Peggy's Patch Blog

This has nothing to do with beads but I wanted to share it.

During the winter in Cougar we have two elk herds that make nuisances of themselves. Most the time they stay in the wooded areas all around us, but this winter which was extremely long and hard, they were starving. Several of the neighbors tried supplementing their food supply, but there were around 200 of them total and you can imagine how much it would take to feed 200 full size horses and elk are bigger.
Long story, short, many of them died even in our yards once they had devoured everything edible. It was a sad thing and we were so grateful when spring finally came and there was food again. They were skin and bones, but about 17 of our 45 herd are still alive. The larger herd has gone to a higher elevation now, and we won’t know how many survived until they come back.
Last night at dusk, Rick and I sat in our back yard with our cups of coffee and watched the 17 grazing in the field behind our fences. What magnificent animals they are. Even though, they watched us closely, they stayed and ate. Now they are looking healthy but we noticed there were few yearlings and the old bulls were gone. While we sat watching, we heard the bugle of a baby. The grass was so high, we couldn’t see him at first, but soon we could see him romping next to his mother. I’m not sure how many babies we will have, but I’m hoping soon he will have many playmates and we can enjoy them frolicking in the field. No matter how bleak our “winters” looks, there is always “spring”.