Country Dogs are tough...

 Ella, pictured this morning, getting back to normal.

 Ella really enjoyed coming inside where it was cool.  You can see where most of the swelling had gone down.  This was about twenty-four hours after getting bitten between the nose and lip on her right side by a rattlesnake.

Here is a side view yesterday, Sunday.

Snake bite...

Here is a picture of the snake that bit Ella on the right side of her face today.  About six weeks ago I took her in to get vaccinated for just this happening.  Ella's right side of the face is quite swollen and I'm thinking she will be a sick puppy for a few days but my experience is that it isn't fatal.

Ella

 Ella listening for some distant dog barking.

Ella really enjoys taking a dip in the troughs.  Here she is making an exit.

Site where we lived at the ranch

When the kids were growing up this is where we lived for eight years.

What a difference some rain and a couple of weeks makes!

What use to look like a desert has greened up.

Ella helping work the water system

Ella, seen here is helping stir the water to clean out the trough.

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.

Yucca flowering, another sign of spring

I'm surprised the deer haven't began to eat the flowers off of this Yucca as they really like the blooms.

The Ranch is in bloom...

Spring is right around the corner. The first sign is the blooms on the brush.

Barney makes a long shot and gets a nice one.

Barney, a Louisanna native, is shown with his nice deer and guide / Outfitter Pete Ray with the results of a fun day and hunt.

Darryl and his deer.... what a shot!

It is that time of the year...

Lots of good ones still available

When a plan comes together

Put together a hunter that can hit what he shoots at, the right outfitter, the right hunting conditions, being in the right place at the right time, lots of luck..................and good things can happen.

Watching for deer

"Ella", my deer trailing dog is learning to help in the blind watching for deer.  The only problem is she gets so excited when she sees one she barks loudly.  She has learned to walk up and down the steps up into the ten foot blinds.