Northwest Trek Keeper Tours.

No Bars, No Fence

Head keeper Ed Cleveland coaxes a crane from in front of the truck.

A lone sheep watches us closely through the mist.

An elk and bison sharing time.

Keepers and veterinarians look after an injured goat.

Another goat watches and worries for it's family member.

Older bison have worn-down horns.

This bison's head could weigh over 250 pounds.

A group of black-tailed deer.

It's 8AM Saturday morning, and I'm still trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. I barely remember the 20 mile trip it took to get here from Puyallup, and I'm stumbling around, not sure where to go. The people at Northwest Trek must be used to it, though, because they are very polite even through they must have gotten up much earlier than I.

The 615-acre Northwest Trek wildlife park -- en route to Mount Rainier -- offers close-up viewing of native North American animals, including tundra wolves, bears, otters, eagles and owls in a setting of lakes, forests, meadows, ponds and ravines, plus an 8-acre bear exhibit.

Today, Ed Cleveland, one of the head keepers of the park, is taking a group of people on a Keeper Tour of the 435-acre interior where there are animals such as bison, bighorn sheep, moose, mountain goats and more. My wandering thoughts realize it's almost wake-up time when I see where we 'tourists' will be - on the back of a truck with enough room for about 16.

No roof (there is one they can put up if it rains), no rails on the sides, nothing to stop a one-ton bison from sticking his head in. This promises to be a good trip.

The first herd we see is a group of Bighorn Sheep in the morning mist. These quiet, stately animals, knowing that some of the 500 pounds of food Ed is carrying on the truck was for them, still stayed far away. Even so, all thoughts of sleep and cold leave my mind as I watch them in their natural habitat.

A goat from the herd had been seen limping, so veterinarians were called to find out what the problem might be. These vets come to the site twice a week sometimes since there is no vet on staff. Luckily, no problems were found with the goat's leg, so it was let loose to rejoin it's family.

From there we met up with a heard of bison. There may have only been 25-30 of them, but these beasts are huge, weighing as much as a ton.

We were taken to a herd of elk, Bighorn sheep (they were being shy today), then given a continental breakfast while we warmed back up by the fire in the cafe.

There are only 5 full-time game-keepers and 20 volunteers on staff to watch over these 250 animals. They do also take interns each year, and they get applications from as far away as Europe.

That's a lot of work for so few people. The keepers keep count of the herds, give them supplemental food (about 1000 pounds a day), and make sure they stay healthy.

There are a lot of viewing options at Northwest Trek, but I don't think any as personal as the Keeper Tours. This tour doesn't include the carnivores, for obvious reasons, but that certainly doesn't detract from the awe-inspiring view of these majestic animals.

Check out our calendar or go to the Northwest Trek Web site for more information

Ty Belknap
Daffodil Valley Times Staff