Delving into the Divide

It is no secret I have struggled with what turns an ordinarily level-headed and principled individual to become a Trump backer or defender.  For more than three years I chalked it up to that of a transactional relationship.  Something along the lines of:  give me the supreme court I want and I'm happy.  If you'll pardon the Trump plot twist I suppose it's like paying for sex.  Nothing but a transaction. I continue to believe this to be the case.  Nevertheless, if you dig deeper into the divide and the essential core of Trumpism none of this is rocket science.

Trump supporters are angered because they feel that the Democrats think that they know best.  They are insulted by a party that looks down upon them.  This is at the root of their embrace of Donald Trump.  He is an indicator - or marker - for the culture war between the right and the left.  

Those on the right have long waited for a pugilistic personality like Trump to take the fight to what they view as the elitist left.  Trump's overriding desire to do so is what endears him to his supporters.  As long as Trump keeps swinging in the culture war many on the right will keep supporting him regardless of the boundaries or social mores he may violate. 

Truthfully, Trump could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and his supporters might possibly applaud the audacity of it. 

It is never easy navigating life with a conscience.

Deer in the Headlights

Not exactly in the headlights - but similar.

This deer was simultaneously photographed by two trail cameras using an invisible flash - infrared night vision.  Because both cameras were triggered at the same time giving the animal got a double dose of infrared.

This technology does not trigger a blinding flash like we know it - rather a light wave length that is not visible to the subject.  This is known as electromagnetic radiation - or EMR - and happens to be a wavelength longer than that of visible light.  As a consequence it is general invisible to the human and animal eye.  One of the drawbacks is that night vision does result in an image reproduced only in varying shares of black and white.  Considering it doesn't spook the critter that is a reasonable trade-off.

In case you are wondering about the dual camera set-up - I've had a Moultrie trail camera located here for possibly more than four years.  Because it is close to water and sits at the confluence of three trails it is an excellent location.  Some would suggest a hot location.  When the Wisconsin DNR approved our hosting of a state camera for the Snapshot Wisconsin wildlife crowdsourcing program I located the DNR's Bushnell camera adjacent to the original camera.

Moultrie pic...

Bushnell pic...

Survivor

The result of letting the little bucks walk is this.

He'll be a bigger boy next fall if he makes it to then...

Science Comes to Friday Music

A year ago yesterday Daryl Dragon passed away at the age of 76.  Trained as a classical pianist Dragon is best remembered as the other half of a 70’s pop sensation performing as Captain and Tennille.  Dragon was married to Toni Tennille.  One of their hits has a syrupy concoction called Muskrat Love. 

Meet Ondatra zibethicus – The Muskrat – aptly named as a consequence of its long naked tail and musky odor (quite noticeable in the male during the breeding season).   The muskrat is ideally-suited to living in a watery environment and sports a waterproof fur coat, webbed feet and a tail that can be used like a rudder.   This chunky rodent can stay submerged for up to fifteen minutes before having to surface for air.   

For a number of years muskrats have been making their home in the large pond out back between the house and Silver Creek.  Not all muskrats build lodges – with some choosing to dig a burrow in a stream bank or lake shore.  Our rats appear to be builders as opposed to diggers and this is their lodge constructed of mud and cut vegetation. 

This particular home is the largest one we’ve seen so far.  The roof is approximately 30 inches above the surface of the ice. 

Muskrat lodges have one to two underwater entrances and may have a second chamber for different occupants.  They’re fastidious about their den and will not use it as a bathroom.  The muskrat does not hibernate and is active year-round.  They can live up to ten years of age in the wild. 

Breeding begins in April and ends with the return of fall weather.  Around half a dozen young are born two to three times a year and the little ones can swim at two weeks of age.            

Unlike the beaver - who occupies only one lodge per lake or stream - the muskrat may build multiple abodes.  Here is a smaller lodge that we’re going to keep an eye on.  We’re not sure if it is under construction or was started and abandoned.

click on images for a closer look

Overcrowding will cause the critter to disperse and to find a new home.          

Getting back to the breeding behavior of the muskrat and what happens in that lodge there is this. 

And you are welcome for the earworm....

Rut

I took these photos a coupe of weeks ago during the mid-December antlerless hunt.  One of the only deer I spies appeared to be a fork (possibly a six) but for sure it was a buck.  It was there a gone in a flash and disappeared from my field of view.

In any event, when I dismounted my stand to begin a slow and deliberate walk back to the house in the gathering dusk I encountered a couple of interesting phenomenon.

First, was that this buck not only chose to walk precisely in the trail I had busted in the snow hiking to and from the arm pit stand.....

click on images for a closer look

He had seemingly deliberately chose to step mostly in my footsteps.  Not outside or parallel to my trail. But in and on my trail.  Go figure.  You have to wonder what's up with that, eh?

Second, there was this.  Something that was most definitely not there on my walk out - but was there on my walk home.

A scrape.

That buck I observed was freshening his scrape directly below the licking branch of a swamp oak.  The only time he stepped-off my track!

How else would those girl deer get impregnated in January?



Don't let anyone tell you that rutting behavior doesn't extend late into the calendar year and sometimes into January.

Guess the Critter

Migrants from that friendly country to the north have been visiting.

They appear to be undocumented.

Who is it?

Keeping Score

I trudged out to the end of the driveway yesterday to fetch the mail and found this.  

The overnight county plow assault toppled the mailbox and interrupted mail service for Tuesday. Postal workers are not required to put your mail in a mailbox laying alongside the ditch. 

Nevertheless, this is actually part of my plan.  Aside from another couple of dents in the box all I had to do is lift it up and situate it back in its spot. 

Business as usual.

Snow Plow 2 - Mailbox 1

Stay-tuned.....