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Big Bend Blooms Visitors to Big Bend National Park agree that wildflowers in spring are nature’s special glory. By mid-February, the dull browns, grays, and faded greens of winter become less noticeable. For it is then that spring draws from her palette an unforgettable blue, and brushes acres of bluebonnet flowers across the canvas of drab-outwash plains, desert flats, and road shoulders. A herald of spring, the bluebonnet’s scientific name is Lupinus havardii. The name is derived from lupus “wolf” because the plants were thought to devour the soil. Actually, like other members of the pea family, they enrich the soil by converting atmospheric nitrogen into organic compounds used later by other plants. Still, for the botanist, the plant’s value is measured more in the consolation its beauty brings the human spirit than in the enrichment it brings the soil. In the Chisos Mountains along the Window Trail there the blossoms of cat-claw acacia, Mexican buckeye, and mountain laurel. This also isn’t the best year for yucca flowers, but there were a few Torrey yuccas in bloom in the campground area along with the sweet smelling blossoms of white-thorn acacia. The blooming season in the park extends on into summer when the rainy season comes and a whole new set of flowers begin to bloom. Summer flowers will include the majestic flower stalks of the century plant and the elegant red flowers of the mountain sage. To help you identify wildflowers the best book covering the park was just published. Make sure you get a copy of Little Big Bend: Common, Uncommon, and Rare Plants of Big Bend National Park by Roy Morey. Another great title you will want to check into is Northern Chihuahuan Desert Wildflowers by Steve West. Over 1200 species of plants have been identified in Big Bend. Learn more
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Park closes trails to protect Peregrine Falcons
Federal Endangered Species policy requires that Peregrine populations continue to be monitored. National Park Service policies require the protection and preservation of all state-listed species and all species of concern, regardless of federal or state classification. In keeping with this mandate, and to provide the nesting falcons with areas free of human disturbance, Big Bend National Park will again temporarily close or place restrictions on the use of certain park lands. The areas closed to public entry from February 1 through May 31 are:
Technical rock climbing on rock faces within ¼ mile of known peregrine eyries, as posted, will not be allowed between February 1 and July 15. The park does not plan to close any other areas but restrictions may be modified if Peregrine behavior or nesting sites do not follow traditional trends. Through the efforts of federal, state and private agencies, the Peregrine has staged a remarkable comeback since it was placed on the federal list in 1970. Superintendent Bill Wellman remarked, “The small population found in Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River represents most of the peregrines found in Texas. We appreciate the public support and cooperation that we continue to have for protecting these remarkable birds."
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Black bear in Big Bend National Park destroys three campsites Rangers say leave shoes outside your tent or in bear boxes if camping in High Chisos backcountry sites. January 25, 2009. A black bear has now destroyed 3 unoccupied tents in the Colima Canyon area of the High Chisos (above 7,000 feet) in late December. These events occurred in a solitary high mountain backcountry campsite, not in the Chisos Basin campground.According to the campers, food was not left in any of the tents. Apparently it is the smell of shoes that attracts the bear. The bear crushes or rips into tents to get at the shoes. When campers returned to their site, they find that shoes are removed, chewed on, and dropped along the trail or in the woods. When leaving a site for a hike, please put scented items in the bear boxes. Shoes and boots might be best left outside of tents so that if a bear is curious about that particular odor, they can smell the shoe and move on. The bear destroyed the tents because it smelled something in the tent and investigated. The fabric was an incidental obstacle between them and what they want to check out. Bears don't realize that tents cost people money, nor do bears have an understanding of private property, they are just innocently doing what they have done for millenia...act like bears. Remember that bears have a much better sense of smell than humans, so while we can't smell some things, they can. Do your best to think like a bear as you secure your belongings. It is advised that campers flatten tents while on a day hike away from a High Chisos site to lessen the chance of property destruction. Black bears have been feeding in October and November near backpacking campsites in the Chisos Mountains This year much of their natural food sources was concentrated along moist drainages and north facing slopes. Hiking trails pass through these feeding grounds. This caused an increase in the frequency of hikers reporting bear sightings. Because of our traditionally non-threatening behavior toward them, bears have largely lost their normal caution and fear of humans. The unfortunate consequence is that the bear may develop a taste for items we bring with us and try to intimidate us so they can get at our food, which can cause injury to people. Campsites Reopened Due to the decrease in bear sightings starting in late November, the campsites at Colima Canyon, Boot Canyon, Emory Peak and Toll Mountain have been reopened to camping for the time being. If incidents with bears increase, closures may be reinstituted and additional measures taken to discourage bears from entering sites. No visitor has ever been attacked by a bear at Big Bend National Park. There have been a few instances this year of bears mock-charging visitors, growling, or stomping their feet when people approach or surprise them. Read further for bear discouragement techniques. What might occur if bears develop a taste for human food is injuries to hikers if a bear wants what a person is carrying, or if a person gets between the bear and food, or property damage to tents. This will only come to pass if visitors are reckless in how they take care of the items they bring that might attract bears. This includes food, soaps, items with odors like lip balm, even trash and dirty dishes not properly secured. This will prevent dangerous bear-visitor encounters. It would be a tragic loss if rangers had to track down and kill a bear that became dependent on our food and began to display aggressively foraging behavior. Big Bend Rangers are asking hikers and campers to please follow the following guidelines if encountering bears. 1) You should not linger near or approach bears if they are feeding naturally or in a tree. Give the bears room and go around them. This is their home and we are guests in this park. 2) If the bear is lingering at your camp, or if the bear intentionally approaches you or anyone in your group, it is recommended that you run the bear off by making noise and throwing rocks/sticks toward it. Do not do things to make the bear mad like hitting it with sticks or rocks, charging the bear, or any aggressive act. Do not run away either. Be assertive. The goal is for bears to remember to be wary of us. 3) Hikers should not leave packs, food, trash, or any other attractants unattended at any time or for any reason. Bears that develop a taste for our food often become dangerous. The park's bears have not become habituated to human food and we want to keep it that way. They should be eating grubs and pine 4) If left outside of a bear box, make sure your pack is empty and that all attractants the bear can smell are in a bearproof storage container, including things like toothpaste, sunscreen, lip balm, water bottles, even canned foods. If you spilled food in your pack or you know it has odors that might attract a bear, store it in a bear-proof box. If it won't fit, empty it entirely and leave all pockets unzipped and open. 5) Please report sightings, incidents (particularly bears that exhibit aggressive behavior), and any property damage to a ranger at the visitor center, including filling out a wildlife observation report at a visitor center.
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