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Studies have shown that lynx will prey on other species such as red squirrels when hare numbers <br />are down. However, red squirrels only provide a small percentage of food for lynx during the <br />winter when most lynx mortality occurs due to starvation. The low numbers of red squirrel <br />tracks observed in the project area reduces the chances that they could provide a suitable <br />alternate food source that would support lynx in the winter. <br />CARNIVORES <br />Coyote and weasel tracks were the most commonly observed evidence of carnivore activity in <br />the area. Table 2 shows the number of coyote tracks observed per mile of transect and by habitat <br />type during the surveys. There were more weasel tracks observed than those for any other <br />species. Because they were so commonly observed in all habitat types no attempt was made to <br />compile data on their numbers. American marten and fox tracks were also observed during the <br />surveys. Number of pine marten tracks observed by habitat type are shown on Table 3. Number <br />of fox tracks observed by habitat type are shown on Table 4. <br />Coyote - Observations showed that coyotes moved randomly through the project area during <br />four months of surveys. Data was kept on the number of tracks encountered and the distance <br />coyotes followed my snowmobile tracks from previous surveys. Data collected during these <br />surveys is comparable to what Monarch has found during three years of surveys on the Grand <br />Mesa (Unpublished data). Data from those surveys show that coyotes follow snowmobile trails <br />approximately 5 percent of the time and that their movements were very random even when <br />there was fresh snowfalls that were a foot or more in depth. Usually, within one to two days <br />coyote tracks are commonly seen throughout areas that have been surveyed. The limited amount <br />of time that coyotes use snowmobile and other packed trails is very comparable to what was <br />found by Squires (2007) in Montana. <br />As shown by the data (Table 2) there was not as significant difference in the number of tracks per <br />mile within the different habitat types. Again, average number per mile was highest in Spruce- <br />fir (1.21), and lowest (0.42) in mountain shrub habitat. Like snowshoe hares, highest total <br />number of coyote tracks observed was in the mountain shrub habitat. In the mountain shrub <br />habitat it was common to be able to observed single sets of tracks or pairs of tracks moving <br />across drainages and through areas indicating they were wandering considerable distances in <br />search of prey or carrion. <br />During the winter coyotes can easily move out of the project area to other areas or to lower <br />elevations. This further reduces potential competition with lynx for prey in the project area. <br />0 <br />11