10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2012

If we get close enough we might see a pink maw and slivers of white teeth, ready to take a prairie dog by the throat and choke the life out but also rather perversely adorable. Ferret 492 — a black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes — raises her head from a black-tailed prairie dog’s burrow, sniffs the April night.

Ferrets 210

Ferrets Prairie Dogs Coyotes Kittens 210

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2012

Russell National Wildlife Refuge , more than a million acres of prairie, badlands, coulees, and the massive Fort Peck Reservoir on the Missouri River. Like the Rockies, though, this is a harsh beauty, not an ideal climate for the human animal by any means. The tussocks are badgers, the stones are grouse until they fails to fly away.

Ferrets 236

Ferrets Wildlife Montana Prairie Dogs 236

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2011

Ferruginous Hawks are native to our western short-grass prairies and their diet comprises almost completely of prairie dogs. Well, the ongoing issues of land development, sport shooting, and the rancher’s war on these animals keeps prairie dog populations from ever booming.

Prairie Dogs 177

Prairie Dogs Colorado North Dakota Soreing 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2024

We also saw Prairie Dogs , Bison , Mule Deer , Abert’s Squirrel and Coyote. All bird and animal pictures are Brad’s. Although careful preparation, sophisticated intel from real ornithologists and a lot of planning had been derailed by half a meter of snow, we ended up scoring 63 species over the weekend.

Denver 189

Denver Colorado Ducks Mules 189

Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 10, 2006

Kansans are fighting over prairie dogs—or what Lewis and Clark quaintly called "barking squirrels." See here.

Squirrels 40

Squirrels Prairie Dogs Dogs 40