Showing results by author "John R. Erickson" in All Categories

Hank the Cowdog and his trusty partner, Drover, are just beginning their latest investigation when a pirate suddenly appears on the front porch! Has the ranch really been set upon by one-legged men of the sea? Hank and Drover soon realize that the pirate is just Little Alfred in disguise.

When Hank the Cowdog hears suspicious sounds coming from near Sally May's clothesline, it leads to a midnight investigation of the ranch. Before he knows it, Hank finds himself caught up with his old friend Eddy the Rac - and face-to-face with one of a dog's greatest enemies: the dreaded Laundry Monster!

Tricked-up pickup! Hank the Cowdog is about to go on the ride of his life! When the old pickup truck breaks down, Slim ends up with a brand-new model on loan while the old one gets fixed. But Hank is used to the simple life on the ranch and doesn't know what to do when faced with power windows and door locks.

When Hank is attacked by a Headless Cowboy, he knows it's going to be a tough day defending the ranch! But when Slim discovers Sally May's watermelon patch has been raided by raccoons, things get serious. Slim, Drover, and Hank are entrusted with the job of a nighttime stakeout to catch the raccoons in the act. Will Hank save the day? Or will busted watermelons prove Hank is a bust as the Head of Ranch Security?

Even after an exhausting morning defending the ranch against a vicious one-eyed robot, Hank the Cowdog, Head of Ranch Security, still has energy left to supervise Little Alfred's fishing trip.

How do you spell trouble? R-A-M-B-O. After a brilliant use of the Syruptishus Loaderation maneuver, Hank the Cowdog wins himself a free ride into town. But when the ticket turns out to be one-way, the trouble begins for the head of ranch security.

It seems that Hank's beloved sister and her children are the target of malicious threats from the neighborhood bully, a Great Dane named Rambo.

Hank the Cowdog could have told Slim that bringing an orphaned raccoon back to the ranch was not the best idea. But since Slim never pays any attention to Hank, Loper, and Sally May soon find themselves housing an adolescent coon with a mischievous streak a mile wide.

It's winter in the Texas Panhandle, and the ranch is covered in snow and ice. So when Sally May sets off for town, Hank decides to follow Pete the Barncat's advice and bravely escorts her car down the slick road. Before Hank realizes what's happening, Sally May's car skids into a snowdrift - and she is angrier than ever!

When Hank hears a rumor that the sky is going to fall from the ranch's resident rooster, he is naturally a bit skeptical. But then a report from Pete the Barncat and a strange dream seem to support the theory, and Hank realizes that he'd better take the threat seriously. After all, as Head of Ranch Security, it's his job to protect the ranch from any and all potential danger.

Someone has been stealing feed out of the feed shed, and Hank knows that it's his job to do whatever he can do to help nab the culprit. So when Slim sets a live-animal trap in the shed, Hank takes it upon himself to check it in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, the trap is a little trickier than Hank anticipated, and in the process of his investigation Hank manages to get himself...well...trapped.

Fall is an important time of year on a ranch, mostly because it means that winter is coming soon! And, on Hank’s ranch, that means that the cake house is about to be filled with bags of feed to get the cattle through the long frozen days ahead. Unfortunately, this particular feed-delivery is accompanied by a town mutt named Roy, who gets Hank into big trouble with some local yellow jacket wasps.

Evocatively chronicled, Erickson tells what it is like trying to stop the unstoppable. Bad Smoke, Good Smoke gives voice to the particular pains that ranchers must face in our era of climate change and ever more powerful natural disasters.

Who lived in Texas over a thousand years ago? In Porch Talk, John Erickson and his archaeologist friend Doug Boyd investigate this question while explaining the art and science of archaeology for middle listeners. On the Perryton ranch, John and his friends unearthed a ghost town that dated back to around 1300 CE. For more than twenty years, they worked together on this and other prehistoric sites, sharing a fascination for the ancient people who occupied the area. How did these people work, play, and survive?