The Prairie is Alive and Thriving….

It seems that for the past couple of months I have been unable to fully concentrate on any one topic long enough to write a cohesive column. Starts and stutters, flitting like a butterfly from flower to flower, I begin a paragraph, only to second guess myself on the subject matter or how it will be received. Thus, I end up deleting all thoughts from the page much like an eraser makes chalk disappear on slate. And another week flies by with no words appearing under my heading in the BC News.

But not this week, by golly! I have deactivated the ‘delete’ button, turned off my favorite TV news station, told the kids they’ll have to wait for their kibbles, brewed a pot of strong coffee and (figuratively) placed Velcro between my derriere and the purple office chair! No matter what, you all are getting an “Off The Cuff” – straight from my heart, straight from my scattered brain cells.

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Thanks to several excursions of late, I am happy to report that nature continues to quietly flourish, flow and thrive in our county.

After having gone several years without seeing nary a one of them, I witnessed dozens of hummingbird moths seeking nectar among a plentiful pocket of bright pink clammy-weed flowers near a spring-fed pool of water north of town. At their winged sides and with proboscises buried deep in the same flowers, many monarch butterflies dotted the landscape. I was thrilled to be able to capture both flitting creatures through the lens of my camera.

At several locations I was surprised and happy to find numerous burrowing owls living within towns of oft cast as vermin but also resilient and playful prairie dogs. With very large and yellow eyes, with small bodies covered in gray feathers mottled with white spots, the owls were loathe to hang around when approached. They either hunkered down in the grass, disappeared down a nearby hole or quickly took flight, so I ended up with only one focused photo of the beautiful bird.

Upon close examination of each owl burrow in one particular town, I made some interesting discoveries. There were tiny bones picked clean and gleaming white in the sun‘s light. Perhaps they were once mice or small birds who had unfortunately found themselves caged in the owl’s sharp talons? Alongside the bones and scattered all about were left-over body parts of so, so many grasshoppers who hadn’t jumped fast enough or far enough when spotted by the keen-eyed owl. But most intriguing to me were the plethora of fuzzy black stumps which littered each burrow entrance. I instantly recognized them as tarantula leg joints only because I had just enjoyed a chance and photographic encounter with one such tarantula as it was slowly making its way across clumps of prairie grass at (oh, no!) another prairie dog town.

Across the county I spied several varieties of hawks, all of them soaring and sweeping across the blue sky caught between white cottony clouds. (How I longed to be one of them, if only for an hour!) And dotting the prairie were many singular and groups of the ebony-colored crow whose ’caw’ resounded across the peaceful silence of the prairie. Coming across the decaying carcass of one crow, I was surprised at how large their winged bodies actually are and how massive is their beak.

Then there were the two meetings held with members of the prairie rattlesnake community. The first session left the large rattler wanting nothing more than to escape after being captured and held (egad!) by a friend of mine while I scrambled for the camera. For better or worse, and after some excellent shots with the camera, the slithering slitherer was allowed to continue on his way across the pasture. The second session was with a small prairie rattlesnake who began rattling in fear that my tennis shoe clad foot was about to squish its body. After being prodded to perform photographic tricks by a stick held in the hands of another friend, the young snake obliged for just a few minutes before letting us know it had had enough, quickly winding its way through the tall grass.

Oh, yes! Whether birds or bees, snakes or prairie dogs, owls or coyotes, or the quick glimpse of an elusive swift fox running into the twilight, our county still holds within its borders so many of God’s uniquely crafted and precious creatures. And I hope that although I didn’t see one, the horned toad of my youth also continues to quietly flourish somewhere out there among the hills, the fields and the prairies of Cimarron County!

And then there are the herds of antelope now so often seen in all directions. As for one antelope in particular, one I spied several times through binoculars and with the naked eye? Well, that’s a story all of its own, saved and savored in my mind and heart, still waiting to be told!

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~ by Shelley Fowler on September 29, 2009.