Are the badlands really bad?
The lack of a steady supply of water makes it hard to grow much. And look at the terrain. Can you imagine an expensive piece of farm machinery trying to negotiate those hillsides? I think farming this area is out of the question.
Still, some vegetation just plants itself. It has to be tough to survive. Grasses are real survivors if they only have a chance to sprout.
But seeds are easily washed away if not in the sparse rain, then at least in the run-off from snowmelt. The wind lends a hand too. Between them, wind and water carve out a landscape full of curves, rifts, pillars, and odd-shaped hills.
So what is the good of these badlands? That is, if there is anything good about them.
At first glance, it looks like a wasteland. You’d be surprised though, how much life it supports. Insects, obviously, and those attract birds and snakes. Lots of snakes. I guess that’s a good thing, if you like snakes. They have to go somewhere.
The carved out crumbling rock formations provide many crevices and holes for a snake to hide in – a place to get out of the hot sun. In the late fall, rattlers will travel miles through prairie grasslands to the badlands where they seek out underground chambers (caves and tunnels) and scooped-out areas where they can snuggle up together for the winter in their very own hibernaculum. These dens are often underground and close to the water table, but preferably in a place where it stays above freezing.
The erosion in the badlands creates all kinds of possible hiding places for small animals. The fields at the edge of a badlands area could provide food for insects, small rodents, rabbits, and game birds such as grouse and pheasants, which in turn attract predators such as hawks and owls.
Even deer may be found wandering through the badlands.
If you have a dog though, watch where it goes. You don’t want it to be bitten by a sneaky snake. If you take your dog there, maybe to hunt a partridge or other game bird for dinner, the best time to do that is probably early in the morning when it is cool and the snakes are still a bit poky.
A friend told me of a time when his dog (same breed as our Emma – an English field cocker) was running down a path ahead of him and a rattler was in the path directly in front of her. The dog leaped over the coiled up snake and kept going. It was lucky that, because of the cold morning, the snake was still quite lethargic. A few hours later, this scenario could have had an unhappy ending.
If you’re ever in a badlands area, keep your eyes open and your camera handy, and bring along your snakebite kit and the local vet’s phone number.
Internet image
May 13, 2022 at 4:59 pm
Nasty varmints! Snakes creep me out these days, but years ago I kept two for pets. The badlands are actually very beautiful in spite of their inhospitable nature.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 13, 2022 at 5:22 pm
Yes, I think so too. Amazing land formations.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 13, 2022 at 6:16 pm
I love this post, Anneli. The Badlands has a connotative feeling to it that I like–the spareness, the back-to-nature, the survival of the fittest. I enjoyed this write up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 13, 2022 at 8:26 pm
Imagine your characters going through this area. What a challenge it would be. Harsh land, testing survival skills.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 14, 2022 at 6:45 am
I will be putting them through a Badlands-type of land in the next trilogy (a time when man almost died out). You’ve given me a good idea!
LikeLike
May 14, 2022 at 8:24 am
Snakes alive! Go for it, Girl!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 13, 2022 at 7:11 pm
Did you take these photos in Alberta? I find badlands to be rather beautiful, if stark. I have seen the occasional snake there too. You do have to pay attention.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 13, 2022 at 8:23 pm
Montana. See my comment to Lori. I agree about stark but beautiful in their own way. And yes, snaky.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 13, 2022 at 7:14 pm
Are these badlands anywhere near where you live?
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 13, 2022 at 8:22 pm
No. I took these pictures when we were on one of our annual trips to Montana. Love that state! Badlands and all.
LikeLiked by 2 people
May 13, 2022 at 8:55 pm
Oh. Cool. I put up photos of the South Dakota Badlands when we took a trip there. They looked different than those Montana Badlands. And there were warning signs on the trail about rattlesnakes. 😲
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 13, 2022 at 9:37 pm
I can believe it, about the snakes. I was nervous about walking around on some of those “game” trails. There were holes like tunnels everywhere along the sides of the crumbly rock walls, just perfect for a snake to lie in wait for my ankle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 14, 2022 at 6:25 am
I think they have a stark beauty. Interesting post, Anneli. You’ve given a real sense of the place.
LikeLike
May 14, 2022 at 8:33 am
Thank you, Belinda. That was my goal, although, until you pointed it out, I wasn’t really aware of it. (I was just prattling on about it.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 14, 2022 at 7:49 am
For the observant eye, the badlands are a wonderful place to explore, so full of life. I remember the badlands of Alberta as a place of stark beauty, where only the strong can survive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 14, 2022 at 8:31 am
Exactly, Peter. Very harsh. I’m sure the Alberta badlands are very similar. Imagine the dinosaurs being found there. What a world it must have been. Snakes would be the least of your worries. BTW, hope you’re feeling better every day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 16, 2022 at 7:03 am
My swift recovery borders on the miraculous.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 14, 2022 at 8:48 am
Powered out people should visit those badlands and stay there a few days. It must be very quiet there and not a single soul around (except the snakes). Good to relax for a bit – but not too long.
Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 14, 2022 at 8:59 am
You mean like stressed out people? I agree, it would be good for the soul – but only for a while, as you said. It really is very quiet there. Great observation. I hadn’t mentioned that in my post and I had forgotten the stillness until you mentioned it. It is very lovely and quiet and the air is clean.
LikeLike
May 15, 2022 at 3:19 pm
I can certainly do without snakes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 16, 2022 at 8:48 am
That makes two of us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 16, 2022 at 11:07 am
Count Mary in, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 16, 2022 at 4:16 am
Only for the brave!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 16, 2022 at 8:45 am
I agree!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 16, 2022 at 5:45 pm
😀
LikeLike
May 18, 2022 at 7:31 am
Anneli, your words and photos capture the beauty of the badlands. I lived many years in Eastern Montana, and an outcropping of badlands was a 10-15 drive from my home. In early June with adequate rainfall, the landscape would be covered with a velvet of the greenest grass.
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 18, 2022 at 8:50 am
I’m glad you can see beauty in it too. It all depends on how closely you look and what your attitude is. Thanks for your comment. Have a good week.
LikeLike
May 19, 2022 at 2:51 pm
Um, after reading this, I don’t think I want to visit the Badlands, with or without a dog! Our dog, when a puppy, “picked up” a snake with his teeth, thinking it was a stick. I’m not sure if it was the snake or dog that screamed, but one of them did. Fortunately, Henry let it go, and the snake rushed off. Henry didn’t pick up a stick for a year after that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 19, 2022 at 3:32 pm
We don’t take our dog to those places. The first time we came across badlands we checked them out and then decided it was not for us. Beautiful though, in their own natural way.
LikeLiked by 1 person