Improvisational Genius

At deer camp this year one of the discussions somehow gravitated to the use of a bidet in one of the hunter's household.  He claimed that it was a terrific after-market add-on to one of the toilets.

Easily installed without engaging a plumber and very affordable at less than $50.  Delivered to his doorstep by Amazon.  

I got him beat.....

Music Lyrics of the Day

The devil called down to Georgia

He was looking for some votes to steal

He was in a bind because he was way behind

And he was willing to make a deal 

Pogonip

The past week we’ve been waking to this……. 

Trees and grass ‘painted’ as if by Jack Frost himself.  It burns-off during the daylight hours and almost magically reappears from the overnight fogs. This winter meteorological event is a consequence of freezing fog.  Sometimes called radiation fog, valley fog or freezing fog it is also called pogonip – a Shoshone word for cloud. 

Fog materializes when there is cooler air coming in contact-with a warmer body of water or moist surface like a swamp or wetland. 

Freezing fog materializes when the air temperature is below freezing and the water droplets in the fog become super-cooled. These super-cooled water droplets stay in liquid state until they drift into contact with a surface they can freeze-to. Grass, twigs, trees, leaves and so-forth. 

It’s really a rather striking effect and pleasing to the eye. It is also something to be reckoned-with as it can result in ice build-up on roads – especially bridges – which have no ground insulation. It can also build-up on power lines with the result pf power outages. 

Drive carefully on mornings like this.

Or just stay-in and drink coffee. 

 

This Burn if for the Birds

On this day - eight months ago - we set our backyard on fire.  It was deliberate.  And planned.  It is known as a Prescribed Burn.

And afterward it looked like this

Controlled burns such as this accomplish a number of things.  Included among them are:

1. Fire removes excess fuel (built-up thatch) thereby reducing the risk of an out-of-control wildfire.
2. Fire returns valuable nutrients to the soil
3. Fire kills undesirable woody vegetation, invasive plant species and the blackened earth warms-up quickly in the spring sunshine stimulating the growth of desirable native plants
4. Following the application of fire the resulting flush of desirable plant regrowth is a benefit to wildlife – including insects, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds

And by August it looks like this

And by January it looked like this

As you can see in this progress report photo there's no greenery or flowers - only a field of dry, brown stems, tipped-over and covered by the recent snows.  

However, if you look closely you will note that there are seed heads on the grasses and flower stalks that are a food source for birds and smaller rodents that over-winter here.  These smaller animals are prey to larger weasels, mink, coyotes and raptors.  The cavities and crevasses that are created as the stiff grasses fold-over and are covered with snow provide insulated cover for all manner of critters to hide, nest, hang-out and live thru some of nature's harshest months. 

So even when you think there's nothing happening in winter - there's actually a lot going-on in a complex wildlife web of survival. 

It is more than just for the birds - I'd like to think of it as the burn that keeps on giving......

Idiom of the Day

 

Lock Horns

Become embroiled in conflict, as in At the town meeting Kate and Steve locked horns over increasing the property tax. This expression alludes to how stags and bulls use their horns to fight one another. 

A whitetail's antlers are useful for defense against predators and other deer. Here are some photos taken mid-December of a couple of two-and-a-half-year-old bucks sparring.

When this behavior occurs in autumn during the pre-rut these matches are considered behavior that strengthens the social bonds among males in the local herd.  As the rut progresses sparring contributes to establishing the dominant males for purposes of breeding.

From time-to-time these matches will turn into all-out fights.   

On rare occasion bucks will find themselves locked-together which may result in death of one or both animals.  

These are some sweet photos on a couple of levels.  The composition and lighting is very good and it is not every day you capture this behavior digitally....

 

Happy New Year

The grand kids asked if they could write LET IT SNOW on the porch windows.

The bottom photo is the view from the street.

Happy New Year.....

 

Tracking

One of the principle advantages of winter is snow.  All the better to learn who is moving about.

From our walk today we followed the bounding track of four footprints spaced 12 to 18 inches -apart.

Weasel.