37 Badgers and Wolves and Bears! Oh My!! Badger Some rumors are true! Black


bears have been rarely, but reliably, sighted in the park about once a year since 2000. A single wolf was spotted and accurately identified just south of the park in 2009, and another not many miles from the park a few years earlier. The park naturalist saw a badger in 2007. So, implausible stories are not always rumors. But despite those reports and rumors of mountain lions, elk, bobcats, wolves, and bears - - - the living natural history at Devil’s Lake is usually a bit more mundane.


For those coming from out of the region or from urban areas, the park contributes many treasured memories. In May and June, people have been kept awake by the incessant noisy cackling of the great blue heron rookery (community nursery) at the group camp. One elderly woman had never seen a deer fawn in the “wild.” Then along the entrance road in the spring she saw triplets! Birdwatchers


today’s characteristic mammals of the park were unknown here early this century. Turkeys were re-introduced here in the 1980’s. Deer were scarce in the early 1900’s. Few anglers catch walleyes, but scuba divers report coming face-to-face with unafraid and lethargic record-size fish. Brown trout have been stocked here for decades; rainbow trout haven’t been stocked for many years. The usual Midwest creatures are common, but not always seen: raccoons, possums, fox, salamanders, and turtles. Bats reside in the park in great numbers, but you’ll only see them around dusk. The park had to evict hundreds of bats from the attic of the north shore Chateau in 2010. Staff provided transition housing and ultimately built a custom-made bat “condo” to host the beneficial creatures.


Wolves


come from all over to catch a glimpse of the rare Townsend’s solitaire high on the Balanced Rock Trail. Seasonally, migrant birds put in brief cameo appearances. People strolling along the south shore have been treated to a show of fishing ospreys diving into the water and rising with struggling fish in their talons. Sometimes in the spring and fall, loons’ evocative calls echo over the lake in the evening. One can watch the loons disappear underwater in pursuit of fish, and then rise up 50 feet away.


Believe it or not, two of Black Bear by: Emory Orlikowski


There are four Wisconsin State Natural Areas within the park boundaries: South Bluff/ Devil’s Nose, Devil’s Lake Oak Forest, Parfrey’s Glen, and East Bluff. These are largely set aside because of the rare or unusual plant life found there. Watch for the jack-in-the-pulpit flowers in the spring. Oak, ash, hickory, maple, and white pine are the common trees of the forest. The


oldest tree in the park may be a 500 year old red cedar on the east bluff. In Parfrey’s Glen you can find scouring rush, yellow birch, mountain maple, red elder, clintonia, and clubmoss. Over 240 species of birds have been found in the park including the cerulean warbler, Acadian flycatcher, winter wren, Louisiana water-thrush, Canada warbler, and the black-and-white warbler. If you’re an insect expert, you might find a caddis fly or a rare diving beetle at Parfrey’s Glen.


Turkey vultures are probably the iconic animal of the park. At certain times of the year, you can see hundreds soaring on the updrafts created by the bluffs. Bluff-top hikers can watch from above as the regal birds soar below the viewer. These birds migrate south in the fall, going as far as Honduras in Central America.


The public perception of the “wilds” of Devil’s Lake State Park varies. Two families of hikers may be on the same trail, at the same time, seeing the same things. One family is having a pleasant stroll after lunch, and the other is having an awe-inspiring once-in-a-lifetime wilderness experience. It depends on your perspective!


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