Observing the Florence Wildlife

On the prairie, below the Southwest Front Range

The morning started lazily enough, taking time to harass a Western Kingbird and her chicks.  A rare opportunity to capture her and the new family members through the lens, without being attacked, lent a positive tone to the day.

In contrast, a ride over the hill found a more grim scene.  A new resident of the immediate area had indeed torched most of his land recently.  With a firm misunderstanding of the law related to illicit substances, he was also unaware, but mostly did not care, that the environment in this part of the country is much more combustible than the Ohio valley.

A little further down the road, eighteen holes waited, under blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and a crisp 32 °C.  Panoramic views of the South Front Range, the Pikes Peak Massif, and Wet Mountains served an inspiring backdrop for the day. 

Wildlife made an appearance here and there, completely ignoring our presence, and their immediate danger of being struck down by a stray ball. Mule deer are often found wandering about the grounds here, as if they own the place, along with the occasional antelope, coyote, prairie dog, rabbit, snake, tarantula, representative of any other day on the plains.

Transport for the planned expedition the following day required unexpected repairs.  A mysterious drain on associated energy cells needed some consideration, but ultimately remained a mystery. Inspected, restored and replenished, our party quickly moved on to repair that condition in our own physical state.

Attaining a sufficient level of sustenance, a quick return to base camp afforded an opportunity to acquire the best seating to watch the great burning orb in the sky light up the horizon.  The accompaniment of quiet across the surrounding prairie established a proper ending for a properly squandered day.

The rising moon glowed across the relatively blank slate of sky, offering time to contemplate the deeper meaning of life. Clouds were beginning to move in.  A rare occurrence of rain expected the following day seemed as though it might be more probable than usual.

Disrupting the peaceful moment, word of fire across the plains jolted the reverie, sending our party scrambling to inspect, and if necessary, address the situation.  The new resident got his head up in the clouds and carelessly ignited the range again.  The local Sheriff arrived in short order intending to discuss the matter with him, but said resident had vacated the area. Fortunately, he had taken a few moments to extinguish the aberrant blaze, before his departure.

The Sheriff found himself bound and gagged, lacking sufficient resources in the current global hysteria, and left having accomplished a lot of nothing. Our party remained watchful for quite some time after his departure.  Numerous bizarre and ridiculous stirrings occurred on the grounds of the nearby situation under observation, no new fires appeared.

Sooner or later, this new resident may very well find himself under observation in appropriately lit confines that are much less combustible, and for his own safety.  Folks out here have a keen understanding for the potential of fire, and are not particularly tolerable of those with no respect for law and order.  They have built an abundance of facilities in this part of the western prairie to contain such matters.

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Up Next:  The return to KC by way of the Twilight Zone of KS-4

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Further Reading

Western Kingbird
Audubon Field Guide

Sumo Golf Village
SumoGolfCourse.com