Just a quick note to let everyone know that a new winter conditions memo has been posted this week. It can be read on the Billings Field Office’s PMWHR website or by clicking here.
We have had relatively warm, and windy, weather this week. I have been planning to be on the Range this weekend, but the forecast is calling for snow. I’ll be back later this weekend with more information!
Yesterday was a really warm day compared to the weather we had been having. Temperatures were in the high 30’s and maybe even in the low 40’s. Today, temperatures are definitely in the 40’s. There was still a good amount of snow on the Range yesterday, so I stopped at the Burnt Timber entrance of the Range and snowshoed further in. I headed out to the area where horses have been often sighted lately. The area consists of alternating ridges and canyons, and so it isn’t the easiest to move around in.
I first saw Lakota’s harem. Lakota, Blanca, and her foal Kalispell were about a quarter of a mile from Quelle Colour and her foal Kohl. They were all down in a broad drainage area in between two large ridges. There was at most about three inches of snow here. The forage wasn’t great, but it was better than what they were eating when Jared saw them last week. They were about a mile and a half north of where he’d seen them.
Lakota
Blanca
Kalispell
Quelle Colour
Kohl
Another memo on winter conditions has just been released by the Billings Field Office. It can be read on the Office’s Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range Information website or by clicking here. As you will read, “there is still an escalating problem, but no emergency.” Again, though, it is very important that the horses not be given any feed as this would do much more harm than good.
Also, I thought it would be of interest to everyone to know that this is Lakota’s harem (Lakota, Quelle Colour, black filly Kohl, Blanca, and dun colt Kalispell). The forecast for this weekend is much better than last weekend was, and so I plan on spending time out on the Range to see what I can find.
The Billings Field Office has released a memo regarding winter conditions on the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. This memo can be read on the Billings Field Office’s Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range Information website or by clicking here. I would highly recommend reading this memo.
As you can see, the situation is not an emergency; and the Billings Field Office will continue to monitor it so that proper steps can be taken if it does become one. In the recommendations section, there is discussion about the importance of not feeding the horses. This is a relevant topic in the area now due to major efforts to feed a number of horses on property near Billings. However, it is very important that feed not be brought to the horses right now by the public. If supplemental feeding is needed, it will take very careful planning and a lot of work to ensure that it doesn’t do more harm than good.
PryorWild 