Animal Encounters

[Steve in Idaho]

Acer - yes lions are plentiful here. I can leave my house and in 30 minutes be guaranteed to be walking on fresh cougar tracks. For as long as I have been hunting deer and elk (since 1976), it has been a rare season that I have not crossed a set of tracks more than once. The town I run trains to in eastern Oregon has them coming in and snatching the occasional unlucky family pet on a fairly regular basis. And yet - it is pretty rare to actually see one, unless you have hounds to find one and chase it up a tree. If no one is seeing spoor, I would bet my money on no cougars in your area. Wolves are no different on that account. You see the sign many times over before you actually see a wolf - although they seem to be less shy than cougars.

The USFWS first released wolves in the Frank Church River of No Return wilderness in the early '90's. IIRC, we were seeing fresh spoor on a regular basis about 100 miles away within about five years. Initially, F&G insisted that those of us who were reporting were mistaken - but they soon relented. Now it's pretty common to see wolves if you spend a fair amount of time where they roam (wherever the elk herds are).

I wish I knew more about the interaction of wolves and cats, but the introduction of wolves has been such a contentious and emotional issue here that there is little such information in the public domain that I consider reliable - from either side. The only thing I can confirm as fact is that the wolves keep the elk herds moving. It has been said that this is a good thing for the environment, especially in places where elk are protected (Yellowstone) - and I believe that.

It was a pleasant surprise that the beavers have hung in there. I was thinking that the extreme spring flooding of 2012 would take out the dams, but it did not. I have heard that beavers will open a spillway when the water rises high, and that rings true from what i saw there. What really surprised me was that they had not been trapped out, since there is active trapping in the area. But for whatever reason, I haven't seen any beaver traps in the area yet. I actually did talk to a trapper nearby one day, and he was out checking muskrat traps. I didn't think to ask him about the market for those - and I didn't care to discuss the beaver (although it's probably silly to think he didn't already know of their presence), so I don't know why I am not seeing beaver traps. I have seen them in other areas.

That back-channel is a cool place. The upper end of it is pretty well screened-off with large cottonwood deadfall, and I think that softens the flows. Several years ago, I participated in a project to install nesting boxes for wood ducks there - which has given the desired results. The island between the main channel and the back-channel holds a few deer and some upland game, and the beaver pond draws in quite a bit of waterfowl. A bit upstream and across the river is a pretty substantial heron rookery. The island is public land and sees some hunting pressure, but it's surprisingly light. The rest of the year, I see no signs of other human visitors. Because it's surrounded by farmland (so far), it's all pretty isolated - especially for being smack in the middle of the most populous valley in Idaho.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your eloquent and personal reply Acer, it touched me. I didn’t realize you were in WV, a very special place (I know, they all are) close to my heart (I know, they all are). I have an uncle from those parts, and he’s humble about it. He reminds me that times were tough growing up there, but have gotten tougher. I keep my mouth shut and nod my head, knowing full well that I likely have no idea what tough times are really like.
I won’t bore you or anyone else with stories of our travels through those mountains (failing brakes on a crazy snaky, drive down, or a flat tire adventure in a small town); as every thing I post, all true (life is so much crazier and fun than fiction could ever dream up), except one small moment with life changing results. We stopped on the Skyline Drive (is that the name?) at a small pull over spot. I set up our Coleman on the stone wall dividing us from the dizzying drop down the mountainside, and made breakfast for our family. Over coffee, eggs and bacon, we all scanned the ridges and breathed the air. It’s funny how you always look up, but for some reason I looked down. I saw the Shenandoah (I think that’s the river?) and a white clapped board farmhouse in a green valley setting far below. I never knew anywhere still existed so perfect and unspoiled. That image has stayed with me ever since. I’m sorry to go all soft and mushy, but that’s just the way it is. We enjoyed a lot of family moments driving around Appalachia, posting letters from tiny remote post offices, wading pebbly brooks running through quiet villages, and meeting other camper’s kids around our car-camping fire – giggling at each other’s funny accents…No big adventures, but a heck of a lot of life changing small ones. Like I say, I’ve no need to make stuff up, life is way bigger and incredible than mere fiction. I’m gonna always get my brakes checked before anymore wandering through those mountains though.

Brad,

I grinned all the way thru your story.

Probably more West Virginians live in other places than live here in the state. The facts are that WV is virtually all mountains, unlike other states, and that has limited economic development since the beginning. The old "joke" still goes around: at high school graduation they give you a diploma and a bus ticket.

Be that as it may, most people in most parts of the state who stay on lead reasonable lives that have, in the rural areas at least, some real positives.

On the other hand, even in the better off counties there can be an uncomfortably high poverty rate, and in some places the scenes can astonish. I'm sure that what your uncle saw gives him the right to say a few things about hard times.

Yet again, WV has the highest level of home ownership among the states.

The declining population numbers that I brought up in my earlier post were just part of the explanation for the wildlife abundance around here that you admired: abandoned farm land going back to forest, and fewer people, means more undisturbed habitat and more animals.

On top of the mountain behind the house there's mostly woods, a few scraggly miles of single lane road, and some farm fields that these days are less and less grazed.
Most of the acreage is on a half dozen or so little worked farms.

Even though the weather is a harsher up there, the places is so pretty and private that a lot of people could easily dream of having a charming old rambling farm house set above a beautiful setting of fields and wood. There are lots of spots exactly like that up there.

Yet most people native to the area don't seem to be interested in living in isolated, old places like that. The sentiment is definitely "the more mainstream suburban looking the better". The tiny, few "subdivisions" we have are very popular, and apart from these, those people out of town definitely like living in neighborhoods and in new houses.

That clapboard you saw in the valley very possibly had not been occupied for a long time.

Back in the days of the real estate bubble people from all over the country were starting to buy local rural land and old places. A lot of it for speculation. The market has not come back in anything like that form, and I have started to hear about big tracts being seized for back taxes, and the owners happy to let them go.

 

[Guest]

Acer - yes lions are plentiful here. I can leave my house and in 30 minutes be guaranteed to be walking on fresh cougar tracks. For as long as I have been hunting deer and elk (since 1976), it has been a rare season that I have not crossed a set of tracks more than once. The town I run trains to in eastern Oregon has them coming in and snatching the occasional unlucky family pet on a fairly regular basis. And yet - it is pretty rare to actually see one, unless you have hounds to find one and chase it up a tree. If no one is seeing spoor, I would bet my money on no cougars in your area. Wolves are no different on that account. You see the sign many times over before you actually see a wolf - although they seem to be less shy than cougars.

The USFWS first released wolves in the Frank Church River of No Return wilderness in the early '90's. IIRC, we were seeing fresh spoor on a regular basis about 100 miles away within about five years. Initially, F&G insisted that those of us who were reporting were mistaken - but they soon relented. Now it's pretty common to see wolves if you spend a fair amount of time where they roam (wherever the elk herds are).

I wish I knew more about the interaction of wolves and cats, but the introduction of wolves has been such a contentious and emotional issue here that there is little such information in the public domain that I consider reliable - from either side. The only thing I can confirm as fact is that the wolves keep the elk herds moving. It has been said that this is a good thing for the environment, especially in places where elk are protected (Yellowstone) - and I believe that.

It was a pleasant surprise that the beavers have hung in there. I was thinking that the extreme spring flooding of 2012 would take out the dams, but it did not. I have heard that beavers will open a spillway when the water rises high, and that rings true from what i saw there. What really surprised me was that they had not been trapped out, since there is active trapping in the area. But for whatever reason, I haven't seen any beaver traps in the area yet. I actually did talk to a trapper nearby one day, and he was out checking muskrat traps. I didn't think to ask him about the market for those - and I didn't care to discuss the beaver (although it's probably silly to think he didn't already know of their presence), so I don't know why I am not seeing beaver traps. I have seen them in other areas.

That back-channel is a cool place. The upper end of it is pretty well screened-off with large cottonwood deadfall, and I think that softens the flows. Several years ago, I participated in a project to install nesting boxes for wood ducks there - which has given the desired results. The island between the main channel and the back-channel holds a few deer and some upland game, and the beaver pond draws in quite a bit of waterfowl. A bit upstream and across the river is a pretty substantial heron rookery. The island is public land and sees some hunting pressure, but it's surprisingly light. The rest of the year, I see no signs of other human visitors. Because it's surrounded by farmland (so far), it's all pretty isolated - especially for being smack in the middle of the most populous valley in Idaho.

Steve,

I agree that no sign means no cougars. But cougars (and bears and snakes) can get such a hold on peoples' imaginations that it's hard to convince some around here that they did not see one, or even that these creatures are in fact subject to the laws of nature. It's the monster that you never get a good look at that is the most hypnotic.

I've heard about the ambushed pets. What you said made me remember the video I saw of a leopard patrolling the patio of a suburban house in east Africa. It's come to that out your way too. It is getting complex with so many people moving to the edge of the bush. The wolves and cougars and deer and people trying to work it all out.

Anyway it'a good to hear your stories about the goings on. I guess that cougars are curious and will follow your tracks? Maybe they just enjoy someone else breaking trail? By the way, when I used to hunt deer with some enthusiasm, I could close the distance to a deer in a stubble field by crawling on my belly. Sometimes the animal would get so curious that it would come toward me.

That's something about the beavers. I'll compare notes later. At the same time that you started talking about yours, I found a colony that also seemed to be ready to get established. They did not. Muskrat prices and a bunch of other furs prices have been climbing a lot these past 5 or so years. The monied in Russia and Asia are not at all squeamish, and they have have gotten into fur-trimmed this and fur-lined that clothing. Muskrat is up from $2 to $12.

 

[Guest]

Hey Acer;
I hope the mountain winter isn't treating you too badly. Our eldest son kept a computer screen saver photo of your mountains in autumn for many years. I can only imagine how pretty it must be in winter. That saying about diplomas and bus tickets is funny for only a second, before a touch of sadness creeps in. I suppose that rural-urban migration has been seen just about everywhere, except you may have seen it state wide. I've explored possible car trips to the NC mountains on the internet, and am a little disillusioned to see so many pricey mountain and piedmont developments, million dollar homes, resorts, and golf and country club type places. I wonder if that might be the far off future of the rest of the Appalachians? Thats if mining companies can leave you any mountains after they've finished with them. Here in my neck of the woods, we have more of the same tug of war going on between corporate and environmental entities. This happens on huge and tiny scales. A favourite cycle trail of mine passes through a wetland, where there's much wildlife to be seen. From beaver to deer, herons to eagles, newts to turtles. Our youngest daughter got involved with her High School outdoor nature club, and with much encouragement and aid from their teacher, studied and sought to protect this wetland from development. At the time I said "Very good dear, I'm proud of you." It wasn't till a few years later when I cycled through this area, that I stopped and soaked up the surroundings. Only then did I realize just what was at stake, and what has been protected. I cycled home, rang her up on the phone, and repeated those words to her all over again. But there I go again, sounding all tree hugging preachy. My own employment depends on people spending their hard earned cash, on their hard earned homes. I've no business telling them where they can build them...or do I?

 

[Guest]

Brad,

The weather here is colder than it has been in a long time. Old timers say that it's getting back to what it used to be. Climatologists have said, on the other hand, that climate change brings extremes and that some places will actually become cooler and wetter. We've for a time been getting weird extremes of hot and cold seasons, but the overall trend definitely is warmer and drier. It's cool now, and Tuesday's high will be about 3F(-16C). That's at 2K' here in the valley. Don't know what it will be like at 5K' or so.

Fortunately I do not live in coal country, so no mountaintop removal locally. There's a little strip mining on the western edge of my range, but I think it's about reached the limit of its expansion.

This was timber country. That's pretty quiet now too.

I think you might have been talking about the Ashville area in western NC. I have not been through there since the late 80s, but the boom was beginning even back then. We are not in such danger of huge development. Some here would like it, others vehemently oppose the idea. But big scale change is not likely to happen for a while. The main drawback we have is that there's not much out here but a few West Virginians and lots of forested mountains. Most people, along with rustic living, want shopping, restaurants, museums, art galleries, fine hotels, and lots of quaint B&Bs fairly nearby, and a lot of that we don't have.

But come to think of it, neither do we have a Kazowee!! canyon or a federal wilderness area that covers half the state. It's a kind of an in between place.

That was quite a sharp question you asked at the end, about growth and preservation and your self interest.

Determining an advantageous allocation of natural resources has been a challenge to every society that ever was. All I can say now is that I feel for you bro'. Here too in the valley we every year debate about the need, or lack of it, for county wide land use planning as we lurch and slide into the 21st century. That in an area of counties that average 1K sq mi and have as few as 7K people.


Anyway, here's the spirit of the moment, a stick lodge and pond at almost 4K'. It's good to talk with you.

 

[Guest]

Because I pack only a little over 100mm(35mm equivalent) in my pocket digi camera, I'm not an inspired wildlife photographer.

But as I came out of a side channel I figured that I might get the drop on this northern water snake. Steering paddle in one hand and camera held over the side in the other, I closed. It raised its head. This picture is my camera straining every circuit to give good image quality at max rack-out. Had I been sitting on the bottom of the canoe likely I'd have gotten closer.

To see a water snake up close you might think that you have a water moccasin. They are pretty thick bodied and have a pretty wide head. But no vertical pupils, so no pit viper here. They do get offed a lot for looking something like a.........

This is about the biggest one I've seen, so I assumed, better chance than not, that it was a female.

In the spring they sun themselves a lot. After that you don't see them so much. The surprise was that this one chose a spot in mid main channel, tempting to any passing eagle.

They swim with their heads down, unlike most snakes.

 

[ppine]

I like to hear the critter stories. 100 bears, some at a range of 2 feet, on the other side of a table, 4 in one night.

Last February we tried a winter trip on the lower Colorado R between CA/AZ. It was during a cold snap and we had frost every night. The last night in camp, watching the full moon rise over the canyon, the concert started- wild donkeys braying, the coyote choir, and 2 great horned owls. River otter swam by camp. Earlier a Navy Blue Angel jet flew over our campfire, we waved and he rocked his wings. That was a good night to be canoe camping. We were in a state park when this happened but it was closed for the winter.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Oh! Great Horned owls!

Canoe-related...

Last summer, while practicing poling with my son on nearby Indian Creek - we put in where all the floaters get in to go down, and we went up. Nobody else accesses that section. I was in the lead, about a half-mile up and came around a bend to find a GHO roosting at about eye-level in a tree about ten feet away. At that distance while standing in the canoe, those things are huge! It took wing and crossed right in front of me. That was a special treat.

Not canoe-related...

I read somewhere that a GHO can fly as fast as 40mph. A couple years ago, I confirmed that while operating a train through eastern Oregon. Our speed was 40mph. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and looked out the window to see a GHO escorting me at about arm's-length. It stayed with me like a wing man for about a mile before veering off. I don't know why the bird chose to fly next to us like that, but that was very cool.

 

[Guest]

Steve,

I agree that it can be hard to develop an idea about an issue by following only public debate, in your case the one about the presence of wolves and cougars, and about their interaction.

There's some chance that the topic of the interaction is showing up in the mammalogy, animal behavior, ecology, wildlife mgmt. professional literature.

These articles can be dense or they can be approachable. In any case, the abstracts( summary at the beginning) can give an idea of what's inside.

One of the librarians at a nearby state university does lit searches for me. He has access to very expensive data bases that I don't have, and his service is free to WV residents. When I get an itch to find something and wind up at dead ends, he can save the day. Besides finding the references he can also down load the papers I want. How cool is that?

 

[Guest]

Gavia,

Your story about your brother's flight with the hawk has been working on my imagination too.

Steve,

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, Dec '13 has a big sprawling article on cougars in the 21st century, "Ghost Cats".

Last week I was part of an annual eagle count on a nearby river.

When I told the group leader that I had found newborn lamb parts under a GHO nest, he explained that they will feed on carrion, which surprised me.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Gavia - you brother is blessed. I'd put that right up there with porpoises escorting a sailboat...maybe better. I've watched the local para-gliders working the updrafts in nearby canyon lands. They aren't far from the Snake River Birds of Prey conservation area. I wonder if they ever experience this?

Acer, I just heard from my son that a pair of GHO have recently taken up part-time residence on his property. I wonder if they're looking at the two new lambs - or maybe it's the rabbits that run around there. Several years ago, I was visiting with a local wildlife rehabilitator. She was showing a golden eagle that was getting close to being released. According to her, Goldens get blamed unfairly for lamb losses but they can't carry one off because their own robust build limits their payload. OTOH, the GHO has much lighter bone structure and can lift far more weight. Supposedly, they are capable of carrying off a newborn lamb. I guess that fits with the idea that they can eat carrion from larger animals.

Thanks for the NatGeo tip. Wish I had access to local research with no political taint. Not saying that research is tainted - just what I have access to.

 

[Guest]

Steve,

The fellow at the eagle watch had the personal opinion that a GHO "No" and a golden "Maybe": the owl just does not have enough frame strength: the eagle does possibly. But your point about load makes sense too. In any case a lamb must be max or close to it. I might ask people who raise sheep about new lamb weights.

I am clueless about which is the stronger lifter. Great question though.

The watch leader did say that goldens definitely have killed adult deer.

Figuring out the cougar/wolf/people/domestic animal mix up in your area could take some time for those who are objective. Acquiring meaningful data and working it can be tough and slow. It's especially hard in situations like the one I suspect your area experiences: the scene is changing still.

But some digging into the general subject of cougars and the others might be fun, and it should help your spin detector. Maybe the Nat Geo piece has references. I have not read it yet.

 

[Guest]

I was always trying to get our 4 kids to "sshhhh" whenever we went on day hikes or canoe trips. I wanted to share the thrill of an animal encounter. We experienced a few; Mergansers with downy chicks in tow drifting by in single file, or a beady eyed beaver sizing us up to share his waters just before his tail slap. Convincing the kids was a challenge though, as they were naturally excited and bundles of energy. They always wanted to charge ahead and explore. As a result, most trips were pretty quiet and devoid of animal encounters. On a car camping trip to Lake Superior I read about bear safety. A park pamphlet suggested walkers carry emergency whistles, and not hike through the forests too quietly. I gave them all whistles, with the stern warning "only to be blown in emergencies!" I needn't have worried about them being too quiet though, as they constantly whispered and giggled their way along. No bears were suddenly surprised on that, or any trip. Now that our 4 hiker hooligans are grown, my wife and I walk trails quietly once again; except in bear country. When I'm alone on a portage trail I find I'm softly whistling or talking to myself. Probably because chance bear encounters make me a little nervous, but possibly because I miss the noisy company I used to enjoy.

 

[pblanc]

Wild animal encounters ... a few.

I almost hit a few turkeys once on my bike. Was on a screaming downhill - maybe 40 mph - and had to hit the brakes hard. Clipped a few tail feathers. Really heated up my rims but didn't flat. Took hours for my heart to slow down.

I've come across beavers, otters, and several kinds of snakes in the water, and a couple of snapping turtles on portages. No moose or wolves. No close-up encounters with raccoons, skunks or porcupines, for which I'm grateful.

The best encounter was meeting up with a bear on a trip out of Snowbank Lake in the Boundary Waters. See page 2 of this trip report: http://codabone.net/canoeing/bwca/BW1009_1.htm.

One of the best encounters of all was the time in Sept. 2011 when I was with a friend in the BW. We were just breaking camp when two eagles flew directly overhead - at altitudes of about 10 and 20 feet. FEET! I could hear the wind rushing under the lower one's wings. I was awestruck.

That rings a bell. One summer many years ago some friends and I went to Snowshoe Mountain West Virginia to do some mountain biking. The resort had cut some nice single track trails in at the top of the mountain and would take you and your bikes up in the morning, and you would ride back down about a 1500 foot vertical descent. One day I was having some derailleur problems and decided to ride back down in advance of my friends. I was coming down a paved road cut into the shoulder of the mountain and decided I would see how fast I could get my bike going. I had spun out my top gear and tucked and was watching my bike computer and had gotten up to a little over 50 mph when an unseen hawk flew from a scrub tree just in front of my face. I didn't touch it, but could not have gotten any closer without doing so. I am sure I would have gone down if I had, and it would not have been good.

On another occasion I was paddling the Sequatchie River in Tennessee with my wife. Apparently east-central Tennessee is a predominant flight path for migrating sand hill cranes coming from or to Ohio and the upper Midwest area. They frequently stop over in the Hiwassee Refuge near Chattanooga. My wife and I came to a low island splitting the flow and took the channel with more water. Our view of the other channel was blocked by brush and low trees growing on the island. We had gotten about half way past the island when we heard a sudden loud commotion coming from the other side of the island. A second or two later, hundreds of cranes lifted off maybe 30 or 40 feet from us. All those wings sounded like a helicopter taking off.

 

[Guest]

Pblanc,

I got a grin out of your hawk near-miss on Snowshoe Drive.

In '86 I lived on top of the mtn. Now and then I'd ride to Marlinton. My mtn bike had aggressive knobbies, so I never got 50 mph. But it always was a spectacular descent, as your story so well reminded me.

While I was driving down one night, a big tom bobcat speared the left front wheel of the car.

Not a scratch on it. I put it in back and then left it at the store at Big Spring. The game warden wouldn't be by for 48 hours, so they kept it in the beer cooler. That was the old days.

Back in the 50s, during the famous open road race in Mexico, the Carera PanAmerica, a Mercedes team 300SLR took a vulture thru the windshield at 100-150 mph.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Speaking of golden eagles...

Yes - they will apparently kill things too large for them to carry off - or at least eat them. Several years ago, a co-worker was driving home from the hills when he spotted a golden out in the range. He stopped to have a better look. The eagle appeared incapacitated, and he thought he'd see how close he could get. Well, it was hopping around on the ground next to a carcass (I forget what) and didn't seem to be able to fly. My friend decided it must be sick or injured. He took off his leather jacket and wrapped the bird in it and put the bundle in his trunk - heading to a nearby vet. When he got to the vet, he opened the trunk to find a really pissed-off eagle and the contents of his trunk completely shredded (jacket included). The bird was fine, and soon flew off (having left behind some "ballast"). Vet explained that eagles will sometimes gorge themselves to the point of being too heavy to fly. Lesson learned...

I may have posted this before, so my apologies in advance...

A few years ago, a local college student was in the paper talking about his on-going study of why so many owls were found dead along the interstate. He had a few theories (hypothesis?), but he was off the mark, I think. His ideas centered around some environmental or medical event. I - being a "night-owl" myself - have a different take on it. You see - we run a lot of trains at about 50mph. At that speed, we see a lot of owls apparently hunting the rodents along the fringes. They often cut in front of us, and even perch on the rail sometimes. We never hit them at that speed - they always avoid a collision.
As speeds increase though, things change. Somewhere around 60mph (our speed - not the owls), the owls start having trouble. When we approach 70mph, owls get hit before getting out of the way with a pretty high frequency. I don't know if it's physically impossible for them to escape, or if it's a problem with the owls perception or expectation of our speed.

 

[Guest]

Closing speed. That's hot Steve.

Where to start? I think of cases in vehicle accidents, deer hunting and wolf predation and people walking dogs.

There's too much for here, so only sketches.

Most obviously pertinent and suggested by you:

A miles long, often deserted, and straight section of road in southern MD for 50 years was a popular street racing scene. When suburban development arrived it got rough a few times.

People pulling out of side roads were not expecting sport bikes closing at 150. Those two headlights could not possibly arrive so quick.

And I think that headlights can confuse range estimate.

But mostly it's that most lives operate at a given max speed, and much above that takes adjustment experience, which most owls probably don't get much of.

I'm on my phone, and pecking is slow. More another time.

BTW, a book started winking at me the other day: NATURES FLYERS - Birds, Insects, and the Biomechsnics of Flight by David E. Alexander. You'd like the table of contents, which includes a section on wing loading. That's related to lifting ability. Don't think this book addresses our question dirctly, but I couldn't resist it.

 

[Philtrum]

No Title

Attack frog!

 

[ppine]

We have golden eagles and bald eagles in the yard here in Nevada, and wild horses at the back fence.
Saw a wolf while elk hunting 3 years ago in Elko Co near the Idaho border.
Wolverine in the Coast Range of Alaska.
Two moose with their antlers locked pushing each other in rut in Yellowstone. Three moose swimming across the Snake River.
In Alberta around 1976, I woke up in a small mountaineering tent to a black bear sow and two cubs sniffing my head through the mosquito netting from a distance of about 20 inches.
Working in SE Alaska we saw bears everyday, sometimes 4 at a time fishing for salmon. We were doing stream surveys with salmon going by the whole time.
Elk hunting in Colorado I took a nap in the sun one cold morning and woke up surrounded by a large herd of elk.

Spotting wildlife is one of the great joys of being in the outdoors. Last year on the Willamette River in Oregon we did not go more than 2 hours without seeing osprey, and GB herons. Kingfishers were everywhere. Nature is my religion.

 

[Marten]

I had some nice encounters while at my MN cabin a few weeks ago that you may find interesting.https://youtu.be/DySFveCh1TY