Saturday Critters

Alpaca or Llama? I don't know how to tell them apart. Was a bit surprised to see them on a ranch where I normally see cattle and horses.

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Saturday Critters

Information below courtesy of the King Ranch website. 

"As a continuation of its leadership in ranching and cattle operations, King Ranch developed the Santa Gertrudis and Santa Cruz breeds of cattle.

In the early twentieth century, under the leadership of Robert Kleberg Jr. and Dick Kleberg, we were able to develop the Santa Gertrudis breed.

This breed is recognized worldwide as being able to function productively in hot, humid and unfavorable environments. In order to accomplish this goal, King Ranch breeding experts selectively crossed Indian Brahman cattle with British Shorthorns to develop an animal which is recognized as being 5/8ths Shorthorn and 3/8ths Brahman. In 1920, many years of experimentation culminated with the birth of Monkey, a deep red bull calf. Monkey became the foundation sire for not just a superior line of cattle, but for an entirely new breed. In 1940, the Santa Gertrudis breed was recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the first beef breed developed in the United States; it was also the first breed developed anywhere in the world in more than a century.

As a result of this early practice of linebreeding, Santa Gertrudis are especially adapted to crossbreeding. When ranchers and breeders use Santa Gertrudis cattle in crossbreeding programs, the resulting crosses yield high levels of hybrid vigor. Cattlemen who have used Santa Gertrudis cross females generally consider them exceptional animals.

Today, the Santa Gertrudis thrives in harsh ranching climates all over the world and is the most prevalent breed of cattle in Australia. The development of the Santa Gertrudis breed is a testament to the vision and persistence that have characterized King Ranch’s operations from the very beginning." 

Below is a Santa Gertrudis cow. She was recently purchased by friends of ours. She has a gentle personality except when their pup decides to get close. She chases the pup. Wish I would have taken video of their interaction. Pup was teasing, cow was not.

She has an M brand on her rump, so she has been named Marilyn. Marilyn is 4 years old and about 3 months bred. Looking forward to meeting the calf.

She was keeping her eye on the pup in this shot. In the background you will see the neighboring rancher's cattle having a free-for-all. The fence must be down somewhere.

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I haven't been to an auction in  years, but went to one today. A rancher had sold his house and property and chose to auction ranching equipment and two horses.

This is a palomino going for a test drive.

This is our friend watching the test drive and planning his bid.

This is the horse just before the auction started. He was nervous, obviously sensing something was going on.

While he was being ridden, his lady friend was upset, snorting, and pacing. She is a Fleabit Roan. Yes, I asked and was told that's the proper name for this white horse with brown flecks.

She was a beauty. She was sold first.

Our friend won the bidding contest. The palomino was loaded up and ready to go see his new home.

He is being turned loose in a section fenced off from the other horses. Nice shady pen.

Here he is getting acquainted with the other horses and Socks, the mule.

It was hot, but turned out to be a fun day. Now there is a new horse to win over with carrots and apples.

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All photos taken in Coal County, OK.

This fine looking Paint Horse found some tasty weeds on the other side of the fence. Hope he didn't scratch his neck on the barbs.

It came a gully washer last Wednesday. On the way to town we saw this turtle on the far side of the road.  

The first katydid I've seen this summer.

Love this critter. This is Gus. He loves riding in the truck, but hates storms. We are having another gully washer this morning. He's hiding under the table.

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Margo The Pig has obviously been cooling off in the mud.

 The red ants have taken up residence in our driveway.

Den needed new shoes.

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This deer was all alone down near the trees by the back pond. I took this shot through the kitchen window he/she was at least 1/4 mile away. It was busy eating and making sure no predator lurked nearby. Looking forward...

... and then behind...

...before he/she continued grazing.

Mr. Cardinal found a tasty morsel.

Three turtles and six geese.

Mr. Blue Heron kept me company at the park in Ada.

As did these domestic geese.

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Saturday Critters

My photo assistant, Gus, barked his "I've found a critter" bark to get my attention. I grabbed my camera and ran outside to find one lonely deer crossing the hay field. 

He was quite a distance away, but still stopped to pose when my assistant barked again. (zoom used on both pics)

Armadillos have always interested me because they are most often seen dead-on-the-road. However, since moving to Oklahoma I see live ones on a regular basis. I did like seeing them, note the past tense, until I woke up to my newly finished butterfly bush area torn to pieces. Mr. Dilly also dug several holes in the yard, removed some bulbs I recently planted, and almost dug a redbud tree out of the ground. Not feeling kindly toward armadillos anymore.

This is the culprit. He is living under our storage shed. (photo credit goes to DC who opted for a camera rather than the gun) I'm not sure which I would choose.

On a happier note, this little cutie pictured with pups Willie and Buddy, graduated high school a few days ago. Can't believe she is all grown up and off to college in the fall. Miss my little granddaughter, but am very proud of the young lady she has become.

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A baby Phoebe leaving the nest.

Cochise the mule.

Deer across the road from our mailbox. Gus likes to bark at them. When he does, they pose for the camera.

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Gus was so busy barking and patting himself on the back for finding his food lady a deer to photograph...

...that he missed his nemesis stopped a mere 6 feet away, THE RABBIT!

While on a back road ramble, saw this beautiful Leopard Appaloosa. I tried to get him to look up, but he was too busy nibbling on new grass and then a truck came up behind me. The nerve of some people. Actually wanting to drive down the road while I'm taking pictures! 

Mama and baby were grazing on new grass, too.

I stopped to take a picture of this guy. He looks like a rodeo bull. You know the ones that enjoy beating up cowboys. Today it appears he had a fight with some mud. I hurried on before he decided to have a fight with me. The fence didn't look very sturdy. 

This little guy was answering the call of nature, until he saw me.

Then he ran back to his mama for protection.

Have a wonderful weekend, and don't forget to check out all the other posts by clicking on the link below.

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The Week in Review

Saturday 12/16/17

Beautiful sunrise. 

Dust from a truck travelling south. We sure could use some rain.

Sunday 12/17/17

We woke up to fog. This is the view from my kitchen window while making coffee.

When I went back for a second cup, to my surprise, this was the view from my kitchen window. I asked DC if he knew we were going to have cattle grazing around us, but he hadn't heard anything. 

Unsure whether or not these cows were escapees or supposed to be here, I sent a text to our landlord. She said the cows were trespassing and they were on their way. 

Seems there was a gate open between this property and the property to the west (where they were not supposed to be either). They asked us to watch and if they went back through the gate to close it. 

Soon they wandered through the gate and DC went to close the gate. Gate successfully closed.

Later we rode over to BE and CE's house to see their new calves. On the way I saw a Blue Heron standing hip deep in a pond we were passing. I screamed for DC to stop and I hopped out with my trusty camera to sneak back. Sadly, he flew. As I was looking for another photo op at the pond, I saw DC motioning me to come and pointing toward the south side of the road. I sneaked back and saw this armadillo. Now they are normally dead on the road, but I have seen 2 live ones running across the road in front of me. However, they ran into the tall grass before I could snap a pic to prove they were alive. So I did not let this opportunity pass. I snapped several headless pics and then started calling out, whistling, and DC even honked the truck horn. Still that silly animal kept rooting. It was as if he couldn't hear us. Finally we gave up. But at least I had proof there are actually living creatures.

When we arrived, I found Little Bob inspecting the newly installed cattle feeder. 

And then I saw the new calves. Nice looking critters! Their names were still 37 and 38. The E grand kids will eventually name them. 

This is 38 enjoying the hay. Sadly, she disappeared sometime in the night. Now only 37 is left. Hopefully, 38 will turn up in the neighboring pasture. As of today, she is still missing.

Monday 12/18/17

We drove into town for breakfast and saw Scout guarding the perimeter at the EE ranch.

Tuesday 12/19/17

Laundry day. Since we are living in our RV for the winter, I'm remembering what it's like to do dishes without a dishwasher and do laundry at the laundromat. I drive 16 miles to a pretty nice laundromat, as laundromats go. I like to go early before the rush. It was another foggy morning with some rain.

Wednesday 12/20/17

It was overcast, but in the mid 60s, so decided to take Gus for a walk down to the back pond. He liked running and stopping to sniff all the strange smells and then running again. Being a city dog, he isn't used to the freedom. Gus is loving it here.

Thursday 12/21/17

Absolutely gorgeous day. Mid 70s. Had errands to run in town. On the way back I stopped by the Double E. They were hauling hay. 

Friday 12/22/17

Poured down rain all day. Braved the weather to go grocery shopping. Must have food for our Christmas meal. We will have a guest. In the evening, we were invited to a Christmas meal with friends. Fun time.

Merry Christmas!

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