Jim and I had to make a run to Rock Springs, Wyoming to pick up a load of corn. Met this sweet sheepherder’s team waiting to cross the highway just north of that town. We also spotted a herd of elk that had migrated from the mountains to the high desert sagebrush near the Big …
Author: Cat Urbigkit
Waiting for the storm
The storm is coming. We can feel it. I can smell moisture in the air. The wide open sky is a beautiful overcast shadow above us, providing just a casting of blue and gray hues across the landscape. We moved our sheep herd, burros, and livestock protection dogs back down into the river pasture where …
Peaceful kingdom (a work in progress)
Such a nice polite pup under the Christmas tree, right? Appearances can be deceiving – this is Hud, our new herding dog pup, arriving a week ago. We’ve had some heartbreak in our lives this last month, so the addition of two kittens and a pup have been very pleasant distractions. We named the kittens …
Golden view
Can’t think of much I’d rather look at than a golden eagle – doesn’t have to be in flight either! The images of the golden eagle in flight were taken here on our place in western Wyoming this morning, and the eagle feasting with its magpie neighbor was taken on Friday a few miles from the …
Around the ‘hood
Seems like I have encounters with various wildlife every day while we are on our winter range near the house. One of the pastures we use is in a riverbottom full of Cottonwoods, so I recently witnessed my Central Asian Ovcharka tree a raccoon right in the middle of the bedded sheep herd. He and …
Spanish mastiffs
As many of you know, husband Jim and I recently traveled to Spain to interview livestock producers about their livestock protection dogs used in wolf country. Spain was one of three emphasis areas on our research trip, which was sponsored by the Wyoming Wool Growers Association and funded by the Wyoming Animal Damage Management board. …
Love and loss
Late yesterday afternoon, I asked husband Jim to put down my old ewe Friendly, the leader of my herd of sheep. She’s been trailing behind the herd the last few weeks, tired with old age, and yesterday she failed to rise from her afternoon bed. The guard dogs had stayed with her, keeping her company …
Favorite notices
This was my favorite traffic sign in Turkey – I call it the “oh shit!” sign. And the photo below demonstrates that while in Spain, I certainly know how to pick a hotel.
Cattle signs
I promise I’ll soon be posting about our livestock protection dog research and travels, but in the meantime I’ve got a few other rather entertaining side notes to share. As we traveled in Spain, I noticed there were cautionary signs indicating that cattle were grazing in the area, and those signs included the shape of …
Stray
I recently had the pleasure of attending the opening reception of a new group art exhibit at the Sublette County Library in Pinedale, Wyoming. The “Common Ground Work” exhibit brought together six talented local artists with a wide variety of mediums, but one particular piece kept drawing me back: David K. Klaren’s graphite “Stray.” The …