Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
No Lions or Tigers?
Nevermind!
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK —
Yosemite Village is normally a crush of humanity and traffic congestion. On Saturday, it was peaceful like few times before — the only sounds coming from the wind and the few local residents.
A young bobcat ambled by the nearly abandoned administrative buildings, while ravens prattled and danced in the empty parking lots, and coyotes trotted along the valley’s empty roads and walkways.
Tourists aren’t allowed in California’s most popular national park, but if they could visit, they might feel as if they had been transported to another time. Either to a previous era, before millions of people started motoring into the valley every year, or to a possible future one, where the artifacts of civilization remain, with fewer humans in the mix.
On March 20, the national park was closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus — leaving the 7.5-mile-long valley to only a skeleton crew of 100 to 200 park service employees and an unknown number of concessionaire workers.
This month is typically a busy month in Yosemite: Of the almost 4.6 million tourists that visited the valley in 2019, about 308,000 came during April.
But on this spring day, the air was crystal clear — not a hint of diesel or exhaust tainted the sweet, spring breeze. And the valley was nearly silent, except for the rushing waters of the Merced River and the wind blowing through the ponderosa pines.
“You couldn’t ask for a better place to be isolated.”
Warren McClain
He [Warren] and his co-workers, Dane Peterson and Billy Sanchez, were skateboarding and cycling along Northside Drive, just east of Horsetail Fall, soaking in the bright, warm sun.
Wildlife is coming out of hiding now, they said, as it did during previous government shutdowns of the park — in 1990, 1995, 2013 and 2019. The difference is that this park closure is expected to be the longest on record.
“The bear population has quadrupled….. It’s not like they [bears, bobcats and coyotes] aren’t usually here……….It’s that they usually hang back at the edges, or move in the shadows.””
Dane Peterson
Just three days after a snowstorm blanketed the region, spring has come to the valley. The sun was bright, the air clear, and fronds and green sprouts of vegetation burst through the dirt.
A healthy-looking coyote, still adorned in her winter coat, stalked and then captured a fat gray squirrel outside the entrance of Camp Curry. She grabbed the rodent by the neck, shook it and then proceeded to eat it whole, saving the tail for last.
The few employees sheltering in place are taking advantage of the valley’s unimpeded natural amenities. Some are hiking to Mirror Lake and the falls, enjoying trails that are empty aside from the critters.
As of Saturday, the valley was completely free of the virus. Nobody was wearing masks. And social distancing didn’t seem to be happening — except at the Village Market.
Coyotes, bobcats and bears: Wildlife is reclaiming Yosemite National Park
Calamity Jane