Beaver . An active beaver lodge was discovered on the river's south 

 shore, upriver from the Falls, below the powerline crossing, on the 

 boundary of river sections M and N (Figure 4). Den openings were in an 

 undercut bank protected by a flexible barricade of cut branches and 

 shrubs which allowed secure access to and from the den regardless of 

 river fluctuation. 



River Otter . Only one verified sighting of a river otter was made 

 during this study. On June 29, 1979, one individual, probably a transient, 

 was observed swimming, fishing, and cliiiibing on rocks just above the 

 Falls (section M). An unverified sighting by a fisherman was reportedly 

 made in this same area in 1978. 



White-tailed Deer . White-tailed deer were infrequently seen during 

 this study and are apparently uncommon in the Falls area, probably due 

 to limited security and railroad and highway related disturbance. Only 11 

 observations were recorded in 1978 and 1 (a male seen near the Falls 

 Septemoer 2) in 1979. Locations of sightings and sign are shown in 

 Figure 7. Monthly distribution of sightings for the period January - 

 July, 1978, is shown in Table 12, and the distribution ot all deer 

 observations (mule and white-tailed, including sign) among habitat types 

 and elevation categories is shown in Table 13. MDFWP harvest estimates 

 indicate a 1978 harvest of 945 deer, of which 66 percent were white-tailed 

 deer, in hunting district 100, which includes the study area (Weckwerth 

 et al. 1979). 



Mule Deer . Mule deer also appear to be uncommon in the study area; 

 18 observations were made in 1978 and none in 1979 (Figure 7; Tables 12 

 and 13). 



Elk. A single set of elk tracks was observed in the study area in 

 1978 (Figure 7); no additional evidence of elk use of the area was 

 obtained. 



Moose . Two sets of moose tracks were observed in the study area in 

 1978 (Figure 7). A cow and calf were reportedly seen near the Lion's 

 Club turnout in early June, 1979 (McGrady 1979). 



Bighorn Sheep . Bighorn sheep were the most frequently observed 

 ungulate in the Kootenai Falls study area. Twenty-one bighorns were 

 transplanted along the Kootenai River between Libby and Troy in 1954, 

 1955, and 1963. Sporadic observations have been made by MDFWP personnel 

 (K. Knoche and B. Campbell) since 1974. Only the information collected 

 since June 1977 was utilized in the following analysis. 



From June 1977 through July 1978, 109 groups totaling 522 sheep 

 observations were recorded (Table 14). These consisted of 91 rams, 247 

 ewes, 102 lambs, and 82 unclassified sheep. Monthly censuses were 

 conducted from February through June, 1978, and the number observed 

 during any one census represented a minimum number of sheep present on 

 the visible portion of the study area. During the February census, 40 



52 



