Brian D'Ambrosio is a writer/editor living in Missoula, Montana. D'Ambrosio is the author of more than 300 articles and five books related to Montana history, people, and travel.
(Dunrovin Osprey LIVE)
When fourth-generation Montanan SuzAnne Miller settled in the Bitterroot Valley, she craved a tranquil haven where she and her husband could enjoy their horses and lead a simple existence.
Their land and home eventually became a standard guest ranch. That guest ranch, however, has recently developed into something savvier. Every day, the Dunrovin Ranch hosts visitors from places as far as New York City, Hawaii, Canada, London, and Hungary, who view its activities or interact with its staff through multi-media and social network platforms.
Visitors peek into the activities of ranch hands, livestock, and wildlife from the glow of their computers. Dunrovin life revolves around nature, people, animals, and science, and, at the end of the day, resounds Montana’s culture.
“Our cyber-ranch helps online visitors from around the world get a taste of the Montana ranch lifestyle and what Montana has and is,” said Miller.
Launched in April 2014, ‘Days at Dunrovin’ provides internet broadcasts of live web cameras along with supporting videos, blogs and chat rooms. Miller’s idea was to share “the trials, tribulations, and personal benefits of owning and operating a guest ranch,” while using technology in a way that would give the ranch a chance to inspire.
“I believe that Montana’s values translate well on the internet,” said Miller. “There are a lot of ordinary things that happen at the ranch that seem very interesting to other people. We have 20 horses and we receive semi-trucks with these huge loads of wood chips. Ordinary things here. But to others, quite fascinating. I believe that our small town and friendly way of life comes across well online.”
Recent conversations touched on subjects such as the rehabilitation of injured and abused horses and forums included online clinics in horse riding lessons, dressage, and horseback archery.
“Viewers even watch during fire season as smoke and flame gather,” said Miller. “They share in many of the difficulties, as well as the joys, of Montana life.”
Miller realized early that if you just focus on the landscape, people will tune out. You have to share stories.
“I believe that people are most interested in the stories,” said Miller. “We had 700 kids at a California school watching one of our nests. And that is the type of thing people are enjoying. The story is the five and a half months of nesting, mating, and all of the mystery and excitement of watching the chicks grow.”
The current number of total unique visitors to the web site is approximately 500,000, said Miller. Community members pay a $4/month or $40/year subscription to participate in the social media platform.
There is growing interest in the spring return of the osprey (a ranch nest is mounted with a web camera above). At the end of the 2014 breeding season, the male osprey, Ozzie, of the pair nesting at the ranch was killed by an eagle.
“Everyone who watched last year will be tuning in to see what happens when the female, named Harriet, returns,” said Miller. “It will be an exciting time for our viewers.”
Nest cams and online wildlife cams are growing in popularity.
“Our osprey nest cam has become one of the most popular features,” said Miller. “The Dunrovin Ranch has been in the forefront of the conservation implications of the nest cam phenomenon. There are viewer reactions to good times and bad, such as the events that perhaps most wrenches the hearts of viewers, which was the death of a chick and the adult male during the end of last summer’s nesting season.”
Nature cams share the ideas and ethics of the natural world, its independence, and the feeling of making things happen. Viewers develop a passion for their engagement. (Montana filmmaker Geoff Pepos is working on several short films related to the Dunrovin ranch project, including interviews with followers.)
“For a certain demographic, the website and web viewing is an important part of their lives,” said Miller, a professional biometrician with more 35 years of working with state, federal, and international wildlife management agencies. “Many of the viewers are retired, female, over the age of 45, and they find this to be a social outlet, and a valuable social and learning alternative.”
Following a lengthy professional career in Alaska, Miller moved in 1998 to Lolo, where she found herself opening her home and taking friends and family horseback riding. That hospitality transitioned into a guest ranch, which seemed natural. But Miller wanted to change with the times and adapt to the revolutionary era of Facebook likes and social media strategies. Embracing technology, at first, was an unnerving experience for Miller. Now she sees it as inherently compelling and interesting.
“Most members are women in the Baby Boomer age range or older,” said Miller, 66. “We see them engage with stories from the rehabilitation of injured and abused horses to the trials and triumphs of the osprey that nest above the ranch. There isn’t anything sad or isolating about it.”
Mary C. Birchard of New York City started watching the Dunrovin website near the end of the 2012 nesting season.
“The eggs didn't hatch that year,” said Birchard. “I watched off and on during the winter, as I am interested in horses as well as birds. The chat at that time was via Tweet, which I do not do. Then a whole new world opened up in the fall of 2013, when the chat format changed. I started to chat, and was delighted to find a group of nice and caring people, as well as birds, horses, and ranch folks who chatted with us. This site, the ranch and these people have become a part of my daily life. Those of us on chat have become better acquainted with each other, learn from each other and from folks at the ranch, and have a lot of fun, too.”
Miller said that the cyber-ranch explores connections: connections between viewers; between viewers and Dunrovin; between viewers and staff and animals; viewers with Montana.
“I believe that there are implications for Montana tourism,” said Miller. “Web cameras can be used to tell Montana stories and connect people with Montana in new and meaningful ways. We see online visitors from around the world enjoying a taste of the Montana ranch lifestyle.”
Ron Davies is a deacon in the Canadian Anglican Church. Since joining the Dunrovin Ranch website several months ago, he said that he has come to “appreciate the beauty of the Montana countryside” and “the dedicated staff who show their God given gifts in caring and training their horses, donkeys, and dogs each day.”
“Under the watchful eye of professional care givers, I have been given a new insight of seeing the love and work that goes into keeping the animals healthy and happy,” said Davies.
If Miller were to give a motivational speech, she would probably say that, if you want to be successful and make a contribution to the world, you have to be intrinsically motivated by the work you do, and you have to feel well about spending your days on it. Indeed, you can excel just by wanting something to exist that doesn’t already.
“I’ve overcome my skepticism about social media and online relationships,” said Miller. “I’ve overcome my skepticism to try to create a world-wide community from a small mountain town.”
This was a week of lasts for one Hi-Line community: last matches of pinochle around tables in the Gildford Merc, the last chance to browse for candy.