Big Horn Sheep Count [message #77163] |
Fri, 12 August 2011 12:20  |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724 Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Folks,
This has nothing whatsoever to do with IDL, except that I
wasn't doing anything related to IDL while doing it, but
I spent the past couple of days in the Rawah Wilderness
here in Colorado looking for Big Horn sheep as part of
the Division of Wildlife's annual sheep count. (I've
been doing it every year for the past 10 or so.)
Normally, we see sheep from a long distance away. In fact,
we usually need a spotting scope to separate the males
from the females for the count. But this year we ran
into a group of six rams who seemed totally unconcerned
by our presence. In fact, a couple of the younger rams
allowed us to get within 20-30 feet of them without
being concerned. I put a picture on my home page that
my colleague took with a small digital camera:
http:/www.idlcoyote.com/
The larger members of this group were HUGE and I'm not
sure I would have dared to get within 30 feet of those
awesome horns. I can see why these magnificent animals,
recently reintroduced into this part of our state,
are the mascot of the local University. :-)
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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Re: Big Horn Sheep Count [message #77234 is a reply to message #77163] |
Mon, 15 August 2011 10:15  |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724 Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Brad Gom writes:
> These sheep are a regular attraction at one of our nearby national
> parks:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCWg4UaJcGo
> When they live in areas where they know there is no hunting, they are
> much more tolerant of people. Outside of the park, you are lucky if
> you can get close enough to see one with a spotting scope.
Ah, this brought back a lot of memories. I spent my
formative years driving tour buses in Glacier National
Park and spent a lot of time in the pub in Waterton,
ordering two beers at a time, as I remember, so that you
always had one for the Queen, if she should show up!
I never saw Big Horn sheep there, but I did see a bear
or two running down the middle of the street as I
staggered back to the Prince of Wales hotel to sleep
it off. ;-)
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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Re: Big Horn Sheep Count [message #77235 is a reply to message #77163] |
Mon, 15 August 2011 10:07  |
b_gom
Messages: 105 Registered: April 2003
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Senior Member |
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These sheep are a regular attraction at one of our nearby national
parks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCWg4UaJcGo
When they live in areas where they know there is no hunting, they are
much more tolerant of people. Outside of the park, you are lucky if
you can get close enough to see one with a spotting scope.
At the 5 second mark you can see a particularly lucky tourist who was
only ~15 feet away from the duelling rams. Lucky, that is, that one of
the rams didn't decide to turn and give him a good bash on the
forehead..
On Aug 12, 1:20 pm, David Fanning <n...@idlcoyote.com> wrote:
> Folks,
>
> This has nothing whatsoever to do with IDL, except that I
> wasn't doing anything related to IDL while doing it, but
> I spent the past couple of days in the Rawah Wilderness
> here in Colorado looking for Big Horn sheep as part of
> the Division of Wildlife's annual sheep count. (I've
> been doing it every year for the past 10 or so.)
>
> Normally, we see sheep from a long distance away. In fact,
> we usually need a spotting scope to separate the males
> from the females for the count. But this year we ran
> into a group of six rams who seemed totally unconcerned
> by our presence. In fact, a couple of the younger rams
> allowed us to get within 20-30 feet of them without
> being concerned. I put a picture on my home page that
> my colleague took with a small digital camera:
>
> http:/www.idlcoyote.com/
>
> The larger members of this group were HUGE and I'm not
> sure I would have dared to get within 30 feet of those
> awesome horns. I can see why these magnificent animals,
> recently reintroduced into this part of our state,
> are the mascot of the local University. :-)
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
> --
> David Fanning, Ph.D.
> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.idlcoyote.com/
> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
>
>
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