cleaning house

i was cleaning out my camera memory cards last night, and forgot i had these photos i took just north of jackson on the national elk refuge on the drive back from pocatello, idaho almost a month ago. it wasn't a very nice day - cloudy and dim - but this is what i ended up with.

immediately north of jackson is the national elk refuge, where hundreds of elk spend the winter, seen at a distance in the first photo. usually there are bison, as well, but this winter was so open - meaning there wasn't a lot of snow in the area - the bison didn't come out of yellowstone national park, which lies just to the north of the refuge. 

and the elk were all very far away, so these are also taken through my zoom lens, which isn't the best at extremely long distances.

but it was pretty - hard not to be in that country. there was no sign of spring when we went through the second week of april.

everybody's favorite predator to hate. in the park they don't run at the site of a pickup, because they haven't been shot at 9438672408 times already.

i don't know about you, but the men i hang out with around here keep a rifle in their pickup, and if they so much as glimpse a coyote while driving through their pastures they slam on the breaks, whip the rifle out, whistle at the coyote for him to stop, and take as many shots as they can.

it's  akin to a housewife trying to rid her kitchen and pantry of mice. you see, the thing is the coyotes are very prolific - they reproduce at amazingly successful rates - and they're hard on livestock. even with all the ranchers' efforts, they're kind of like prairie dogs and mice. there will always be another to take its place. and they're very, very clever.

this is the last you see of the tetons before dropping over the east side of the winds on togwotee pass and down to dubois.