I’ll do a bigger post about this very soon, but I spent a little time this morning on a sage grouse breeding ground, which is called a “lek.” Since I live in the sagebrush sea, and love early morning photography, I have a choice of about a half-dozen leks that are located fairly close to …
Author: Cat Urbigkit
Wyoming traffic jam
I had to make a run to the courthouse this morning, and met up with a traffic jam, prompting this entry. Let me provide a short etiquette lesson for cattle drive encounters. First and foremost, don’t get impatient and uptight when you see livestock being moved down a highway. Instead, get out the camera and …
He who rules this roost
Lest anyone be left with the mistaken impression that big dogs rule the household here (simply because they’ve taught the humans to sit elsewhere so the big dogs can nap on the comfy couches), I need to clarify something. It’s actually the little dog that rules this roost. His name is Abe.These three big dogs …
In the neighborhood …
We hauled Helga the Aziat out to a remote sheep ranch today. She joins up with her sister and one of her brothers on the ranch, in wolf country. It’s always hard to part with an animal you make a connection with, but it’s always good to think about the wild adventures they are about …
Where does a big dog sleep?
Anywhere it wants, of course.
Two-year olds
We had to do some cattle work in the corrals today, so Rena (the Akbash dog) and Roo (the burro adopted off the range in Nevada), got together to entertain each other. They are both almost two years old, and are matched in temperament.
Feeding time
Late every afternoon, we feed big bales of alfalfa hay to our sheep and cows, which live in the same large meadow pasture together at this time of year, along with the burros and a guardian dog. As we drive to the hay stackyard in the noisy flatbed feedtruck, we watch the moose clear the …
Living with livestock guardians
I have the pleasure of living with livestock guardian dogs. Ours is a working sheep and cattle ranch, so our dogs live with the sheep, but I generally raise a litter a year, so that means I am often living with puppies and socializing them to humans, buildings, etc. I raise the pups for other …
Eagle predation on bears
Adolph Murie described golden eagles harassing bears in Alaska as they swooped and dive-bombed the bruins. This type of action has been viewed by naturalists on numerous occasions, with the consensus being that the eagles were either playing or curious, or simply hanging out waiting for the bears to take down prey that could be …
Conserving distinct ecological units
I have an interest in diverse life forms, and when I become interested in a species, I sometimes become somewhat obsessed, trying to learn all that I can – I want to know more, and more. The result is that no matter how much I learn, I am always humbled by how little we as …