Yellowstone. March, 2012
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
Bighorn Owl
Absaroka Mountains. April, 2013
The Bighorn Owl (Bubo Ramicus),
a distant cousin of the more common Great Horned Owl, is limited to an
extremely narrow range in the Absaroka Mountains of northern Wyoming.
Still common in the late 19th century, the
Bighorn was pushed to the edge of extinction by the confluence of two almost
fatal threats. The first was a diet which consisted almost completely of the
black-footed ferret. When ferret numbers plummeted because of distemper
outbreaks in prairie dog towns, the Bighorns retreated to the Absarokas and
switched to the Golden Marmot as their primary source of protein.
Secondly, they were hunted mercilessly for their horns,
which were the rage during the roaring twenties as gold-plated pendants for
flappers. The sharp reports of males
clashing in the high cirques of the Absarokas made them easy prey for horn
hunters.
Once again they were saved by an almost preternatural
ability to adapt. As hunting restrictions
were established across the west, the
Bighorns adapted their mating contests to elk hunting season. The echoing reports of elk hunters blasting
away at migrating elk herds from Yellowstone provided excellent sonic camouflage
for the racket created by their mating collisions.
Soon their numbers rebounded to the current small, but
stable, population.
Works Cited:
de Bon, A.
U. Rarus
Avii of the Intermountain Basin and Range. Toronto: Fieldnotes Press, 1948. 34.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
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Friday, December 28, 2012
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Tuesday, October 9, 2012
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