Hardware Ranch

In the valley we have a temperature inversion, leaving the air rather dirty and the temperatures low. It seemed like the perfect day to be somewhere else, so we decided on a trip to Hardware Ranch. When we left home it was 17F in the valley. By the time we reached Hardware Ranch, 1000 ft. higher than the valley, it was 35F with clear skies and bright sunshine.

Hardware Ranch is a place where many elk choose to winter. They are fed there in order to keep them out of the valley where they are prone to eat farmers' haystacks and lose battles with cars.
From mid-December until March, tours of the elk herd are given with wagons or sleighs pulled by horses such as these lovely Percherons.



In the back of this picture, you can see a wagon load of visitors in the middle of the herd.



In the foreground of the above picture is an elk with spike antlers. They are the only ones where the antlers indicate an age. Next year he will have multiple spikes.



Most of the bulls choose not to winter at the ranch, but the ones who do come are pretty obvious by their antlers. We learned that antler size is not an indicator of age. Some members of the herd are tested for various illnesses such as tuberculosis and brucellosis. The elk are free to come and go as they please, so the number of elk there varies from day to day. Usually there are 300-500 there.



This fellow below was probably born last March or April.





It was a fun and interesting activity for the afternoon.