33: including wild burros

Dear Friend,

Happy Birthday! Oh, it’s not today? Well, perhaps you can celebrate anyway, and if you make some happy wishes, may they all come true!

How has your world been the past two weeks? We hope that you and yours have been doing well. (My apologies for missing another couple of postings to you).

We were dog/house sitting and enjoyed our stay with Miss M while her people were on vacation. She’s a Sweetie-Pie English Yellow Labrador Retriever with a great sense of humor, we love her lots! Her people are home now, and as of Tuesday morning, we are back on the road. (It’s always sad to drive away from Friends like Miss M).

We have taken Highway 50 East this time. Known as the Loneliest Highway, it’s also a scenic route through the high desert of Nevada and just so happens to run along the Pony Express Trail.

The overall landscape is dotted with salt bush and sage brush. Gullies and washes run through and around sand hills and rock formations, hinting that this high desert ground is not actually flat.  The scenery is framed by hazy slopes and peaks of distant mountains, beauty is everywhere and, even though it might not seem like anything ever happens in the desert, there is actually a lot going on.

We stopped Tuesday night at a BLM dispersed camping spot along SR722 off of Highway 50.

It was getting dark when we arrived and with no phone signal, we opted to wait until morning to set up the Starlink. All of a sudden, the north/eastern sky was glowing red! Frank grabbed his camera. Who knew that we’d get to see the Aurora Borealis? The colors from our location didn’t last long, but, to us, it was an incredible sight!  

The remainder of the night was busy with car lights, coming and going. On a road like this, so out of the way, that much traffic was a bit strange. But things eventually quieted down and the next morning, we enjoyed a silent desert sunrise.

As we took in the scenery, we wondered about this bright golden tree outstanding in its desert surroundings. We knew it was a cottonwood, there should be water nearby. As we grew closer, it was clear that the tree was perched on a ledge in a deep gulley, water ran quietly in a stream below.

We saw cattle grazing several acres away, their tracks were on the ground, everywhere. We also saw deer tracks and tracks made by other small, shoeless hooves… (wild burro, maybe)… rabbit and coyote had been recent visitors, too. A pair of hawks hung out near the tree probably discouraging any visits from crows or migrating birds, at least for the time being.

Also present, (but not pictured), the corpse of a cow, reduced to a hide-covered skeleton. Its bleached-white bones had been carried short distances away by other animals and were scattered in all directions.

On another walk out to the desert, Frank found an old, rusty, dumping ground. In the desert, it isn’t unusual to come across piles of old garbage. Sometimes parts of the items (like their paper labels) have decomposed, but cans like these can be around for 100s of years.

Argh, that’s even faster than they predict plastic bags to decompose… another weird, human problem. What do you think in terms of a pollution solution… Recycling? It doesn't happen everywhere. Any other ideas?

Our next destination was a place where wild burros are known to visit. This campground, also BLM dispersed, is situated near several outlets of a hot spring.

People do soak in the springs but we didn’t. (For me, it is simple biology –  hot springs are home to microscopic organisms, animal and human bacteria, etc… and there’s a decent chance that those organisms might not be friendly. In short, you can get sick if you have an open wound or if you get the water up your nose… the hot water feels wonderful but it’s a risk, like using a next-to-new toothbrush that someone else lost… hmmm... not today, thanks). Frank prefers to un-think such things in favor of a good soak, but even for him, these springs were too busy with hoof prints and remnants of being overly-peopled.  Besides, we were there to see the burros.

Burros were brought to North America in the 1500s by colonists from Spain. You’ve probably heard that they were used for mining during the gold rush. The wild burros today are most likely decedents of burros that survived after escaping or being turned loose. Anyway, there is controversy about these wild burros – some people would like them to be totally de-populated. Others want to protect them, and celebrate the contributions that wild burros have brought to ecosystems, specifically, the high desert.

“Contributions?” you ask, “Like what?”  Well, news to me, but when necessary, wild burros and horses can dig shallow ‘wells’ in the ground that provide water for themselves and also for other animals and birds.

If you’ve heard that burros are destructive, keep in mind that they don’t ‘mow’ the landscape down, they tend to eat small patches at a time which means that something is always left to grow. Their dung, rich in valuable nutrients, makes good fertilizer. (Not a small gift out in the desert).

And, burros are cute!

We watched them nibbling on the grasses growing next to some salt bush,

but at that time, they did not eat these apricot mallows...

or these goat's thorn.

In the short time that we were observing them, we saw that burros are resilient and patient, and it is apparent that they care about each other.

Yes, we saw their hoof prints in the hot springs... no, we didn’t actually see them drinking from the hot springs… but apparently, they do. And even though it makes sense that burros can, and do, dig ‘wells,’ I do wish that there were more sources of clean water for all creatures to access.

As I’m sure you are aware, in some areas of the country, wild animals, (including wild burros / donkeys, and horses), are struggling to find enough resources and open spaces to survive. More and more rescue organizations have been created that care for injured, and / or otherwise ‘dependent’ wild animals. One such place is a Donkey Sanctuary in Oregon which benefits not only the burros, but also human visitors.

Here’s a video about the OREGON DONKEY SANCTUARY. 

Our travels reveal many beautiful sights, places and creatures, but also allow us to see some sad and ugly parts of the world, up close. Long story short, every day is a chance for us human beings to do much better.  

We’re very grateful to have this opportunity to experience and share as much as we have, so far … and we’re looking forward to what’s up the road.

Thank you for being here to read Tracks by the Post. Please Write to Us when you get a chance. We always enjoy hearing from you!

Wishing you one of your most favorite weeks ever,

Gently Be,

Leslie and Frank