Wonderful Wildlife

One of my neighbors mentioned to me that it would be a good idea to highlight the wildlife that we have around here. I generally focus on what we do with the cows. I try to show the way our cattle are raised so you can see how things are done here. My neighbor does have a good point that shouldn’t be forgotten: This big landscape that we are fortunate enough to call home does provide a wonderful diversity of nature to enjoy. Though this is just a couple of examples, there are many things, large and small, to see all around our home.

This time of year, we spend quite a bit of time on the mountain and it’s a good opportunity to see elk. The other day, the elk had an opportunity to see me. I went up to work on a stock tank that had a substantial leak. When I got to the tank, a herd of elk were on the hill on our neighbors’ pasture to the east along with a small bunch of horses that our neighbors run on their pasture. It made me laugh to see the horses run over the ridge and out of sight while the elk simply stood and watched me work. I thought they would decide to move on quickly, but they must have been feeling curious because they stayed and watched for probably a half an hour.

Several days later, we went to move cows to the next pasture and right next to where we were going to gather them, we saw these mule deer just hanging out by the road. It’s always fun to see the bucks in velvet. That day we also managed to get some help from the kids before school starts.

I can’t believe that I am already talking about back to school. I am not ready to have my kids leaving me for that much time again, but I guess I need to get used to it because school is just around the corner. How about you? Have you accomplished everything you wanted to the summer?

by Brandon Greet