Horses and Lions and Snow and Lightning: Spring is here!

It's been a wild spring here in the Rockies. We had a lovely, though windy, April with plenty of sunshine. The grass jumped up out of the ground, and the turkeys have been flourishing. The bluebirds were the first to return, but the robins and juncos are most prevalent as of late.

Levi and I spent nearly an hour watching three tom turkeys battle in the field of a neighbor. The three large birds would face off, one would rush in and grab another wattles, and then they would push one another around in this head-locked state. Tom #3 would puff his feathers and chest-butt the other two, or rush in for a flying karate kick! The hens, meanwhile, grazed placidly and ignored the ridiculous spectacle. Tom #2 eventually drove off the larger Tom #1. Apparently #2 and #3 were buddies, and quickly rounded up their ladies, strutting and puffing and gobbling, and moved them to a new spot. Tom #1 continued lurking in the bushes, and would rush headlong into the bunch at a run, at which point Tom #2 or Tom #3 would proceed to chase him off again.

Two mornings later, we stood at our window watching seven turkey hens feeding in the meadow around 6 am. Levi was sipping coffee, and I idly picked up the binoculars we keep on the window ledge, when suddenly the turkeys were flying and scattering and a big yellow cougar was flying through the air, arms outstretched for the hens! It happened so fast, that I hardly recognized what was happening. I had the binoculars up to my face and Levi was shouting, "Is it a coyote? Is it a coyote?" "No!" I shouted back (although we were ten inches apart). "It's a lion!" The young lion had missed his target, and the birds perched in the tall cottonwoods far from his reach. He sat down on his haunches, looking just exactly like a pouting child. He sat this way for nearly a minute, letting us get a good look at him, and then stalked off to the river. What an exciting sight! In all my years in the wilderness, this is only the second lion I've ever seen.

This morning, after three days of thunder-snow and grauple and terrible wind and rain, we awoke to a calm morning. "Santa must be coming tomorrow!" Levi announced as I left the bedroom-- the whole world was covered in a lovely blanket of 5" of snow. The horses were less than enthusiastic, as they've been shedding their winter coats already. Dan couldn't help poke his head in the barn to see if I'd let him in. Firefly (who I let wander loose around the property) had grazed all over the lawn (much to Levi's chagrin, meaning I need to put up an electric fence for her tonight...). She's finally gaining weight, however, and my once-neglected Arabian is carrying her head high, flagging her lovely tail, and trotting in a lofty gait whenever I call her for grain. It's wonderful to see her looking like a healthy horse again. That also means it's probably about time to adopt a new neglect case...