Tag: Prairie Dogs

P-Dogs a-Plenty…by Brad Marks

Down three posts and coming to the end of July. You are likely going to get some rapid fire posts in large part thanks to Brad, as I am still working through the first phase of the ankle surgery recovery – I thought I would be keyboard warrioring it over the entire 5 week no-weight period, but so far, still getting adjusted to this boat anchor. Once simple tasks are turning out to be a test of my strength and/or will. I did absolutely laugh out loud the other day (something I needed). Last year I ran my last Bix7 road race putting a cap on 20 straight years of toeing that line (link here). Linda relayed a funny scene she witnessed when had made it to the top of the Brady Street hill (she opts for the walker option). A lady and her ~7yr old kid had just made it to the top near her when she noticed the kid was basically balling. The mother notices and responds “I am sorry, I didn’t prepare you mentally, physically or spiritually to make it up that hill”. I’ve been meaning to write a story on the mothership about this scene as it is shockingly antithetical to the manner in which Linda, my brothers and I were raised. That quote has been attached to my monitor ever since then. And there I was, leaning on my crutches looking down at the 6 inch ledge to our shower. That quote had a completely new and profound meaning hehehehe! Tasks are getting easier each day – dealing with this mentally for another 5 weeks is going to be tough. While I push through, Brad is going to “Let the Dogs Out (who?, who?, who?)”.

Take it away Brad…

For regular readers of Wildlife Intrigued, at first this story will seem like a departure from the norm, meaning no feathers.  When you see what I have in store for you, forgiveness may be in order.  Wildlife Intrigued does include all types of wildlife, feathers or not.

Jan and I were visiting the Wildlife Intrigued Rocky Mountain editorial staff (our daughter Allyson) when we found ourselves with a half day to spare.  Shhh, don’t tell the bosses.  A quick review of available birding locations revealed an obvious choice not very far from the hotel where we were staying.  Nice save going birding in our free time, don’t you think?  The other advantage of having a half-day free is that we could use our daughter Allyson’s Honda CR-V while she was working.  It sure is nice to have the younger generation working to help support the older, newly retired, generation.  Truthfully, other than camping or ski trips on weekends, her car does not get used very often and it seemed to enjoy being out on the road. 

For those that aren’t familiar with the 2004-2006 model year Honda CR-Vs, they have built-in picnic tables as the floor of the cargo area.  This is one of the best features EVER offered in a car for active people.  Once you are at a camp site, picnic site, or ski mountain base parking lot, and have most of the cargo area unloaded, simply remove the cargo floor, extend the legs, and Voila!  Instant picnic table.  There is also a hole in the middle of the table if you have an umbrella (sold separately) for sunny locations.  I’ve told the Honda people they are losing sales to younger buyers because they took this feature out in 2007.  Honda, if you are reading this, put the picnic table back in the CR-V.

OK, back to the regularly scheduled story.  After driving for about a dozen miles and only getting lost once or twice (not quite sure about map apps sometimes) we found our destination:  Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Preserve (RMANWP).  Yes, even the acronym is a mouthful.  I know, the “arsenal” doesn’t conjure up images of cute furry or feathered things.  However, that’s exactly what Jan and I found, at least the small furry kind.  I’ll try not to overload our dear readers with cuteness.  Fair warning:  If you are susceptible to cute-furry overload, please only read between the photos.

Prairie Dogs found by Brad and Jan Marks

We are serious, if you are overly sensitive to cuddly wildlife images…do NOT hit the jump … something tells me you are going to do it anyway ha!

Continue reading P-Dogs a-Plenty…by Brad Marks

What Dental Plan?…by Brad Marks

Greetings everyone! Things are starting to rev up around here as we approach the 6 week mark before our annual Halloween Event (link here). It also means I’m about a week from getting very little sleep until the haunt is over. Adding to the chaos, my second 100k attempt is just two weeks after (Bri shall not fail again – link here). Basically when not finishing up the multitude of props that have been in construction since January, I’ll be pounding out miles and miles on the trails. As you would suspect, we are going to be relying heavily on Brad to make up for my limited availability. He has been working like a “black-tailed” dog over the past several months putting posts in the Intrigued queue that will surely keep you entertained. There is one to-do that needs to be addressed before the chaos begins and that is to sneak over to Farmdale and cut down a notoriously evil tree. While the saw chips fly, I’ll let Brad get into the swing of things.

Take it away Brad…

In retirement, Jan and I are trying to check off as many National Parks as we can.  We were almost finished planning a trip to see our daughter, Allyson, in Denver this past April when we asked what else she wanted to do while we were there.  We try to pick a location or activity Allyson has not done yet because it’s all new to us.  We offered the southwest, since it is, after all, April in Colorado.  She quickly said she’d like to see Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills again.  We said “Punkin’, it’s April in South Dakota, some stuff might not be open yet.  It could be snowy and cold.”  Allyson said she didn’t care and that Alec (her boyfriend) hadn’t been to the Black Hills yet.  After spending the night near Denver, Jan and I picked up Allyson and Alec and started the 5 ½ hour journey to the Black Hills.

While we were there, we wanted to make the most of the location, you know, getting our money’s worth from our Annual National Park Pass.  We decided to add Devils Tower National Monument to our trip.

Prairie Dogs by Brad Marks

Literally, seconds after entering the official park boundary, I hear from the back seat, “Dad!  Dad!  Dad!  Dad!  Dad!  Stop the car!” 

Hit the jump to find out the reason for the excitement!

Continue reading What Dental Plan?…by Brad Marks

Rats, I’m Down a Post

I got a surprise this morning when I checked the blog. I thought I was actually ahead of the game but it turns out my post output is lagging a bit. For some reason I thought I was already at 5 which put me right where I wanted to be – knowing the topic for the final post was already determined. Not a huge problem, just means I had to dive back into the Yellowstone trip pictures, do a little post processing, upload to our Smugmug site and I’m all set. Well, except for the hard part of actually writing something.

Having uttered the word “rats” when I tallied the posts this morning, I thought it would be fitting to go with the proverbial “rat” of the prairie lands. Fortunate not to live in an area infested with these rodents, I can still relate to the feeling having to constantly battle moles. There are two major differences when it comes to Prairie Dogs, one negative and one positive. On the negative side their destructive capabilities far exceed our local moles. Now, on the positive side, they can be so darn cute! Contrast that with moles which have to be the most hideous creature ever to crawl this earth.

Case in point, look at this scared little creature.  Out there all alone in the wild wondering where it’s next meal will come from.  Living in a state of constant worry if some human is going to pick them off with a high powered rifle just for fun or some taloned demon was going to descend from the sky and whisk away their brothers or sisters.

It is obvious they are clever creatures (as, of course, all dogs are!).  Just look at this example of how they’ve adapted to their dangerous surroundings.

The distant and vacant gaze paired with the stiff joint walk – what predator in their right mind would even come close to touching a ZOMBIE!?! Umm, that would be NONE.  (It might want to roll in the remains of a wolf kill to take that disguise to the next level (although recommend, waiting until the wolves move on).  I should probably mention that these shots were actually taken at Custer State Park.  We took a drive through there on our way back from the Yellowstone National Park trip.

Hit the jump to read more about these playful creatures.

Continue reading Rats, I’m Down a Post