Odds and ends

Thanks for the map.

Regarding the wind, it has always been my understanding that game, especially larger game, remains bedded down during windy days; the consensus being that there are mainly two reasons; one being that all of the movement is cause for lots of false alarms; and, the other being that, with all of the noise created by the wind, they might not hear the noise of approaching danger.

I know that I am more on edge when it is windy; if I am outside doing something, I am constantly feeling like someone is approaching me on my blind side.

As for the Mule Deer, until the last few years, we were making regular trips across Colorado on US Hwy 50, from Canon City to Montrose, hauling cattle and horses both ways.

Certain times of the year, there would be long stretches where, on the shoulders of the road, one could use the road-kill carcasses of both Elk and Mule Deer as stepping stones and walk for miles without ever having to set foot on the ground.

The first time I saw it, it really left an impression on me.

Many times, when the snow was deep and banked high along the road, almost like driving through a big snow tunnel, we have had to completely stop while herds of either Deer or Elk were crossing the road; the adults not having an easy time of it and the little ones barely able to make their way through the deep snow.

It amazes me that animals are able to survive such harsh conditions in spite of their stupidity; it's like a mama duck who, safely on the dry ground, decides to swim across the pond full of turtles; she enters the water with a dozen baby ducks and climbs out on the far side with three left; but then, that may have been her intentions all along; a woman with a dozen kids and at her wit's end would probably grab any chance to do the same.