Tracy delivered me safely home and sporting only a moderate layer of southeastern Colorado topsoil.

Our pronghorn protecting adventure ended with me gently coaxing some trespassing hunters from our preserve this morning while Tracy diligently took down license plates and descriptions. We were on our previously uneventful patrol when we saw a truck and camper top rumbling up the hill into the middle of one of our preserve pastures. They went straight past the clear “No trespassing” sign and continued inward looking for prey. We pulled in, I waved them down, and they left with a polite social lie about thinking they were further North. But they left.

Then we visited with other pronghorn protectors, visited some prairie dogs and burrowing owls, and made the long trek home.

Here is some of what we left behind:

Open range cattle enjoying the wind farm neighboring the preserve.

Valleys and buttes.

Scenic vistas.

A lovely spring.

Vast open land protected for wildlife.