Posts from the ‘Nature’ category

Fox in the yard

So, no sooner had I posted “Snow”, then a fox…a FOX! – was in the yard. And it was in the yard for long enough that I got the camera, and adjusted settings…

And got my usual lousy wildlife photos.

Rats!

A beautiful fox.

I wish I had a photo to do it justice.

I’m posting the blurry ones anyway.

The most in focus…An Auggie tail x 2 or 3…beautiful tail!!

Geez, you know she (I think a she) wasn’t even moving that fast! (AND that truck is the bow hunter out on the state land…but the deer were on my land…smart deer!)

Gaah!

I kind of like this one, even if it is blurry.

Bear and I were out about 6:45 and he got all excited in the woods and was following some scent back and forth. I’m guessing the fox.

We’ll see what the night brings. It is less than 24 hours after the full moon with a moonrise just after 9 p.m. and moonset at 9:15 a.m. so a full night of moonlight and skies are clear.

***AND, I did phone my neighbor with the chickens and warn about the fox, i.e. “fox in the hen house” is NOT a good thing!

Another bear story and another fuzzy bear photo

Kind of funny timing.

Earlier this week, the house was being shown by a realtor, Kristen, that lives just up the road from me. And the lookers were members of her family. They were asking me about wildlife and Bear (Bear the beardog). And did we often see bears? I said that I usually saw them or sign of them in the Spring and Fall but hadn’t seen any this year. Neither had Kristen.

So, this morning, Bear, Auggie and I had just gone out and we were all ambling about…7:15 ish a.m. The breeze was blowing toward us from the East and Bear started sniffing and doing the nose in the air thing that means “bear”! He started walking East and the nose went up again. I called him to “Stay” and he did and then I saw the bear (an actual bear). I told Bear (the beardog) “Inside” and he went. Auggie was hunting critters by the house and the bear had not even looked our way and was walking along the east property line which is what they always do – funny.

Got the camera and ran back out. You think the bears are just walking slowly but as they are big, they cover a lot of ground quickly.

So…

From about 100 yards away from the bear and 20 yards from the house which is as close as I care to go out of both safety and respect for the bear.

Same photo as above but cropped. Fuzzy. Rats.

Although the bear looks brown, no sign of a hump. The last several bears I’ve seen have been brown. I still think they are “black” or “cinnamon” bears vs grizzly, but I guess it could be a young grizzly. It was a bear, though!

If Auggie caught any bear scent, he did not show any indication or concern. The critters around the rock were pretty active – even I could hear their squeaks.

Bear was watching from the bedroom and not making a sound.

And the sun came up through a very smoky sky.

It is a privilege to see a bear moving through, being a bear and going about his or her bear business, but I sure would like to get a great photo of one of them!

Lilac buds

Every year at this time I take photos of the lilac buds.

I think they are beautiful.

And they are the first thing to bloom in my yard.

The day lilies are 6 inches tall.

The rhubarb is up.

The lily of the valley shoots are about an inch out of the ground.

But the lilacs will be the first things to bloom and the buds are so pretty as they grow and unfold.

It is Passover and Holy Week…overlapping. Both speak to new life, albeit in different ways.

Chag Sameach or Happy Easter – whichever you celebrate!

It’s Thursday ???

Yes, Thursday.

I’ve struggled with my work hours this week.

I need a monster day tomorrow, Friday and I’ll still need to work a bit over half a day Saturday. Not my favorite, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

I’m blaming it on the Yellow Jackets.

You heard me…Yellow Jackets!

Last Sunday, there was one in the house. Auggie made a flying leap after it. I grabbed Auggie and then a paper towel and after a brief battle in the window sill rail I persevered and 1 dead queen went in the trash.

I did some reading and found out that the queens emerge in March and April.

YIKES!

I ordered some traps and attractant. The attractant shipped but the traps were backordered.

And THEN!! Yesterday as in Wednesday…ANOTHER yellow jacket in the house. I won that battle also.

After some online research noted that Home Depot in Kalispell had the traps in stock, I decided that I would head there first thing this morning and get the traps.

Each queen yellow jacket is an egg making machine capable of laying up to 5000 eggs.

Right.

The mission is to trap as many queens as possible BEFORE they start the egg laying thing. According to Scott at Bug Hunters, Inc., the queens emerge about the time the day and night hours become equal and temperatures are about 40F. As in now.

As scary as it was to have the two queens in the house … and I had doors open at the time so they might have flown in… it gave me some notice as to timing. Outside, the queens are sparse enough, I doubt I would have noticed.

So, this morning, off to Home Depot Bear and I went.

This has nothing to do with anything except that this truck was parked in the contractor pick up area and I noticed the dog.

And I laughed.

The truck is an extended cab and the dog is in the back, hanging out over the cab window and lounging on the tool box.

I’m partial to Northern Breed dogs and also it just looked so funny to see the dog casually half out of the window, resting on the tool box…waiting for the person.

Ok.

So, I got the Yellow Jacket stuff and some other Home Depot stuff and a quick stop at my favorite natural food spot: Mountain Valley Foods and then home we came.

Funny.

I thought this was a good supply of stuff.

Then I read the instructions.

The instructions say 8-16 traps per acre.

GAH!

Well, we will see if we get any queens with this lot and if so I’ll consider more.

Srsly.

I do NOT want a repeat of last summer.

Maybe we will have to run away in the motorhome…

But we are so comfortable here.

And we have an island.

It’s Thursday ???

***Really, though, I am so grateful every day for all we have. I’m grateful for Bear and Auggie and this house and the woods. There is so much truly horrendous stuff happening in the world. Every night, before closing my eyes, I tell Bear and Auggie that I love them, I send a prayer of honor to Bob, Karl, Gus, Zack, Jake, my Papa and my grandparents, and I give thanks for another day on earth. It’s Thursday and I’m behind on work and the yellow jackets…but in the whole scheme of things…Life is so very good!

Another bear story without a photo of a bear.

Bear and I saw another bear today. (see Another episode of Wild Kingdom for Bear’s first bear encounter.)

A black bear.

A BIG black bear.

So.

Bear and I were in the Jeep returning from a brief outing to our walk on the empty subdivision road a bit to the north.

Shortly after we entered the “tree” part of our road, Bear’s nose was in the air and he was doing the scent gulp thing.

It had just registered in my brain that he was smelling a bear when we rounded a corner in the road and THERE WAS THE BEAR!

I am fairly vigilant for bears and particularly in the Fall and Spring. But as I think about it, I have NEVER seen a bear when I was expecting to see one. No, they are always a surprise.

And today was the first time I’ve ever seen one on a road.

The ever alert Bear sounded with the bear bark.

The bear turned toward us briefly…Bear was barking loud and continuously…the bear exited stage left off the side of the road, down a steep incline and into the woods.

Somewhere in there I was fumbling for the camera on the seat beside me.

Rats! Another bear story without a photo of a bear.

But…we cannot have a post without a photo…oh, no!!! THAT would not do.

So…a bit of a teaser…

What I did with that extra pumpkin:

I don’t think I have ever made a more beautiful little loaf of bread.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Sunflower Seed Cranberry Bread.

More later.