A Colorado Summer

This summer, fresh out of college with my bachelor's degree, I took a position with the Nature Conservancy in Colorado. The internship is on a 100,000 acre cattle and bison ranch located in the San Luis Valley. The ranch is nestled between the mountains and only 15 minutes from the Sand Dunes here. It should be an interesting summer before I head off to California in search of permanent employment. Stay tuned....

Monday, June 26, 2006

BAR NI Ranch Hands!





Very exciting. I saw my very first wild bear on this trip! Of course he was walking across someone's porch, so a little of the magic was lost. But it was still very awe inspiring to see him. He is a little black bear cub and after I shot a few pictures of him he scurried up a nearby tree as if he was a squirrel instead of a massive bear!
The llamas were bought in South America by the business family and translocated to the ranch. They were just chilling on the patio when we woke up each morning. Hysterical.
The turkeys are wild. The ranch boasts 5 families full time which equates to 9 children full time. These kids, all ranging from 2 to 12, love chasing these turkeys. Poor little birds. It is like living with the fear of Thanksgiving every day of your life!
The horse is 29 years old and walks wherever he pleases because he jumps any fence they try to put him behind! Most days we ate our meals outside on a picnic table and he would just saunter over and wait for scraps like a dog.

2 Comments:

  • At 12:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    i can't believe that horse is jumping fences at 29--is that old in horse years? the bear is adorable and the llamas are creepy, do they have names or do they just get slaughtered for their meat?

    btw: your momma's a llama.

     
  • At 1:01 PM, Blogger Nichole Baker said…

    They don't have names, but they aren't on the menu either. I said your mama's a llama to this intern that was at the ranch with me and she had no idea what i was talking about. It is so sad how the younger generation has lost touch with the very important fundamentals of our culture!

     

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