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Where Species Shape the Landscape: The Comanche National Grasslands

Defenders of Wildlife·https://www.facebook.com/DefendersofWildlife·21 days ago
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To reach the Comanche National Grasslands in southeast Colorado, you’ll spend hours between a dusty windshield and a vast skyline. On the way, you’ll pass storefronts with names like “Cowpoke Feeds,” “The Buzzards Roost” and “The Historic Cow Palace Inn.” Image Jeffrey Beall/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) Once the pavement ends, there are sparse signs to guide you — just dirt roads and barbed wire fence lines crisscrossing expanses of grass. From this point on, it’d be wise to have a can of “fix-a-flat” at hand. And, don’t forget binoculars so you can spot the shallow “V” of a hovering ferruginous hawk , or the white flash of a bolting pronghorn. Or, if you’re really lucky, the dip-dance of a burrowing owl perched atop a dirt mound. Image Richard Reading Burrowing owls and prairie dogs have a symbiotic relationship. The owls often nest in the abandoned burrows of prairie dogs. The Comanche is a subtle landscape.…

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