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ENVIORNMENT: The Bighorn Connection:
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Concurrent outbreaks suggest connectivity between herds
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| By Rod Daniel |
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The recent pneumonia outbreak in bighorn sheep in western Montana has state wildlife biologists scratching their heads as to the cause. But the information they’ve gleaned from the unprecedented die-offs in the last two months has given them a greater understanding of options to control future outbreaks and the interaction of area bighorn herds.
To date, four herds, previously thought to be distinct, have been infected by the nearly always-fatal respiratory disease.
First outbreak: East Fork
Hunters reported seeing coughing bighorn sheep in late November in the East Fork herd south of Darby, and by mid-January, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) biologists and volunteers had aggressively culled more than 75 infected sheep from the herd estimated in March to be close to 200.
The thriving East Fork herd was established in 1972 when 35 sheep were transplanted there. Since then it has become well-known for its near record-book rams, so stock from the East Fork herd has been transplanted to other herds in Montana to provide additional genetic diversity.
Recently infected sheep were removed from the East Fork herd and samples from their lungs were sent to the FWP lab in Bozeman for testing. The goals are to identify the pathogens responsible for the pneumonia and possibly identify their origins.
Second outbreak: Bonner
A similar outbreak was discovered in early January in the bighorn herd near Bonner COMMENT- EAST FORK IS LIKELY DISTINCT… ROCK CREEK & BONNER LIKELY CONNECTED Again, aggressive culling led to the removal of more than 85 diseased sheep in an effort to prevent exposure to healthy sheep in the Bonner herd.
The strategy was to set up a containment zone of diseased animals and cull every sheep possible within the zone. Sheep outside of the containment zone were monitored and culled if they presented signs of sickness.
Third outbreak: Lower Rock Creek
Before FWP biologists could catch their breath, a third bighorn population – this one in the lower Rock Creek drainage – had confirmed cases of pneumonia. Unlike the East Fork and Bonner herds, sheep in Lower Rock Creek were distributed in scattered bands in very rugged country. Culling in this terrain was impractical, dangerous, and unlikely to result in the elimination of all infected individuals. Instead the strategy was to monitor the outbreak, collect samples from individuals opportunistically, and let the disease run its course with the hope that some isolated, unaffected bands will survive the outbreak.
“It appears from the observations we’ve made that the disease is likely widely spread across the lower portion of Rock Creek,” said Mike Thompson, regional wildlife manager, at the time of the outbreak. “For now we intend to let the disease run its course in Lower Rock Creek and count on geographical barriers to contain it.”
Similar to the East Fork herd, the Lower Rock Creek herd was established in 1979, when 25 sheep were transplanted there. Last spring the herd was estimated to have just over 200 sheep.
Fourth outbreak: Upper Rock Creek
On February 1, FWP announced a fourth pneumonia outbreak, this one in the Upper Rock Creek population, estimated to be about 350 sheep. By February 3, staff had culled 31 sheep from the large continuous herd, all of which had pneumonia, according to Ray Vinkey, FWP biologist out of Philipsburg.
An aerial survey of the herd on February 8 revealed that over 40 percent of the 173 sheep observed were symptomatic for pneumonia, Vinkey said.
“After the helicopter survey, a decision was made…that a majority of the herd was already infected,” Vinkey said. “We decided the population was too infected for culling to control the outbreak.”
Vinkey and Thompson chose to let the disease run its course in all of Rock Creek. The populations are now being monitored and dead and diseased sheep are being removed as they are encountered.
Other herds in the region, including West Fork of the Bitterroot, Skalkaho, Petty Creek and Anaconda, all appear healthy, Vinkey said.
Effect of the outbreaks
While parallel outbreaks of pneumonia in bighorn sheep have occurred in British Columbia, Washington, Nevada and Colorado, in Montana a disease of this magnitude is unprecented, Vinkey said.
“We won’t know until at least next spring the effect these outbreaks will have on the populations,” he said. “And the long-term effect may take much longer to determine.”
Risk factors contributing to sheep die-offs, Vinkey said, include stress, disturbance, deteriorating range conditions and contact with domestic sheep and goats. The extent to which each of these has contributed to the current pneumonia outbreaks will have to be evaluated.
Neil Anderson, FWP wildlife lab supervisor in Bozeman, hesitated to name the specific pathogens responsible for the outbreaks, saying such a puzzle will take a long time to solve.
“We’re running a series of tests, trying to make sense of it all,” Anderson said. “We probably won’t have information about the exact pathogens for quite some time – certainly not until spring and maybe not for years.”
Pneumonia outbreaks in bighorn sheep are happening all across the West, Anderson said, and it’s much too early to say what the long-term effect will be.
“There’s a theory that infected animals don’t always show symptoms,” he said. “Pathogens may be harbored by adult ewes and passed on to their lambs. Once the lambs get off milk, they may become weak and die.”
Reduced lamb recruitment – a scenario where lambs don’t live long enough to become reproductive adults – could have long-term consequences for the size of the herds.
One thing is for sure – 2010 hunting permits will be drastically cut back as a response to the reduced herd sizes, Vinkey said.
“Three of the districts – Bonner and Upper and Lower Rock Creek – have been closed,” Vinkey said. “And in the East Fork, the permits have been reduced from eight (in 2009) to one (in 2010).”
The die-offs are particularly devastating, he said, because the four infected herds have been some of the most productive in the state.
“Out of the 92 rams that were harvested in Montana last year, 22 came from these four districts,” he said.
Silver lining?
The good news (and bad news), from the pneumonia outbreak, Vinkey said, is the newfound knowledge that three of the four herds (Bonner, Lower & Upper Rock Creek) are connected by dispersing individuals. Movement of individuals between populations allows for genetic interchange (which prevents inbreeding) as well as the opportunity for animals from one population to supplement declining numbers in another. However, he notes, the risk, which this outbreak has demonstrated, is that disease may be spread amongst herds with potentially devastating consequences.There are pros and cons to the connection of herds, he said.
“The bad thing is the potential for disease transmission among herds, but the good thing is the genetic exchange between what we thought were isolated populations.”
“We’ve always viewed these herds as distinct populations, but this disease suggests that they are connected,” he said. “Bighorn sheep, especially rams, can move tremendous distances. It looks like we have a large metapopulation made up of smaller populations connected by wandering sheep.”
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BUSINESS: Garden City Montessori:
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| Learning with Joy |
| By Shannon Selway |
What is Montessori? It’s a name that’s been around for over 100 years in the educational system and is coined directly from its inventor, Dr. Maria Montessori. Dr. Montessori developed a different approach to education based on her observation of children and to discover their unique personality, needs, tendencies and talents. In a Montessori-styled education, there is no “one size fits all” curriculum as a traditional classroom provides.
A Montessori approach is presenting children a rich and stimulating environment. Children learn what they love, and naturally anything forced is likely to be disliked. The Montessori environment supports free movement in a fun and inspiring space, combining precise work with hands and mind. A Montessori education also consciously teaches children to be kind and peaceful.
In traditional education settings, children are led by the teacher instructing them as a group, which creates many barriers. In Montessori, interaction is modeled as a triangle: teacher works with the environment, the child works with the environment, and the teacher works with the child by preparing the environment.
The key to Montessori is repetition until the child masters a skill before he or she moves on to the next level, and as such, there are never any gaps in their education.
Montessori accommodates all learning styles. Some kids are auditory learners, some learn the best by visual means, and some learn through body movement and feeling, or a combination of all. Montessori teachers are trained to use all the senses with the use of special didactic materials.
Montessori’s aim is to nurture the inner motivation of the child, and this is done by creating a scientifically designed “prepared environment,” where the child has the freedom to learn, and with such freedom, children blossom intellectually and receive self-confidence.
A Montessori classroom is a place where children learn order. It is set up so kids can easily find work materials with little assistance. When the child has finished using materials, they put them back as they found them, enforcing awareness for others. The classroom and materials are designed and displayed in a way that assists children in learning to cooperate with others in their use and have respect for the needs of others as well as the use of the materials. There is a vast array of materials used with sensory features of texture, colors, sizes, sound, etc.
Missoula is blessed to have Garden City Montessori, now in its fifth year. Owner, Bev Morse, teamed up with Megan Mahoney - both teachers boasting impressive CVs, and both with immense energy and passion for what they do.
Garden City Montessori’s focus is “learning with joy,” as they feel joy is the natural outcome of learning.
Garden City Montessori serves children from age three through fourth grade. Little ones would begin with lessons of practical life, such as pouring and measuring. Soon, skills broaden and build, and the rate of learning accelerates. It’s not unusual for five-year olds to know how to read and even work with four-digit numbers!
“It’s wonderful to see confidence being built. A child feels ‘I am a successful learner. I can complete [a project] and put it back,’” Bev Morse said.
In a typical day at Garden City, there will be an array of projects in the making that are on a child’s rug, which is the child’s personal work space. The rug containing their project is left undisturbed by teachers and fellow students as the student navigates through their project. The child comes back the next day and resumes where he or she left off.
The Montessori schooling system has proven itself to be an amazing approach. In fact, kids upon departing a Montessori school are often at an education level a couple grades above their conventional school’s peers. As Garden City Montessori’s grade level cuts off at fourth grade, teachers there take various steps for the student that will be in transition into the traditional school system.
Garden City Montessori is located across the street from the YMCA, which provides lots of access to athletics. Students partake in just about everything from skating to martial arts. Children also visit nearby Boyd Park to run off some energy during recess.
The public is invited to Garden City Montessori’s open house on March 2nd and April 8th from 5:30 to 7:30. It currently is enrolling students of preschool through fourth grade. It’s located at 3035 So. Russell Street, Missoula. Phone: (406) 240-0290.
Science observation has established that education is not what the teacher gives; education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment – Maria Montessori
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HISTORY: A Journal of Life in the Bitter Root
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By Wm. W. Whitfield
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A while back we received an unexpected phone call at the Ravalli County Museum. A woman living in Oklahoma was interested in knowing if her family’s old ranch on the East Fork was still standing, and if there were any family members left living here in the Bitter Root Valley. When she said that she was the granddaughter of Bertie Lord, it definitely caught our attention. As it happens, the Historical Society takes a keen interest in all things related to the Lord family, and in our collection we house a wide assortment of Bertie’s cameras, photos, negative glass plates, and a number of his journals and correspondences. Just a few years ago the museum opened up a new exhibit that replicates Bertie’s photo studio, which includes a reproduction of his hand-painted canvas backdrop, a selection of stereo-views and cabinet cards, and a host of other objects related to his life as a Bitter Root photographer.
In talking with Bertie’s relative, I mentioned that we would love to find a journal that would fill in some of the gaps in our early history of the family, and much to my surprise, I learned that she had an actual diary of Bertie’s in her possession. She said that it was kept in a cedar box with some other family heirlooms, and she went to fetch it right then and there! You can imagine my delight when she said the journal was from 1884. I knew that Bertie would have only been thirteen years old when he started this diary, and that we needed to have a copy of it for our records. The owner was reluctant to take the diary to the local copy shop to have it reproduced, so for the moment it seemed we were at an impasse. During our conversation I continued to stress the importance of the diary, and told her if she ever made it out this way to be sure and bring it along so we could scan it into our database. As it turns out, her son had just left the day before on a hunting trip to Montana, and if she had known, she would have sent the journal along for us to copy.
We talked a little longer about other family members and what all we had in the Lord Collection at the museum. When I hung up I figured that was as far as it would ever go, but she called the very next day to inform me that she had put the journal in the mail, and that we should look for it in the next couple of days. She had also been in contact with her son, and he had agreed to come to the Bitter Root and retrieve the journal after his hunting trip in the Big Belt Mountains. We waited anxiously for the package to arrive for almost a week, when her son suddenly showed up to take the journal back with him to Oklahoma! Luckily, he was actually in the museum when the package finally arrived, and he was gracious enough to allow us to keep it long enough to get it scanned. Afterwards we mailed it back to his mother, along with some historic pictures he had chosen from our extensive photo archives.
While Bertie’s great grandson was here in the valley, I called Bob Mendenhall, a fellow photo archivist who volunteers at the museum. Bob just happens to own a piece of land adjoining the old Bertie Lord place on the East Fork, and he offered to ride up there with us to have a look at the place. As we drove upriver along the highway, Bob gave us a brief history of the property. After getting permission to look at the buildings from the current owner of the ranch, our visitor shot some pictures of the old homestead to share with his relatives in Oklahoma. Meanwhile, back at the museum, Michael McEachern, another volunteer photo archivist, took on the hurried task of scanning the journal. Mike had helped fill out the museum’s collection of Bertie Lord stereo-views a few years back, and he had also assisted in creating the Bertie Lord Studio Exhibit at the museum.
Once Mike had scanned and printed out a copy of the diary, I immediately got to work transcribing the document. It soon became evident that Bertie was still learning to read and write at the time, and the journal is chock full of places where he is obviously practicing his handwriting. At first it was quite a challenge deciphering his scrawl, but the diary contains numerous examples of his alphabet lessons, so I gradually managed to get a handle on his unique style of scribbling. Somehow, I eventually mastered his handwriting style and produced a complete transcript of the diary, although I’ll admit that some of the subject matter still baffles me. Many of the phrases he uses are no longer part of the common vernacular.
One phrase in particular really had me puzzled for a day or two. Besides recording all of the daily chores that he was expected to do on the ranch, Bertie seems to have spent an awful lot of his free time hunting, trapping and fishing. In March he made the following entry: “I went fishing up in peemouth bend caught 7 peemouths a trout.” Bertie never actually uses any punctuation in the journal, so I had to wonder if he was saying he caught seven peemouths that are a type of trout, or seven peemouths, and a trout. Now, I have never claimed to be a great outdoorsman, but I’ve done my share of hunting and fishing, and I’ve never heard of anyone catching a peemouth! Asking around, I didn’t find anyone else who had either, but there are whitefish in the river, and their mouths are about the size and shape of a pea. After some consideration, Bob and I came to the conclusion that Bertie’s spelling was a little off, and that the fish in question was actually a “pea” mouth, or what is commonly known today as a whitefish. According to his journal, Bertie ends up giving a lot of these fish away to his neighbors, just as people still try to do to this very day.
When Bertie started his 1884 journal, he and his family were living along the river in a small log cabin that belonged to Billy Edwards. The old cabin is still standing just this side of the Connor turn-off, and Bob pointed it out to us as we made our way up the East Fork to look at the ranch that the Lord’s eventually built further upstream. When Bertie was just seven years old his family moved from New York to Texas, along with two of his uncles and their wives. In his ‘Early Recollections’ Bertie describes a hard way of life in the Lone Star State, where the family really struggled to make ends meet. At one point his father went into partnership with a man who helped him purchase and erect an ox-powered cotton gin. Once the mill was in place, the family moved into a little shack near the site. Apparently, the shack was so small that Bertie used to sleep in the cotton mill where the seed cotton was stored in bins on the upper story of the gin. He says he would go to one of the bins and dig out a kind of vault, just long enough to stretch out in, then he would climb in and claw enough raw cotton down on top of him to keep warm.
Bertie also indicates that he had gone to school for a couple of months before leaving New York, and then again for about four months while he was in Texas, so his entire formal education lasted just six months! He was home schooled in between however, and the journal he kept during his 13th year proves that he had accomplished quite a bit for a young fellow growing up in those days. Unfortunately, within the span of a year, sickness took his mother, brother and aunt while they were eking out a living in Texas. Eventually the family pulled up stakes and headed for the Washington Territory. Along the way they met up with the Connor family, who were going to try their luck in Montana. They made the prospects sound so good that the Lord family decided to tag along with Connor’s wagon train. The two families and their five wagons crossed the Continental Divide on the old Big Hole Road, arriving in the Bitter Root in the fall of 1882.
But getting back to Bertie’s journal, on February 15th 1884, he described an unusual atmospheric event that I found to be rather interesting. The entry says, “In the night there was a heavy noise heard throughout the valley. Some think it was thunder. Some the bursting of a meteor. Some a report from the mountains. For a great many years there has been a strange noise in the bitter Root Mountains like heavy artillery. We hear several reports in succession every day or two. The first explorers that came in to the valley heard the same noise.”
In a never-ending quest to obtain insight into the history of the bitter Root Valley, I have read most of the journals of the earliest explorers to pass this way, and to the best of my recollection, none of them ever mentioned the phenomenon that Bertie Lord is referring to. However, Lewis and Clark do write about the sounds of booming artillery coming from the mountains west of the Great Falls of the Missouri in July of 1805. The weather at the time was clear and hot, without so much as a single cloud anywhere in sight. Reportedly, some people still hear the mysterious sound of Mountain Artillery in that region more than two hundred years after Lewis and Clark passed through. But, as far as I know, Bertie Lord’s journal is the first one to ever mention the strange celestial thunderclaps occurring in this part of the country, which makes his 1884 journal a very rare find indeed.
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| FILM/DVD - Schaerlaeckens -a film by Jim Jenner |
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| By Mike Lakin |
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This film is Jim Jenner’s eighth work on a subject very close to his heart – racing pigeons. Many of his films that are still available,
Marathon
in the Sky, Oldest Feathered Friends and Share the Blue Sky are not only masterpieces to the pigeon fancier, but are filmed so well that they also appeal to non-fanciers. I should know because even my wife, she is not really interested in pigeons, has commented how interesting they are! Surely a testimonial there, as my Sue only normally watches the soaps and good films. Seriously, Jim has the knack of making the pigeon sport and pigeons in general of great interest to the public at large. When I first watched Share the Blue Sky, which is a compilation of short films, I said that the RPRA should send it out to schools, as I’m sure it would win over many converts; if not to get them to take up our wonderful hobby, to at least have an insight into the amazing “bird of peace,” as Jim wonderfully describes the pigeon.
In his DVD, Schaerlaeckens, filmmaker Jenner has used a different approach. Basically he has allowed Ad Schaerlaeckens to “have his head.” Ad, as most will know, is a fantastic pigeon author and writer. His style is no-nonsense and blunt, and he doesn’t like any
“BS,” as he refers to a lot of the things that many pigeon people believe in. In truth Ad is not only a superb writer who I personally admire greatly, but he has the medals to prove it, with not one but three National victories from
Orleans
, which was a massive young bird event for many years. Ad has earned the title “King of Orleans.” Despite his high profile as a celebrity fancier and journalist, Schaerlaeckens is really a very private person who shuns the publicity that his successes in both fields have earned him. That is why this piece of film is a must for all serious pigeon fanatics, be they old hands or novices. As usual, in his quiet way and calm manner, Ad shoots from the hip. Talking in plain commonsense, he discusses medicines and so many topics of pigeon racing. I don’t wish to spoil anyone’s enjoyment of the film, but to put it simply he judges a pigeon on one thing and one thing only – results. If the results are super, the birds can stay. No excuses, pigeon racing is a results game and Schaerlaeckens knows it. He says, “I get rid of the rubbish; sell or give the good ones to friends, and keep the supers myself!” Excellent advice. Hear about Ad’s opinions on pedigrees, feeding loft design and so many other subjects, which all fanciers will find of great interest.
Jim filmed with Ad over a three-day period, asking him the questions that both you and I would like to know Schaerlaeckens’ opinions on. His pairing-up system will, I am sure, be of interest to many fanciers; but as you get to know the King of Orleans as the film runs on, it is really no great surprise. Quite simply, as well as this title, which he has earned with his birds’ performance, Ad Schaerlaeckens is also the “King of Commonsense.” Watching this intimate DVD is just like bringing this Dutch Master into your own front room, and when you see it I am sure that he will prove to be a very welcome visitor. “Well done” to Jim Jenner - yet another feather in Jim’s cap.
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HEALTH: Our Need for Sleep
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Submitted by: Stuart N. Kieran, MD., Bitterroot Valley Sleep Center
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Sleep quality can be affected by many conditions. Prior to discussing the details of this, we should ask what the need for good quality sleep is and why it should be addressed by a person and his physician.
Many people may not be aware that they have any problem with sleep. So how do we know? The most obvious are that one has difficulty falling asleep; awakening frequently; and feeling unrefreshed in the morning. While the subjective feeling of not sleeping well at night is important, it is the consequences of this that are the most important to sort out. For example, someone may feel that they sleep poorly, and have difficulty falling or staying asleep. They may think that they’re not getting their”8 hours”. They may, however, function perfectly normal during the day without sleepiness or fatigue and show no signs of sleep deprivation. On the other hand, a person may feel that they sleep very well at night, fall asleep as soon as they ”hit the pillow” but are actually getting poor quality of sleep. The consequences of which can be sleepiness during the day, fatigue, decreased concentration and headache.
Although it may seem paradoxical, a clue to nighttime sleep quality, therefore, is a daytime functioning ability. Falling asleep easily during the day, awakening in the morning unrefreshed or with headache, are all strong clues that the nighttime sleep is an issue. Other clues are what the persons themselves or more commonly the bed partner observes. Snoring, awakening with a snort, pauses in breathing, jerking, kicking, thrashing or acting out at night are all not normal when done to excess. An occasional poor night’s sleep, daytime sleepiness or nighttime movements or sounds are not usually a concern. It is when this becomes chronic, severe and not recognized as an issue but rather is considered normal that it may actually be a sleep disorder, worthy of evaluation and treatment. This is important for a number of reasons. Certainly with a good night’s sleep we all feel better, but safety issues with regard to daytime sleepiness are very important, such as related to job performance, driving and general health. Inadequate sleep and sleep apnea have been associated with increased morbidity from cardiovascular disease, negative impact on mood and cognitive performance, insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance, as well as the social consequences of nighttime sleep disruption and daytime sleepiness.
Normal sleep consists of stages that one progresses through during the night. One starts out with drowsiness, called stage I, and then it becomes progressively deeper levels of sleep, called stages 2, 3, 4. This is followed by a stage where one’s eyes move rapidly back and forth, called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This cycle takes about 90 minutes, and one goes through 4 to 5 of these throughout the night. It is the deep levels of sleep; stages 3, 4 and REM sleep that are the most important for good quality or deep level sleep. Infants and children have more of the deep level sleep, and the saying -sleeping like a baby - has a lot of truth to it.
Many medical, social, physical and psychological issues can affect nighttime sleep. Some of the more common ones include: pain, heart or lung disease, medications, gastric reflux, poor sleeping environment, Parkinson’s disease, restless leg syndrome, obesity, as well as many other conditions.
Often, a thorough history and physical directed at the issue of excessive sleepiness or insomnia and bed partner information can elucidate the cause of the problem. When these have been addressed, and the person’s medical problems optimized, a more detailed evaluation with a sleep study or evaluation by a specialist may be helpful. The good news is that when these issues are corrected or optimized, how a person feels, functions, and their overall health can be significantly improved.
Questions or comments can be addressed to Stuart N. Kieran, MD, c/o The Bitterroot Valley Sleep Center, 1200 Westwood Drive, Hamilton, MT 59840.
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