In search of ponies: Animals weather weather, whether they like it or not

Brown skies, tumbleweed invasions and air so dense the eyes can't penetrate it nor can the lungs tolerate it.

Waking in the morning to the sound of dirt stinging windows and the roof swelling and groaning eventually means that somewhere between deciding what to wear or eat for breakfast, the mind flickers to the brief thought of tossing all earthly possessions into the car and driving to someplace the wind can't reach.

And it wouldn't be the first time the wind chipped away at the patience and comfort, literally pushing people away.

Eighty-some years ago, with battered, parched skin and faces shrouded in dampened cloths, many did just that, gathering all their possessions and hustling to outrun the wind.

But there were also those that stayed and fought day after day to stay alive.

With no moisture, the roots of the plants lose their hold on the earth and it takes to the air, pushing its way into every crack and crevice, covering every surface.

Things are certainly easier now — houses are built to better keep out the silt in the air, vehicles make it easier to get from one place to another in comfort — but the brutal wind and dust that accompany severe drought don't change.

And for a region that still, even 80-some years later, sustains itself on livestock and farming, no amount of technology can ease the pain.

Even the wild, with its wonderful ability to flex and adapt, is hard pressed to survive when the earth is literally being blown out from under it.

When the Dust Bowl began in the early 1930's, no one could have known it would go on for nearly a decade, but it didn't take long for the consequences to become apparent.

Caused in part by humans who over-farmed and over-grazed the land, and compounded by drought, the Dust Bowl ravaged this part of the country to an unbearable extent and much of what it left behind still shapes the Eastern Plains and other regions to this day.

History — probably because it's written by humans, for humans — tends to focus on the human perspective, but of course the two-legged animal isn't the only one with a story to tell and animals suffered right alongside them.

The ever prolific rabbits of the plains, having lost their food source and cover from the elements, began invading in epic numbers, descending on crops in search of food.

So great were their numbers, communities held jack rabbit drives, killing them by the thousands.

Swarms of grasshoppers too sought out what little food the barren land had to offer, leading the federal government to call out the National Guard to burn fields and crush the insects.

Breathing dust constantly is not without a downside and respiratory issues became almost epidemic.

Living outside in the harsh conditions, cattle and other livestock, much like humans, but with no shelter to give them refuge, succumbed to what became known as dust pneumonia, dropping dead in the fields.

But if the dust didn't kill them, it didn't mean they fared any better.

Feed shortages left them starving, forcing the federal government to step in, with programs to purchase some of the starving livestock for slaughter.

An ecological disaster of monumental proportions, entire wildlife systems were devastated or destroyed, though from it was born more than 60 wildlife preserves aimed at correcting the mistakes of the past and trying to rebuild what nature lost.

Though the extent of that experience will probably, hopefully, never be witnessed again, perhaps because it happened, man and animal alike still instinctually respond to the wind much the same.

While the wind and dark, dirt-filled skies strike awe and discouragement, they also bring the natural question, "What happens if the wind doesn't stop this time?"

But, Dust Bowl notwithstanding, history has also shown a beautiful quality in this country is that if one doesn't find the weather agreeable, just wait a few minutes, it will change.

Sharna Johnson is a writer who is always searching for ponies. You can reach her at: [email protected] or on the web at:

www.insearchofponies.blogspot.com