September 2021 - 5

MAILBAG
JUNE RAINS BRING BACK MEMORIES
I enjoyed Tom Reed's " The rains of June " in
the June 2021 magazine. It brought to mind a
quip from my late uncle, Ray Holmes, who spent
his life cowboying on ranches in Wyoming and
Montana and was featured in the 1981 Odyssey
series documentary titled, " On the Cowboy Trail. "
" My favorite season of the year is the month of
June - a good, wet June when the wildflowers are
out and the cattle are belly-deep in grass. To me,
that's about as near-heaven as I ever expect to be. "
Bill Workman
North Logan, Utah
STATE BIRD QUESTION
I am writing this as a 55-year-old lifetime resident
of this great state. I was perusing through the latest
and greatest Wyoming Wildlife magazine where it
listed the state symbols. I am curious to know if
many people in this state agree with the state bird
being the western meadowlark? It is a beautiful bird
with a wonderful song. However, it spends very little
time here. It spends our winter months as far away
as Argentina. Meadowlarks show up in my neck of
the state about May 1 and journeys south in early
September.
One of my favorite songbirds, the black-capped
chickadee, remains here year-round. According to
what I have read it goes into a state of hibernation
during the cold, winter nights. This bird has two
different beautiful songs.
FISH TALES
Our readers help us celebrate
Fish Fridays at facebook.com/
wyomingwildlifemagazine.
Visit our Facebook page to contribute.
Just wondering if anyone else thinks of the
Meadowlark when we hear the term " snowbird? " I
don't believe I could consider myself a resident of this
state if I only lived here for four months of the year.
Chancy Brown
Riverton
Chancy,
I think meadowlarks would certainly have to buy a
non-resident fishing license. On the other hand, they are
born in Wyoming, which not all of us can say. You have a
point, and there are other species that could be nominated
by that criteria: nuthatches, juncos, song sparrows, etc.,
but I would venture that there isn't another bird as widely
recognized by sight or song as a western meadowlark.
- Grant Frost, Game and Fish biologist
VEDAUWOO MAILBAG
I was prompted by the letter in the May 2021
mailbag to write this letter. I was stationed at Francis
E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne from 194852.
Vedauwoo was called Pole Mountain Reservation
at the time. I climbed those rocks in the summer and
went skiing there in the winter. We gave the U.S.
Army's 809th Engineer Battalion a huge sendoff
picnic at the Pole Mountain Reservation.
More recently, the January 2021 issue of your
magazine was my wife's sanctuary from boredom
while in therapy and rehabilitation from an injured
leg. She truly loved the pictures.
Otto W. Wagg
Butler, Pennsylvania
GET IN TOUCH
Address letters to wyomingwildlife@
wyo.gov or Wyoming Wildlife, 5400
Bishop Blvd., Cheyenne, WY 82006.
Please include your name, city and
state. Letters may be edited for grammar,
typographical errors and length.
Letters selected for publication
represent the volume received on any
given topic and their relevance to
recent issues of the magazine.
You can also send us a
message through our Facebook
page at facebook.com/
wyomingwildlifemagazine.
CORRECTIONS:
The Wyoming Game and Fish
Department employee in the
photograph on page 14 of the August
2021 issue is Dick Saul, a former
waterfowl biologist for Game and
Fish. The people on page 15 are
unidentified.
Submitted by Heather and Joe Luzmoor
Submitted by Duane Christensen
Submitted by Mark Glades
Submitted by Jeff McDonald
Wyoming Wildlife | 5
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September 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2021
