Puppies big and small

There's never too many shots of Bambi, of course. And being that she thinks she's a puppy still, well, it was only fitting that she not be left out.

Amber and I went walking the other day and she was so excited following us, bucked and tossed her head, ran in between us, getting ahead, then falling back, being playful the whole time. I could tell she made Amber nervous, acting like she could throw us out of her way if she had a mind to, but instinctively being gentle at the last minute. A little scolding now and then settled her down. She just thinks she's a big ol' puppy but I can't help thinking she looks like that big old killer whale that turned on its' trainer in Orlando. Respect is deserving of an animal that large that doesn't know its own strength or its size, or intentions.

Then there's Darla's puppies. Cute as can be and one has already found a home. Amber and Camaron have also decided to keep Petey, the beige one. The hawks that have been hanging around lately seem to be scoping out their favorites as well, though they've kept their distance. (Maybe they're looking at the chicken coop.)

The fluffy one with his tongue hanging out has been visiting inside lately. He's been nice company for me and I named him "Bear." He's been nice to visit with after work when all's quiet after coming home. It's been a long week so I'll indulge myself until they all find homes.

Tomorrow I'm off and another snow storm is rolling in (oh joy) but Amber will be coming over and we'll get some business taken care of. She'll finally get a phone and we'll get Cassie her own phone too. Amber's getting excited about growing a garden this year. I think it will be a good one. Maybe it will take this time with a little help and someone to to give me some incentive.

Well, eating some dinner, watch some olympics then off to bed. Hope you all have a good night!

Sandy

Natural Selection

This weekend was nice to have off and though Sunday was a snowy, cold day, Saturday turned out to be a good day to get out.

Amber and Camaron were here most of the weekend and they were looking forward to fishing and a nice barbeque grill dinner. They each caught a bass, Ambers was 2 1/2 lbs, Camarons was 2 lbs, and added to the future fish fry when more are caught.

But while they were fishing I went walking. It was so nice to get out again in the sunshine after so many cold and snowy days this winter. It was almost springlike. Darla went everywhere with me. Bambi was busy trying to chew on fishing tackle, fishing poles...I even caught her with a beer and cold cup completely in her mouth! She almost got away with it if Camaron hadn't stopped her! Silly cow...

Going walking with Darla we set off in the woods near the pond. Bambi came running through the brush catching up to us after Amber chased her away from the fishing tackle again. So off we went, like in days past, the dog and the cow fighting over who leads the way.

I'm always on the hunt for feathers but that day I came across an odd sight. An old tree was just covered in scattered feathers, large ones. Bambi went right to it standing in the middle, sniffing..nuzzling the ground and the odd smell of the scene.

Something had killed a red tail hawk, a large full grown one and picked it clean leaving the carcass of bones still in the tree. I thought at first maybe someone had shot it the way the feathers looked like leftovers from a scattering explosion. But it was too clean for that. What was left behind was cleanly and meticulously picked over. A large cat would've been messier.

No, this was done by another predatory bird, one bigger and stronger than the victim of circumstance I had found. There was that sighting of an eagle weeks ago... Or maybe an owl, which is bigger than a red tail hawk.. Or maybe it was another male, fighting over territory, and one lost. There have been quite a few hawks around and even a younger one. Maybe the nesting family had some neighborly disputes... It's prime territory after all, a chicken coop nearby, puppies that look absolutely delicious to a hawk, and of course, a friendly cow.

Whatever happened, it was natural selection as nature should be. I collected feathers and the claws are left intact so maybe when those dry out I can make a necklace or something out of them. Discreetly of course, it's a protected bird no matter that it died naturally.

There's nothing wrong in how it died even though the trauma of the fight that ensued was quite evident. It was out of the ordinary but not at all unnatural. It's the natural order of things that the strong survive, the weaker lose so nature can keep the breeding pool that's left to incorporate the best qualities for future generations survival. In other words...shit happens.

In contrast to all of this, the next day I watched a program on PBS about a wildlife hunting "refuge" (but refuge isn't the word..) . It called itself "Green" in that people were allowed to go and hunt many different animals with either sedating dart guns, or arrows with sedation on the tips. What they "kill" can be posed with, pictures taken with, then doctored back up (hopefully) and set free to be "killed" again! To me that just seems completely wrong! They argued it was like "catch and release" in fishing. Technically, yes... but being set up, over and over to endure that seems like a barbaric form of refining the sport of killing to suit the masses.

Wild game that feeds a family is one thing, but i think that is carrying the sport a bit too far.

I like to think that the hawk that died fought proudly and fiercely (and from the looks of it he did) but at least had the fighting chance.

The Endless Winter

The subject lately always comes back to winter. Yes it is winter but enough already! We've had enough ice and snow out here to let the novelty wear off.

At least this has all melted off by now, thank goodness. The puppies are not pupsicles, the chickens are not frozen roosting in their little wading pool, Bambi has enough hay to last until spring weather starts the new grass growing again... the snow has melted for now.

They're saying this year is the most snowfall EVER for Oklahoma. It's supposed to be thanks to El Nino but why throw blame around? Shit happens and you just get over it. Move on and take some nice pictures of it all.

There was a 7 ft icicle hanging from the roof for days and one late night I came home from work, feeding Darla on the back porch and it suddenly crashed to the ground! I screamed, Darla caught between me and the icicle barked like it was a monster intruder! She was such a good watch dog and earned a nice supper for standing her ground.

I've been surviving. Missed a couple of days work with the last storm not being able to get out of the driveway. The last storm happened on my days off so the timing was perfect. The news said tonight there are still thousands of people out of power from that storm two weeks ago. That means, unless you have a fireplace, woodstove or gas heat, there's no heat. And most rural areas rely on electricity for their well. Can you imagine losing water and heat for 2 weeks straight? Families with children are really catching the brunt of it. But at least it looks like we're coming to the tail end of things.

After work today I filled up the wood box (I have a woodstove and plenty of trees around the property), fed chickens, cow (spoiled thing that she is), dog, puppies, cats..then to relax. There's still containers of water filled in case the power goes out.

But my days off are Saturday and Sunday! In Oklahoma City on Saturday is a Chinese New Year Celebration I'm planning to see! I saw one in San Francisco back in high school that was awesome! It was in Chinatown and they lit a huge rope of firecrackers from a second story building! There was a train of dancers dressed as a dragon, drums, music, it was awesome! The restraunts and shops were amazing! San Francisco is one of the best places to see if you ever get the chance!

Well, now there's some nice things to look forward too. I'm sure when the heat of summer comes we'll be whining then too! Have a great day!

Sandy