A mysterious Wild Critter...

One day this week, Gary, Christy(the dog), and I were in the car heading to Pueblo Reservoir to see if we could find some fossils. The weather was the drippy kind of wet that rarely occurs here, making the day a little dreary. After we passed the ranger station entering the park, we were driving along with Gary looking toward the reservoir, and me watching the road. Keep in mind that I drink very seldomly, and haven't had alcohol or any other substance anywhere near my body for a long time. So what I'm telling you was seen while completely sober...

As I was watching the road, about 50 - 100 feet in front of me, I saw a creature come from the right side of the road and "lope", yes, lope across the road. The critter was larger than a fox, but smaller than a deer, and I got the impression that its front legs were slightly shorter than its back legs. It was light brown or tawny colored. I only saw it for a second as it was on the road, then it disappeared behind somebushes, but occasionally I saw its head pop above the bush as it seemed to "hop" away. At first I thought that it might have been a "jack-o-lope", a legendary critter seen in these parts, but later in the day I saw hangings of a jack-o-lope, as well as researched them on-line, and all the legendary critters have a rabbit's head and ears with antlers.

This critter did not have any antlers, and at one point I got a good look at just its head as it popped above a bush, and the head looked fuzzy and a light colored making it look somewhat like a kangaroo. Now most sane people know that kangaroos DON'T live anywhere near Colorado!

My wisest guess is that the critter was probably a deer or antelope, and it "hopped" to get over various sagebrush in its path.... but who knows... maybe it's a Lope-a-roo??? ... anyone have any other ideas??

:-)

Other Western Critter Encounters

Had encounters with two wild critters this week...

Gary, Cristy(my dog), and I were walking the roads near us when Gary said... "Mom, you almost stepped on a snake." I replied... " I did?... I didn't see it.. where? " Sure enough, I looked back where both Christy and I had stepped and there was a rattlesnake laying there looking crushed and dead. I told Gary that it must have been run over by a car, and was dead, to which he disagreed.

Then he picked up a stone and threw it at the head of the snake, which raised it's head to show it's fangs. Gary then picked up another rock and tossed it at the snake to see if maybe just its head worked and the rest of the snake was squished. When the second rock landed, the snake's tail rattled, and all three of us moved quickly away from the cacophony of sound. The snake then proceeded to wiggle itself back into the grass by the road side.

The neighborhood youths heard the rattle and came running. I'm hoping that the snake made it safely back to a resting place without losing its rattle. But we didn't stick around to find out!

LearningByts Blog: Chipper the Prairie Dog Series..

LearningByts Blog: Chipper the Prairie Dog Series.. Oiyy.... saw him running across our land into the new hole he just dug on the side of the property... I ran and filled in the hole, and "chippered" at him.... hoping he'll hear me and stay away. I don't mind if they want to eat my grass, etc. But please don't dig any more holes on my property... they are dangerous for humans....

Chip... Chip!!

Chipper the Prairie Dog Series..

Observed the prairie dogs yesterday as a storm was threatening over the mountains... They were more interested in watching me than worrying about the coming storm.  Eventually when the lightening over the mountains became more frequent, the smaller dogs disappeared but the "watch" dogs stayed out and ate their supper.  We never got more than a few sprinkles from the storm.  
 
 Noticed that their is more than one "red" coated prairie dog, and a few that look like they have a red tint to their coat.