Gotta love wyoming!

[TexasGuy]

Sorry...

I grew up in Casper. Been to Yellowstone many, many times - started going there long before anyone needed a reservation to get in. It is a beautiful place and makes for some excellent photography, but I hated the winters. I have been back a few times but never between October 1 and April 30. Snow and I have a mutual understanding that we don't get along, we don't mess with each other and we don't co-mingle.

 

[pcombe]

I grew up in Casper. Been to Yellowstone many, many times - started going there long before anyone needed a reservation to get in. It is a beautiful place and makes for some excellent photography, but I hated the winters. I have been back a few times but never between October 1 and April 30. Snow and I have a mutual understanding that we don't get along, we don't mess with each other and we don't co-mingle.

I am in agreement with your ideas on winter. I'm about to cut the weatherman's throat!

 

[consitter]

I just wanted to say 'Thanks' for posting all the beautiful pics you've posted. Also for all the stories you've told.

 

[pcombe]

GOTTA LOVE WYOMING! Wolves attack cattle just outside of Lander



Wolves attack cattle just outside of Lander

Feature Photo: Rancher Mike Hornecker took this photo of a calf that had been set upon by wolves while grazing about 10 miles west of Lander. (h/t Mike Hornecker / Pitchengine Communities) [/FONT][/I]

(Lander, Wyo.) - Rancher Mike Hornecker said a wolf or wolves attacked one his Angus calves born in February that was grazing next to the Shoshone Lake Road under the red bluff on Wednesday.

"I was riding checking the herd when I saw a cow acting strange, I went over to investigate and found the calf was still alive. I called the Game and Fish and they came out and verified it was a wolf kill," Hornecker said today.

Hornercker usually runs 90 pair on the ranch, which is just off of the Baldwin Creek-Squaw Creek Loop about 10 miles west of Lander.

"We've had cattle up here going back 100 years and this is the first wolf kill we've been able to verify," he said. "It was a fresh attack and I when I began riding up I think that spooked the wolves off of it."

Unfortunately for Hornecker, the attack happened in an area designated as a "predator area" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hornecker said, and therefore there is no compensation for the lost animal. "I've been in a hurry up and wait mode for them."

The rancher said a bill introduced and passed last year by District 33 State Rep. Jim Allen in the Wyoming Legislature that would provide for state reimbursement, does not go into effect until July 1st.

"I guess I'll have to have family members when they are freed-up to come up here and monitor the herd," Hornecker said.

A WGFD Spokesperson was unavailable to comment at the time of this post.

STILL A MATTER OF:

SHOOT, SHOVEL AND SHUT UP!

"Unfortunately for Hornecker, the attack happened in an area designated as a "predator area" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hornecker said, and therefore there is no compensation for the lost animal. "I've been in a hurry up and wait mode for them."

The rancher said a bill introduced and passed last year by District 33 State Rep. Jim Allen in the Wyoming Legislature that would provide for state reimbursement, does not go into effect until July 1st."

 

[Catfish]

Wolves killing for sport rather than food is an alarming prospect. The result of preservation efforts gone wild. :AGGHH:

 

[pcombe]

Wolves killing for sport rather than food is an alarming prospect. The result of preservation efforts gone wild. :AGGHH:

Perhaps alarming to some but killing for fun is not all that unusual, You should see what happens to a herd of sheep?

I actually think they killed for food this time because the carcass was being fed on and I believe he did run them off shortly before the photo was taken?

Range cattle are a protective lot and if they can isolate a wolf or coyote they will lay on and smash the life out of them. same as a dog.

I didn't hear they killed any more calves where is running pairs in that area?

 

[ol' school]

The circle of life... sad situation for those who ranch though.

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Okay ... I am really disappointed ... all these great pictures of Wyoming wild life ... not one of the elusive JACK-O-LOPE :Shrug:

 

[Catfish]

Okay ... I am really disappointed ... all these great pictures of Wyoming wild life ... not one of the elusive JACK-O-LOPE :Shrug:

I've read where they are able to move at 90 mph, to boot they are nocturnal. Remember to always take precautions when camping in Jackalope territory and ensure that any whiskey is not left out at night, for the bottle will most likely be empty by sunrise. If you want to get a picture of one the best time is during a lightning storm. It is when they congregate to breed. The Lepus Cornutus is Brokeback Mountain lore. :laugh:

 

[consitter]

Okay ... I am really disappointed ... all these great pictures of Wyoming wild life ... not one of the elusive JACK-O-LOPE :Shrug:

Here's one that I took a couple of years ago...not that I know anything about brokeback mountain lore, mind ya. :AGGHH:

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

There he is ...

 

[pcombe]

Here's one that I took a couple of years ago...not that I know anything about brokeback mountain lore, mind ya. :AGGHH:

You have heard of us Wyoming boys haven't you? Even though the film was made in Canada it say something about them also?

 

[pcombe]

Whether the jackalope actually exists or is simply a hoax popularized by a Douglas, Wyoming resident in 1939, is still hotly debated today.



For those who believe, the jackalope is said to be an antlered species of rabbit, sometimes rumored to be extinct. One of the rarest animals in the world, it is a cross between a now extinct pygmy-deer and a species of killer-rabbit. However, occasional sightings of this rare creature continue to occur, with small pockets of jackalope populations persisting in the American West. The antlered species of rabbit are brownish in color, weight between three and five pounds, and move with lighting speeds of up to 90 miles per hour.

Thought to be a myth by many, the jackalope is alleged to actually exists in remote areas of Wyoming. Jackalope Postcard, 1968 Dexter Press, West Nyack, New York.

​

​

They are said to be vicious when attacked and use their antlers to fight, thus they are sometimes called the "warrior rabbit.”

The jackalope was first encountered by John Colter, Google -mountain man) one of the first white men to enter what would one day be the State of Wyoming.

They also allegedly possess an uncanny ability to mimic human sounds and when chased will use these abilities to elude capture. During days of the Old West, when cowboys gathered by the campfires singing at night, jackalopes could often be heard mimicking their voices.

Most commonly sighted in the states of Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, and New Mexico, the jackalope also appears to have a European cousin, in Germany, known as the wolperdinger, and in Sweden, a related species called the skvader. Illustrations of horned hares go back as far as the 16th century in scholarly European works

Some people do not believe a separate species exists of its own, but rather the jackalope is "real” only because of a virus called papillomatosis. Also called Jackalopism, the disease causes certain growths caused by a parasite to harden on the top of a rabbit’s head, resembling horns. It is this virus that they attribute to the birth of the jackalope legend.

wolperdinger



Lost and found? Reportedly shot by a distraught father after attacking a 10 yr. old girl.



Jackalope rut



​

 

[consitter]

You have heard of us Wyoming boys haven't you? Even though the film was made in Canada it say something about them also?

Heh.....

no.

 

[consitter]

You have heard of us Wyoming boys haven't you? Even though the film was made in Canada it say something about them also?

Heh......

no.

 

[pcombe]

The damn dam is overflowing

I don't know if you remember the post I made sometime ago about a beautiful but deadly canyon close to where I live named Freemont canyon?

At the head of this canyon there is a reservoir named pathfinder ( John C. Freemont was the pathfinder of western lore) There is a dam that exists at the very end of the reservoir that leads into a deep, deep canyon and then flows into a fairly flat landscape (nice fly-fishing) before entering the lower canyon that runs for four miles and is hundreds of feet deep with little possibility of escape until it runs into a lower reservoir and dam called alcova.

Before dams came along john and his party got most their canoes wrecked on huge rocks and some just didn't make it out alive.

back to the story now you have a bit of background.

In all the time I have lived here the pathfinder dam has only overflowed a handful of times and this is one of those rare occasions.

I took a ride out there yesterday and made my way as close as my crippled self dared get so I thought I would show it you as proof that Wyoming is the only place you can stand in mud up to your ass and still get dirt blown in your eyes. At least it has stopped snowing and raining?

You can see some of the lower canyon behind my bike. Believe me it is ungodly deep and there is no way out. There is a bridge that crosses the canyon in front of my bike and it has it's own very sad and tragic story's in our community but I wont get into that.

The canyon wall just beyond my bike is a shear drop off some 500 ft. to the river and rocks below.



Here are a couple pics of the reservoir behind the dam



There is a graveled pathway that leads to a look out point where you can see the backside of the dam.




Its a far piece down there for a guy on oxygen and a bum ticker but I love the country. Getting closer I can see the mist rising up from the canyon and begin to hear the roar of the water.




Here is the water overflowing the dam and running loose in the overflow until it makes its way to the side of the canyon and cascades far into the canyon below. My vantage point is high and this canyon is hundreds of feet deep, The ground is shaking under my feet, The noise is horrendous and it is really hard to fathom just how much water is really spilling into the abyss until you witness it yourself.

I cant see the back of the dam or the bottom of the canyon in these views the mist is thick and soaking the canyon walls and there really are idiots getting to close for comfort. These rocks are slick and if they miss-step they will join Johns Boys in whatever hell is reserved for the people and critters who die in this canyon.



Here are shots from the overlook and you can see the water crashing into the canyon and wearing at the rock


I will see if I can get a few more pics to upload, they were giving my trouble and I will look into the archives for the post I originally made on the canyon hoping to give you more of an appreciation ok?

 

[pcombe]

Well how bout that?
The computer quit messing with me.

Here is an Ariel view of the dam and spillway. I down loaded these pictures, I think someone got them with a drone and I borrowed them.




These are photos that were shot from across the upper canyon where it settles into the flat area I mentioned before, ( fly fishing) Cool Huh?

kinda gives an impression of how much water is spilling.
remember this is the N. Platte river and it not just a small tributary>



The sun came around just right and gave a rainbow in the mist.
I love it!






It sure gets a good picture of pathfinder dam built into the mouth of the upper canyon way back in the days when all material's had to be mule and wagon freighted to the site doesn't it?
I was once told it was a three day trip from Casper for the mule skinners.
There were a few who joined Johns boys building the dam as well as some family members.
A few were victims of crime and there was a handful necktie parties as a result. There is a very small graveyard before you reach the dam that tells the stories of those who were unfortunate enough to become denizens of the canyons bloody history.

 

[pcombe]

man i'm battin a 100 today, I found the original post, so have fun and go on a ride with me ok?

make sure you back up a few posts so you can see the post I put up before this one of the pathfinder dam overflow ok?

This is an old post I revived to give you more of an understanding of what you are seeing in the first two entries.

click on this link to see the post I put up a few years back ok?

Fremont Canyons Hidden treasures

 

[pcombe]

Whats the matter? Dont you like dams overflowing?

I put up 3 posts just ahead of this one concerning the ride I took out to pathfinder dam to see it overflow the spillway and I guess nobody found them?

The posts start with a title " the damn dam is overflowing"

Or do you just not like it when mother nature defeats mans efforts at controlling it? :Shrug: