placed it on the putting green. I got on my belly and captured the image below with my phone camera. Another fun critter for the weekend.

Gopher Snake at South Mountain Golf Course in Draper, UT (over four feet long)

After enjoying lunch with my coworkers it was time to head home and make the drive up American Fork Canyon to our campsite. I stopped along the road to our campsite to capture and image of the ubiquitous Uinta Ground Squirrel, or Pot Gut as the locals call them.

Uinta Ground Squirrel at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Another common mammal in our mountains is the Red Squirrel. They are small for a tree squirrel with a body that is about 7" from head to rump and a tail that is about 5-6" long. This one appeared to be gathering nest material.

Red Squirrel at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

My sons and I set up camp and made some dinner. This was the view from the shade of our campsite Saturday morning as breakfast was being prepared.

Cooking Breakfast at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

We did some visiting, hiking, mountain biking, and exploring early Friday evening. As the sun was setting and the sky began to darken I led my sons on a search for Norther Saw-whet Owls. I had introduced them to Flammulated Owls before so we focused this time on the Saw-whets. We were successful at calling one in. It landed in tree right above our heads as I was whistling one of their calls. We got a light on it so my sons could see the unique little owl that was about 8" tall. Here is an image from a previous Saw-whet encounter I had in the same general location.

Northern Saw-whet Owl in Utah County, UT

We sat around the campfire for the rest of the night and then went to bed. The robins started singing around 5 AM, the resident Ruffed Grouse started drumming around 6 AM, and within moments it seemed that all the other birds of the forest were singing and calling. Nature called in more ways than one so I exited the tent for another day in the mountains.

After breakfast I stood on the road near the meadow shown in the very first image of this post and practiced some photography as Broad-tailed Hummingbirds came to and battled over the nectar of the flowers from a Twinberry Honeysuckle shrub.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

Broad-tailed Hummingbird at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

An American Dipper popped up from the running stream near the bush and posed briefly for me. These little birds behave like ducks as they dive under water to retrieve larvae. The water just rolls right off their backs when they emerge from beneath the fast moving water.

American Dipper at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

American Dipper at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

I was riding my mountain bike through the campground late in the morning and discovered a pair of American Three-toed Woodpeckers chipping bark from the trees of campsites 27 and 28, both of which were now empty as the campers who used them the night before had left. These are rare for the area so it was a very fortunate discovery for me. They were constantly in the shadows of the fir trees so the lighting was poor for my taste, but this turned out to be a solid image for documenting the rare sighting.

American Three-toed Woodpecker at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

American Three-toed Woodpecker at Timpooneke Campground in Utah County, UT

All in all it was a great weekend with coworkers, family, and interesting critters. I can't wait for what remains to be discovered during my next weekend.