This is a bull snake
We have seen a lot of bull snakes around the Ranch this year. This is good news--bull snakes are part of a healthy habitat. Unfortunately, bull snakes look a lot like rattlesnakes to most people. They hiss (or even make a rattling sound), flutter their rattleless tail, and try to make their heads look triangular when threatened. Bull snakes also do not suffer fools, and belie the myth that nonpoisonous snakes are timid. I admit that this guy was minding his own business a
Spring Flowers at the Lodge
Within a few weeks of the snows melting away, the first really prominent flowers of Spring arrive: Arrowleaf Balsamroot, a member of the sunflower family. Balsamroot is visible from the Lodge and throughout the ranch, and many of our walks take us by dozens of the plants on hillsides and southern slopes. Very pretty, and really makes you feel like Spring is here! Balsamroot was used by local Native Americans as a medicine for a variety of maladies and continues to be import