Fall at the Wilds, Part 2

This post is the second of two parts, covering our visit to the Wilds on October 1st and 2nd. The first part is here.

Joan and I stepped out of our yurt to yet another beautiful day.

We paused at the fire pit to take in the view as we waited for the breakfast hour to arrive.

After filling our stomachs at the Overlook, Joan and I joined the folks waiting for a Wildside Tour, one of the specialty tours. Yesterday we rode in an open-air bus, but for the Wildside we sat in the back of a pickup truck that roams off-road as well as on; it carries up to eight people.

There were two or three pickups out today.

Our first encounter was with a pair of bactrian camels.

That's our driver/guide.

The greater one-horned rhino mother and baby were snoozing nearby.

The older sibling, no longer fed by his mother, approached.

We gave him some treats.

The other crew got a visit from mama.

Baby continued to nap.

Further on, we encountered przewalksi's wild horses, originally native to the steppes of Central Asia. The reintroduction of przewalksi's, once extinct in the wild, began in the 1990s.

At the carnivore center,

the vultures were still warming in the morning sun.

This dhole, an Asian wild dog (canid), was basking as well.

The gorgeousness of this cheetah was on full display as she walked by.

The impulse to mark one's territory still rules.

The time came to pile into our pickup and drive on. This unconcerned bactrian deer, a species native to Central Asia, was happy in his mud wallow and ignored us.

Soon we encountered a group of grévy's zebra, the largest living wild equid and most threatened of three species of zebra. I focused on these two.

Nearby, some banteng. This is a species of cattle, both wild and domesticated, from Southeast Asia.

At the Wilds there is plenty of pasture to share; here's a fringe-eared oryx. This muscular antelope is limited to areas of Kenya and Tanzania.

Here is an older gentleman takin, Albert. He lost part of one horn in contests with other males, and is in retirement now, away from the rest of the herd for his own well-being.

Who is this?

The biggest bird in the world, the ostrich.

Next, another highlight of the tour -- the giraffe barn. Giraffes are the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Of all the creatures at the Wilds, it is the most sensitive to cold temperatures. There are two subspecies of giraffe here, the Masai, which is endangered, and the Reticulated, the one most often seen in zoos. We climbed to the second story of the barn, in order to be at eye level.

Everyone had an opportunity to hold out a lettuce leaf for this Reticulated giraffe, whose long, thick tongue wrapped around the treat.

He hoped for more.

Today was warm enough for the giraffes to enjoy the courtyard adjacent to the barn. This photo shows a new baby, born on September 8th.

Here's a look at a young, shy Masai giraffe, sporting darker and more jagged patches than the Reticulated.

Back out in the pastures, we encountered scimitar-horned oryx. A species of antelope once widespread in North Africa, it is now extinct in the wild, but reintroduction efforts are underway. The backwards-pointing horns deter or damage predators who leap upon an oryx.

We continued on until we encountered a group of southern white rhinos. Being grazers, they have evolved pendulous heads that they cannot lift high enough to browse on the leaves of trees or tall bushes.

The grass is yummy out here!

The bactrian deer and the rhinos easily share a pasture.

After 2½ hours in the back of the pickup, we were deposited back at the Overlook. It was time to freshen up and then drive home. What a trip it was!

Fall at The Wilds, Part 1

My apologies for the delayed publication of this post.

On October 1st Joan and I participated in the "Fall Safari" at The Wilds, a private, non-profit conservation center associated with the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. It's located on nearly 10,000 acres of reclaimed strip mine land in rural southeastern Ohio. This was a progressive tour with multiple stops and dinner.

All the participants gathered in the early afternoon at the Overlook Cafe for registration, and then we set out in open-air buses. The first stop was at the Outpost, a viewing facility in the middle of the pastures. (You can even spend the night there.) Southern white rhinos, an African species, visited us here, lured by food and curiosity. They are grazers, with pendulous heads and poor eyesight, but a great sense of smell.

This is a large one!

Youngsters were here too. The Wilds has developed an immensely successful breeding program, having the space to allow the rhinos to feed naturally and form social groups.

Click on any image to enlarge.

Even with their thick hides, the rhinos enjoy a good scratch.

Females weigh up to 3750 lbs., and males up to 5070 lbs. Their feet must support the load.

Only a few rhinos are allowed into the viewing area at a time, but they can still meet with their friends over the fence.

Then we reboarded our buses. Joan and I were lucky to be on the one hosted by Dan Beetem, Director of Animal Management at the Wilds. He was both knowledgeable and had a bagful of stories to tell.

The takins are one of our favorites here, a unique, rambunctious creature of the Himalayas. Our photo opportunities were not well positioned, but I felt obligated to shoot anyway.

Hi there!

This bison (the Wilds has an entire herd) was sporting a headdress of greenery.

Our next stop was at the Carnivore Center, where our first encounter was with African wild dogs. The meal for these pack hunters was being thrown into their compound.

Cheetahs are among the most beautiful of mammals, lithe and capable of running at up to 60 miles per hour. Beginning a decade ago, they were another breeding success story for the Wilds. These cats also received a snack.

Do not attempt to outrun one.

The dholes, sometimes called Asian wild dogs, are actually a separate species of canid.

Feeding time here, too.

A closer look.

As the sun fell even lower, we encountered a greater one-horned rhino, a species found in Indian and Nepal, and her baby.

She did not appreciate anyone else drawing too close.

On our way back to the Overlook, two bactrian camels presented their backs to us. These two-humped creatures are native to central Asia.

Persian onagers moseyed alongside the road. They are an endangered subspecies of the Asiatic wild ass, and the Wilds is proud to have achieved the first successful artificial insemination of any wild equid, resulting in two Persian onagar foals.

We returned to the Overlook as the sun began to flirt with the horizon. Dinner was served, and an auction was held to raise funds. Every item was sold, from OSU football tickets to art created by the animals, usually by snout, paw, or hoof. A jolly time was had by all.

Joan and I were not finished when the group dispersed; we had booked an overnight stay in one of the yurts at the Wilds. This photo is from four years earlier, but it will give you an idea. They are very comfortable.

As we unloaded our luggage we were struck by the dark, cloudless sky that night. The moon would not rise until the wee hours of the morning. We walked from our yurt to the end of the gravel drive and gawked, identifying a few constellations -- the Dippers big and little, for instance, and I thought I might be seeing Sagittarius. A red object was low in the west. At first we thought it might be Mars, but with later research we realized it was Antares, the brightest star in Scorpio, which was setting into the hazy glow of Zanesville, 15 miles to the northwest.

It was a wonderful afternoon and evening. The next morning we took a "Wildside" tour, the subject of the next post.

Clear Creek Rambles: Lakes, Ruins, Critters, and More

Nov. 5th

On November 5th Joan and I drove down to Clear Creek Metro Park to explore the newly opened extension of the Lake Emily trail, which took us to the ruins of the Benua family house, Green Mansions. (There had not been any publicly open trails on the south side of Clear Creek until this summer.)

Click on the image to enlarge.

Directly across the road from the parking area is the Written Rock, which holds 19th and 20th Century graffiti chiseled into the sandstone.

A closeup.

The Lake Trail first crosses Clear Creek on an old concrete ford/bridge, which is sometimes flooded out.

The path then rises gradually until a final climb to the top of the earthen dam that formed Lake Emily.

Don't try to walk on the ice ...

A sunlit tree at the far end of the dam.

From here Joan and I were walking on trail new to us. At the junction we took the 0.4 mile spur to the ruins of "Green Mansions," built in the 1960s by the Benua family.

Drawing closer.

The sign Joan is reading in the above photo; sorry for the clipped left edge!

The view from inside.

After admiring the location and the Benua family's protection of this land, Joan and I returned to the loop, shuffling and crunching through the fallen leaves. Then Joan spotted ...

a young meadow vole, here in the woods. We halted. It seemed unafraid of us, and continued to search through the leaf litter for something to eat.

After completing the loop, Joan and I drove on to the Barnebey Day Use area, and walked the short Tulip and Lake trail loops.

We received a big surprise when the Lake loop took us down to the level of Lake Ramona. There was a new beaver dam, upstream of the original dam! It looked fresh, and stretched wider than the lower dam.

The old dam has sprouted a carpet of greenery.

"Busy as a beaver" is the saying, and it applies here. Lake Ramona itself was at a low ebb.

Our two walks this day were rewarding and surprised us more than once.

December 2nd

Joan and I returned on December 2nd to hike the Hemlock and Cemetery Ridge trails. We had chosen a day with a frost-free morning. On the way from the parking area to the Hemlock trailhead we checked out the extensive repairs at a bend in Clear Creek. The waters had been eating away the bank, threatening the road and trail.

It is clear that the park has had difficulty with visitors bringing dogs into this nature preserve.

Note one succinct line, "Pets Prohibited," in the original trail sign, right. Then a small stand-alone sign was added, left. That wasn't enough! Now there is an additional large sign, left, shouted: no dogs allowed.

We soon realized that crane-fly orchid leaves seemed to be along every trail, still green above and purple below. The leaves of Putty-root orchids, which bloom in the late spring, were more numerous than before at their usual haunt on the Hemlock trail.

Cemetery Ridge was more interesting than the green tunnel it transforms into when the leaves are out. We could see through to other ridges, and deep into the valleys. Also, the dead leaves made a fascinating but easy to overlook layered patchwork of shapes and colors. This tiny plant reached up through the ground litter. Can anybody identify it? If so, leave a comment!

Despite a few rain sprinkles, our four hours on the trail in December were well worthwhile.