Otters (video footage), connectivity, and Bison

Today I went back to Abbott’s Lagoon to do some tracking on my own.  I arrived late, around 11, and by then at least a dozen people, kids and adults, had tracked around the dunes.  Being vacation week, there were more people than usual during the weekday.  But I managed to find a lot of [...]

Ancient Buffalos in Sunlight

I’ve walked this drainage at least fifty times.  Its right next to my property, filled with old dying and dead aspens and young conifers. The forest service plans to cut, clear, and burn here within the next few years to encourage new aspen growth.  Its a narrow cut of a ravine, right next to the [...]

Our keystone species: Bison and their restoration

I’m reading a book that, for the first time for me, pops to life what it meant that there were 60 million Bison here before the white man arrived. Bison bison, the survivor amongst many large mammals that became extinct in North America, were tough and well suited for this continent.  Surviving -50 degree winters, [...]

Poised to be a dreamer for bison

Bison are on my mind. There is already a lot written about Yellowstone Bison being hazed, killed, confined and abused. Our last remaining wild herd, a mere 3000 out of 60,000,000! And it is hugely controversial. In my own mind, Yellowstone is not the issue. This controversy is small  (and I don’t mean to minimize [...]

Where the Buffalo Once Roamed

I took the research students over to the dead coyote today.  The guys have quite a bit of experience, between their schooling, hunting and trapping, I thought they might know what had killed it.  They had no qualms about touching it (which I had as I am always wondering about diseases I might catch).  Since [...]