#8 Pinto the BlogDog - The Ranch!

       HOWDY FOLKS, Pinto the BlogDog here.  It's been a coupla weeks since I posted.  Sorry 'bout that.  Time flies when you're a workin' farm dog.  Since I posted last, we took a jog up to the ranch.  This is a place that TheFam has, up in the Palouse country of eastern Washington.  It's called Bald Butte Ranch, and I'm pretty sure, it's just like heaven.  It's a working place, and has both cropped fields as well as pasture lands.  And p-r-e-t-t-y!  Wow!  And w-i-l-d!  For a curious and intelligent dog like me, there's a never ending variety of smells and animals to explore.

The ranch has both cropped fields and pasture land

     So, Brodi didn't get to go, because he tends to take the exploring idea a little too far.  Last time we went, which was before the cold winter, he and I took off, chasing smells, for about 9 hours.  M'Lady was frantic, thinkin' we were lost, or eaten up by coyotes.  Sheesh!  We knew where we were, it warn't no problem!  But she doesn't like us to do that, so Brodi had to go stay with ClayMan, while I, the perfectly behaved, got to have M'Lady and TheBoss all to myself for 5 days!  Yesssss!

The bunkhouse, it's really small

 

      It's still pretty cold up there, so M'lady and TheBoss holed up in the bunkhouse, cozy by the electric
heater, reading, reading, reading.  B-o-r-i-n-g!  They would feel sorry for me, so they would put me out so I could romp and play.  But that was no fun at-tall!  I wanted to be inside with them!  Every time they would put me out, I would quick, go pee on a post, then immediately scratch to come back in.  I did that all weekend.  It took the edge off the boredom, I could check on things, to make sure there was no danger lurking about, then torment them into letting me back inside.  It was great!

Winter wheat is just coming out of dormancy.
It doesn't look like it has any winterkill

     We went on a coupla hikes, to see if there was damage from last winter's snow and storms.  No damage!  No erosion!  M'Lady and TheBoss were so pleased and relieved!  It's a wild place, and winter storms usually tears things up.  Like the snow tears up trees, roads and shrubs, and such.  But not this year!  Rancher Les, who keeps his cows on the ranch and farms all the fields, did a fine job preparing the butte for winter.

The pretty aspen grove

     So we were hiking along a narrow little deer path, up in the aspen grove and following along Aspen Creek.  M'Lady saw what she thought looked like elk poop, and she said, "That looks like elk poop."  The Boss stopped and took a good look at it, and said, "I think that looks more like moose poop."  No sooner had he said that when what stood up not 15 feet in front of us but a MOOSE!!!

What is this?   You guessed it!

     He was a yearling bull.  He had been napping in the creekbed and we must have awakened him.  He was scared of us, you could see.  He laid his ears back, looked square at me, and didn't move.  I was standing, of course, exactly next to M'Lady, and did I rush at him?  No, no!  M'Lady said quietly, quietly to me, "Pinto, stay, stay, don't move."  I didn't move a muscle.  I held the moose's eyes.  We barely breathed.  TheBoss said quietly, "Watch out for the mother, she's around somewhere, and she's the danger."  We held our breath and couldn't believe our eyes.

MOOSE!

     Finally, somebody had to do something.  We couldn't just stand there all day.  Without taking his eyes off of me, the moose walked past us, and then ran away fast up the trail and into the aspens.  We never did see his mother, who has a new calf with her.

The moose, running away

     The rest of the hike was amazing, looking at the new crop of winter wheat, the pretty views and vistas.  It was a wonderful day.

     Well, gotta go chase the cats, Charlie just came up the walkway with a huge mouse!
     Keep your tail waggin'!