Wild Horse and Burro Facility, Delta, Utah

In November I wrote about a wild horse roundup, and I figured it was time to follow up with what happens to those horses after they're rounded up. I visited the wild horse and burro adoption facility located in Delta, Utah. This is one of 23 holding facilities in the U.S., with a total capacity of 15,295 horses and burros. About 58% of the horses are between 0-4 years old, 26% between 5-10 years, 6% over 11 years, and the remainder unknown.

The Delta facility has a capacity of 300 horses, but according to the latest online monthly report about horse holding facilities, it is currently holding 320 horses. There was a well-advertised adoption held at the Delta Facility in late January, but only 8 horses were adopted. That's pretty pathetic. It's understandable, though. Most horse lovers already have the horses they can afford. With the current economic condition, feeding a horse puts a large drain on a budget. Under current laws, horses can't be killed, so once a person buys a horse they're stuck with it unless they can find someone to buy it. Many people who think about getting a horse are scared off by that.

That means that the unwanted horses are put into long-term holding facilities. There are 11 of these facilities, primarily in Oklahoma and Kansas, with a total capacity of 22,100 horses and burros. As of 2/01/2009, there were 22,203 horses in them. 

So that means that the long-term holding facilities are maxed out. Some of the short-term facilities like Delta are maxed out. Where do the horses go then?
The BLM acknowledges it has a problem--in 2008 it spent $27 million for horses in holding facilities. The General Accounting Office has made some recommendations to the BLM--largely that they work with Congress to get new laws passed to figure out ways to humanely deal with these unwanted horses.

Meanwhile, the horses still have to be fed, paid for by our tax dollars. 

If the horses are left out on the range, there will be large-scale ecological consequences, like trampling of springs, overgrazing, and possibly additional disease. 

Thinking about this issue is kind of frustrating, because there is no easy solution. But it can't be ignored just because it's difficult. 

Desert Destination: Baker Archeological Site

Every Monday we visit a desert destination.

Not far from Great Basin National Park is the Baker Archeological Site. Located on the valley floor, it's accessible year round. The site is a Fremont culture village, occupied from approximately 1220 to 1295 AD. Brigham Young University's Office of Public Archeology, along with the BLM, excavated the site from 1991-1994.

Those visiting have a nice area for picnicking, along with barbeques, a pit toilet, and a trail to the site. The Baker Archeological Site is located along the cut-off road between the town of Baker, Nevada and Highway 50 and is marked with signs.

A short trail with markers along the way leads from the picnic and parking area to the village site.

The hike is even suitable for those with short legs.

BYU's excavation revealed a small village, with pit houses, ramadas, and adobe structures. They found evidence that the Fremonts were using the nearby land for agriculture, particularly corn, beans, and squash. Based on seeds and other evidence found in the excavation, it is thought that when the Fremont lived there,  the desert landscape probably was wetter, with wetlands nearby.

Here is an artist's interpretation of what the village looked like. It is thought that the buildings were constructed to orient with different positions of the sun to help indicate planting and harvesting times, along with other important dates.

The BYU excavation was backfilled, but in 2002 berms were built around the outlines of the buildings to help stabilize them and help visitors better visualize the site.

In the foreground is the big house, with smaller houses in the background.

The light early in the morning or late in the day make the Baker Archeological Site especially dramatic to visit. Somehow those shadows make it come more alive and easier to imagine what it was like centuries ago.

The trail markers are found in the shape of owls, due to a beautiful slate figurine found on the site in the shape of an owl. If you look in the background, you can see the outline of an owl (or bat) with two pointy ears and rounded wings on either side.

Here's a closer view of the "owl" in the mountain.

It doesn't take long to visit the Baker Archeological Site, but it's a fun stop to imagine what life was like so long ago. As it is today in the desert, water was a limiting factor. The Fremont village at this site was small, most likely due to the scarce resources available. For more information, visit the Great Basin Heritage Area website.

Baby Goats

Aunt Tana has some baby goats, and Desert Boy and I went over to take a look the other day. Baby goats are irresistible. The goats greeted Aunt Tana enthusiastically. These are orphans--the mother of three of them died soon after delivering them, and two others were part of a litter of four and the mother had mastitis and could only feed two of them. This is unusual, most years the goats and their moms do just fine.

Tana keeps goats for milking and sells the meat goats. She gets too attached to the goats to ever eat them herself, though. I can see why, they are so cute when they are babies.

The little goats love to play. The long ears are from their dad, a boer goat. Goats have been domesticated since about 6,000 to 7,000 B.C., making them one of the longest-domesticated animals. There are many different breeds. Boer goats are considered to be meat goats and can get quite large.

Boer goats have a variety of color patterns. It was hard to get a  picture of a baby goat standing still--like most babies, they move around a lot! Look at this cute baby goat--now we're going to look at the daddy.

"Howdy." 

That's right, the goat spoke. Well, at least in my mind. The goat smelled a lot--it wasn't a goat I wanted to pet.

The goat wanted some attention. Somehow the grown up goat wasn't as cute as the baby.

Here's a mama goat with her two babies. Look at her udder--she is so full of milk. 

This is a first-time mama goat. She has two kids, about four days old, and one is happily feeding. The mama goat has very small ears because her mom is a LaMancha goat. This breed is known for its very short, almost non-existent ears and excellent butterfat milk.

Here's a mama goat still waiting to deliver her kids. There is just something about goat eyes that makes me just want to say "Ahhhh" and scratch her neck.

Jewel, the horse, loves baby goats. Goats make great companions for horses, keeping them calmer and possibly keeping them healthier.

I just had to end with a picture of some more cute baby goats. It won't be long until they've grown up!

Prairie Falcon

Outside our house are some tall trees that the birds just love. The other morning I saw a small, crow-sized raptor fly up to the top of one of the Lombardy poplars. I ran back in the house to get the camera, because I instantly knew it wasn't a red-tailed hawk by its size and shape. With a closer look, I saw that it was a prairie falcon.

The prairie flacon has yellow feet, a mottled belly, darker back feathers, and interesting stripes on its face. The stripe that goes across its cheek is called the mustache--even for the females. 
Usually I spot prairie falcons low to the ground, not on the tops of trees. That's because prairie falcons fly low to surprise small mammals or other birds, their favorite prey. Prairie falcons are known to be aggressive birds. Their preferred habitat is open country, but apparently once in awhile they don't mind a change of scenery.

Desert Boy Strikes a Pose

Captions?