Bands taking advantage of good grass and good, clean water at Spring Creek Basin’s main/original water catchment (tank at far left, trough just a bit to the right of it).
This is looking basically northwest … rain falling over Utah’s La Sal Mountains and monsoon clouds shading part of lower Disappointment Valley. There’s a hint of green in them thar hills … and for that, we are grateful beyond words.
At least somebody’s getting rain. 🙂 Our forecast perks up with moisture in another couple of days, but we wouldn’t mind it sooner than later. Cooler temps ARE much appreciated.
When I first saw the pronghorns as I was heading out of Spring Creek Basin, post-sunset under clouds (before I got my camera yanked out of my backpack and brought to bear at eye level and before this photo), I thought the doe shepherding three littles ahead of her had triplet fawns.
Then I realized that there was at least another doe with the group (in addition to the buck I also initially saw).
But I do think at least two of the little critters were twins.
Not sure he’s daddy, but he *was* protective of his little family.
Another beautiful end to another beautiful day in Spring Creek Basin, Disappointment Valley, Western Slope, Colorado, America, planet Earth. 🙂 (And as if this weren’t enough, two bands of mustangs were very nearby.)
A visual selection of newly full ponds in Spring Creek Basin:
Courtesy of Mother Nature! We’re grateful. 🙂
When we get enough rain to fill roadside ditches (which is infrequent to rarely occurring), the frogs/toads start singing! I’ll be the first to admit that I know *nothing* about frogs and/or toads, including how to tell which is which. I think these probably are toads. …
Ah, scratch that. Now I think they might be a variety of “spadefoot” (is that a toad or a frog? apparently, it’s something else altogether). One of the characteristics is “a vertical pupil like a snake, while toads have horizontal pupils.” Very clearly, the critters I saw have very vertical pupils, though the pix I saw showed them rather round (!). Also, “their skin is much smoother and has very few or no warts.” And “their back feet have bony, sharp spades that are used for burrowing into soil, sand, or loose gravel.” I couldn’t see their feet very well – they were in a nice bit of water that must have seemed extravagant to them – but surely they ought to be able to burrow into something during the (mostly) dry times that we (mostly) have? This is the website where I found the above information, and I think they might be Mexican spadefoot.
These two were feeling amorous. 🙂
Those eyes!!
It’s pretty nice to have water around again. 🙂
Ginormous congratulations to Kathryn Wilder for the win of “Desert Chrome” in the creative nonfiction category of the Colorado Book Awards!!!
From Torrey House Press:
Kathryn Wilder’s personal story of grief, motherhood, and return to the desert entwines with the story of America’s mustangs as Wilder makes a home on the Colorado Plateau, her property bordering a mustang herd. Desert Chrome illuminates these controversial creatures—their complex history in the Americas, their powerful presence on the landscape, and ways to help both horses and habitats stay wild in the arid West—and celebrates the animal nature in us all.
“Testimony to the healing power of wildness . . . a candid memoir that interweaves a trajectory of loss, pain, and hard-won serenity with a paean to wild horses.” —KIRKUS REVIEWS
Give it a read. You won’t be *disappointed*! 🙂
This may have been the healthiest horny toad I’ve ever seen. S/he’s a big granddaddy/mama; I think his/her body would almost have filled the palm of my hand.
Look at that belly! And that tongue!
This is a wonderful Navajo legend about the relationship between the Diné and horned lizards.
This link talks about the symbolism of horned lizards. According to the site, “Na’ashǫ́’ii dich’ízhii (horned toad) is called Cheii (Grandfather) by the Diné (Navajo). Grandfather Horned Toad possesses great spiritual power that enabled him to triumph in a contest with lightning, an incredibly powerful force. The Diné use his songs and prayer for protection from the dangers of the world and the evil intentions of other people.”
And we can all use songs and prayers for protection from the dangers of the world and the evil intentions of other people, eh? 🙂 I didn’t have even a sprinkle of corn pollen or any other offering, but I did endeavor to protect the critter from stout hooves as s/he scuttled between sagebrush.
Who couldn’t love that face!?
Are words necessary?
I don’t think so, either. 🙂
The full moon rises last night from beyond McKenna Peak and Temple Butte … already in the first phase of its lunar eclipse.
Our planet is just pretty damn cool. With an also super (get it) cool and awesome moon. 🙂
This wonderful sight greeted me the other day as I drove into Spring Creek Basin and gave me a face-stretching grin right from the beginning.
I tie the look-at-me flagging to this sign every autumn right before third rifle season in an attempt to remind the hordes that off-road travel is verboten in the basin (throughout Disappointment Valley, as numerous signs warn). But the flagging is relevant year-round, also, particularly, in the spring when people emerge from winter hibernation and flock to the backcountry (for recreation as well as to hunt “sheds” – antlers shed by mule deer and elk – that can go for big bucks).
Neither the flagging nor the signs are a complete deterrent (as some folks “helpfully” remind me, people need to be able to read …), and every fall and spring (particularly), I find tracks of vehicles that have gone off the road and up and down broad arroyos.
Contaminates in the waterways, destruction of vulnerable seeps, crushing of vegetation that may take years – if ever – to recover. Those are just some of the reasons we want people to stick to the established roads and OFF the rest of the sensitive areas.
Most people are good visitors, I’m happy to say. There are always those who don’t care or believe they can go wherever they want to go because they’re in a vehicle that *can* take them there and/or are too lazy to get off/out of their buggies and walk 30 yards (or so) to look over a ridge or examine our water catchments. But the majority are respectful, and for that, I’m grateful.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 