Migrating Snow Geese

Despite the snow covering the mountains, more signs of spring are appearing, including the annual migration of snow geese (Chen caerulescens). I recently saw some at the Snow Goose Festival held in Delta, Utah, but they were a little camera shy so I didn't get any closeups.

This medium-sized goose breeds in the arctic, so it's on the leading edge of migrating birds. It doesn't mind a little snow and cold weather on its journey. They travel in families from southern North America to the arctic and back each year, and the geese mate for life. Snow geese need to eat as they travel, so they spend a lot of time in fields, nibbling on vegetation.

Most of the snow geese are all white with black wings, but there is a dark morph where they appear with white heads and dark bodies (sometimes called a blue goose). At the beginning of the 20th century, snow geese were in decline, but now they are surviving in high numbers, so high that their breeding grounds are becoming overcrowded. 

One of the best things about the snow geese is listening to them. They make a nasal honking sound, and when tens or hundreds fly overhead, they can be really loud. 

Not Quite a Desert Destination: Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, Oregon

Usually every Monday I visit a desert destination. This past week I was in the Pacific Northwest and saw a few things that reminded me of the desert, but not much. For the sake of variety, I thought I would feature a post from a different area.

Located in Washington Park in Portland, Oregon, is the Hoyt Arboretum. It's not nearly as well known as the zoo or Children's Museum, located nearby, but it has the lovely distinction of being free and containing miles of interesting trails. Near the visitor center are some desert plants, like the yucca above, with a palm tree in the near background, and some of Oregon's fantastically tall conifers in the distant background.

One of the suggestions for a winter visit was to go to holly hill, where about 40 species of holly (Genus Ilex) had been planted. Holly is not native to Oregon, but it is commonly grown for decorations. Some hollies are invasive, particularly the popular European holly (Ilex aquifolium), and the arboretum shows several examples of other hollies that are just as beautiful but won't be a nuisance.

The trails were surprisingly empty despite the sunny day, and Desert Boy and I enjoyed wandering aimlessly. The trails are well-marked, but because we didn't really have a specific destination in mind, we just wandered wherever looked interesting. In some cases, Desert Boy had a different idea of what was interesting than me, and I had to go chasing after him. In the photo above, he takes off near the really cool Monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), native to Chile and Argentina.

Finally I managed to corral Desert Boy and we continued on. There are some accessible trails in the arboretum, but we found the stroller was able to navigate most of the other trails as well. The huge ferns are something we certainly don't see in the desert, although we have some small varieties hiding out on moist cliff faces.

The moss-covered trees were fun to look at. Some trees I'm used to seeing in other parts of the country, like sugar maples, look entirely different when they have mosses and lichens covering most of their bark. We got bogged down in mud a couple times on the trail, but I was surprised how stable everything seemed. The trails were well-used but had little erosion.

One of my favorite parts was the redwood trail, where there were seven different species of redwoods. Their amazing height boggled my mind. I took this picture standing up--I didn't even need to lay down to make them look tall (which is something I sometimes do in the desert!) 

It was a fun visit, and if you're ever in the area, I'd recommend trying out some of the trails at the Hoyt Arboretum.

Monkey

We're still recovering from traveling, so today's post is going to be short! But I thought you might enjoy this photo of Desert Boy as a monkey. He was supporting all his own weight as Grandpa tilted the tube upright. It's nice to know we don't need expensive toys!

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. 

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!