Front Line on the Cedar War

     Rancher friends, Ted and Brian Alexander show how its done down in the Red Hills.  While Eastern Red Cedar is native to this area, the trees were originally confined to the deeper canyons where natural fire could not reach them.  Since the arrival of non-native Americans, fire has been suppressed.  So, cedars are having a heyday, encroaching on rangeland, depleting water supplies to streams and creating incredible wildfire hazards.  When they get this big, there's just one solution, cut, slash and either grind or burn.  Its a huge war being waged by a collaboration between several agencies, organizations and landowners.  The Nature Conservancy of Kansas is contributing as it can to help out in the battles.  But folks like Ted and Brian have helped lead the way...on the frontline of this War on Cedars!  While the video is fun, Ted and Brian will be quick to admit this is hard and long work!

(vid and production due to Brian Alexander with help from "Pop")

Red Hills Regalia

Can't make it down to the Red Hills right now?  Then let me take you on a little tour of the incredible wildflower display.  First, relax a bit as butterflies flit among the Purple Coneflowers.

Echinacea blankets a Red Hills hillside.  

A beautiful color variation of prickly pear cactus.  Yellow is the normal.

Serrate-leaved evening primrose and purple poppy mallow join forces to compete in the grand floral display.

St. John's Wort enjoys being guarded by stalwart Yucca and its alert flower stalks.

                     A Clouded Sulfur enjoys the nectar of Purple Coneflower--a symbiotic symphony of nature.

Big Gyp Big Time

     Big Gyp Cave is the largest cave in Kansas as far as size of entrances.  And it is in the Red Hills--gypsum country.  The Kansas Association of Biology Teachers had their summer field trip there this weekend and boy did they have a good time.  Led by the state's premier naturalist, Stan Roth, the group got to experience a special feature of the Kansas Outback that few have enjoyed.  Replete with legends about the James Gang, treasures, romance and wildlife, Big Gyp offers big adventure.  I've included some choice short video clips to give you a glimpse of this beautiful cave and its attributes.

Here's your first virtual glimpse of the size of Big Gyp

You could drive a semi truck into the entrance of Big Gyp

Stan Roth gives instructions to young and older as he has for nearly a half century.  These kids of all ages had a blast at Big Gyp.  

Pictographs such as the bison and eagle drawn on the ceiling of Big Gyp by some earlier century Kansan Native American are very rare in Kansas.  

Doting Doe

    Traveling in the Kansas Outback today revealed brand new twin white-tailed fawns--and their doting mother.  These little ones were probably less than an hour old when we discovered them.  As the doe licked them and encouraged them to follow her, she soon became agitated and we watched as she started chasing something away from hew newborn fawns.  Although I was unable to get decent video, we watched her try to kick a raccoon with her front legs and ended up chasing the coon to a tree where it climbed for safety.  The coon, which would be a threat to the little fawns, finally jumped from the tree and took off lickety split!

You just don't want to mess with a Doe White-tailed Deer when she has newborn!

Touring the Red Hills

     If you go on a Nature Conservancy of Kansas tour of the Red Hills you will see lots of cool wildlife, sounds and scenery.  But you will also participate.  On our most recent trip, the group got to experience a Western (Black) Rat Snake up close and personal.  Here, Ron, who is an experienced herpetologist and a tour participant, helps wrangle this beautiful animal.  

Ruth Palmer, our excellent group leader and special assistant for our Kansas chapter, even takes her turn at demonstrating proper snake handling technique. 

And here is our beautiful animal, found sunning on the red sand road on the Scenic Drive of The Red Hills just southwest of Medicine Lodge.  

There are so many things about the Red Hills to show but today the subject is our special serpentine friend who indulged us on a day he was just trying to soak up some rays.  I'm sure he's still quite warm and happy in the special place I call The Kansas Outback. 

Spring Collage in the Red Hills

Spring collage in the Kansas Outback.  

An Ornate Box Turtle male, with the red eyes and red marks on the front legs, welcomes a Red Hills morning in company of Stemless Hymenoxis.

A Virginia Rail emerges from hiding in the bulrushes to pose for a patient photographer.  This little secretive bird makes one of the strangest calls of all birds.  Here's a youtube site to hear and see this unusual bird: 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcv7HUxSeYY.  

Buckley's Penstamon and the Western Rat Snake are companions in the Red Hills.  They may be oblivious to each other but are fascinating elements of the incredible diversity of the Kansas Outback.

High Drama on the High Plains

     Severe thunderstorms are the biggest drama on the prairie.  They cause incredible damage, loss of property and life.  They also provide fascination and awe.  Thunderstorms don't always produce tornadoes, damaging winds, and suffering or grief.  It depends on which side of the storm you may be experiencing.  There's little can compare with the light and thunder show these climatic monsters can offer.  Here's a taste of the majestic cloud visiting us this evening.

     We do take these storms seriously.  But when it seems apparent we will not be sucked up into any swirling mass of cumulonimbus bluster, we simply enjoy some of nature's finest theater.  We sit on our porch eating homemade bread with butter and honey and drink wine.  Hooray for mother nature and her tempestuous tantrums --with due caution given for unfortunate loss and destruction of course.