"Plum Betsy"

Losing Pets is always hard, and Betsy is no exception. She was our first Pointer. Prior to her arrival we had Britney's, and a Setter. The country that I had always hunted in was too close for such a far ranging dog, but since I was due to retire, all that would be changing. It was my intention to spend a lot of my retirement in the Desert, where a Pointer would be best suited.

Randy Carnahan's nephew had some pups from a dog that they optimistically called a "walking Pointer" meaning that you might be able to keep up with them on foot. So at 7 weeks of age she joined our pack.

Unfortunately the Setter (Indy ) was a bit of an imprint, so Betsy's life was a lot harder than it had to be. She really never learned to play. Every time she tried, the Setter snapped at her, so she was a bit stunted socially. I cannot say how much was Setter induced, or just genetically caused. Still she was a loving pup, with a nose that could not be believed.

With a little training, a shock collar with a mile range and a call button she soon learned to stay within sight while she was hunting. She never required a shock, the buzz of the call was enough.

In 2006 we moved to the Desert in a location that she could be free. Most of my hunting is with a Falcon, but we did do a bit of gun work occasionally and her nose and pointing ability made her a joy to work with. Her main value to me and where she shined the most was hunting with Jessie the falcon. Deserts are notorious for their Eagle populations, and the danger that they represent to a Falcon cannot be underestimated. Betsy loved hunting with Jessie and when Jessie took something to the ground Betsy was not far behind. She would guard her back while I was lumbering my way to them. I could always count on her to be with Jessie, and to protect her.

On one such trip Jessie decided that she wanted to kill a Goose. She knocked it to the ground alright. I was about three hundred yards away up on a hill. When I arrived, Jessie was off the Goose on the ground backed up against a small bank. The Goose was standing in front of her about three feet away with its wings spread to its full 6 foot, and Betsy was running around behind the Goose barking and distracting it. My arrival caused the Goose to try to fly away. Betsy was chasing it and Jessie took off and grabbed it by the head. Without Betsy, none of this would have happened and Jessie would have likely been injured.

At that same pond we once flushed a flock of Swans. Jessie disappeared and while I was looking for her, I could see Betsy about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile away circling the Swan on the ground. Through binoculars I could see Jessie stooping and diving at it while Betsy was keeping it distracted. Thankfully Jessie finally decided that it might be a bit too big, and broke off. Somehow Betsy kept up with the flight and was there to help if she was needed.

Of course she wasn't always sweetness and light and there were times that I could have willingly strangled her. At some time in the development of this breed, they were bred for guard and fighting dogs, so at the least little thing she would bark, making me jump out of my skin, but she had my best interest in mind.

As I said its always hard to lose a pet companion, but she gave us 11 years of love and service, and although there are tears on this keyboard, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. 

She is buried down by the Creek with Curly (Britney ) and Blue ( Siamese and Ragdoll Cat ) She was a "Good Girl"!

Rats!

Once again the Desert is blooming and of course when it does the critters take advantage of the bounty. I have been fighting the Mice all spring. In fact my bucket traps have been supplying most of Jessie's ( Peregrine Falcon ) caloric intake. On those I used a roller, and it worked well for the Mice. The Rats however are too big to catch with that and I have had to enlarge and use other techniques for them. Some of the Bushy Tailed Wood Rats are up in the Grey Squirrel range when it comes to size.

In a normal year I can keep up with the Rat population with a couple of live traps. Of course then I have to kill them in such a way that they will be safe food for Jessie. No shooting allowed! Of course since they don't do all that well at holding still, the challenge is a bit more than I am capable of with any thing less than a shotgun. Josie the Brittney, has filled that niche quite well. She does have a tendency to  ( torture) play with her victims a bit however. The rats however are enough of a serious problem that they cannot be allowed in human habitation. The big ones ( Bushy Tailed Wood Rat ) has a scent gland that is guaranteed to stop up your sinuses in nothing flat, not to mention the damage to wiring and insulation. Any way- Trust me, you too would be just as ruthless if you had them over running your living area.

    
She likes to grab them by the tail and carry them to a safe spot to play with. Part of their escape mechanism is that the tail will come off the tail bone if not held really hard.

She is off, and away from any possible escape spots, at least until it bites her. Then all bets are off.

This is a supplement feed barrel for Cows. I have a board that is hinged so that if the Rats get out to where the apple is, it tips and they fall into the water below.

This is the nights catch. Two Bushy Tailed, one Desert Wood Rat, one Mouse.

Here is a short video. Password is -  owyheeflyer

https://vimeo.com/131104192

Desert wanderings

My friend John Hauck, and his Lady Nell, are out for their yearly visit They stopped by for a while, on their way to Alaska. John had bought a new Polaris Razor and of course wanted to do some trips around the area while they were here.

Our first trip was to the Sheepheads in an area called the fingers. My last video featured them when I flew. My reason for going was to see if I could get a line on the Bighorn Sheep that live there. I keep hoping that I will draw one of the lifetime tags before I get too decrepit to find them. Of course they were not at home this time. We took a picnic lunch and had a picnic as far out on the end that I could get Karen to ride without total rebellion. ( She can only stand just so much fun )

Coyote Lake appears to be almost full of water.

Cow Camp 

It was a nice trip but a little dusty. We had a good time and I can recommend smoked Chicken sandwich's on a high ridge as a good way to spend the evening.

We have been having some pretty hot temps for the last two days. Yesterday we had rain all around us. The day dawned nice and cool, and with the rain, the dust wouldn't be so bad. I decided that it would be a good time to visit the Prairie Falcon nest out in the desert on Rye Grass creek. It is seasonal, and there is some erosion that left a small cliff that a Golden first nested in, and eventually abandoned. There has been a Prairie Falcon there for at least two years.

We trailered the Razor out to the dirt road that would take us out there and began a 12 mile trip across the Desert. The storm yesterday that gave us the Red Rainbow wasn't all Verga. It had rained quite a lot on the road that we had to travel. We drove as close to our destination as we could get, then set out on foot to the nest area on Ryegrass Creek. It was a bout 2 miles over some pretty rough ankle turning rock gardens to get there, only to find that Ravens had taken over the nest site. Apparently the Prairies had not survived the winter, and it didn't take long for the Raven to move in.

 The nest is in the head of the little eroded canyon.

Taking a bit of a break.

With the only water around, the Indians apparently had hunted the area quite a lot. Apparently they had sat on the rim to wait for something to come by to drink. Therefore they quite likely spent their time making new arrow heads, or shooting the ones that they had at various game. Whatever the situation, there were quite a few chips and some arrow heads. 

You can see one of the Ravens in the right side of the picture.

John spent his time looking for more Indian bullets.

The old Eagles nest from the top of the cliff.

This is the little water hole at the base of the cliff.

This is the first Barrel type Cactus that I have seen here. Prickly Pear can be found, but I have never seen a round Cactus in this area.

Of course the rain has caused the Desert to bloom. These being some Trumpet type flowers.

Red Rainbow

This evening the sunset took on some colors that are even pretty remarkable even for here. As usual the storms circled around us. Rain every where except here at the house. The sunset was our compensation prize apparently. Verga ( rain that evaporates before it hits the ground ) was surrounding us and a rainbow formed within it, but was only blood red. None of the photo's are enhanced other than a bit of "sharpening" of the image. They were taken with between one to two F stops lower.

Every Silver lining has a Cloud

I am sure that I have mentioned the lack of rainfall here in the desert many times before. I mean after all it is a desert, but every thing can be overdone. With an average of 4.5 inches it doesn't take much variation to be noticed. In 2006 when we arrived here, it was pretty green outside. Of course that green was primarily weeds, but what the heck, it was still growing and green for a while. There were plenty of game birds and critters. It has slowly been drying up. Last year all the ponds and springs back up in the hills totally dried up to dust.

Our winter precipitation was a total of 1.25 inches from October to the middle of May. Between the fires and nothing growing it was looking pretty bleak. The patterns here are really quite interesting. You know they always show precipitation in percentages. Well if you lived here you would understand completely. It of course means that the rain will cover a certain percentage of the area. Most generally what that means for us is that it rains 6 miles north of us for about a square mile or two, and the entire visible desert about 15 miles south east. Nothing here. It is apparent that some formation to the south of us splits the clouds and moves part of them to the North West and the rest of them to the South East and comes back together about 15 miles north East.

Last week something weird happened, and it rained on us. A lot! Almost 2 inches of rain fell on our little bit of Desert over a week. It was a nice gentle rain for the most part. No real flash floods or other destructive behavior for a change.

                                           Note the Patch of Prickly Pear in the fore ground.

 This is about as high as I have seen the creek.

 It soaked in, and refilled some of the little springs back in the hills. We even had a little bit or run off as well. All good!

https://vimeo.com/128531834     password - owyheeflyer

Of course with such a rare phenomenon, things were bound to happen. Spade foot frogs came to the surface, to make their calls for mates. Flowers grew like there was no tomorrow, and the weeds again dominated the landscape. Russian Thistle ( Tumbleweeds) and Yellow Mustard being the dominate species. The air of the evening is fragrant with the subtle perfume of the Evening Primrose calling any and all to pollinate. Pack rats and Mice have flourished, and all come visiting.

The first flowers that came up was the Mallow.

                     The silver lining there is that Josie has come into her own as a Rat killer.

 Jessie has discovered that Rats and Mice are tasty. The rabbits and game birds seem to be taking advantage of the windfall. The Cloud is that the food is so good that Jessie has made a scrape and has a brand new egg in it. The only bad part about that is that it stops her molt dead in its tracks.

Of course now with all that growth the fire load will be out of sight when the lightening flashes in July and August.

As a precaution I went over to the ranch and borrowed a tractor with a brush hog on it and mowed our weeds far enough back to give us a fire guard in case the worst happened.

                       If we can keep from burning up, it promises to be "A very good Year".