Nature Aplenty

Turkey’s are still strutting but I think mating season is winding down. I don’t hear as much “gobble gobble gobble” as I did a couple weeks back.

The bucks have dropped their antlers and are growing new ones. They are shedding now and look all a mess. I look forward to their smooth and shiny summer coats and their spotted fawns when they are born next month.

This time of year, even though we need rain, taking a nature walk can be intoxicating. The smell from the buckbrush shrubs is magical. I wish I could bottle it! My friends and I determined,when they were out visiting from Georgia, that this flower looks close in relation to the honeysuckle. Can any of you tell me what this is?

But we have to be VERY careful not to get too drunk on the aroma that is Wyoming. Because when I do, I come one step away from a bull snake. Yep, my my girlfriends and I went on a walk around the ranch to watch the turkey’s and our happy chatting turned into screams and giant leaps through the pasture.

We apparently interrupted 2 bull snakes mating. Jessica was convinced we had stepped into a den. I saw the first one and as Stephanie was leaping away from that one, she almost jumped on this one. Yikes!

Now, the way most ranchers irrigate their meadows is by flooding. The local Irrigation District lets you know how much water you can use and when to release it. So our ditches are full of river water and colorful yet harmless water snakes. Patrick uses a tarp-like material called a “check” that directs the water out of the ditch and into the ground.

The meadows are turning green but every bit of land around it is brown and crunchy. We need moisture from the skies desperately.

Ducks are sure loving the extra ponds around the ranch. They are becoming every day visitors.

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