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Tag Archives: chipmunk

The Cutest

I didn’t get to see too much wildlife in the California desert but there was this adorable tiny ground squirrel (or chipmunk) that entertained me at my campsite for part of an afternoon. They would sit on their rock and then make a mad dash through some vegetation and grab something out of the gravel and race back to the rock and eat it like an ear of corn! I could not tell what was being eaten but it must have been pretty good. I confess, I am easily entertained and I must have spent an hour watching and photographing. I tried to figure out the species but had no luck. Maybe someone else knows?

Basalt and Junipers

From the lands with few trees and granite and then sandstone, we drove to the land of basalt and junipers. Lots of junipers. So many that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is cutting down or pruning many of the junipers. I don’t know why – maybe to ease fire danger or provide more rangeland for cattle. I really like the junipers. They seem to grow right out of solid basalt with little dirt. There were some cottonwoods and willows along the river.

We camped south of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southern Oregon. It’s a very pleasant campsite with a river on one side and a spring-fed creek on the other. We were next to the creek. The dogs loved it. They could cool off any time they wanted. We toured the refuge and some areas around it and also walked and walked, right from the campsite. It was a very relaxing place.