Grasshopper Days: Montana

Panoramic view of the Flathead River from the National Bison Range, Montana

One of the benefits of having mentored dozens of interns over the years, is that interns often fly off to further adventures in interesting places. On the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, Harry and I find the second of three interns to host us along the way. Katie helped me track sea otters last summer and now she is participating in a long-term study of grasshopper populations on the National Bison Range near St. Ignatius, MT. and she has a spot to park Pagoo. The drive from Coeur D’Alene was supposed to have taken 2 ½ hours---a piece of cake. I now think the shorter the expected drive, the more time I feel I have for dawdling. And so it took me 6 hours. As I made one of the last turns towards Katie’s field station, I sent her a message that I was 15 minutes out. I meant 45. Montana is amazing, you see, and Katie’s house in in the basin of the once flooded glacial Lake Missoula surrounded by mountains, including the Mission Range, that just 15,000 years ago were islands. It is a painter's dream: viridian prairie rimmed with mountains of Payne’s Grey and sky of cerulean. But that is only the shiny wrapper for an abundance of small jewels. What kept me the last 45 minutes were some of the micro denizens---the roadside and fields were flashing the Morse code of a thousand butterfly wings. 

Sulphur butterfly species at the roadside

The fields were planted with alfalfa which was blooming purple and fragrant and is food for sulphur butterfly caterpillars, brilliant in shades of the palest cream to lemon yellow. Two species of sulphurs are fond of alfalfa: the orange (Colias eurytheme) and clouded (Colias philodice). Their ranges overlap and they hybridize, so if you look at my iNat observation you'll see I could not commit (and neither could anyone else). What I am sure of, is that sight of thousands of yellow butterflies over a field of purple with stay with me forever. I made it past the sulphers only to be waylaid further by a charming eastern kingbird following Pagoo from fence post to fence post for the last few hundred yards of road.

Eastern kingbird

However transfixing, I finally make it through the gauntlet of wildlife and soon am turning onto Katie’s driveway and I she is waving a greeting from her front yard.

Katie at her field house near St. Ignatius, MT. The Mission Range is in the background. 

The next morning we leave Pagoo parked and charging up at the field house, while Katie drives Harry and me to the  Bison Range where the grasshopper study sites have been monitored for 30 years. This serves as our training day for Yellowstone  and we look for bison, bighorn, elk, white-tailed deer and pronghorn. What will Harry think of large "cows" so close to the car?

Harry knows a cow when he sees one!

White-tailed deer fawns, hidden in the tall grass, flee as we drive by.

A giant bull bison 3 feet away is spectacular, but what I find most fascinating this day is an exploration of creatures that often go unnoticed beneath our footsteps---grasshoppers. These charismatic insects (you have read James and the Giant Peach, haven’t you?) are abundant in many of open spaces around the world, but here in the Montana grasslands the ground is alive with them. All you need do is set one foot off the trail or road to see what was invisible appear and flutter (only to become cloaked again when still). There are about 11,000 described species of grasshoppers globally and probably many more as yet undescribed. As Katie expertly hopped about (much like a grasshopper, now that I think about it) pouncing with cupped palms to retrieve different species for my admiration, she explained the difference between a grasshopper and a locust, and I learned something new: a species that remains locally abundant is a grasshopper, but if that same species (see Melanoplus bivitattus below) begins to migrate, or swarm, it becomes a locust. It’s amazing how that tiniest bit of knowledge can bring me such joy and excitement---51 years old and I never knew what a locust was!  So, yes, the bison and pronghorn are cool---in just a few days I would be fully enamored with the mega-fauna of America’s Serengeti---but don't forget to admire the little things!

Katie catching grasshoppers

Two-striped grasshopper, Melanoplus bivitattus. The liquid is ejected as a defense.

Many thanks to Katie for enthusiastically giving me a tour of the place she works every day, and for letting me take a much needed shower, wash my dirty clothes, and drink a glass of wine with a friend and a view. I think Harry misses his otter "girls", and he was glad to have her attention and affection. I should also clarify that palm-cupped hopping is not Katie's professional method of grasshopper capture---we were absent her usual gear since the intention of the trip was big rather than tiny game. 

One note on the wine, I started out planning to drink alcohol only in a social context during this trip and I have stuck to that with ease. Don't get me wrong, I am a great appreciator of libation and am unlikely to ever abstain. I do think I had come to use it as a tonic to help quiet the unhelpful chatter in my brain. It seems the road works just as well.