By ROBERT JUMPER
One Feather Editor
The Qualla Boundary is a wonder of nature. We are a gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. While Gatlinburg and Tennessee have successfully marketed themselves as the “Gateway to the Smokies”, we have at least an equal claim to that moniker. Much of Cherokee land remains undeveloped, primarily due to buildability issues. One of the reasons for the housing crunch, not enough homes for Cherokee people who need homes, has to do with the topography of our land.
While the Boundary is challenging for human habitation, it is near perfection for wildlife. The incredible Oconaluftee River winds through land on the Cherokee town side of the Boundary, a river teeming with wildlife, both native and imported. For example, in the 30-mile stretch of river and its tributaries, EBCI (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) Natural Resources stocks over 250,000 hatchery-raised trout. From brook, brown, and golden to rainbow, quantity and quality fish are abundant in our streams. Native strains, brook, or speckled trout, live primarily in the headwaters and tributary streams that feed the river, and many of those are restricted to only being fished by tribal members.
River otters play in our river. Weighing between 10 and 30 pounds, these are playful creatures that survive and thrive by eating fish and freshwater clams, crawfish, and invertebrates (when they can be found). Mink, turtles, lizards, opossums, raccoons, weasels, and polecats also hug near the river for their sustenance. The river is a primary source of life for most wildlife, whether they have gills, wings, or legs. Cherokee has long been a haven for migratory birds like Canadian geese and Mallard ducks. And while the tribe has made significant strides in redirecting large flocks of these birds, particularly the geese, and ducks from heavily trafficked greenways, you will still find a considerable amount of “evidence” of their presence plopped on the sidewalks on and near the Oconaluftee Island Park. There is a healthy population of wild turkeys on the Boundary. You will also see the occasional Wood Duck, Osprey, Kingfisher, and many songbird species. You may even be privileged to get a glimpse of a Bald Eagle. And if an animal has been unfortunate enough to be killed on or along these gateway roads, you could witness a wake of turkey vultures.
Wild hogs, deer, bears, rabbits, and squirrels forage tribal lands in abundance. Jim Stafford’s girlfriend did not like spiders and snakes (1974 Jim Stafford album). She would be on constant alert on the Qualla Boundary, as we are home to copperheads, rattlesnakes, black, rat, garter, milk, brown, ring-necked, eastern hognosed, and Northern water snakes. We are so famous for our snakes that we get credit for one that isn’t even in our mountains, the water moccasin or cottonmouth. Apparently, Northern water snakes (non-venomous) look very much like the moccasin/cottonmouth (kinda venomous).
And don’t get me started on spiders. According to North Carolina State University, “There are roughly 700 species of spiders across North Carolina in all different habitats (including your home).” One, hogna carolinensis, more commonly known as the Carolina wolf spider gets pretty big (not big like the exaggerated size my wife tells me when she sees a spider). Female Carolina spiders can reach 1.4 inches. Also, among those spiders that live among us on the Boundary are the black widow and the brown recluse, both spiders are customers you would not want to meet in a dark alley. They both have a nasty, and poisonous, bite.
And then there are the elk. Missing from our landscape for 200 years, elk were reintroduced in 2001, beginning with a small herd released at the Cataloochee Valley in Haywood County, which is adjacent to the Qualla Boundary. Since their reintroduction, the elk have grown in population and have routinely visited the land of the Cherokee. These natural wonders are a mixed blessing, drawing tourists and their dollars to the Boundary, but also causing traffic backups and headaches for tourists and locals alike. Locals complain of the inability to navigate the roads freely. Farmers and homeowners who take pride in their landscaping find the elk a nuisance to be overcome or eliminated. In some cases, the tribe has offered fencing, trying to mitigate the losses local landowners are experiencing from elk damage.
All this to say we need to educate ourselves on the joys and perils of the multitude of species that we are blessed to have on our Boundary. And those visiting the Boundary should be aware of regulations protecting our wildlife and themselves from harm. For example, when elk gazing, partakers should not attempt to feed, pet, or take a close-up selfie with their subject. On the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Park Rangers routinely must correct the behavior of people attempting to do all three.
Regulations for the GSMNP state, “Willfully approaching within 50 yards (150 feet), or any distance that disturbs or displaces the elk, is illegal in the park. Violations of this federal regulation can result in fines and arrest.”
Even the possibility of being assaulted by a 1.5-ton animal with a three-foot antler span does not sway some individuals from trying to get the “money shot” with an elk or an elk herd. I have witnessed folks coming as close as three feet from local elk to attempt to get a selfie with the cell phone. Not only are they within striking distance of the elk, but these geniuses also turn their backs on the elk.
There is no limit to how ignorant we will act when it comes to nature. Something as seemingly harmless as catching the wrong fish, dumping your waste liquids or trash in the creek or river, straight piping your sewage, or rearranging the river rocks could have disastrous effects on wildlife and their native habitats. Water quality and conservation are essential to the efforts to retain the Sicklefin Redhorse, a Cherokee food staple fish that the Cherokee named “jungihtla”.
North America’s largest salamanders, the Mudpuppy and Hellbender, reside in our Oconaluftee River and its tributaries. N.C. Wildlife says their populations have decreased “mainly due to declining water quality and habitat degradation, and to a lesser degree, ill-treatment from anglers who mistakenly think they decrease trout populations. And then there is the native freshwater mussel.
EBCI Natural Resources states, “Unfortunately, several of the mussel species native to Cherokee have been eradicated from the upper Oconaluftee River, likely due to various sources of pollution. You may not have noticed their absence, but mussels play a crucial role in the river’s clean water, and their loss ultimately threatens the resiliency of the entire ecosystem”. EBCI Natural Resources is working with Western Carolina University and the North Carolina Resources Commission to “restock and restore native mussels in Cherokee waters.”
It is truly disheartening to see stories in the news about the complete ignorance, naivety, and in some instances, maliciousness of individuals engaging with wildlife.
Mid-April in Candler, N.C. (approximately 35 miles from the Boundary), “a group of people at an apartment complex found a pair of black bear cubs in a tree. They went to the tree, pulled both the bears out of the tree, and then started taking pictures and videos with them” – WTVD-TV.
From the video, you can tell that this group was totally self-absorbed and either ignorant of the potential damage they were doing (and the potential danger they were putting themselves in had the cubs’ mother appeared) or they simply didn’t care. By the time wildlife officials got to the scene, only one cub remained.
The cub was taken to Appalachian Wildlife Refuge where Executive Director Savannah Trantham commented, “If all the turtles, snakes, rabbits, opossums, squirrels, birds, raccoons, and fawns got the same reaction when people harass, steal, and harm them, then we would be winning. Unfortunately for us, this cub is only one of the many animals that we rehabilitate due to the negative impacts of inappropriate human interactions” – ABC11 Raleigh-Durham.
Another example of human-wildlife ignorance is the incident at Yellowstone National Park on April 21. A Yellowstone, Montana resident allegedly got drunk approached, and kicked a bison in the leg. Park officials have charged the man and did not release the extent of his injuries. On the other hand, in a July 2023 incident, a 47-year-old Arizona woman was gored by a bison during the mating season after she turned to walk away from a too-close encounter.
“In 2022, a woman who approached a bison near the Old Faithful geyser was tossed 10 feet into the air and was gored.” – The Guardian.
Learning about wildlife, pre-contact is a very smart thing to do. It is also some of the most fascinating research you may do. The wonders of this world are incredible to behold when experiencing it in the right and safe way. When we ignorantly engage nature and wildlife, we endanger the animals, the habitat, and ourselves. Don’t be ignorant. Be smart. Respect, protect, and preserve wildlife.
