Welcome to our ranch near Canada's west coast in Beautiful British Columbia's West Chilcotin mountain region. Where calling the vet means hollering back at the house to bring your kit, new friendships are formed from the back of a horse and true fun for a five year old is getting a machete for Christmas. Where 'cutting the dinks off' has a totally different meaning than what first comes to mind, Muck Boots are a household name, a hand shake still means something and the coffee is always on.

Tuesday 13 February 2018

Winter has arrived



SO much snow!  Like much of British Columbia, we got hammered with snow.  It may not be a record for Anahim Lake, but it sure in a pain.  Especially with calving season looming around the corner.  Mum, Dad and Eli have been endlessly plowing snow and the height of the snowbanks is quite shocking.  The best photos are to be taken up at Six Mile because it is a relatively small area where the corrals are and the snow is piled as high as the tractors can get it.  I took the boys up there skiing, but my photos did not turn out at all, so I'll try another day.  

Love this one of Eli plowing snow with the tractor.  

 Not a great shot.  Was trying to get the crazy sky colors, but you get an idea of the snowbanks piled around.  Spring run off is going to be something impressive!  


Don't try this at home folks!  (I mean being so close to a moose.....try the skiing behind the snowmachine!  That's awesome.)  
I normally wouldn't stop the kids this close to a moose (they can be very dangerous).  This guy saw us coming from a long way away and calmly stopped to watch the show. We are hard to miss with me on the snowmachine, 2 kids on skis jumping snowbanks and a pack of dogs stampeding in every direction.  He didn't show any sign of being worried or aggressive (trust me, you know an angry moose when you see one!) so we stopped for a quick snap on the way by.  

My wee sheepies enjoying their morning treat.  

The 'Misfits' getting their morning treats.  These are the leftovers from last fall, ones that could not be sold due to size or injury.  They are all healthy and happy and growing well.  

I've seen more lynx in the past week than I've seen ever in my life.  So cool.  This little one was in a family group.  We saw 2 others and heard one more.  (Look up the noise they make on youtube.....eerie!)  Two days later I watched a big guy cross the meadow in front of my kitchen window, casual as you like.  So amazing how they can handle these snow conditions.  And now, yesterday and today again, I saw two young ones along the road to town.    
(Gotta brag just a little....we went into town today so Jackson could take his CORE written exam.  CORE (Conservation and Outdoor Education) is the course required to get a hunting license.  He rocked it and aced the practical part last week, so he is officially able to hunt (once we get our paperwork straightened out.)  Pretty proud boy, let me tell you what! 


Look at the snow!  We got more after this photo too.  This is Twinkie (aka "Big Momma"), with Fugly in the background.  They are wintering well.   

Hard to believe calving season is just around the corner!  
We will start moving and processing cows this coming week (retagging, vaccinating etc) and then it is basically time to start night checks.  We shouldn't start calving until early March, but somehow the cows seem to ignore the calendar.  They are jerks like that.  :)   

All the best folks.  
Punky   

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