4.4" of rain at the ranch!

This stock tank caught the most runoff. All of the others at least have a puddle so it's a start.

The rains finally came...

Rains Friday and Saturday amounted to about 3.5 inches at last check. I haven't been inside the ranch to see if the tanks caught any water but the rain was a blessing for sure.

Where do all the alligators go?

Have you ever wondered how alligators have been around for thousands of years? Here is evidence of one of their tricks. During the winter when it gets cold they dig a hole in the bank and stay inside where it remains about 68 degrees. The same is true when their water hole dries up. Above are pictures of one's doing just such at one of my stock tanks which is the last standing water on my ranch.

One of the last blooms.

This is one of the last cactus blooms. It's also one of the prettiest. We are in a terible drought, can you tell?

My partner............... helping with the driving.

Ella thinks she needs to help with the driving. I have to remind her that I can't see the road when she does this.

One of the stops at the ranch

Smiles all around...

Pretty Blooms

Cactus flowers are in bloom. It is really a pretty sight. Look underneath at how dry is is though.

Country Dogs are the best!

They do eat a bit more though...........

They don't all make it.

There are lots of causes for deer deaths. I pretty sure this one lost the fight.

My ranch partner.

Ella doing her General Patton impersonation while riding the ranch in the Mule.

All but gone, sad

Buzzards wait to clean up dead fish.

Fence Building the new way

Remember digging a corner post hole four and a half feet deep and putting a corner post in. This is the new way.... drive them in. These were 2 7/8" pipe ten foot long. Next weld in the cross members and you are done.

Not very cooperative for posing

There aren't many flowers. It is too dry. We need a good rain.

Soon the cactus will be covered with flowers

This is a picture of one of the very first. It's time for nopalitos too.

March is when you have to be especially careful and watch for rattlesnakes.

I came across this snake while riding the perimeter of the high fence this morning.

Spring Turkey season is on

It's time to harvest a long beard

Snare caught coyote

Coyotes kill lots of fawns when they are babies in June, July, and August. In the spring we set snares in the holes they dig under the net wire fence to cut down some of their numbers so we can have a better survival rate.

Have you ever seen a wild hog cooked like barbequed chicken?

This hog was cooked with the hide on, washed and scraped of cource, ribs cut to flatten it out and cooked like only Pete Ray can. He has constructed his own real barbeque "pit". He builds a fire in the bottom and has a circular grate of expanded metal which he can lower to whatever height above the mesquite coals he likes. He kept a watchful eye as the meat cooked occasionally wetting it down with a mixture of olive oil and Coca Cola. The hide down cooking method really made for some delicious eating. Yep, the hide wasn't bad either.

Droughts in Texas.... not pretty.

A stock tank full of water is in many ways the center piece of a Texas ranch. When a drought occurs it is not pretty and the "tank" becomes a place livestock and wildlife can bog up to their bellies and die. Above are some pictures of both.

Oats growing in the senderos away from the deer blinds.

The fall planted oats still looks good despite not having normal rainfall.