September 2024 - 24

CANADA JAY
Grant Frost, senior wildlife biologist, Cheyenne
I was in the Black Hills deer hunting in 2021.
While driving down a U.S. Forest Service road, I
noticed a Canada jay flying by. I hadn't seen many
birds on the trip, so I stopped to check the area out.
After I got out I heard several jays calling a short
distance away. When I got close enough, I realized
the jays were attracted to the remains of a deer. They
would get scraps off the offal, fly off a short way and
return for more. When returning to the site, they had
a few perches they seemed to prefer to land on, survey
the situation and finish their return to the carcass.
Instead of trying to track all the different birds flying
around, I focused on a couple of these perches and
took pictures as they came in. I knew these birds as
camp robbers when I was a kid camping with my
parents. They are charismatic, and the cloudiness of
the day created a nice effect to show off their subtle
colors and bold characters.
THIRTEEN-LINED GROUND SQUIRREL
Mark Nelson, chief of planning and
special projects, Cheyenne
I estimated the temperature inside my pronghorn
blind near Chugwater was in the upper 90s, if not
100 degrees. The dry, crackling sounds of grasshoppers
seemed to add to the nearly unbearable heat.
My recurve bow stood propped in one corner of the
blind. I packed in my camera in hopes of getting
some photographs of a pronghorn coming into the
waterhole I was near. While no pronghorn showed
that day, I spent the time watching and photographing
red-tailed and ferruginous hawks as they soared
high overhead and observed the lower-flying northern
harriers as they searched for a meal. Timid Wyoming
ground squirrels would appear and then dash for
safety as one of the raptors flew overhead.
As the day cooled, a thirteen-lined ground squirrel
emerged and began feeding on seeds from weeds
scattered near the waterhole. Fitting, I thought, as its
genus name Spermophilus is Latin for " seed lovers. "
I was pleased when I took a photo of the ground
squirrel bathed in the evening's golden light. Not
only did the Latin name make sense, but the photo
captured why the common name of this little fellow
is the thirteen-lined ground squirrel. I counted it a
successful day in my ground blind.
24 | September 2024

September 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2024

September 2024 - 1
September 2024 - 2
September 2024 - 3
September 2024 - 4
September 2024 - 5
September 2024 - 6
September 2024 - 7
September 2024 - 8
September 2024 - 9
September 2024 - 10
September 2024 - 11
September 2024 - 12
September 2024 - 13
September 2024 - 14
September 2024 - 15
September 2024 - 16
September 2024 - 17
September 2024 - 18
September 2024 - 19
September 2024 - 20
September 2024 - 21
September 2024 - 22
September 2024 - 23
September 2024 - 24
September 2024 - 25
September 2024 - 26
September 2024 - 27
September 2024 - 28
September 2024 - 29
September 2024 - 30
September 2024 - 31
September 2024 - 32
September 2024 - 33
September 2024 - 34
September 2024 - 35
September 2024 - 36
September 2024 - 37
September 2024 - 38
September 2024 - 39
September 2024 - 40
September 2024 - 41
September 2024 - 42
September 2024 - 43
September 2024 - 44
September 2024 - 45
September 2024 - 46
September 2024 - 47
September 2024 - 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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