Sunday, January 09, 2011

Weekend wonders


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 Sandy river north of Farson. This herd is just a few miles from the Jonah Natural Gas Field, one of the most productive gas fields in the nation.

These four bulls were just a few miles outside Rock Springs, just north of Interstate 80. Notice the bull on the left has already dropped an antler. We had pulled onto a gravel road to let the pup out for a break and encountered the bull elk in an area that is thick with wild horses.

That's a snowfence behind the elk in the photo below, erected to catch snow and keep it from piling up on the highway.

The sheep come at a run when we call them to corn.

The burros are a little slower.

This handsome beast is Mikey/Bear, a one and a half year old Aziat I've borrowed from my buddy Pete to breed to an Akbash female.


On the way to the sheep pasture, Jim noticed these deer and pointed out one looked a little different than the others. Check out their tails.

This beautiful doe is a mule deer/white-tailed deer hybrid.


These are mule deer, part of the same herd that contains the hybrid doe.

7 comments:

The Suburban Bushwacker said...

Steve

As Xzibit would say
"Danm! That's some pimped ride"

SBW
PS good to see the RSS function

Retrieverman said...

Hybrid Mule/white-tails often don't have a long lifespan because of how they run.

Mule deer stott. White-tails leap.

Hybrid deer do both, but because they do both, their locomotion pattern is inefficient and slower, which means they more easily fall to predators.

http://books.google.com/books?id=bcWZX-IMEVkC&pg=PA299&lpg=PA299&dq=mule+deer+hybrid+stott&source=bl&ots=TJMRPK6ACB&sig=sSiQNDjOJyccanUVAfZznxMn3E8&hl=en&ei=jGkrTfKkBoT48AabxeTSAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mule%20deer%20hybrid%20stott&f=false

Anonymous said...

I've got to admit being fascinated by that shepherd's version of a yurt, and find myself fantasizing what it would be like to have one to ride around in on snow covered prarie ... is there a chance of seeing the interior, or at least a description? And of course, one would need that big fuzzy dog to curl up with (even if he were not willing to admit he needed to cuddle) ... the sheep, burros and white tail/mule deer hybrids are fascinating ... here in Indiana we're seeing white tails in large groups/herds this year ... greater numbers than in recent memory.

Black Dog Lady ...

Cat Urbigkit said...

Hey Black Dog Lady, I don't have any of those photos handy, but I'll put that one on my to-do list, so keep watching!
EZ, the male dog is out of Vega. He's very sweet and gentle, great guardian.

Josh said...

Lord, isn't Nature Grand? Thanks for the photos, and the keen eye.

Those horses are absolutely stunning. And the ram. And the deer and elk...

Albert A Rasch said...

Steve,

Thanks for sharing all of those wonderful photos! Regardless of how one trys to be well rounded and see as much as possible, it's folks like you that let us see even more!

Whitetail/Mulies, fuzzy round sheep, big sad looking dog, hawks on the wing, Kazaksatn sight hunters, the list goes on!

Thank you a million times!

Best regards,
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles™
The Best Turkey Hunting Tips!

Steve Bodio said...

Thanks Albert-- good to hear from you.

As both Cat and I know, there is a connection between the steppes of the West and the East...