On a recent journey to New Mexico, Mary and I went on a side trip to locate the wild horses of the Bordo Atravesado Herd Management Area. It took us two tries, a trip to the BLM office and about 70 miles of gravel road, but we finally succeeded in locating them.
Unfortunately, it was overcast and near sunset by the time we spotted the horses. The photography was challenging, but the thrill of seeing these animals was undiminished by the lack of light.

Before we ever found the horses Mary and I were struck by the appalling condition of the range.
As you can see from the above image there is nothing for the horses (or anything else) to eat. These images were made in early September. I can’t imagine how the land will look after the winter.
Even the juniper trees were mostly dead. All the hills were bare. Lots of dirt, no grass and some cholla made up the majority of the range. Did you notice something else in the image of the dead juniper? That dark spot just in front of the tree trunk? A fresh cow pattie. A bit further down the road we found the makers of the cow patties. There was some grass here as it was in a wash which collects more moisture. However, the area along the wash was the only place with grass.
What are cows doing on a wild horse Herd Management Area? From a BLM website: “Under the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), BLM is required to manage public lands under the principles of multiple use and sustained yield. Managing use by cattle and sheep, together with wildlife and wild horses and burros, and a host of other uses is a key part of BLM’s multiple use management mission under FLPMA.” With millions of acres of BLM land in the West being grazed, do we really need to graze the land down to dirt? This is a perfect example of what Edward Abbey called “cow burned” land. This is public land, it belongs to all of us. Do we want it ravaged down to dirt so we can collect a few dollars?

I spend a lot of time in the outdoors by myself. Mostly in south Texas. I’m often asked if I’m afraid of insert whatever that person is afraid of. The truth is, at certain times of the year I’m terrified….of chiggers.

Other than these little buggers that hit and run long before you are aware of their presence, I feel the other common fears are overblown. The scariest creature on the planet is Homo sapiens. In the city or public parks you certainly should be aware of this menacing creature. On private land not so much.

Many folks are concerned about illegal aliens in south Texas. I’m not. Entering the country illegally is a big risk and often they have paid big bucks to a coyote to get them across the border. The last thing these people want is to draw attention to themselves. They want no part of you. They want to pass through undetected. That’s one thing I don’t fear.

As for non-human concerns, I feel the dangers are way overblown. Every instance of snakebite I’ve heard of, the person was messing with the snake. I suppose you could accidentally step on one and get bitten. Possible, but unlikely. The rattlesnake in the above picture was going about his business. He wanted no part of me, I had to provoke him into that photogenic pose. Yes, I was messing with him.:)

I already talked about javelinas in my last post. If I were a dog I might fear them, but otherwise, nope. Feral hogs are similarly overblown. I’ve encountered many in the wild and never had one act aggressively. I’m sure if I wounded or tried to catch one it would fight back. Every one I’ve seen in the wild ran off or ignored me.

I don’t know of a single instance of a wild canine attacking a person. I will admit large dogs scare me. Many more people are injured and even killed by dogs than any wild animal. Luckily I’ve not run across any out there in the brush.

There have been a few mountain lion attacks in the last few years. Not in Texas though. There are so few lions in Texas and the only way the ones that are here survive is by being unseen. They are extremely shy and elusive. I would love to see one.

So leave those fears in the city where all those Homo sapiens are!