January 2022 - 34

A short-tailed weasel, or ermine, pauses briefly with its meal before disappearing into the forest near Bondurant.
spend the winter navigating the insulated
world between frozen ground and packed ice
crystals, building this network of tunnels only
revealed to humans when the snow melts.
The ermine is closing in, and with a lunge it
has the vole in its jaws. With the vole quickly
dispatched, the weasel finds shelter to feast in
the white-washed world above. Its brilliant,
white coat makes it perfectly camouflaged,
unnoticed by a great gray owl silently scanning
the nearby forest. The ermine pauses to survey
the glittering meadow, as brilliantly bright as
the maze beneath the snow is dark.
A few miles away on the shore of a lake
another adept winter predator is on the prowl.
Its coat is a brilliant splash of color against the
monochrome backdrop of winter. The red fox
slowly picks its way through a fir forest, large
ears pricked intently. It, too, has zeroed in on
a vole, not by smell but by the tiny, scuffling
sounds of movement, dampened by two feet
of snow. It gathers its energy in its haunches
and springs upward, gaining enough height
to catapult its long nose deep into the snow
bank. Not quick enough - the vole sensed the
danger and scampered along the underground
labyrinth - the fox came up empty. Shaking
the cold snowflakes from its whiskers and fur,
it scampers back toward the lake's edge. It will
have to find a different breakfast.
The sun is well above the horizon now, its
A great gray owl scans a meadow for a possible meal as a light snow falls near Togwotee Pass east of Moran Junction.
34 | January 2022
watery light clearing a stand of cottonwoods.
The valley floor is clustered with small groups
of houses, smoke clashing with the frigid air

January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022

January 2022 - 1
January 2022 - 2
January 2022 - 3
January 2022 - 4
January 2022 - 5
January 2022 - 6
January 2022 - 7
January 2022 - 8
January 2022 - 9
January 2022 - 10
January 2022 - 11
January 2022 - 12
January 2022 - 13
January 2022 - 14
January 2022 - 15
January 2022 - 16
January 2022 - 17
January 2022 - 18
January 2022 - 19
January 2022 - 20
January 2022 - 21
January 2022 - 22
January 2022 - 23
January 2022 - 24
January 2022 - 25
January 2022 - 26
January 2022 - 27
January 2022 - 28
January 2022 - 29
January 2022 - 30
January 2022 - 31
January 2022 - 32
January 2022 - 33
January 2022 - 34
January 2022 - 35
January 2022 - 36
January 2022 - 37
January 2022 - 38
January 2022 - 39
January 2022 - 40
January 2022 - 41
January 2022 - 42
January 2022 - 43
January 2022 - 44
January 2022 - 45
January 2022 - 46
January 2022 - 47
January 2022 - 48
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/wyoming-wildlife-may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2024-e-edition
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-iak-special-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/dec-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/January2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/December2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/September2020
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