Wildlife & Related

[TRnCO]

I had a friend over from Grand Junction and we went out Fri. and Sat. and managed to shoot 695 prairie dogs. But the high lights of the two days were the coyotes. Friday there was a liter of 5 along with an adult that hung out all day. One of the pups came to the pond and drank while we were shooting just couple hundred yards away. On his way back to cover he found one of the dead pdogs and grabbed it and took it with him. The Sat. morning we went to a different pdog town and had 6 coyote pups show up and start grabbing the dead. One pup just stayed on scene and was eating his prize. We kept shooting and the pups just hung out, some times leaving with a dead pdog in their mouth. One pup was eating about 120 yards away when another pdog came out of its hole about 30 yards up wind of the pup. I decided to shoot the pdog and my buddy watched to see the reaction of the pup. He never even flinched and not 10 seconds after I shot the pdog, the pup must've caught wind of fresh dead pdog because he bird dogged his way right to it, and started chowing down. Also watched as 3 pups settled a dispute about who got to eat what. Pecking order was in effect. Was fun watching them interact around us.
One pup ate two full pdogs and then needed a drink. Not the best pics. but without pics. it's kind of hard to sell the story. I've had coyotes come in and grab dead pdogs before, but never had em hang around for hours.
KIMG0371 by Tim Richard, on Flickr
KIMG0381 by Tim Richard, on Flickr
Lastly, we've had a lot of antelope action behind my house this summer. Two sets of twins been hanging around quite a lot. Again, not the best pic. with the phone.
KIMG0351 by Tim Richard, on Flickr

[Irving]

I'd love to see that. Glad to hear you didn't shoot the coyotes, but understandable if you did (especially if you turn them in). I'm very curious how you kept track of how many prairie dogs you shot though.

[TRnCO]

I'm very curious how you kept track of how many prairie dogs you shot though.

All reloads, so as you shoot a miss is primer up and a hit is neck up when put back in the box. Then count em up when you're done.

[Irving]

That's a lot of rifle shooting in one day. Nice work.

[TRnCO]

that was two days, but still had a warm barrel or two at times.

[Irving]

Okay Hummer, here is another bird identification for you. The pictures are terrible because this bird is inconsiderate and built a dumb nest and put the eggs at the bottom.

The bird is about 2/3 to 1/2 the size of a finch, looks similar, but with a beak about twice as long. It has a loud call that sounds more like an insect than a bird. Instead of a nice round nest full of padding, it just threw a ton of sticks into this bird house and chucked some eggs at the bottom. The eggs are about the size of my pinky and are a redish swirl color over a tan/white base. Seems to co-exist with the 100's of finches living at my and my neighbor's house. I'll attempt to get a photo later which hopefully isn't too difficult since I see this bird every day out my window. What do you think?

[henpecked]

[henpecked]

[Hummer]

Okay Hummer, here is another bird identification for you. The pictures are terrible because this bird is inconsiderate and built a dumb nest and put the eggs at the bottom.

The bird is about 2/3 to 1/2 the size of a finch, looks similar, but with a beak about twice as long. It has a loud call that sounds more like an insect than a bird. Instead of a nice round nest full of padding, it just threw a ton of sticks into this bird house and chucked some eggs at the bottom. The eggs are about the size of my pinky and are a redish swirl color over a tan/white base. Seems to co-exist with the 100's of finches living at my and my neighbor's house. I'll attempt to get a photo later which hopefully isn't too difficult since I see this bird every day out my window. What do you think?

Irving, you've got a House Wren there. Cool little bird but aggressive and sometimes will puncture the eggs of other cavity nesting birds. Often they'll build several nests but use only one (to limit competition). Not related to finches but more closely to American Dippers.

[henpecked]