What's the weather like at your place?

[Mountain Cowgirl]

and you thought I was joking about searching for gopher wood and taking boat building classes. The young lady clerk at R&H thought I was joking asking for thigh-high irrigation boots and Wrangler Daisy Duke cut-off shorty shorts so short the bottom of the big W is cut off.

 

[Haytrucker]

Same rain leaked into the Nebraska panhandle, around 3 inches here also. Just a good soaking rain we haven't seen since '18. More than last year's total right here. Not a minute too soon, might be too late to help some of the wheat. Doesn't cure the drought but sure will help the grass last until closer to fall. It's impossible to over state how grateful I am that the whole year changed in 8 hours...

 

[Nicky]

It is crazy how fast things can change. So happy for all that are getting rain!

 

[gcreekrch]

Downpour yesterday, 15 celcius today. Spring is over tomorrow with late winter and more rain forecast. Got 80 heifer pairs hauled to grass, hope it stays dry enough to get the last 60 tomorrow.

 

[gcreekrch]

We should all be sending prayers for Hereford76 to get some rain. Looks grim there.

 

[Faster horses]

We should all be sending prayers for Hereford76 to get some rain. Looks grim there.

Where is Hereford 76 located? North central MT if I recall correctly.
I had heard it was still dry there.
for much needed moisture in that area. Sad that they didn't get any from
this last storm system.

 

[Nicky]

Where is Hereford 76 located? North central MT if I recall correctly.
I had heard it was still dry there.
for much needed moisture in that area. Sad that they didn't get any from
this last storm system.

Yes, that is where he is.

 

[Mountain Cowgirl]

78 here today with one light rain sprinkle this morning. It switches from sun to overcast every few minutes. Last evening it looked like a storm and we had hail and high wind warning. The wind hit, but no rain or hail. The storm was moving east to west which is reverse of the normal. It has been a very strange record-breaking year, but things are shaping up better than expected. I still can't believe the 6' high Foxtail or the 10' high thistles on unirrigated land. I saw the first red digger of the season on my walk this morning. Hard to believe it is June already.

 

[Faster horses]

78 here today with one light rain sprinkle this morning. It switches from sun to overcast every few minutes. Last evening it looked like a storm and we had hail and high wind warning. The wind hit, but no rain or hail. The storm was moving east to west which is reverse of the normal. It has been a very strange record-breaking year, but things are shaping up better than expected. I still can't believe the 6' high Foxtail or the 10' high thistles on unirrigated land. I saw the first red digger of the season on my walk this morning. Hard to believe it is June already.

Unbelievable! Can you take some photos? What kind of thistle? What is a red digger?

 

[Nicky]

Wowie, we got .30" overnight and .40" today. That is 2.35" in a week, unheard of for here. Very greatly appreciated. AND more to come tomorrow and the next day. Thank you Lord

 

[Mountain Cowgirl]

We got .5 at least overnight. Glad to see my mentally pushing this rain south has worked for you, Nicky. Glad to share half of it. Now if we can get a couple of half inchers per week all summer, that should make for nice pasture and put the Hot Shots out of work.

FH, Russian thistle I think. If it stops raining, I will take the ditch road and try to get a photo of Putin for you. Red Diggers are ground squirrels (gophers in a tux) and we call them red diggers because they have a reddish brown tone in places. Red Diggers, Rattlesnakes, and Rocks fairly well sums up Eastern Oregon desert country.

 

[Faster horses]

We got .5 at least overnight. Glad to see my mentally pushing this rain south has worked for you, Nicky. Glad to share half of it. Now if we can get a couple of half inchers per week all summer, that should make for nice pasture and put the Hot Shots out of work.

FH, Russian thistle I think. If it stops raining, I will take the ditch road and try to get a photo of Putin for you. Red Diggers are ground squirrels (gophers in a tux) and we call them red diggers because they have a reddish brown tone in places. Red Diggers, Rattlesnakes, and Rocks fairly well sums up Eastern Oregon desert country.

View attachment 1889

Interesting. We call them Rock Chucks around here. They are found in the mountain and we think they are cute...they don't do any damage that I know of. Do they do damage in your area?

 

[Mountain Cowgirl]

Interesting. We call them Rock Chucks around here. They are found in the mountain and we think they are cute...they don't do any damage that I know of. Do they do damage in your area?

We have Rock Chucks that we call Marmots and they are probably four times larger than the diggers. The diggers are sometimes called Prairie Dogs or just ground squirrels and more rarely called gophers. They are very destructive to crops and pastures. They do massive tunneling. They can damage canals and ditch irrigation. Coyotes once kept them at lower numbers, but now their main enemy is bullsnakes sometimes called gopher snakes.

 

[Nicky]

I doubt it is Russian thistle, that is tumble weed. It is probably Scotch thistle, it gets huge. What we call Red Diggers here are bigger that the ground squirrels but smaller than a rock chuck and are only in the timber.
And thank you so much for pushing the rain down here MC!!!

 

[webfoot]

Across the river in Klickitat County WA they have grey diggers. Probably the same critter with a slightly different color. They cause all the same issues. The dirty buggers will get into a parked tractor or truck and eat all the insulation off the wiring.

 

[Mountain Cowgirl]

I doubt it is Russian thistle, that is tumble weed. It is probably Scotch thistle, it gets huge. What we call Red Diggers here are bigger that the ground squirrels but smaller than a rock chuck and are only in the timber.
And thank you so much for pushing the rain down here MC!!!

We do have Russian thistle and a lot of it, but you are right the tall stuff is Scottish. We also have Musk, Bull, Canada, and Yellow, Thistle.

Here is 2021 photo and how this abandoned
for a housing development field looks on a
normal year in June. Notice the tumbleweeds.

Here is the same field in June 2022 after record rains. Unbelievable!

I had trouble getting a good comparison photo with my cell phone. This is
the biggest thistle I have ever seen on unirrigated land. The phone angle doesn't
do it justice, but best I could do.

 

[Mountain Cowgirl]

24 hours without rain!

 

[Faster horses]

Waiting and hoping for rain.
The showers seem to go around us. They like town better, because they are getting the showers.

 

[Nicky]

We had 3" in less than 2 weeks, just amazing!! So thankful.

 

[gcreekrch]

Finally a sunny and warm day, got another branding done of 70 calves. Couple more little ones left once they all hatch.