Barn Bats at the Bottoms

     There's a new apartment in the old barn at the TNC Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve.  It's reserved for bats.  Staff from The Nature Conservancy recently "remodeled" a room in the old structure in hopes of attracting bats.  Ken Brunson, Red Hills Project Coordinator, and Rob Penner, Manager of the Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve, collaborated in sealing off an interior room leaving a small entrance for access by these flying mammals.  While an occasional bat would use the structure for roosting, this construction project was designed to make an attractive room for a possible maternity colony of Cave Myotis, Myotis velifer.  The barn is several miles north of a latitude known to harbor the furthest northern recorded maternity colony for this species.   So in a way, this is a pro-active move to perhaps accommodate the species if it follows a northward trend as indicated by other animals, perhaps in response to known changing climatic conditions.             The idea comes from observations of this species along with a few others utilizing interior graineries of old barns for winter hibernacula (winter roosts) as well as for birthing areas for females.  Fairly common in the Red Hills, this species is found in caves as well as old houses and barns.  The problem with this particular room, though, was that it was too open.  So with a small amount of materials and effort, we made a bat condo--hopefully.

The big barn is a landmark at the Cheyenne Bottoms Preserve.  While providing habitat for barn owls,
wood rats, raccoons, opossums, barn swallows and a
number of other small animals, it offers enough space to hopefully include a summer colony of Cave Myotis bats.

Armed with a generator, pressed wallboard,
and assorted hand tools, the bat men went to work.

Although the "bat room" was on an outside wall,
hopes are that insulating the outside wall will help
with appropriate thermal regulation to attract
female Myotis bats.

Rob puts finishing touches on the
human entry door to the "bat room."  

As observed in a similar barn further to the
south, we hope to see this sight in our bat condo
in the future.  Cave Myotis migrate to summer
maternity colonies in mid-April so if we are really
lucky, perhaps we'll see some bats finding this
special place soon.

Anatomy of a Prescribed Burn

     Prescribed burn season is fast approaching.  A relatively early burn in the Red Hills started things off.  The "Barby" burn was planned early in order to beat the green up of some cool season grasses to improve the effectiveness of the fire.  A main goal was to try to finish killing as much of the salt cedar in the bottom land as possible.  Improvement in the warm season grasses  and available forage for cattle is expected and it will improve conditions for wildlife.  The images take you through the process of a prescribed burn.

Keith (in the burgundy shirt in the middle) is the Fire Boss and goes over the burn plan assigning everyone their respective duties.

Everyone fills their sprayer tanks and goes over last minute plans and conditions.

Brian tests the drone which will be handy in observing the burn from up high.

The first ignition is a test fire.  If the fire behaves as expected, the burn begins.  The landowner, Bill Barby in the black cowboy hat, strikes the first match.

The backburn is ignited on the downwind side.  Plenty of water sprayers are available to make sure the fire stays on the right side of the fire break.  

Once a sufficient amount of black from the backburn is allowed, the headfire is ignited from the upwind side.  You can see the adequately mowed fire guard  and the water trucks laying down a wetline so that the fire goes with the wind and doesn't creep backwards.  Jess is using a drip torch to string the head fire.

As the other igniter, Ted gives some instructions.

Sometimes, old pieces of equipment can be a hazard with vehicles trying to maneuver around smoky ground.  However, this picturesque old drill sits on the edge of the field and out of the way.

The fire roars through salt cedar (Tamarisk) in the river bottomland.

The cows all came over to see what the heck was going on.  

Postscript:   The Result

 The resulting fire may look ugly but come back in another 6-8 weeks and see how lush the undergrowth is.  And hopefully, some or many of the Salt Cedar and some Eastern Red Cedar will be gonners!  And the work isn't done yet.  The area is patrolled for a day or more to make sure any breakouts or restarts can be extinguished as needed.                                                                                                                                                            Photo by Bill Barby. 

Feathered Freeloaders

Winter snow storms bring many feathered visitors looking for free handouts today.  Can you blame them?  With the recent welcomed snow and moisture, birds take advantage of available offerings.  

Living anywhere else could certainly be enjoyable.  But without Northern Cardinals around, it would feel like something is missing!  Here, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and House Finches join the feast.

Geese love the "waste" seed left in milo fields to help get through the hard times.  Here, Snow Geese, White-fronted Geese and Canada Geese join forces.

Even a big tom turkey comes by for easy pickings.  A cardinal was caught in this shot flying in for same.

And in completing the feeding frenzy, our semi-tame Greater Roadrunner, Gerry, gets his portion of meat.  These little carnivores occasionally may catch a bird near the seed/suet feeders but generally are looking for winter mice as well as our human handouts of deerburger to get through the tough times.

Prickly Puzzle

     As a departure from the regular natural fodder I present in this blog, this post is a little different.  This will be an effort to solve a natural puzzle.  I came across this interesting plant, or what's left of it, in a pasture in the Red Hills.  I first noticed the whitish figures in a clumpy mass raised above the soil surface.  Giving it a kick with my boot, it was easily extracted.  Examining it further, I noticed spines around the bases of the white, circular forms.  My first thought was that cattle in the pasture had eaten some yucca leaves clear to their bases.  But the small spines present implied otherwise.  Something definitely had chewed on this plant--some tough critter that can handle spines.  What's your idea about this natural mystery?  The plant?  The animal involved?

The whole clump had spines at the base of each of the circular features.  This is obviously a plant and suffered at the demands of a hungry or deranged animal.

Closer up, you can see the spines around the bases of each plant or part of the plant.  All the parts were eaten to their bases.  

Song of the Red Hills...and more

Oh give me a home, 

Where the buffalo roam,

And the deer and the antelope play,

Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,

And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Still Cave and Chester's secret legacy

     In a very secluded draw in a very secluded spot in the mysterious area around Sun City in Barber County, there's a small hole in the gypsum rock.  It leads to a history of intrigue, disaster, mystery and profit.  Decades ago, Chester (full name withheld to protect any possible need)  invested in a fair amount of time, energy and financial expense to hide his secret--a whiskey still. Back in a day when moonshining was a business which had to be hidden from authorities, it wasn't unusual for certain entrepeneurs to use caves to hide their operations. There are other accounts of Gypsum Hills caves being used in this fashion.  But this is a pictorial account of a very special and aptly named, Still Cave. 

As for most caves in the Red (Gyp) Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma, the way in is often a crawl or squeeze for a normal- sized human.  Still Cave offers a bit of a wider opening, big  enough for distilling equipment.

A copper tub probably held corn or oats for the first step in the fermentation process.

Lee Ann stands next to the natural shelf holding the parts of  the legend of Still Cave.

The author shows the head of the distiller that was the heart of the operation.

A pressure gauge.  Was this one that malfunctioned causing an explosion that gave Chester some very serious burns?  

What do these old jugs contain?  Hmmmmm don't think I'll sample them!

Still Cave--just one intriguing story of thousands from the enchanting land of the Kansas Outback--the Red Hills.
                                                                                                Some photos by Lee Ann Brunson

Winter Waterfall

The winter season yields such pleasure

to prairie pilgrim much to measure

frozen scenes of sparkling sight

capture moods of charmed delight.

I chance upon this icy scene

mesmerized by frozen sheen

of crystal waters splashing forth

sculpting beauty from hidden source.

A frosty, sunlit winter play

dresses up a drab display

of barren, dormant, river trees

fed by hurried flow, this winter stream.

Such freezing, flowing water show

harmonized to please my soul

I'm hopeful of every passing year

to again enjoy such beauty here.