Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913

On Documentaries

Lately, I’ve been watching documentaries on wildlife from around the world. One documentary was about wildlife in the Rocky Mountains, which peaked my curiosity. Is there one about eastern Montana? About prairie dogs, gophers (the Richardson squirrel), antelope, deer, geese, ducks, game birds, aquatic species in Fort Peck Lake and the rivers that feed into it, etc?

These documentaries brought to mind the stories I heard when I first moved here. About how thick the gophers were and the measures homesteaders had to take in order to protect their crops.

When documentaries about Africa spoke of how dry it could be - rains not falling for several years - I remembered stories of how dry it was in eastern Montana during the 1930s. And I remembered my own experience with drought during the 1980s. However, in some instances, I felt the lack of rain across the deserts was much more severe than the lack of rain where I live.

Of course, there were and still are stories of winter storms. I have memories of a few dandy ones, including the blizzard in February of 1978. And the ground being covered with snow on Nov. 9, 1978, and was still covered by May 9, 1979.

There was one film about the adult python in Africa. It can weigh 220 pounds and be 164-feet long. Don’t think I would want to encounter one of these.

Regardless of where the documentaries are filmed or what animals are the subject, there is a great beauty about all of them. The surrounding area, the flowers, trees, sources of water, the different seasons - all contribute to learning about our world and appreciating it.

This is one of the things I do like about the internet. I am able to view films about topics I’m interested in without having to buy them. I can also quickly look up information on the flora and fauna mentioned in the film.

Dad always said the day you don’t learn something new you are dead. Thanks to the internet I can learn about a lot more than just one thing.

 

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