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Title
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Sidney, Banner County, Scotts Bluff, July 30-Aug. 9, 1911
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Date
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July 30-Aug. 9, 1911
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Creator
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Frank Shoemaker
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Description
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Sandhills Narratives
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Identifier
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27159
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Transcription
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35 the sand had come – a most interesting example of the formation of a blow-out, and much more striking on account of being isolated. I took a photograph of this sand-dune and the depression from a point half way up Hogback. Other blow-outs were visible to the west. Climbing up the west side of Hogback, we found rock swifts in possession of favorable buttes, turkey vultures circling about the summit, and old nests of Krider hawk in characteristic places. Our only zoological “take” was a battered specimen of Papilio zolicaon . The Wildcat Mountains were near by, but Hogback is higher, we had obtained the photographs we desired, and we concluded not to visit that point; but I got a good photograph of that diminutive “mountain system.” After coming down from Hogback we walked a mile out of our way to visit a pond, formed by the damming of Pumpkin Seed Creek. There was an irrigating outlet with plenty of cold, clear water, and my merry plunge into this, head first, just to feel the soothing touch of cold water, will linger in my memory as one of the summer’s most delightful incidents. Few mammals were observed in Banner County . I did not hear a coyote. The thirteen-striped gopher was fairly common on the plains, but not in the valley, though one or two specimens were seen there. One was observed during our drive from Kimball , standing up to a head of Oreochara and eating the seeds. Chipmunks were seen occasionally in the canyons. The only prairie dog settlement observed was within a quarter of a mile of Harrisburg , and was not extensive. While visiting visiting 3d Canyon one day Dr. Wolcott and I spent some time quietly collecting a species of leaf-eating beetle, feeding on low bushes growing in a ravine. We had reached a point where the bushes were quite thick, when we heard something moving near by and saw the bushes shake slightly. While we were watching to see what had caused it we heard a meow! not at all unlike that of an ordinary back-yard cat, and at our first step forward at full-grown and fluffy wildcat burst into the open and headed up the canyon at a terrific rate. I followed as hard as I could go, but with my own full consent to stop forthwith if the wildcat should do so. However, It was too badly scared to tarry, and my only reward was a fleeting glimpse or two of the animal as it rounded the turns of the canyon far ahead. We tried to find its den, or lair, or whatever it is that wildcats affect for domestic purposes, but a careful search along the canyon for some distance was without result. But we had seen a sure-enough bobcat, in perfect working order, and we were much gratified.
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Rights
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To inquire about usage, please contact Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries. These images are for educational use only. Not all images are available for publication.
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Is Version Of
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