Quail came up on my post with a chukar. I knew I had a photo of quail but it got lost in a bit pile. So I pulled out a bit shovel, dug around in the bits, and there it was.
There are a lot of these little critters around these parts ... in spite of a neighborhood full of cats, dogs, coyotes, and other such that enjoy a good poultry meal.
This article over at ZeroHedge ("These Are The States With The Highest Freeway Fatalities") is summed up in its last sentence. Presented by a law firm, the article concludes: "“It’s time for decisive, proactive measures that prioritize lives over speed,” the spokesperson added."
“States like Wyoming, New Mexico, and Missouri consistently see alarmingly high rates of interstate freeway crashes. Factors such as long rural stretches, high-speed travel, and limited visibility often create dangerous driving conditions that put lives at risk every day.”
They present "statistics" that imply Wyoming has the highest fatality rate "per 100,000". Wyoming having little population, vast regions of open territory, and two interstate highways carrying heavy - non-Wyoming residents - inter-state travel, it's easy to develop numbers showing Wyoming is the most dangerous ... but limited visibility? In some places maybe, but in others you can see 15-20 miles ahead. To say nothing of "rural" implying low traffic density.
I-80 - Wyoming
Wyoming's population is under 600,000. If there are 6 highway fatalities in Wyoming, that's a "death rate" of 6 per 100,000. That could be a singe bad accident. Six highway deaths in California (pop about 40 million) wouldn't even register. There are about 20,000,000 people in NY. It would take 200 deaths for NY to have a death rate of 1 per 100,000; 1200 to "match" that 6 per 100,000 in Wyoming.
(reported actual numbers for Wyoming: 31.6 average fatal crashes per year/5.4 crashes per 100,000 between 2019 and 2023. No report of number of fatalities per crash).
Here's where they get down to it: "The law firm called on policymakers to take concrete steps, recommending a stronger highway patrol presence, improved road lighting and signage, and the use of technology to monitor high-risk zones. Public education on speed control and defensive driving was also highlighted as a critical need."
I've driven every Interstate of the west and many back east. I'd suggest I-75 in Kentucky, or I-66 in Virginia, or I-95 most anywhere, or I-90/94 in Chicago, or any highway near Atlanta are far more dangerous than I-80/25 in Wyoming or I-90 in Montana. Though I-70 in Missery can be interesting, especially near St Louis or Kansas City.
Damn! I'm not fond of the direction people with too much power are forcing "technology" on to those with not enough. Too late to change it though.
I'm not a hunter but ... "Idaho offers some of the best chukar and gray partridge hunting in the West, not to mention robust populations of California quail. Chukars are typically found in rocky, arid areas covered with cheat grass and sage brush."
Half my property is sage covered. Smells nice, especially after a rain. I have groups of coveys of quail - 25 or more per covey sometimes - wandering around the homestead. Ground dwellers for the most part. They seem to prefer running to flying but capable of both. The cats catch one or two but I suspect that's the quail's fault because usually the coveys are very attentive. Not so many chukar immediately close by but pheasant and sage hens make a rare appearance. Need to dig up a photo ... but this is about chukars.
"Chukars are not native to North America, having been introduced from Asia, but they have thrived in the arid, rocky slopes of the western states."
"The Owyhee Mountains in southwest Idaho provide some of the state’s best chukar hunting opportunities. This remote and rugged range along the Idaho-Oregon border has an abundance of chukars. The chukar population here thrives thanks to the plentiful water sources and steep, rocky slopes."
"The birds are hunted across the dry, rocky Columbia Basin, especially in the vicinity of the Snake River in Washington and Oregon." Not sure why this source doesn't mention Idaho - the majority of the Snake is in Idaho and forms much of the border with Oregon.
Pretty bird. Tasty I hear but doesn't seem to be much meat on them, particularly if needing to pick out shotgun pellets.
Even though I'm more or less due north of San Diego, southern Idaho is on Mountain Time. For that matter, Mountain Time (in the US) extends 60 miles west into Oregon. Nevada to the south is on Pacific Time as is northern Idaho. So sunset is an hour later than it would be considering our longitude (near 117W).
Between Tom's trouble posting a comment image and ghostsniper's success in doing so, I dug a little deeper into the problem. It appears that images in WEBP format can not be inserted (huh???) but jpg can. Also acceptable: BMP, TIF, GIF, PNG.
Please keep images sizes to a max dimension of 800 px (and/or under 1M) or it may exceed the size limit.
One of those late spring/early summer days that couldn't make up its mind as to which it wanted to be: cool, warm, cloudy, clear. Decided to take a drive "around the block" - this particular block being about a 25 mile drive.
The May flowers were in bloom and not an internet site to be found anywhere around.