Whiptail Lizard

One of our very rare partners on the ranch has figured out the path to evolutionary success in a stable cooperative world - do away with males…Click to read the whole story on the Whiptail Lizard.

Jack Rabbit

Antelope

Long Billed Curlew

Curlews appear to be a bird you’d find on a coastal shoreline, but are actually a unique prairie bird in rapid decline.

Ground Squirrels

These burrowing squirrels play a key role in plant dynamics and soil health. They till up small areas (10-20 feet) and help taller grasses compete with the primary short grasses like Buffalo and Blue Grama. The taller grasses capture rainfall, slow soil evaporation, and keep roots in deeper soil.

A small shrub resembling sage that is also full of protein in the winter months.  Our grazing protocols helped this plant to recover from almost extinct at Rancho Largo, to thousands of pounds of annual production.

Blue Grama Grass

Buffalo Grass and Blue Grama are the iconic short grass prairie species; not much volume but they pack a nutritional punch especially in the winter time when protein is in short supply for grazing animals

Our saddle horses are the key to keeping our cattle moving through the landscape in a healthy grazing pattern.

Photo by Chuck Bigger

Only seen above ground occasionally, but omnipresent in the root zone of plants. These fungi are symbiotic with prairie plants; the fungi supply soil nutrients the plants can’t reach, and the plants provide sugars released from their roots. The whole process is set in motion when a cow bites a plant.

Road Runners

These flight challenged birds hang out in rocky areas around the canyon rims. They love it around our headquarters where they eat lizards and keep snakes away.