They're baaack!

Bruce and I counted 17 head yesterday afternoon, but we suspect that's inaccurate.

We suspect there were even more.

Cows, calves, and at least 3 spike bulls, just hanging out in our meadow.

They spent hours munching on grass, shrubs, whatever it is elk find to eat these days. They bedded down in the trees, out of the rain. 

You could hear them talking to each other, and to another group of elk hanging out with our rancher neighbor's cattle up the hill.

When we fed our mares, they started inching closer- trying to sneak a bite or two of hay. Wynter and Dakota spent the evening driving them off.  Easy-going Journey never budged from her dinner. I sincerely don't think she'd have minded sharing.

This morning, the "twins" were back- a matched pair of spike bulls.

Bruce says they probably are not really twins. Elk usually do not have twins, and twin bulls would be even more rare. They're probably just best friends. They seem to always be together.

They are smaller spikes. Bruce says three things go into large antlers- nutrition, age and genetics. These guys are healthy enough- they just may not have the genetics to ever grow monster antlers.  All the better for them! :)

They are only 18 mos. old.

Watching all these elk come wandering out of the woods, I can't help but keep looking...

hoping...

Bruce says there's no reason in the world for a big, 6 point plus bull elk to come down into the valley.

And he laughs every time I whisper that just MAYBE that elk would come down to see me!

After all- there was no reason for him to come last year, either! and yet, he did.

And so, I keep vigil.  I keep scanning the meadow, the woods, the pasture.  I keep hoping that just MAYBE, Raggie will come visit. Just for a little bit.

I can assure you. I'll be waiting for him.

Update

Just a quick update:

The man who caused me to make this blog private has continued to try to make problems for Bruce and I.  Apparently, he took his complaints, and copies of my blog to the Director of Fish and Game.  He stated that he has tried to get back on this blog but was blocked- insinuating that we have something to hide.  The Director, frankly, didn't warrant it enough of a problem to be bothered, and sent a letter stating that Bruce's boss would handle the matter, by arranging a meeting with the complainant. When attempts to contact this man were in vain (as they were continually hung up on), they documented the tries, and submitted my blog, along with photos to the Warden Captain, who shrugged off the entire "feeding wildlife" issue as a non-violation.  I apparently didn't drop anywhere near enough hay on the ground while feeding my mares to come close to "baiting or feeding wildlife".

 

I have no doubts that this man will not stop here, BUT it has been documented that Bruce and I have done nothing wrong, and that this man vehemently disagrees with Bruce's management style (to which I say... Go to college- get a Master's degree- apply for Bruce's job, and THEN see if you can do better) and "really has it in for Bruce".

I'd been considering opening the blog back up- but the thought of this man reading about my family sends chills up and down my spine. It's going to remain closed for quite a while to come.

Nuthatch

I was settled down on the couch reading my book when I heard a thump, and the dogs and cats exploded all around me. The cats were meowing and leaping at the sliding glass doors, while the dogs were barking maniacally at the cats. I knew some poor, unfortunate little bird had flown into the window.

It turned out to be a Nuthatch- one of my favorite types of birds because my mother used to love to watch them walk up a tree, turn and walk down the tree (most birds back down, or fly off).  They have an uncannily LOUD cry for such a tiny little bird, and they are such cheeky little things, I can't help but love them.  This one was not in good shape. He was on his back, seizing, and twirling in circles. He couldn't help but be terrified by the noise, separated only by a thin pane of glass (which he obviously never saw).  

I shooed the cats away, and locked up the Shelties before venturing outside. Talking softly, I gingerly turned him onto his tummy, and backed away.  He quieted, and I felt a surge of hope when after awhile he lifted his head, and began to look around.  I went back in the house, and monitored his recovery. About 20 min. later, when I peeked out the window to check on him, he was gone.  And you'll be as pleased as I was when I tell you that later that day, I saw a lovely little Nuthatch feeding on the suet hanging from our "bird tree". 

Good, long life! little Nuthatch! Watch out for windows! (and a certain sneaky, orange cat!)

January

I got in trouble once before for saying something like- "grey, dreary November"- so, I won't say it. I'll let you make your OWN determination. :)

But to help you with your opinion, I'll add some facts-
Our January has seen some historical snowfalls... only to give us rain on top of 18 inches of snow.  That boils down to ICE, and worse- WATER on top of ICE.  YUK!

Makes it tough to feed the horses.... I don't want to give them hay where they have to stand on ice to eat.  I, also, don't want to put their hay in standing water.  Did I say YUK strongly enough?

And yet, not EVERY single day has been cloudy. (See how I avoided the word GREY? Dreary?)

Every once in a while, the sun peeks out... and we are rewarded with that loveliest of all colors-

Montana blue-

and the hope of Spring.

Dog and cats in the snow

So, Thursday morning I decided the cats needed to check out the snow, too!

Hobbes is experienced with this sort of thing. He hugged the house, and knew all the best protected places with the least amount of snow.

Poor India didn't know what had hit him! LOL!  But he followed Hobbes' lead, and explored all around the house by hugging the walls.

This wasn't really what I had in mind, so when I got Itty, I helped him a bit....

by throwing him into the snow.

Itty was NOT impressed!

Piper acted as a "life guard" of sorts.

Itty meowed the entire time, and quickly scooted to the door, asking to be let inside!

The Shelties, on the other hand, can't get enough!

They LOVE being outside in the snow!

Even though it's deeper than Selkie is tall, she bravely leaps through the snow until she can get to a shoveled path.

Piper, being a bit larger, doesn't have quite as much trouble as Selkie

What do you mean? too many photos of the dogs???  Okay- just one more.

because I have to ask you- which dog do you think is the smartest? LOL! Selkie always takes the path, and Piper very often runs through the deep snow.

Horses and bunnies in the snow

First, I feed the horses. They are wet from the constant snow fall, and Wynter is shivering.  She HATES weather like this.

Even though Dakota is the Senior Citizen at 25 yrs. old, she handles this storm better than Wynter. 

I give all three of them extra hay.  I feel so sorry for them.

Then, it's time to head up the hill to feed the bunnies.

The bunny coop is almost completely buried in the snow.

But the bunnies don't mind one bit. They are living in the tunnels they excavated last Summer.

They DO appreciate the food, however.

Major Snow storm

They are saying this is the 6th largest snowstorm in Montana's history.  I guess it's because of the amount of snow dumped in ONE storm (which lasted over 2 days, by the way).  It's certainly not because of the amount of snow accumulated over the Winter season- because we definitely saw this much snow last Winter and the Winter before that.

 However you figure it, we got A LOT of snow between Tuesday and Friday morning.  A LOT!

and of course, I was out there, documenting the entire thing with my camera :)

So- sit back, and look at some of my Winter photos- and remember, you can click on any of them to view them in a larger size.

this is out near the barn...

This tall berm, where Bruce dumped some of the snow accumulated by plowing, looks like a perfect sledding hill!  I may have to try that out.

This is in the horse pasture. We feed under the trees, because the snow is less deep there, and there's more protection from the wind, etc.

This is what I saw when I woke up Thursday morning. :)  I declared a SNOW DAY! 

It snowed HARD! All Thursday!

The Shelties had a terrible time getting around, so they stuck to the shoveled areas.

But as fast as we'd shovel, the snow would cover the paths.

Bruce had to keep plowing, to keep the driveway open.

After awhile, the snow couldn't support it's own weight. I call this "lazy snow", :)

Bruce said the entire bed of his truck was filled with snow- clear to the top! Crazy!

I LOVE it! :) Perfect day to curl up and read a book.... once you come in from shoveling, that is.