Cattle , Cows in Wyoming

Here is a photo of cows walking on a frozen lake on the edge of town.  I live in Buffalo, Wyoming where many people own ranches and livestock.

Here is a cow I saw east of Ten Sleep, Wyoming (just over the mountains from where I live).

This cow seemed curious and I love his ears and facial expression!

Across the road, there were more cows.  Wyoming has open range grazing in some places so when driving, a person should go slowly because you never know when you might encounter a cow on the road.

Some cows east of Buffalo, Wyoming where I live.  In the background are the Bighorn Mountains.

Ever see a purple cow?  Now you have!!

Cows north of Buffalo, Bighorn Mountain foothills in the background.

And then...a cow in the road!

Cows north of Buffalo, Wyoming.  I spoke with one rancher who told me that most people brand their cows in Wyoming, but in future, if it becomes cost-effective, they may change to having chips implanted in their cows.

Cows grazing by Clearmont, Wyoming.  I learned recently that in places like Wyoming, one cow requires a huge amount of grazing acres to sustain him.  In states that receive more rainfall and forage is abundant, less grazing acres are required.  Here is a link to information about public lands leased to the public for the purpose of grazing:

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/grazing.html

Cows grazing by a creek near Ten Sleep, Wyoming.  A native Cottonwood Tree provides some shade for them.

I parked my Mazda (my old car that I have since sold) south of Buffalo, Wyoming to go hiking and upon my return, discovered a small herd of cows had gathered around the car -- perhaps they thought I had arrived to feed them??

 Herd of wild pronghorns ("antelope") with a cow nearby, on the edge of town in Buffalo, Wyoming

Cows on a hillside north of Buffalo, Wyoming in Spring

Brands on the hides and tags on the ears of these cows are ways the owners identify their ownership.

Cows grazing south of Buffalo, Wyoming

Final Photos

We picked up a persistent hitchhiker on the way.  Guess he got tired of flying!

I looked and looked, but there were no eagles by the Powder River...

Until, that is -- one magically appeared but I was looking in the wrong direction!!

heh heh!

I See!

Binoculars were an essential tool we used on the survey.

Check out my binoculars now!

Demonstration of a Living Snow Fence.

This was right on the route.

Didn't even see any rabbits.

Even the Powder River was nearly dry.  There were numerous deer tracks.  The River normally this time of year - in Mid-January -- has about 6 to 10 inches of water.

yowza!

Flat-topped buttes in the background where a horse grazes.

Rolling sagebrush-covered hills

A curious eagle checks up on us.

Heh heh! yeah its photoshopped.

I Wish!

Cottonwood Trees.

Wetlands with many cattails.

Marvelous!  However the eagles have no shadows beneath them (photoshopped!)

Beginning of the Second Route

 

Bridge over the Powder River

Horses

We said hello to some friendly horses.

Lo and behold, they begat minature horses! heh heh!

Surveying for Eagles

There are usually a pair of eagles in this tree.  However, this year there were none.

Lo and behold!  Thanks to photoshopping techniques, an enormous eagle appears on the scene!

Lo and behold! Another mythical eagle.

A Pair of Golden Eagles

For this year's Mid-Winter Eagle Survey, we only spotted three eagles.  Here is a photo of a large adult golden eagle perched on a telephone pole.

There was very little snow on the ground.  Here is the view of a pyramid-shaped cone on the landscape.

The Bighorn Mountains were clearly visible from the area we surveyed.

On the way home, an enormous bald eagle was landing on the pyramid!
Heh, heh - not really - photoshopped!

We saw only one hawk on the survey routes, surprisingly.

On the way home after we surveyed the routes, as we were approaching town, there was a roadkill deer at the side of the highway and numerous bald and golden eagles were feasting on it.  They flew up into these trees.  You can see there are 4 eagles in this photo.