Photo trap intended to measure stream flow captures a mountain goat running along Willow Creek!  

Surely, it’s not only plants on the Pumice Plain! Ecosystems have gradually flourished as more species have filled ecological niches. Ungulates and other mammals have colonized the Pumice Plain.

Our team has documented many animals on accident in our photo traps intended to measure water flow, ephemerality, and seasonality of streams!

 

Huge herds of elk call the Pumice Plain home. They are protected from hunting within the National Volcanic Monument. Photo by Carri LeRoy 

While hiking across the Pumice Plain our team has encountered huge herds of elk. They were some of the first large animals to return to MSH after the eruption and they utilize this landscape for grazing the grasses, sedges, and willows of the Pumice Plain!

Sometimes our camera trap stream gauges capture other things! A big fall storm caused massive sediment movement in our streams and also carried other debris downstream. This partial elk carcass got caught up on our stream gauge on Willow Creek. 

Check out the black bear print on Goose Creek on the Pumice Plain of Mount St. Helens in summer 2018! Photo by Carri LeRoy  
An elk leg got wrapped around our stream gauge during a high flow event in Willow Creek! Photo by Carri LeRoy