Wildlife & Related

[Hummer]

Waffles, your Yellowstone photos are fantastic. The buffalo migration is amazing, must have been a sight to see. What was the story behind it?

[Hummer]

Another wildlife rescue today, of a young Great Horned Owl on the ground and unable to fly. It was pretty seriously injured, possibly from a night time collision with the wire fence in the background. Powerlines and wire fences take a toll on raptors, especially night flying owls. It was taken to the wildlife vet with hope for a recovery.

[waffles]

Waffles, your Yellowstone photos are fantastic. The buffalo migration is amazing, must have been a sight to see. What was the story behind it?

I asked one of the rangers I ran into about it, and the explanation I got was basically they're big and stubborn and if one of the lead animals gets the idea it wants to be somewhere, they'll all get there. They're neat animals, but you can really see how a bunch of motivated people with rifles could do the damage they did to the wild population.

Also not really wildlife, but I posted these in the other thread. Zion is just as cool.

[Hummer]

Great stuff, and hey there's wildlife in there somewhere, just have to zoom in. Aren't digital cameras great?

[waffles]

Great stuff, and hey there's wildlife in there somewhere, just have to zoom in. Aren't digital cameras great?

Sure are. The full-res photos are much better, just a pain to host them and maintain the resolution and still have them usable in a forum. The pictures are neat, but obviously the real thing is better. Anybody who gets the chance to go to Zion in Utah should absolutely go for it.

[Irving]

We had fun in Zion when we went a few years ago.

[Hummer]

[Bailey Guns]

Wow! I'm envious of the work you do.

[Hummer]

Wow! I'm envious of the work you do.

It is gratifying to be able to help animals, but also sad and tragic when they're so injured that they have little chance to survive even with good veterinary care. Like the Great Horned Owl pictured above, this Barn Owl had apparently hit a fence at night. Unfortunately, these things happen beyond anyone's control but they are significant impacts on wildlife due to human development. Sometimes all you have left is to educate people about how to minimize risks to wildlife, and to know when not to interfere and instead let nature take it's course.

[Hummer]

Today the magpies were raising a ruckus in the yard and I figured there might be a predator nearby. Sure enough, about 20 yards from the house was a Great Horned Owl that just wanted some peace and quiet.





A little while later I spotted this Rock Squirrel that was happy to have found a pile of peach pits by the wood pile.