Elk Moons: Observations Of Wild Lives, Seasons, And Mountains By One Who Lived With Elk (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781973804116)

Donavin discovered how to survive among fauna and flora from the Sonoran Desert to the peaks of the Santa Catalina Mountains in southern Arizona. His skills were adapted to Temperate Rain Forests hugging Puget Sound, Long Leaf Pine Savannah in Georgia, and Spruce-Muskeg Taiga of the Alaska Territory's interior. He began recording experiences and applied creative writing lessons to his narratives. Donavin was encouraged to write but cautioned to improve spelling and grammar, a continuing and vexing frustration. He has been rewarded for poetry and prose published in local contests and for newsprint supplements. For fifty-six years his wife and love proved what a real writer could do. He is grateful that some of her skills and talent rubbed off. Seven years in Wildlife Management at Oregon State University and Zoology at the University Of British Columbia formalized his training on animals, habitats, and ecology. A dream career was offered to him. For twenty-five years he worked as an Oregon Department Of Fish and Wildlife project leader and scientist in ecological research: first on free ranging Rocky Mountain Mule Deer in the High Desert Shrub Steppe and Ponderosa Pine and Western Juniper Forests of south central Oregon; second with Rocky Mountain Elk throughout the Mixed Conifer Forests in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon. He became Co-leader with Jack Ward Thomas to design and initiate studies of elk responses to habitat manipulation within the forty square mile enclosure of the Starkey Project near La Grande, Oregon. Donavin was told he had to quit enjoying work, and for five years was liaison between Wildlife, Fisheries, and Habitat Divisions in Portland, Oregon Headquarters, ODFW. Part of the job was to "educate" other agencies who's objectives were not as aware of wildlife's habitat needs as we would've liked. He made annual circuits of professional meetings and presented research at state, national and international forums. He has published results through agency reports and in national journal papers.