This time of year, if I can’t be out in the wilds hunting, I find myself staring longingly out to the sides of the road when I’m driving across the state. It was certainly that way last weekend, when the family drove up to Ethete for the State Cross Country meet.
I’ve been a little disappointed at the numbers of antelope I’ve been seeing around Cheyenne, but after we picked Colby up in Laramie, we headed up Wyoming Highway 34 through the Sybille Canyon. We took that road because we needed to stop in Casper on the way, and I was glad for it, because we figured out where all the antelope seem to be. I don’t know if there were more of them out there than there usually are, but there were a lot more than what we’ve seen out in our neck of the woods lately.
But it wasn’t just antelope. We saw a few deer, too, and we got buzzed by a golden eagle. Closer to Wheatland, a bald eagle was riding the thermals over the highway.
Even on the Interstate from Wheatland to Casper, it seemed like there were more critters to see than I’ve seen in a while. And when we got into the Riverton area, we started finding sandhill cranes.
Sandhills have always had a special place in my memories, because we tended to get a lot of them in our fields each spring and fall as they made their way either north or south on their migrations. As cool as it is to see a bunch of them in a field, though, it’s even more amazing to watch those birds coming in for a landing.
I still hope to get out in the field at least for a late-season weekend or two, but until I get out, I’ll have to make do with watching the wildlife from Wyoming’s highways.
