Concerning this, Mr. William G. Smith, the well-known naturalist, says:  “Impossible.  The burrowing owl will generally be seen where dogs congregate, and wherever the ground is undermined his snakeship is apt to be found; but rest assured there is some lively ‘scattering’ to get out of his way if he draws his slimy carcass into their burrows.  The dogs have no desire to contest his right to it, and give him all the room he wants.”  The dogs at home are neat little fellows, and allow no litter to accumulate around their doors.  They go to bed early, and never go around disturbing their neighbors before daylight.

Adjoining the Garden is a region of ridges.  One ridge leads up to another, and that to a third, and so on.  This broken country, covered with pine and cedar, and clothed with bunch grass and grama, makes a capital tramping-ground, especially in winter, when rabbits, mountain grouse and sage-hens are numerous enough to make it worth while to shoulder a gun.

The way to reach the ridges is to take the road to the Garden of the Gods, and follow it till the Quarry Road is reached.  Pursuing the latter up a gorge, and then turning to the left on a branch road, which zigzags up the sides of the gorge, one soon finds oneself on the top of a ridge.  The rule in ridge-climbing is never to cross a gully, but always to keep on top.  All the ridges in this vicinity converge to the main ridge, which overlooks Queen’s Canon.  This ridge bends to the northwest, and in two or three miles joins a still higher one, which, strange to say, will be found to overlook the Ute Pass, a thousand feet above the Fontaine qui-Bouille, which flows in the bottom of the canon below—­Eyrie, the site of a private residence—­a most interesting glen, but not open to the public.  The character of the monoliths in this canon is more remarkable even than those of the Garden of the Gods.

The Major Domo is a column of red sandstone, rising to a height of 300 feet, with a curious swell near the summit, which far exceeds in diameter the base of the shaft.  It looks as though it might fall at any moment in obedience to the laws of gravity, and it is not exceeded in this regard by the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  There is another glen of a similar character, about two miles to the northwest, which is known as Blair Athol.  It is a beautiful spot, but, lacking water, has never been used as a dwelling place.  It abounds in wildly picturesque scenery, and possesses rock formations of strange shapes and brilliant colors.  There are groves of magnificent pines; and the view of the distant plains stretching to the eastern horizon is unobstructed, and of great interest.