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Category Archives: Animals

Autumn in the Routt National Forest

27 Sep

Dog Days of September

 

October 1st is drawing near. In our world, that is the off-date for most of our National Forest permits. We are now staging both the cows and the sheep to trail down to the Home Ranch in a few days. Here’s Pepe and Modesto, our excellent long-time herders, with their ewes and lambs, ready to come off the Forest. We have had a record year for predator losses, in spite of their efforts and the efforts of our valiant Livestock Guardian Dogs. Since we know how many ewes and their lambs went up in July, and Pepe and Modesto (and the other herders) keep track of other deaths, we will soon have an idea of how terrible these losses have been.

Pat and Pepe in Big Red Park

Pat and Modesto near Independence Creek

Modesto’s ewes and lambs

 
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Posted by on September 27, 2020 in Dogs, Family, Folks, Horses, Peruvian sheepherders, Sheep

 

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Battle Creek Reflections

12 Sep

Fall’s first reflection
of Julie in Battle Creek,
Seasons in motion.

 

 
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Posted by on September 12, 2020 in Animals, Horses, Nature and Wildlife

 

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World class sheep exhibit at the Little Snake River Museum

16 Aug

This weekend marked the Grand Opening of the William MacPherson Sheep Center at the Little Snake River Museum in Savery, Wyoming. John and Catherine MacPherson donated restored sheep wagons from Carbon County’s early sheep production days, in honor of Bill’s father, an early sheepman. The Museum District and the MacPhersons saw to the construction of an exhibit building to house the wagons and other historic sheep production paraphenalia. A coming attraction will be an original wagon built by James Candlish and donated by the Vern and Della Vivion family. James Candlish was a blacksmith who is credited for building the first sheepwagon in Rawlins, Wyoming in 1884. It will be on loan from the Wyoming Wool Growers Association.

Here’s some photos of the event, which featured speakers, music, a spinning demonstration, children’s activites, a barbeque and a tour of the Savery Stock Driveway. Wyoming author and musician David Romtvedt presented Basque music, poetry and history (although most of Carbon County’s early sheep producers were of Scots, Irish and English descent). A great time was had by all!

MacPherson Sheep Center

Cat Urbigkit tells the crowd about predator challenges

Sharon reading poetry at the Government corrals

David Romtvedt playing Basque tunes at the Niland  cabin in the Medicine Bow National Forest

 
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Posted by on August 16, 2020 in Events, Folks, Sheep

 

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Later that same day: bucks crossing the river

04 Jul

Pat and Siobhan

 

After we rescued the misguided GPS traveler on the morning of July 4th, we moved on to rotating the bucks to a new pasture across the Little Snake River. Even though the grass is greener on the other side of the Little Snake, the bucks were not enthusiastic about crossing. It did not involve any swimming (although shorn sheep can swim). This was not, so to speak, our first rodeo, and we knew that eventually they would see it our way. It took a lot of whistling, throwing of sticks, calling back the dog, roping and pulling a couple of bucks across to serve as a “draw”, but we eventually prevailed. Our crew included Pat, Meghan, Bridget (on loan from Arizona), Siobhan, Bubba and me, plus Belle the Border Collie.

Bubba pulling the buck across the river

Siobahn and Pat

Siobhan, Meghan, Bridget and Bubba trying to convince the bucks

Bubba across the river

more persuasion

Meghan supervising the crossing

crossing

Success!

 
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Posted by on July 4, 2020 in Animals, Family, Folks, Folks who help us out, Sheep

 

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Docking 2020

15 Jun

Bringing up the ewes and lambs

Lambing is closely followed by docking the new lambs. This means literally docking the tails, to protect against flystrike, earmarking and paint branding to indicate ownership, castrating to make management easier and to create better meat quality, vaccinating to protect health, and a look at each and every lamb for problems to address. It makes for long days, but also adds camaraderie and teamwork to our hard-working crew! A good lunch is sure to appear. No one has trouble sleeping at the end of the day

docking crew at Cherry Grove

end of the line, Dinkum Docker, Maeve branding

 

Pepe and Renee tailing and branding

Pepe, Renee, Siobhan

dances in dust

Eamon tossing lamb

Juan catching lamb

Siobhan and Bubba, docking

ewes and lambs, mothering up

 
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Posted by on June 15, 2020 in Animals, Family, Folks, Folks who help us out, Peruvian sheepherders, Sheep

 

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Bull Run or the Samurai Express

31 May

Akaushi bulls t

We decided to try a new breed of cattle to crossbreed with our Angus and black baldie heifers. These Japanese-origin Akaushi bulls were located in Muleshoe, Texas (northwest). Pat, Sharon, Tiarnan and Rhen made a run to Texas to pick up them up. We stopped in Denver and Mosquero, New Mexico on the trip down. Our friends Jack and Tuda Crews have a wonderful bed and breakfast, The Rectory, in Mosquero. We were able to visit with them before heading on to Muleshoe. After loading the bulls, we made a 14-hour run home. The boys were troopers all the way! We unloaded in the dark.

Rhen and Tiarnan in Denver

boys’ boots at The Rectory

windmill near Mosquero

Tiarnan, Rhen and Muleshoe mule statue

Rhen, Tiarnan and cattle

on the road

Rhen in Muleshoe

 

 
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Posted by on May 31, 2020 in Animals, Cattle, Family, Folks

 

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Babies in May

19 May

 
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Posted by on May 19, 2020 in Animals, Cattle, Dogs, Horses, Sheep

 

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Branding at the Terrill Corrals

14 May

Retired chute at the Terrill Corrals

 

My Dad, George Salisbury, and his cousin Bob Terrill, used to run cattle together in the Powder Wash country. The corrals, north of Powder Wash Camp, are still known as the Terrill Corrals. While the corrals don’t see as much activity as they used to, our family and the Terrills still brand calves in the corrals, with Bob’s son Tim and granddaughter Tate.

Tate. bringing in a calf

Tate and Tiarnan, roping

wrastlin’ crew

Siobhan and Rhen–beware the girl with the knife

Tiarnan, ground crew

Tim (who worked a lot) at the lunch wagon

Tiarnan. Dot and calves

Tate, at the Terrill Corrals

Maeve and Tate

 
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Posted by on May 14, 2020 in Animals, Cattle, Family, Folks, Folks who help us out, Friends, Horses

 

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Wyoming Gothic

11 May

 

Meghan, Pat, Sadie

 
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Posted by on May 11, 2020 in Dogs, Family, Folks

 

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Border collies on the job

07 May

bringing ewes up for shearing

 

 

Daughter and mother,
my right-hand canine duo—
Cora and Sadie.

 
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Posted by on May 7, 2020 in Animals, Dogs, Poetry, Sheep

 

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