BITTERROOT RANCH

November 2008

Bayard spent much of last winter writing a book about the history, the people and the changing seasons of the Wind River Valley. He teamed up with a French photographer, Claude Poulet, who loves this part of Wyoming and has been coming here for years. Their magnificent effort has just been published and the very attractive coffee table book, "Wind River Country, Hidden Heart of Wyoming" is now available on the Bitterroot Ranch Web site.

Just a reminder to those of you who are interested in visiting us at the Bitterroot in 2009: if you book and pay your deposit in 2008, we will honor this year's rate, a saving of $150.

We are all hunkered down here waiting for the serious cold to begin. There have been a few heavy, wet snowstorms, but generally it has been mild and the animals are all doing well, enjoying the peace and quiet.

The Fox Family -- Bayard and Mel, Richard and Hadley

May 2008

More wildlife conflicts here at the ranch, which is sad and a sign of stress, due to the prolonged drought and exceptionally long, cold winter.

A grizzly came to the garbage outside our house one night; we were alerted by the dogs barking and could see it in the moonlight, trying to find something edible. It was back again the following night; this time the bear left quite quickly, but not before we observed an impressive charge towards the dog kennel! Unfortunately, the next morning we discovered the mayhem it had caused in our old milkshed. The doors had been ripped apart like matchsticks, seed oats were scattered ankle deep on the floor and the grain bin lid was open. At this point we called the Wyoming Game and Fish. We had stallions in pens, weanlings and in-foal mares scattered about the vicinity. They came immediately and set a culvert trap, with a road-killed deer leg for bait. The next night it was the same story with the grain. The following day the Game and Fish biologists installed an electric fence around the milkshed and set a snare attached to a stout tree, since this bear was obviously wise to traps. In the morning he was caught; a magnificent 720 lb male!

He was tranquilized, and with all of us pushing and pulling was loaded into the trap. It was a relief to see the last of him, although we are grateful he fixated on garbage and grain and did not molest the livestock at all. We now have a new summer project for the maintenance man: bearproofing all our feed stores. We had become too complacent and feel guilty for inadvertently luring this beautiful animal away from his natural habitat.

The Fox Family -- Bayard and Mel, Richard and Hadley

April 2008

It has been a long, cold winter in Wyoming and we haven't seen the last of it yet. The good thing about this is that there has been more snow than we have had for years, which will bring back the wild flowers this spring. One heavy snowstorm came with a strong wind which resulted in huge drifts all over the ranch; we had to get in a snowplow one day and backhoe the next, just so that we could get around to feed the animals.

Our poultry, especially the peacocks, who persist in roosting outside all winter long, have been decimated by a bobcat. Mel saw it one evening and the dogs gave chase, but unfortunately the bobcat was not intimidated. Attempts to trap it have failed, but it has been slowed down for the moment with a radio playing in the barn all night and the remaining peacocks have removed themselves to the large spruce trees across the river.

A handyman has been working hard this winter on spiffing up the lodge; sanding the hardwood floors, remodeling bathrooms and installing an acoustical ceiling in the dining room.

Spring will be here soon and we look forward to many more good times with you all in 2008!

The Fox Family -- Bayard and Mel, Richard and Hadley

photos by Rebecca Burnitz

December 2007

It was a great relief to have finally had some rain in the latter part of the summer and we have had more moisture this fall than we have seen in several years. We were particularly worried in July when a lightening strike started a fire on the Indian Reservation just a couple of miles away. A bomber with fire retardant was circling around and a helicopter was collecting water from our reservoir – “It is just like being in the movies” – was a comment from one of the staff!

Our cattle roundup was unusually difficult this year with the cows tucked away in all sorts of nooks and crannies and not wanting to come home. We had a sizable loss due to the wolves, who even had the audacity to take down a large 3-year-old bull.

Bayard and Mel will be spending December riding and sightseeing in Kenya and Tanzania, while Tracy takes care of the ranch. Alex is in Jackson this winter working as a personal chef. Richard and Hadley will be moving into the house Walt has been renovating on the farm for the last two winters. They are planning on a North Carolina wedding in early May.

We wish you happy holidays and hope to see you in 2008!

Bayard, Mel and Richard Fox

April 2007

We are coming to the end of another long, very dry, but cold winter. Snowpack is well below normal, which does not bode well for haying and grazing this summer. Bayard and Mel spent most of January riding and sightseeing in India, including spectacular tiger viewing from elephant back in Kanha National Park. We flew back via Bangkok and also visited Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which we would recommend to everyone who has a desire to explore wild, exotic places which were once centers of amazingly sophisticated civilizations.

Richard, who was guiding a safari in Kenya, was rained out of the Masai Mara so at least the desperately dry conditions in that area have been resolved for now. The Serengeti/Mara ecosystem is under consideration as one of the seven wonders of the world due to its “uniqueness in providing for so many wild species living in harmony.” We are planning a land rover safari to the Serengeti in December and hope that some of you might join us.

Walter Woodhead, whom many of you will remember as our dependable maintenance man for the last 7 years, will be marrying Mandy Pretty, niece of Linda Tellington-Jones, on May 5th. She was a wrangler at the ranch last year and both will be returning this summer which is very good news for us! There will be many more familiar faces among the staff and we look forward to spending time with a number of our old guest/friends soon.

Mel, Bayard and Richard Fox