August 21, 2012

2011 Ranch Update

This photo was taken January 30, 2011.  Here in Montana, we had a cold, long winter (as did much of the USA)... with lots of snow.  The antelope, running wild here in large herds, found it hard to survive.  They just could not dig to browse on the grass and brush of the prairie.  They moved toward the rivers and civilization in search of food. 
Here, a small bunch walked down our road (which was plowed) in search of something to eat.  The snow was deep enough that they followed the tracks made by vehicles or plowed roads.  THE AWFUL THING: even though some did find ranchers' haystacks and other livestock forages, the antelope population ended up dying by the thousands here in the middle part of Montana.  The hay and domestic livestock feeds did not provide what their usual diet of sticks, branches, brush, etc. provided.  :(

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