Spring Is Sprung and Mud is Made

I am told that it is meteorological spring here; where I live half-way between the equator and the North Pole.

In the Northern Hemisphere this is defined as the three-month period of March, April and May - commencing on March 1 and ending on May 31.  It is used by meteorologists and climatologists to align seasons with annual temperature cycles and to simplify the collection of weather data instead of using the varying dates of the astronomical equinox like the rest of us nerdy stargazers do.  But I digress.

What I know for sure is that when you score a 60F day you take your canine sidekick out for a run and let her explore the melting edges of the ice-covered pond and creek.

For sure it is Mud Season after all...  

 

 

Sockdolager!

Forecast was for a cessation of snowfall by 4 PM. Took these shots before 3:30. The sun is shining and the wind continues to howl out of the north. Gusts up to 60+ MPH are absolutely brutal. 

 

 

Look like we got at about 27-30 inches on the level. Reports suggest Sturgeon Bay got 35+. 

The drifts are amazing.

 

Businesses, schools and churches are closed with many of the town roads impassable. We’re on a county road and will get further attention after the state highways are completed. No power outages for us but half of the statewide total is confined to the peninsula. 

 

Waiting on our plow guy to take a stab at clearing the driveway so I can fetch the blower from the machine shed and finish digging out. 

 

Winter Storm Elsa was a whopper two day nor'easter; a real Sockdolager! 

Wiley Coyote

In the creation story of Idaho’s Nez Perce people it was Coyote who saved the creatures of Earth.

 

The monster Kamiah had stalked into the region and was gobbling up the animals one by one. The crafty Coyote evaded Kamiah but didn't want to lose his friends, so he let himself be swallowed. From inside the beast, Coyote severed Kamiah's heart and freed his fellow animals. Then he chopped up Kamiah and threw the pieces to the winds, where they gave birth to the peoples of the planet. 

 

 

The scientific name for the coyote is Canis latrans – literally barking dog. 

 

 

A diurnal or crepuscular creature (namely active during daylight hours or at dawn and dusk) coyotes that reside in closer proximity to people tend to be more nocturnal. Unless they become habituated to our presence wild coyotes will make every attempt to steer clear of people. If you were to inquire of a wildlife biologist they would tell you that there are nineteen subspecies of coyote that are exceedingly well-adapted to living in urban, rural and wild America. 

 

 Male coyotes tip the scales at about 44 pounds while females weigh-in slightly less. For scale our red-golden retriever, Ruby, weighs about the same. 

 

 

Coyotes dine on large prey and also eat snakes, insects, rodents, fruit and other mast. As an opportunistic hunter coyotes have been known to prey-upon small pets and livestock. In an urban setting they will eat garbage and pet food left on a deck or patio. 

 

 

The coyote is a gregarious animal - socially-inclined - like the wolf. This is likely a consequence of the need for a family unit or pack of animals combining to bring down large game.

 

Recent genetic studies suggest that coyotes are not native to the eastern United States - The implication is they largely evolved on the Great Plains. As the eastern old growth forests were cleared for settlement and agriculture coyotes adapted to the new environs. It is thought that coyotes dispersed to our neck of the woods early in the twentieth century. These canids are presumed to have come from the northern Great Plains and are unique in their genetic origins. 

 

 

Additional coyotes dispersed from here to New England via the northern Great Lakes region and southern Canada meeting in the 1940s in New York and Pennsylvania. These coyotes have inter-bred with gray wolf and Eastern wolf populations adding to their own unique genetic diversity and further contributing to their hybrid vigor and ability to adapt to an ever changing environment. Coyotes here are known as the Northeastern coyote.

 

Jill and I hear coyote vocalizations rather frequently. A live sighting is rare as in rural America coyotes share the same natural aversion to people that other wildlife do. 

 

They are scared-to-death of people. 

 

 

Nevertheless, digital trail camera images are common. Ruby and I ran the trail camera trap line recently and she sez that judging from the quantity of images over a couple of weeks that coyotes “are cheap” around here. 

 

These are all night IR images; not a single daylight photo. It’s mating season and maybe that has something to do with it?  

 

Coyote one followed by coyotes two.  A mated pair?

Trail Camera Update

A funny thing happened to the trail camera supply chain this winter.  There wasn't a Moultrie trail camera to be had.  Nothing in stock locally.  Nothing on Amazon Prime.  Nada.  Was it a chip shortage?  A consequence of tariffs?  A shipping container that fell from a ship and is bobbing-around somewhere between China and a California port?  I have no clue.  What I know for sure is I've been wanting to acquire two more cams and I'm not used to being denied for 3 months.

Since they don't need to be cellular-equipped I know I should be able to snag them for under a $100 apiece; only they've been unavailable.  Other brands and models, yes.  Moultrie. no.  Pardon me for brand loyalty but it is what it is.  It's a boomer thing.

Anyway, after waiting for months, the Missus announced they were back on Amazon and that I should check-out the selection so she could include them on our order.  In short order they arrived - a couple of A-900 bundles including SD card and batteries - free shipping too. Set me back about $90 a camera.

I deployed the first, replacing the last of two A-25i models deployed April 24, 2020.  Its twin succumbed in 2025 and after five years of continuous use this cam was nearing the end of its useful life and will be held in reserve or maybe finish its tour of duty as the 2026 Oriole Cam this year.  We'll see.  Bottom line is I have one new camera still in the box and one old cam in reserve for the present.

Here are the last two pics from the old trail camera... 

Prepping and deploying the new camera...

Stay-tuned for some new photos before too long....

Leave Sleeping Dogs Lie

When our doggo has her On/Off switch in the Off position she is most certainly off.

Whether it is at the end of the day sprawled on the couch getting toasted in front of the fire; 

or basking in the warmth of an early morning sunbeam. 

That big yawn says she's all business.

Don't poke sleeping dogs.

At this age if you go out of your way to wake them from a nap they think you'll want to go outside and play. 

The Red Rocket

Sunny with the temperature reaching a scorching high of 28F yesterday. 

Positively tropical!

 

Doggo and I ran the trail camera trap line; consequently she got a minimum 1 mile round-trip run under her collar.    Poor Pupper has had a bad case of cabin fever during the recent polar vortex with brief outside time to perform her business and occasionally get a quick dose of the zoomies.  

In case you’re wondering about all of the tracks in the snow; none of those belong to anyone in the household. We’ve been home bound for about a week on account of the extreme cold. Some of those trails look like woodland superhighways.  And they’re all critter tracks.  Mostly whitetail but also raccoon, possum, turkey, fox, weasel and coyote. Maybe a ditch tiger too. 

You’ll note Ruby taking a deliberate slide at the 28 second mark in the video. Not much escapes her nose and that’s to check some fresh coyote spoor. 

The video ends with big, fresh canine turd.  Didn’t look wild. Maybe from a local trailing hound?

Anyway, I’ve had an unusual spate of technical fails on the cameras lately. Will be interesting to see if they’ve been debugged and what, if anything, we got pics of. 

Stay-tuned….

The Red Rocket

Yesterday I shared my conviction that my dog came to our household factory-equipped with an on-off switch.

When the switch is in the OFF position she's at rest.

When the switch is in the ON position she's tearing around the landscape at full-tilt whether on the hunt or at play.

As a matter of fact, on the subject of an object happens to be in motion, she has raised Newton's Law of Inertia to art form.... 

 

Chill'n

I am convinced my dog came to our household factory-equipped with an on-off switch.

When the switch is in the ON position she's tearing around the landscape at full-tilt whether on the hunt or at play.

When the switch is in the OFF position she's at rest.

As a matter of fact, on the subject of an object at rest, she has raised Newton's Law of Inertia to art form.... 

 

2025

On this last day of the year it seem appropriate to share some highlights of those brief, fleeting, moments associated with family, travel, food, community and more.

Google Photo periodically furnishes unsolicited photo vignettes using their AI platform

Happy New Year and thank you for reading, following and sharing.  See you next year on the flip side....

Schneehund

Officially 4.5 inches. Although blowing and drifting have left greater accumulations to none at all. 

 

Doggo sez it’s enough to run through…..

  

Pheasant Hunt

It was only a couple of weeks ago I was in eastern South Dakota chasing pheasants; Friday is a reunion of sorts as several of the usual suspects from that trip will find their way here for the gun deer opener this coming Saturday.  I figure smoked pheasant will find its way into our diet next weekend.

Anyway some photos from the the pheasant hunt...

Queuing-up to push some grass

 

  

And some post hunt images back at the outfitter's barn...

$2 Beers and $3 Hi Balls

 

And at our rental house.  For ten guys a terrific set-up with a couple of bathrooms, a bunch of bedrooms, bunks and kitchen. 

 

Fall Colors

Lest you think colorful fall foliage is done for the season; guess again.

I snapped this photo in the yard Wednesday afternoon.  The tamarack are beginning to turn a brilliant shade of gold in preparation for shedding their needles and the maple in the yard persists with its bold, crimson hue.  

Naturally, the dog photo bombed the moment I snapped the pic. 

Licking Our Wounds

 

We returned late Monday from five days in South Dakota. That dog with the scuffed schnoz really delivered the goods. At barely 2.5 years old she’s maturing into a terrific upland bird hunter. Excellent family member too. 

 

Halfway into Saturday I was not having a good day.  The hunting was fine yet my phone had gone missing from my jacket.  I was convinced I lost it somewhere in the cattails or some other nonsense.  A first rate inconvenience. 

 

Later, working a slough someone took a couple of pokes at a rooster that glided out of sight over the rise of a picked bean field. Nobody figured it was hit. Nevertheless, in hot pursuit Ruby disappeared over the rise and wasn’t responding to my hollering or her electronic pipper. All I could think of is I started my day losing my phone; and now I lost the dog. 

 

After several long stressful minutes the dog materialized over the hill from out of nowhere with a dead rooster in her mouth.  She dropped it at my feet.

 

She owns the record retrieve of the trip.

 

There is no photo as it turns out I left my phone in the car.

 

We're both a wee bit limpy and gimpy from all the fun we had.  Metaphorically and in reality licking our wounds.... 

Crashed

Most days my dog gets a dose of outdoor exercise; an important factor to successfully raising a puppy.  Especially a sporting breed.  As a consequence my dog takes her sleep very seriously.

And by the time this post is published Braumeister and I will be driving home following a trip to South Dakota to chase pheasants.  It's likely he, me and the dog are gonna crash tonight.

Check-back in the next week for photos and if we were successful.  Or not.

As Randi Dix says;  Shoot 'em in the face! 

Game Day

The Missus and a very tired Red Rocket chilling-out for Packer Game Day....

 

Ruby Time

From the trail camera circuit here's a tranche of red golden retriever selfies.  Some of me too.