During the summer, cows move into the community. For a few months, their mooing and bellowing is about all you can hear unless you adjust your ears. The birds and mammals are still here, but they seem to step back, literally and figuratively.
The dogs, horses, and I got to help round up the cows. It was good fun and more than a bit challenging. Only Peeko, the rescued heeler mutt from the streets of Roosevelt, Utah, seemed natural to it. Peeko absolutely rocked.
At least one older coyote perished this summer. I saw its dead body near a culvert. With the cows gone, younger ‘yotes are out in force now. They’re mousing, eating grasshoppers, and learning the ropes of the community. There’s a ban on shooting and hunting in this neighborhood, so they start out nervous around vehicles and people, but become less so as they grow up.
Mammals:
Black Bear (cinnamon)
Coyote
Woodchuck
Mule Deer
Cottontail Rabbit
Brush Mouse
Pocket Gopher
Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel
Rock Squirrel
Prairie Dog
Skunk
Raccoon
Elk
Chipmunk
Abert’s Squirrel
Birds:
Rufous Hummingbird
Broad Tailed Hummingbird
Yellow Warbler
Indigo Bunting
Chipping Sparrow
Say’s Phoebe
Downy Woodpecker
Lewis Woodpecker
Nuthatch
House Sparrow
Red-Winged Black Bird
Canada Goose
Mallard
Townsend’s Solitaire
Red Shafted Flicker
Steller’s Jay
Black Capped Chickadee
American Crow
Common Raven
Scrub Jay
Magpie
Turkey
Great Blue Heron
Dark-Eyed Junco (and its many varieties)
Ringed Turtle Dove
Rock Dove
Mountain Bluebird
Western Bluebird
American Kestrel
Bald Eagle
Turkey Vulture
Red-Tailed Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Starling
American Robin
Great Horned Owl
Rufous Sided Towhee
Nighthawk
Common Poor Will