March 2023 - 44

" They find the blood is distasteful, " Walker
said, " and there's the shock value of it squirting
out. "
Short-horned lizards also give live birth
similar to the midget-faded rattlesnake and
prairie rattlesnake. It uses what is called viviparity,
where they hold eggs inside of them
and release them after they have hatched.
BURROWING OWL
Scattered around the eastern plains of
Wyoming are owls that don't live in trees,
but underground in prairie dog holes. Burrowing
owls - an apt name for the species
- are as small as a kids' foam football and
have bright-yellow eyes.
They spend the spring and summer tucked
deep in abandoned tunnels and emerge to
feast on grasshoppers, beetles and even mice.
In the fall they migrate south as far as New
Mexico and Mexico.
They're also struggling, victims of a double
war on grasshoppers and prairie dogs in
the nation's heartland. It's why Game and
Fish has partnered with other researchers and
volunteers for years to figure out not only
where they spend their time in Wyoming but
where they go for the winter and the travel
time in between.
GOLDEYE
Most people in Wyoming are familiar
with native fish like cutthroat trout, and
some may have even fished for sauger, but
few have likely heard of the goldeye. They
live in the slow-moving waters of the Powder
River near Montana, though they once lived
in the North Platte River.
The goldeye looks a lot like a herring and
is a member of the mooneye family. It has a
compressed body, a keeled belly and giant
eyes. While they're not classified as a game
fish, biologists say they are aggressive and
put up plenty of fight. Some even grow to
15 inches long.
Like many of Wyoming's nongame species,
the goldeye adapted well to its odd surroundings.
It thrived in the North Platte when
the river would rush in the spring and slow
and widen in the late summer. That's why it
still survives in the Powder River where in
portions of the summer the river is no more
than stretches of puddles. Puddles wouldn't
work for many of the state's fish, but the feisty
goldeye do just fine.
- Christine Peterson is a freelance writer based in Laramie.
She is a regular contributor to Wyoming Wildlife.
44 | March 2023
Burrowing owls live underground and have distinctive yellow eyes. (Photo by Tim Christie)
Goldeye are found in the Powder River in Wyoming (Photo by LuRay Parker/WGFD)

March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2023

March 2023 - 1
March 2023 - 2
March 2023 - 3
March 2023 - 4
March 2023 - 5
March 2023 - 6
March 2023 - 7
March 2023 - 8
March 2023 - 9
March 2023 - 10
March 2023 - 11
March 2023 - 12
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March 2023 - 25
March 2023 - 26
March 2023 - 27
March 2023 - 28
March 2023 - 29
March 2023 - 30
March 2023 - 31
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March 2023 - 33
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March 2023 - 35
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March 2023 - 42
March 2023 - 43
March 2023 - 44
March 2023 - 45
March 2023 - 46
March 2023 - 47
March 2023 - 48
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