Elk

Elk are social creatures

in a bullish sort of way.

Each Bull maintains his private harem,

and though he will not share em, he will fight to have his way.

Upon his head he wears the the family tree

displaying proudly all the branches of his progeny.

Wapiti, the native people say are just becoming civilized

and so they have to live this way.

Going Into Ketchum

Going into Ketchum takes the best part of a day.

You've got to stop at Atkinson's and the old Stock Pot Cafe.

The lumber yard is calling and what about Chateau?

It's just another run for Coca Cola and supplies

and sometimes if we're lucky a celebrity is spied.

We politely ignore them to protect their privacy

but what we'd really like to do is invite them home for tea.

Oh well, They will never know just what they've missed

by not knowing you and me.

The van is loaded to the brim and we're headed

up the canyon once again.

We hope to see a bear or better yet a moose, 

but one thing's for sure

and that's the fact that some surprise 

is always seen along the way

any time we go into Ketchum for the day.

Gone To Ground

Indians know and I have witnessed

how a fawn can vanish suddenly from sight.

It sounds impossible but when it happens

it's a strange delight,

I was riding on the ranch on a bright and sunny day

when a spotted fawn appeared. I tried to get a rope on it

but it vanished from my eye. 

Several cowboys I was with had formed a circle with their horses

but neither they not I could find a trace.

We searched and carefully looked around, 

but the fawn had "Gone To Ground."

Healing Water

I believe in healing water

that comes up through burning sulfur and deep black sand

emerging from the broken mountains

like a healing hand.

I've seen the Elk and Deer

wade across the chilly waters of a mountain stream

to drink from steaming hot springs and then lay down to dream.

Hot water from the earth is more than simply heated.

It is mother natures tea that's specially treated

from within her deepest seams

perhaps inspiring special visions 

fulfilling forest dream.

Major

Major was my buckskin, a tough Morgan horse.

He could tolerate a gun shot near his ear

or even biting flies.

He could stand and wait.

He could back up after opening a gate.

He could side-step up the steepest hill.

He would never bit or rub you up against a tree.

He was a true companion and a guide.

He was much much more than just and animal to ride.

Pseudopods

Pseudopods have got strange bods.

Their stomachs are their feet.

How would you do if your belly had to get you down the street?

Would you, like they, excrete a kind of special jelly

that would harden into spiraling shells of wondrous design

and help you move about the sea floor

even though you had no spine?

Would you think to make a snorkel along a spiral line?

Could you extend your days in logarithmic arrays

or created a crenelated shield to protect you from the waves?

Pseudopods do all of this and more and adorn the beaches

with exoskeletal accretions,

We call them simply "seashells" and collect them on the shore.

Puma

Puma, the mountain lion is a very hungry beast

and requires a lot of land to support his venison feast.

When cities expand, game recedes

and there are insufficient lion feeds

and so the lion must turn to tourists

a diet which is not the purest.

Golden Marmots (Rock Chucks)

Golden Marmots are the sexiest of varmints

hanging out among the rocks on long hot afternoons

they heat their little bodies to bring on sexual bloom.

And when the female of the species

wishes to arouse her mate

she flaps the little wings of her golden gate.

What's that you say?

Quite racy for a rodent even in this day!

Shrew

Today I saw a tiny shrew,

the first I've ever seen.

He has a small and pointed nose

but didn't look too mean.

I've heard that shrews are vicious

or is it that food, to them, tastes more delicious?

I wonder if the tiny corpse I saw today

was brought about by some delay?

Was the creature so polite he starved 

despite his appetite?

Snoopy

We had a wonderful dog when our children were growing up.

He was a super mutt. We met him as a pup.

He came in with a visitor and stayed for eighteen years.

He was tan with a splash of white and softly folding ears.

He was fearless, loyal and loving.

And when it came to bathroom chores 

we never knew where Snoop had been

as he went outside and hid his business like a sin.

He trained us very quickly to let him out and in

and on July the fourth at exactly 12 a.m. 1987,
the excitement of our family fireworks

brought him to an end.

Animal Answers

I sometimes see that animals are specific answers

to each of natures countless questions. 

Each species has it pleasures which are its source of hidden treasures.

Just as bees in sucking nectar pollinate the flowers.

so all the mindless species promote the growing world

Simply by their eating and excreting powers.

Wouldn't it be super if all our two legged kind

would furthers nature's purpose

without the struggle of the mind?

Could we simply by our breathing create a better clime?