Picture A Day - November 3, 2009
Badlands of Rough Run near Study Butte

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Among the most unforgiving of desert landscapes in west Texas, along the western edge of Big Bend National Park on the outskirts of Terllingua/Study Butte. The intermittent watercourse of Rough Run crosses the barren desert before joining with Terlingua Creek, cutting a deep canyon into the soft sedimentary soils. Clay-rich bentonite is terrible at supporting plant life, but forms colorful tan, brown, yellow and red layers in the canyon walls. Maverick Mountain rises modestly to the right, with the anything-goes community of Study Butte (pronounced stoody byoot) just beyond.

Picture A Day - November 4, 2009
Pronghorn Antelope of the Trans-Pecos

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The Pronghorn Antelope is the only antelope native to North America, and used to be quite common throughout a large swath of the United States. However, hunting had severely reduced the population in the early part of the last century, and nowadays can only be found in Texas in a small corner of the trans-Pecos and Panhandle regions. While mule deer and white-tailed deer are a dime a dozen around the state (I practically see deer near where I live and work every day), this was an unusual sight for me - spotted just off the roadside a few miles south of Marfa. While at one time the species was endangered, the population has rebounded to the point that limited hunting of the pronghorn is allowed. But still quite unexpected for me.