A Texas couple nicknamed Pumpkin and Meat Loaf (names changed somewhat!), wanted to see my listing of 21 acres on the Arkansas River.  The land had recently been leased to a rancher with cattle.  This enables the owner to reduce taxes to about $15/year.  They hopped the fence, I took a phone call and they marched on.  When I proceeded, my red pants caught the attention of the cows (altho Meat Loaf says these animals are color blind, they began to follow me as an increasing pace.  In Colorado, cows must be fenced OUT.  See Code of the West at www.chaffeecounty.org for other ways in which homeowners and ranchers cooperate.  Pumpkin and Meat Loan had disappeared down the gully on Bureau of Land Management land.   Public land (BLM, National Forest and State) makes up 85% of Chaffee County.  I pointed out trails and river access available to them as taxpayers. It's like getting an extra big yard for free!   Cows, of course, and other animals can drink out of the river, but the water cannot be pumped, because someone up or down stream owns it.  This means they have already filed their right and use with the Division of Natural Resources probably back in the 1800s.  However, properties lines usually go the middle of the river.  In addition to water rights, we talked about types of wells and how the supply can be augmented.  Under 35 acres, parcels use in-house use well, at 35+ acres, domestic wells are permitted, and can be shared with three households.  Vacant land does not usually have a well drilled.  We went over septic and leach fields, country living means you can't hook up to sewer, water and gas lines.  We located the well, and carefully covered it so that a racoon or other critter wouldn't fall inside and contaminate the water, bacteria can be identified by the Department of Health.  After some minutes of calling their foody names, we reunited.  They had more questions about flood plains, road access off a highway, production and depth of the well. Explaining rural life to city folks is all in a day's work!    Leslie Walker, Salida Realty