Lukas Carter propels the Cascade Red Fox, also known as the skater Aftermath, to a first-place finish in the carnivores' race while Clare Brown Cedar propels wolverine Machete Maud.
Lukas Carter propels the Cascade Red Fox, also known as the skater Aftermath, to a first-place finish in the carnivores' race while Clare Brown Cedar propels wolverine Machete Maud.
THE DALLES — Gorge Roller Derby held a triple threat at Gorge Readiness Center on April 20.
With skating boot camps for skaters of all ages and any and all genders, the league promotes this fast-paced sport across the Gorge. Events typically include a guest speech from a local nonprofit.
In an intermission between matches, this game's fans heard from three species of rare carnivore, who visited in person.
Most people don’t know it, but there are rare carnivores on Mt. Adams, a Cascade Carnivore Project spokesperson said, including wolverines, Canada lynx, and the Cascade red fox. “That’s the only place in the world that fox lives ... we don’t know exactly how many there are,” they told an audience of roller derby fans. "... and usually these animals live up in the snowy peaks and the subalpine, surviving up there in these hard conditions, but today, a wolverine, a Cascade red fox, and a lynx actually came down from the mountain!”
Rat (999) and The Postman (34) attempt to block each other while Ricochet (67) looks on.
Flora Gibson photo
The nonprofit gathers volunteers to hike at high elevations, collecting scat for analysis to inform management decisions. The project’s research also got the Cascade red fox on the Washington endangered species list, and documented the first wolverine kits born in the south Cascades in a century — remarkable, considering the region contains perhaps four wolverines, and Washington as a whole perhaps 50 of the creatures.
With help from a young audience member, the Cascade red fox-on-roller-skates won the race.
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