Former Wolftree manager seeks the elusive lynx

Folks in Sisters Country may remember Blake Lowery as the project manager for Wolftree. Lowery left Sisters about a year ago and is off in the wilds of Montana doing research on one of North America's rare felines, the Canada lynx, Lynx candensis, which is officially classified as "threatened" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The research Blake is doing is for a long-term project under the supervision of Dr. John Squires' Wildlife and Terrestrial Ecosystem Program, of the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, located in Missoula, Montana. Squires is the leader of research teams responsible for discovering and synthesizing information that is needed to conserve threatened, endangered, and sensitive forest carnivores throughout the Rocky Mountains.

Dr. Squires says, "My research program focuses primarily on the management and conservation of Canada lynx and wolverines. I enjoy the challenge of studying these species that are rare, secretive and that have important conservation needs."

And Blake is the right man for the job. Prior to his role with Wolftree and his present research job, he conducted field studies on wolf and elk relationships in Montana.

"I love being outside again," he says, "running Lynx capture circuits and doing hands-on research.

"The lynx looks like a bobcat on steroids," Lowery said during a recent telephone interview. "Its short body, long legs and large, snowshoe-like furred paws make it an excellent design for chasing down its favorite prey, the snowshoe hare."

The snowshoe hare, also known as the varying hare, is not a rabbit, but in a group of larger animals that - unlike rabbits that are born in a nest - have young in a more open area. Oregon's black-tailed jackrabbits, a close relative of the snowshoe hare, are up-and-running just hours after birth.

They have up to four litters a year, with an average of three to eight young per litter - a trait that makes hares a dependable prey-base.

The winter pelage of the lynx is dense, with thick buff-white fur on the belly, legs and feet. Some of the male lynx Lowery has captured in winter weigh in at almost 30 pounds.

The distribution of lynx in North America is closely associated with the diversity of the mixed-species boreal forest ecosystem known as the taiga. The range of lynx populations extends south from the classic boreal forest zone of Canada into the sub-alpine forest of the western United States.

Lowery has found that the one animal lynx have to be very cautious around is the mountain lion, also know as cougar, the lynx's primary predator.

Blake and his fellow researchers have several capture sites that are baited with road-killed deer. Capture is made by a walk-in trap that poses no threat to the animal where it is then "put down" with a mild tranquilizer that keeps it sedated for about 40 minutes.

"We can get our work done and (if required) the animal equipped with a radio collar in 30 minutes," he says.

In the event the temperature is in the below-zero range, Blake has a heat-pack ready to keep the lynx from getting chilled, but has never had to use it, so far.

"It's so rewarding to be out in the field doing research on an animal that is so vital to the ecosystem of our boreal forests," Blake says, "and to watch them run off into the forest uninjured and hardy after we've handled them, knowing the data we gather will help save these remarkable animals."