Teen had made it by means of its most weak time, surviving the primary winter of its life.
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I’ve seen this horse earlier than.
It was only a child again after I first noticed it practically a 12 months in the past however now it’s practically as large as its momma. How do I do know this is similar horse? Properly, just a few methods. However largely due to its beautiful, creamy white coat.
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And its squinty blue eyes.
The abrupt return to winter the earlier week had introduced a number of snow to the foothills so I figured I’d higher go take a look whereas it was nonetheless there. However I used to be in for a little bit of a shock.
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Sure, there was a number of snow however not wherever close to as a lot as I believed there could be. Whereas I had near knee-deep snow within the yard of my palatial mid-city mansion, out within the countryside it was nearer to ankle. Nonetheless a superb blanket however not fairly what I anticipated.
It was fairly, although. It had fallen virtually straight down with no wind to blow it into drifts and it draped like a mushy, milky-white sheet over the panorama. The snow on the still-frozen — or perhaps re-frozen — ponds and lakes was completely uniform, barely marred by the tracks of passing animals.
Away from the water our bodies, the snow cowl was slightly extra chaotic with grass and shrubs poking by means of. But it surely was additionally supplemented by frost that had fashioned as the skinny blue mist that hazed the mountains on the western horizon crystallized onto practically all the things. At the very least it wasn’t too chilly. Sure, it was chilly round -4C however not bone-numbing. And as I drove alongside, the solar was discovering cracks within the morning cloud cowl to shine by means of.
The spring-fed trickle of Beaverdam Creek over towards Madden was tinkling together with pairs of mallards swimming in its circulation. And although they have been few, I noticed new blades of inexperienced grass alongside the shore. Up the highway on the south aspect of the creek valley have been ponds with open water of their centres and I may see backlit wisps of mist rising from flowing springs additional down the way in which.
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The open pastures have been coated very like the ponds with recent snow stitched with tracks. However right here I may truly see — and listen to — what made them.
Gophers — Richardson’s floor squirrels — have been operating round in every single place. Although the snow cowl was nicely previous their low-slung bellies, they have been negotiating it of their regular humorous hip-hop trend, bouncing from burrow to burrow or scratching within the snow to get on the grass under. Ravens have been perched on the fenceposts hoping to catch one unaware whereas a bald eagle sat on a snag on the far finish of the sector hoping for a similar factor.
I may hear the ravens croaking and the gophers whistling as I shot my footage however out of the blue, a multi-voiced yipping got here from someplace close by. It was coyotes, a pair of them, barking forwards and backwards. Swinging my large lens round to attempt to discover them, I managed to select one out over within the subsequent pasture however as quickly as I did, it took off operating. The way it knew I used to be taking a look at it from that distance, I don’t know.
With the day warming properly, I saved heading north and west towards the Dogpound Creek valley. Up right here, the snow was a bit deeper and the ice on the ponds and streams a bit extra persistently frozen. Cattle and horses needed to paw slightly farther to seize a snack whereas the gophers that I knew needed to be there appeared to have determined to remain of their burrows.
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Deer have been everywhere. Simply previous Cremona, I discovered a trio of them out in a stubble subject, two does and a younger one. Like typical whitetails, they have been nervous as I finished however they caught round lengthy sufficient for a few footage earlier than bolting.
The panorama shifts fairly shortly from farmland to forest out this fashion so I quickly discovered myself surrounded by bushes. Down within the valley of the Little Pink Deer River the snow was even deeper than it was again in my yard, a pleasant complement to the water flowing downstream as soon as it begins to soften. And up among the many pastures alongside Huge Prairie Creek it was simply as deep there, too.
Stopping to take footage of the water burbling alongside beneath the ice, I noticed recent footprints. Unsure who had made them however I feel it may need been a mink, perhaps even a few them. They definitely weren’t gopher tracks though there have been dozens of them operating round in a pasture shut by. A vigilant bald eagle was watching them so I’m fairly certain the little rodents wouldn’t have strayed that far.
The roads have been getting sloppier as I rolled additional west. With the temperature now nicely above zero, the packed snow was beginning to flip into slush and due to the mud beneath, I needed to put the truck into four-wheel drive at a few locations the place I finished too near the sting of the ditch. The climate was nice. The driving not a lot.
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So I made a decision to go to the open nation within the Grease Creek and Harold Creek valleys west of Water Valley if for no different purpose than to search out extra constant roads.
I really like the willows over this fashion and the willow flats beside the highway within the Harold Creek valley are notably good. Large spreads of crimson stems cowl acres of beaver flats and they’re notably beautiful presently of 12 months with the reds intensifying as they arrive out of their winter torpor and the little catkins start to pop.
But when I believed the roads over right here have been going to be higher, I used to be mistaken.
Despite the fact that it was breezier and some snowflakes have been being blown in from the darkish clouds hovering to the west, it was even hotter right here within the valley. And being out within the open, all that packed snow on the highway was now simply unfastened slush.
The truck saved getting yanked forwards and backwards as I alternated between patches of mud and snowmelt making not solely the driving tough however the observing as nicely. Despite the fact that I used to be going slowly, scanning the roadsides for something attention-grabbing was practically inconceivable as I attempted to maintain the truck between the ditches.
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However then I noticed the horses.
They have been ferals, wild horses that spend their lives out right here within the foothills. And I knew they have been wild for a few causes.
Whereas they’re, technically, home horses which have bred and multiplied with none human affect, they only look wild. There’s one thing about their alertness, the way in which the carry themselves and transfer by means of the open, unfenced panorama and their unkempt manes and tails that simply says, yep, we maintain ourselves with none assist from you guys.
The opposite purpose I knew they have been wild is … I acknowledged them.
Manner again final Could, practically a 12 months in the past, I used to be on this identical spot and I got here throughout slightly band of wildies. The stallion was dappled white and blond with a darkish forelock and he was accompanied by two mares, one a sorrel and the opposite a creamy white. A fourth horse, a youthful stallion, wandered round slightly farther away.
However essentially the most putting horse was slightly foal perhaps a month or so previous. It was pure white, with white eyelashes and hooves and pale, pale blue eyes.
And now right here it was once more, together with its household, barely 100 metres from the place I’d final seen it virtually 11 months earlier than.
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It made me so comfortable that it was nonetheless right here and, apparently, wholesome.
I don’t know if this little man is a real albino however the lack of pigment that made it so white is mostly not an excellent factor for long-term survival. For sure, white animals actually stand out from their atmosphere — issues like white birds and polar bears excepted — so they’re simple for predators to focus on.
However this teen had made it by means of its most weak time, not solely secure from the cougars and wolves that may attempt to take it — thanks, little doubt, to its vigilant household — however surviving the primary winter of its life. It stuffed me with pleasure to see it once more, this time heading into its second spring.
I continued down the highway till the frustration of coping with the slush and dust turned overwhelming, so I made yet another cease the place the creek runs by means of a collection of willow-choked beaver ponds — needed to hit four-wheel drive to get going once more — after which circled. It wasn’t till I hit the pavement nearer to Water Valley that roads turned tolerable.
However I used to be again within the slush once more over by Bottrel and needed to shift the switch case yet another time to tug away after stopping to {photograph} the open water on Dogpound Creek. Good to see it flowing, although. And fairly full, too.
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Trying again over the Dogpound valley, I may see the snow clouds that had been up Harold Creek have been spreading to the east so, though I knew any snowfall could be scant, I began to slop my approach again to city.
However I needed to make yet another cease for the eagle.
It was perched on an influence pole consuming a gopher it had simply caught and didn’t actually appear to care that I used to be taking its image. I even had time to alter lenses. However when it did lastly fly away, gopher nonetheless grasped, I took a sec to take a look at the photographs on the digital camera.
It had a deformed beak. Despite the fact that it had the white head and tail that made it no less than 5 years previous and seemed completely wholesome, its decrease beak was twisted to the aspect and flat, extending out previous the hook on the higher aspect. Judging by the gopher-age on the beak, it may need made consuming slightly powerful but it surely bought the job finished.
An attention-grabbing finish to an attention-grabbing day. It nonetheless felt like winter, again once more after a stunning begin to spring only a week earlier than. However perhaps subsequent week shall be spring once more. Who is aware of? That is southern Alberta and presently of 12 months, something is feasible.
However I do know one factor for certain.
As soon as springtime does come, I’ll be again to search for that little white horse once more.
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