Desert Boy Drives

Sometime soon I will have a photo that needs a caption that doesn't involve Desert Boy. But for today, this one is just aching for the right words to describe it!

Puppy Love

Aunt Tana has a new puppy, a border collie named Lucy. Actually, she admits it's her husband's dog (like Heidi in the background), but while it's a puppy she's going to claim it. I would, too, the puppy is so cute! She loves to jump on Desert Boy, which is why she's being held. She has just a little too much energy--if only I could channel some of it!

Cousin Clay enjoys playing with Lucy. Doesn't he look so cute with his cowboy hat? I probably shouldn't write that--if he reads this he'll probably blush. 

While we went out to check on the heifers, Cousin Clay and Lucy hung out in the back of the truck, communicating in their own language.

Desert Boy Conquers the Box

I asked Desert Boy if he wanted a box to play with. He looked at me with his big blue eyes, nodded his head emphatically, and said, "Yes." So I got a box and put it on the floor. He started out looking at it, trying to figure out what to do with it.

First he stuck his head in. Do you like the monkey on his back? I was trying to get him ready for an upcoming trip. He likes wearing the monkey, especially with a little flashlight attached so he can be an explorer like his dear friend, Dora the Explorer.

Next came an attempt to step into the box...

...which was successful, but a box can be unsteady...

...and out fell Desert Boy.

He tried to get in again...

..but ended up crashing. My, how much entertainment one box can provide!

He was on the floor, but decided he wasn't going to let the box win. Go, Desert Boy, go.

He's stepping back in...

...but the box overturns.

Desert Boy pouts. He's definitely getting ready for those terrible twos.

He gives me this whimpering look, and I tell him to suck it up and try again. Don't let a cardboard box beat you, boy.

And then, success! He manages to sit in the box. With the monkey.

Ah, what sweet contentment.

But it doesn't last for long, because after all, it's kind of fun to crash.

I'm wondering how much more use Desert Boy and the monkey can get out of the box!

Carnival of the Arid #2

If you like reading about the desert, this is a compilation of recent desert-related blogs, including one of mine:
http://faultline.org/index.php/site/item/cota2

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.