Big Horn Sheep

April 24th, 2016

Big Horn Sheep

One of the cool things about living near the mountains in Colorado Springs is that we frequently see wildlife. The office I work in is right against the foothills north of Garden of the Gods. There’s a herd of big horn sheep living in the area of the old Queens Canyon Quarry.

Occasionally some of the big horn sheep come down on the ridge behind work and along 30th street. Most of the time they are high up on top the ridge but occasionally they come down lower. On April 21st, 2016, 14 of the rams were out on the ridge behind work and I was able to get some photos of them.

Baby Robins

June 21st, 2011

This spring we had a robin build a nest on our downspout. She hatched 4 eggs. Here are a few shots of the babies about a week before they flew away.

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Story of Frightening Attack

August 6th, 2010

Grizzly Bear and Cub

The details of a bear rampage at a Montana campground in the Gallatin National Forest near Yellowstone National Park last week showed that some commonly known precautions for camping in bear country worked and some didn’t.

A grizzly bear killed one man and injured two people as they slept in their tents.  One of the victims, Deb Freele, said she woke up just before the bear bit her on the arm.  She says she screamed, but the louder she screamed, the harder the bear bit down.  So she played dead and when she stopped moving and screaming, the bear stopped biting, then left her tent.

Playing dead and not fighting back is one of the things wildlife officials tell people to do if they are being attacked.  In this case, it worked.  Campers are also warned to keep food out of the reach of bears because it increases the danger of an attack. In this case, all the campers had put their food in metal food canisters at the campsites but that didn’t stop this rampaging bear.

Wildlife officials don’t know why the bear or bears targeted three of the 27 tents at the Soda Butte Campground. They later trapped the bear and found her three cubs that were malnourished.

– Deb Acord

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Bears at Palmer Park Mountain Bike Race

May 22nd, 2010
Bears at Mountain Bike Race in Palmer Park

Today was the first race in the Ascent Cycling MTB Series put on by Sand Creek Sports. Mountain Bikers weren’t the only ones to show up. A mama bear and her 2 cubs wandered through the course during the Pro race during the afternoon.

I was out shooting photos of the race. My friend, Matt Simmons, was in 4th. I was expecting to come by and I kept waiting longer than I thought it should be. My first thought was he had crashed but no one else came by either.

All of a sudden my friend hanging out with me said to look behind. There was the mama bear and her 2 cubs walking across the course. They crossed a couple parts of the course and went down into a drainage.

Soon my friend came by along with about 7 other riders. By then I think the top 3 had a gap of nearly 10 minutes. In the end I doubt it made much difference if any difference in placing since the top 3 already had a fairly good gap.

Matt said he was close to the bears when he got stopped. The mama bear got up on her hind legs and was growling. He was happy when they moved on but knew they headed to where the course looped back. He wasn’t sure how long to wait to make sure he didn’t run into them again.

I also got several shots of the racers and will get some posted in the next day or two. In the meantime, here are a few more photos of the bears.

Update: I’ve uploaded several race photos. I’ve gotten questions about where I saw the bears. This map on SmugMug shows the locations of the bear photos.

Bears at Palmer Park Mountain Bike Race

Bears at Palmer Park Mountain Bike Race

Bears at Palmer Park Mountain Bike Race

Bears at Palmer Park Mountain Bike Race

Bears at Palmer Park Mountain Bike Race

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Toadwork

May 11th, 2010
Boreal Toad

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is looking for volunteers to help search for the elusive boreal toad in the high country.  Volunteers will be trained over two sessions – Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the DOW office in Salida, and May 22 on a field trip to a location known as toad habitat.

Boreal toads are small amphibians that were once common throughout the southern Rockies, but their population has steadily declined over the past two decades. They are now listed as an endangered species in Colorado and New Mexico, and a protected species in Wyoming.  They live between 7,000 and 12,000 feet. 

Go here for more information on the boreal toad including a sound bite.

For more information about becoming a volunteer, contact: Raquel Stotler, DOW Area Wildlife Conservation Biologist, at 1-719-530-5526, (raquel.stotler@state.co.us); or Jena Sanchez, DOW Volunteer Coordinator, at 1-719-227-5204, (jena.sanchez@state.co.us).

Deb Acord

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More Owl Pictures

May 10th, 2008

Today I took the kids to see if we could see the owls that I saw yesterday. Since they were close to our house, Danielle rode her bike and I took Cassidy in the Burley Trailer. We were able to find them. I was able to get at an angle where I could see that there are 3 owlets.

Thanks to The Nature Nut for commenting that the owls look like long-eared owls.

Owlets Along Monument Creek, Colorado Springs
Owlets Along Monument Creek, Colorado Springs
Owls Along Monument Creek, Colorado Springs

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