Category: Nature

Posted on in Nature

Shuffling Off With Buffalo

Bison_CusterSP-LAH_7475American Bison are big. I never realized just how big they are until we were surrounded. As the huge, shaggy beasts leaned against our little Prius, leaving large, muddy swipes, it slowly dawned on us that we wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

Pete and I were in Custer State Park, right in the middle of the Black Hills of South Dakota. In search of a much-needed break from a very hectic year, we’d arranged to use a little cabin for a week of R & R. However, no matter how much I planned to rest, I couldn’t resist heading out for a few shots of the resident wildlife. The park is known for its prairie dogs, wild donkeys, pronghorn, and especially bison.

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Posted on in Gardening, Landscaping, Nature

A Garden for Good Bugs

Monarch Butterfly_ChicoBasinRanch-CO_LAH_8874Why would I want to invite insects into my garden? Don’t most homeowners want to get rid of the bugs? It’s true that some insects cause major problems in a landscape, chewing indiscriminately and leaving behind a trail of devastation. But don’t let a few bad guys ruin it for everyone—there are plenty of insects who can live harmoniously among our plants. Some, such as bees, more than earn their keep. And who doesn’t enjoy a garden full of butterflies?

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Posted on in Nature

Going Ode-ing

Amphiagrion abbreviatum_Western Red Damsel_ChicoBasinRanch-CO_LAH_3930-001The sun was beating down as we pushed through waist high weeds—reeds, grasses, and wild licorice with its Velcro stickers. I gulped another mouthful of warm water from my nearly empty bottle and swatted at a pesky deer fly as it flew off with a chunk of my arm.

Why would I choose such an inhospitable place to go for a walk? In a word—Odes. Odes is short for Odonata, the biological order containing dragonflies and damselflies.

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Posted on in Nature

Wildflower Hike, part 2

Dodecatheon pulchellum_Shootingstar_Emerald Valley-EPC-CO_LAH_3597If you’ve just joined us, we’ve been taking a hike to look at some early summer wildflowers. See last week’s post for plants along the dry, sunny trail.

We wake from our unintended nap, eager to continue on our hike. After a couple of miles, we finally reach the stream we’ve been hearing. The trail steadily gains in elevation as we move upstream, and we find ourselves breathing a bit harder. The plants here are more adapted to partial shade, and thrive in damp conditions.

The first flowers we notice are a scattering of Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon pulchellum). May’s rain has resulted in a profusion of their delicate blooms, and they grow in the saturated stream-side soil.

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Posted on in Nature

In Defense of Prairie Dogs

Prairie Dog_6038_filteredA huge new mall is being built about 40 minutes north of where we live. The site was formerly home to one of the largest prairie dog towns in the state of Colorado. In order to start construction, the prairie dogs had to go. The colony was poisoned and hundreds of prairie dogs died.

Public response to this mass execution has varied from demonstrations against the cruelty of a prolonged, painful death, to cheers that one more population of pests has been eliminated from the prairie. Some of my friends participated in the demonstrations. Others planned future shopping excursions.

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Posted on in Nature

Seal Beach

Elephant Seal_SanSimeon-CA_LAH_0155What are huge and blubbery and make outlandish snorting sounds? And what were they doing on a beach in California?

We recently spent a week back in our old haunts—Silicon Valley, Monterey and Pacific Grove, the central California coast, southern California. Aside from some great times visiting friends and an abundance of scrumptious meals, the trip mostly reminded me how grateful I am to live in Colorado now. However, I do miss the ocean!

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