56 NEBRASKAland • JUNE 2017
Blowouts
A Unique Feature of the Sandhills
Story and photos by Chris Helzer
B
lowouts have a bad reputation. In
sports, a blowout is humiliating for
the losing team and sometimes even
a little boring for the winners. A tire
blowout can ruin your whole day and
potentially lead to a serious accident. In
the Nebraska Sandhills, a "blowout" is a
site where scouring winds have created
bare ground and actively move sand. Most
Sandhills ranchers look at blowouts the
same way most farmers look at weedy
fields – as indicators of poor management.
Despite their low standing among
ranchers, however, Sandhills blowouts
provide important habitat for many plant
and animal species. If you were to walk up
to a Sandhills blowout in the middle of a
summer day, your first impression might
be that it is devoid of life. A closer look,
though, reveals a much different story.
The margins of the blowout are a
battleground where feisty plant species
are constantly straining for a foothold in
shifting sands. Predatory insects roam
the open sandy terrain, hunting down
small flies and other invertebrates, while
well-camouflaged grasshoppers feed on
the sparse vegetation, and tiny holes in
the sand indicate the nests of sand wasps
and other little burrowing creatures.
Tracks of lizards, toads, beetles, grouse,
and both large and small mammals are
also scattered across blowouts, providing
evidence of a much more active animal
community than might be evident at first
glance.
Right: A prairie lizard hunts in the open sand of a
Sandhills blowout.
Opposite: Tracks are seen outside the entrance of
a kangaroo rat burrow, the most abundant mammal
found in blowouts.
Top: A large and very active blowout is seen at The
Nature Conservancy's Niobrara Valley Preserve in
Brown County.
