February 2010 River Ranch Diary

Once in a while I think that my age is catching up with me. I move a little slower than I once did. My running shuffles me along; and maybe I could still sprint if I really tried, though my youthful sprinting was hardly any faster than it is now. I pay more attention to potential hazards: ice on the river, city traffic, deer along the roads, and machinery than  once did; and I more fully appreciate some things than I did previously: a job well done, a long term friendship, a new friend, a quiet moment alone or not alone, things, moments, people recollected, including the not so good memories:

Things ill done and done to others harm
Which once we took
For exercise of virtue;
Then fools’ approval stings and
Honor stains….
(T.S.Eliot, “Little Gidding”)

This “third gift reserved for age” rings true but not always nicely. We try too make amends, if not to those previously offended, at least by not erring in the same old ways repeatedly; and hopefully acting a little less rashly, more thoughtfully with more respect for others, including animals, machinery, even tools and the finite earth on which we live and from which, directly or indirectly, we all take our living.

I hold a position from which I have an opportunity, rather an obligation, to observe the natural phenomena of the region in which I live. We strive to improve the health of our pastures by bringing back the native grasses. The lack or abundance of wildlife in a given location can give a relatively good reading about the health of that location. For example, different kinds of birds have different feeding habits and dietary requirements. Seed eaters and insect eaters provide a base for the presence of some raptors. Small mammals: mice, voles, ground squirrels and rabbits provide a base for raptors, mammalian predators and scavengers. All of these working together in a given area indicate the relative health of that particular eco-system whether it be a brushy draw, a grassland pasture, a spring fed marshy area, or a wooded area. Various habitats and food supplies support and provide sustenance to particular and diverse species within those areas.

In some cases it is difficult to know what the driving force behind certain animal’s behavior is. Mule deer and Whitetail deer overlap in their preferred eco-systems. Mule deer seem to prefer open country and steep hillsides with some Cedar trees. Whitetails seem to prefer wooded areas along creeks and rivers. Also the two types often react differently to human intrusion. Mule deer will likely freeze in position as if motionlessness is safety. Whitetails typically will freeze momentarily and then bold toward safety.

Buffalo seem to love prairie dog towns. We speculate about the reasons for this behavior, but I’m not sure we really understand it. Some suggest that it is the new grass growth created by the prairie dogs as they crop away the grasses, therefore inviting new growth spurts.

Others suggest that the prairie dog mounds provide a handy place for the buffalo to lie down and agitate their bodies on the slope of the mounds seeking the relief of a good scratching and dust bath as well as a good place to polish their horns. We see the behaviors, but that does not mean we understand them.

Taken all in all from healthy grassland pastures down through brushy draws and marshy areas into wooded and riparian areas and prairie dog town, the health of the Great Plains can be evaluated by the presence and volume of its native wildlife, including the predators and scavengers, the snakes and insects that it can and does support.

The buffalo are just one of those elements, but it is one that some of us older and slower, more cautious and perhaps more thoughtful guys or gals love to linger on. The sight of a buffalo might even stimulate them to try to correct some earlier “Things ill done and done to others harm/ Which once we took/ For exercise of virtue….” We look back, seeing these behaviors, and hopefully, we understand them.