Horse up to eyeballs in killer bog

CRESTED BUTTE – A 1,700-pound Belgian draft horse somehow got stuck in a bog near Crested Butte, and arriving rescuers found all but a few inches of the horse’s head and shoulders were submerged.

There is, reports the Crested Butte News, some speculation that the horse had been in the bog 12 hours or more. It took just a few but frantic hours to get the horse out on the afternoon of April 21.

First, they dug around the bog to lower the water level. Then, after an unsuccessful effort to leverage the horse out of the mud by using planks, they tied slings around the horse’s shoulders and belly and dragged it with a truck.

The horse, named Sparky, was so spent by the ordeal that it couldn’t stand, and in fact died several hours later despite the efforts of a veterinarian called to the scene.

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Mud season is dust season in some towns

FRASER, Colo. Ð May is often mudluscious in mountain towns, including Fraser, a sibling to Winter Park located at about 9,000 feet in elevation near the Continental Divide.

Mud looks to be in short supply this year, though. A photo in the Winter Park Manifest in late April showed a road that appeared to be as dusty as might be expected in July.

Indeed, the snowpack is so low that runoff in the upper Colorado River basin this year is estimated at only 60 percent of normal.

Steamboat revisiting landscaping musts

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS Ð Winter is undeniably the high season for visitors in ski towns. You might think water use peaks then.

In fact, water use peaks during summer in many towns, including Steamboat Springs. A water official there recently reported 70 million gallons a day peak use in winter compared to 180 million gallons a day in summer, two-thirds of that attributed to irrigation of lawns.

With drought continuing in Colorado, Steamboat city officials wonder if existing regulations there unnecessary encourage water use for landscaping, reports The Steamboat Pilot.

There is even some talk of requiring xeriscaping – a method of planting grass and other species that require less water – as well as application of mulches, to retain moisture. The city will also review an incremental rate structure that penalizes larger-volume water users.