Snakes on the Plains

We have had a few new neighbors show up recently and I have to say I have been less than hospitable.  Most recently, I ran over the new guy with a pickup  *twice*  then Jeff nailed him with shotgun blasts. Not very neighborly, right?  Well Jeff and I both considered it the appropriate response because the new-guy-on-the-block was not a neighbor we wanted.  He was sandy-colored, stuck his tongue out a lot (how rude!), and made an awful buzzing sound whenever we got close!  How would you like it if your neighbors treated you that way?

After that silly intro, you've likely deduced our new "neighbors" are in fact rattlesnakes.  The Prairie Rattlesnake is the only venomous snake in Montana and unfortunately it seems we are right along the main thoroughfare.

We saw our first snake of the season while on a pasture hike with my family on their visit a few weeks ago.  Since then, we've seen several more on the roads and two who were close enough to our house that we felt action needed to be taken.  Normally, if we see them in a field or somewhere away from the house we let them be.  Nice to have a little free rodent control.  Furthermore, they tend to act gentlemanly (for some reason, all rattlesnakes are referred to as male...)  and warn you with their rattle when you are about to get too close.  As if to say, "Helloooooooo!  I'm here!  Don't you dare step on me... OR ELSE!" or, "I don't want to bite you. I just want to mind my own business, but if you get close to me, I'll have to take measures into my own hands, erm, I mean... fangs!"  Rattlesnakes are like the crotchety, crazy old guy with a gun living as a recluse in a shack in the woods.  Enter his turf and BEWARE!

It's when the rattlesnakes enter our yard that I begin to take issue.  Rattlesnake bites in people are largely preventable.  We're generally smart enough to know what they are, where they may be lurking, and to leave them alone (or to get the gun!).  It's my dog I worry about the most.  Last year, Tom and Carol had a dog get bit by a snake.  The year before, Harvey was bit.  Thank goodness for the rattlesnake vaccine for dogs, but nevertheless it's not an experience I would like repeated.  Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP) even says on their website that it's OK to "deal with the problem" when they're in your own yard and pose a threat to the safety of your family and pets.  So there!  I'm justified in my killing!

The first sighting of the season was just a little south of Tom and Carol's house, on the trail to the creek and pastures.  As I said, we spotted him while on a walk with my family.  Actually, Harvey alerted us to his presence.  He was sniffing around and acting a bit keyed up, but not in the way he acts when he is on-scent with a bird.  He had his nose pretty close to what looked like a large gopher hole.  As we got a little closer, we could hear the snake rattling away.  We called Harvey off with some urgency, and he actually chose to listen to us! Approaching the hole, we saw that it was a snake and he was trying to warn us off.  Thanks to an excellent camera lens and zoom, my mom was able to get this great photo of the snake:


Then, last week, Jeff and I were walking Harvey on our road when we encountered another snake, right along the side of the road.  This one was fairly close to the house.  Again, we called off Harvey.  This time we went back for the shotgun.  I was glad Jeff was with me to help take care of it-- my shotgun skills leave much to be desired.

A few nights after that, I went out to take Harvey for another walk and didn't even make it down our driveway to get to the road before I heard the telltale rattle.  Right in our driveway this time! The nerve! I calmly called Harvey back and we loaded up into the pickup for our little stand-off with the snake.  I drove up to him and stared him down.  He stared me right back.  It was like the prelude to a shoot0out in an old Western movie! All at once I took my shot, which was flooring it in the pickup right over his sorry, squirmy little body! I heard him rattle like crazy and as the dust settled and I backed up to survey my work, I discovered he was not dead at all.  Just mad.  No one wants a mad rattlesnake on the loose!  I backed up and went at him again... Harvey in the passenger seat looked at me with panic, I'm sure.  This time I definitely injured him, but he was still down there, coiled and angry.

By now, I was more or less in a panic myself because I couldn't seem to kill the little bastard.  I am quite certain I looked right at him and blathered loudly, "Why don't you just DIE!?!"  Then I did what any sensible farm woman with marginal shotgun skills and a healthy fear of rattlesnakes would do, feminism be damned, I went and got my husband, who promptly dispatched of the snake in two quick shotgun blasts.  His head flew over the pasture fence and his body blew to smithereens.  Harvey let out a bark as the dust settled again and we went back into the house.  We'll show him!  Should've strung up the rest of his parts as warning to his brethren not to mess with this yard!

And I turned on the TV to watch a little mindless drivel and take my mind off the night's adventure and what was on the first channel? Snakes on a Plane! I just can't win! Now that I've completely convinced you all that I'm a sadist, at least when it comes to rattlesnakes in the yard, let it be known that new neighbors of the slithery, snaky variety are NOT WELCOME! Anyone of the human kind who would like to visit is welcome any time. ;)

An Iowa Visitor and Foreign Relations

It is always nice to have visitors to our house, especially visitors from outside the state of Montana.  It seems so rare when people visit, and especially (in this season, anyway) when they are not coming to hunt.

About a week ago, my brother came to visit from Iowa for a long weekend.  We picked him up on a warm (by Montana standards) Wednesday evening at the Great Falls airport.  Promptly the next day a winter storm set in.  The storm even earned a name: Winter Storm Brutus.  Personally, I felt it was a little tasteless to give the storm a name when Hurricane Sandy had just raved the East Coast. I mean, in Montana, we should be used to severe winter weather, right?

It took a little longer than expected for Brutus to make it all the way to our house. Frankly, I know the feeling.  Because of Brutus' delayed arrival, we had some time on Thursday to show Ryan around the farm and surrounding environs. It was his first visit to the HiLine, and his first visit to Montana in a non-summer month. It must have looked pretty bleak.  Cloudy, cold, and windy, the Sweetgrass Hills were completely obstructed.  Nothing but flat, grassy plains and stubble fields in every direction, and not many trees to break it up.

I think it's pretty in its own way.  Every time I drive around this area, I discover something different about it.  Perhaps it's a requirement to live here that one is able to see things in a different light, and be open to surprises. After all, the prairie is comprised of as many different types of grasses as there are personalities of its human inhabitants. To paint a cloud solid white is a disservice to the cloud.  Having visitors from beyond Montana reminds me to look deeper, and be thankful for what we have.  There is more here than it seems.

We took Ryan on a brief tour of the coulees to the north. Jeff took his rifle, so I think that actually made it a hunting excursion.  As seems to be the requirement for first time visitors to the area, we took Ryan to the Canadian border marker.

As we were leaving The Point where the marker is, we saw these guys driving around on the Canadian side of the fence, in full hunting garb. 

Jeff, being the neighborly sort of guy that he is, got out of the pickup and chatted with them for a bit.  Turns out they were from Lethbridge, I think. Not from the area directly across the border from us, anyway. Jeff said they had thick Canadian accents and definitely said, "Eh?" quite a bit.  I think Ryan was a little disappointed he didn't get the chance to observe interaction with real, live Canadians! 

At one point, the guys asked Jeff where the border fence was-  Jeff pointed straight down at the fence between the two of them.  No illegal border crossings on this day!  I think US-Canadian relations maintained amiably during this exchange.  Foreign Diplomacy at its most basic level! Needless to say, the fence between Canada and the US is not the same as the fence along our nation's souther border.

I think Ryan enjoyed his visit, overall.  Hopefully when he and my parents are back for Christmas, the weather will be grand and we can all have the Hap-Hap-Happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye! 

Hunting on the HiLine: Part 3

Many of you have emailed me or commented wondering whatever happened to my antelope tag... Well, first I have to apologize.  I misinformed you all.  I thought the tag expired last weekend, but it turns out I have one more week!  I didn't end up going out on Sunday.  I value sleeping in quite a bit, so I didn't get up early in the morning with Jeff and his buddy, and Jeff had to do work in the afternoon (Yes, farmers still do work during hunting season!)

So as of now, the plan is to hunt and hike pretty hard this coming weekend.  I have told Jeff that I will try to fill my tag.  He has a "monster buck" antelope picked out that I know he would love me to shoot.  We have joked that a nice big antelope head mount would make a lovely Christmas gift to my parents... ;)  The saga continues!

In addition to Jeff's buddy coming up from Bozeman to hunt this past weekend, Jeff's cousin was here as well.  She is interested in learning to hunt ethically and safely and Jeff was a great guide.

Sunday night Jeff and I and his parents were invited to a dinner party in Rudyard. It was hosted by some friends of Tom and Carol in honor of the hunting guests they were hosting.  Seems like around here everyone loves a party and also everyone is very inclusive.

There has been some discussion that perhaps too many licenses are being awarded to this area.  Jeff feels our area is being over hunted and I think it bothers him some to see so many people hunting our otherwise sparsely populated area.  What's more, deer numbers are down this year anyway, but it seems as though numbers of hunters are up.  For people who are harvesting animals solely for food purposes this may not be a big deal.  If you only care about meat, you probably don't want a trophy buck anyway, and I have been told that whitetail meat tastes better.  However, with numbers of animals being down, especially for mule deer, it's probably time for Fish and Game to reevaluate the distribution of tags it awards.

Anyway.  Here's some photos from the hike I took with Jeff and his cousin through the coulees, looking for deer.  The lighting is not great, but I think you will get a sense of what the coulees are like around here.

We were well within bow range of a llama. 

Looking into a large coulee from the road. 

Our descent into the coulee.  Jeff, followed by his cousin. 

We startled these deer up and out of the coulee. 

We never did fill any tags, but it was a great hike all the same.
Here are some swallow nests built into the mud wall of the coulee. 

A fossilized item, probably petrified wood.  

A perfect perch for the nest of a large bird. Eagle? Hawk?

Looking toward another coulee, around sunset. 

The Hunting Lodge is OPEN!

With the arrival of our house guest this weekend, the hunting lodge is now OPEN for the season.

There are piles of antelope and deer around here, plus sharptail grouse and Hungarian partridge in great numbers.  Jeff is an excellent hunting guide and annually finds himself leading his friends and family members around the stubble fields and into the coulees in search of the next great kill.  Jeff is the Operations Manager and Chief Hunting Guide, but has told me we can all just call him Chief.  Usually, Jeff leads his friends to where he knows they will find big animals, and tries to encourage them to shoot one before he will take a chance.  After all, Jeff lives here and could hunt any time.  He wants to show his friends a good time and help make sure they get a good animal.

Now that I'm here, I have taken on the role of Logistical Manager of the hunting lodge.  I help with preparing food, general housekeeping, occasional transportation of the Chief and patrons, and other miscellanea.  Of course we don't charge our friends and family for room and board at our house during hunting season or any other time, but I like to think of it as a bed and breakfast and try to plan for delicious food and beverages whenever we will have company.

Right now is bow season (rifle opens in two weeks).  Yesterday our guest shot the first antelope buck of the season early in the day.  Today, they are out trying to get one for Jeff.  Sometimes I feel like I am living on the Sportsman's channel on TV.  The guys are so giddy about getting an animal, and will talk nonstop about the details of each shot taken.

Jeff is constantly trying to convince me I should hunt with them.  At this point, I'm more comfortable in my role as Logistical Manager.  That being said, I also think it's important to try new things, so I will give it a go some time this season, I'm sure.

Almost every weekend this fall that we are not in Bozeman for Bobcat football games, it is likely that someone will be staying at the Hunting Lodge.  I am looking forward to having visitors, and it is nice to see people who are so excited about being here.