The wildlife activity during the recent full moon included several nights of coyotes working close to the casa as well as seeing a coyote on the game trail behind the house in broad daylight 2 days ago. Karl let us know about the nighttime activity and it was close enough and loud enough one night that I heard it also. Karl also alerted me to the coyote on the game trail. His bark is unique for different critters and it was definitely an agressive, “Move on!” kind of bark. I looked out to see the coyote on the move with Karl behind. Karl “herds” critters off the property versus a chasing off. It is his inate behavior – nothing I trained. I am very happy with it as it discourages visitors but does not threaten them to the point of forcing them to attack.
Over the weekend, Steve and I searched the property for tracks and evidence of a coyote kill as from the noise, I thought they were on the property when they finally got whatever they got. We found one set of coyote tracks but that was it.
Steve was out on the mountain loop on Monday and came back telling of finding some tracks he thought were cat, as in big cat…as in mountain lion. They are a little old and a bit hard to pick up the definition in the photos that we could see with our eyes, but…
The tracks are definitely not canine, they are feline. They are too big for a bobcat.
Who goes there?
Misty mornings giving way to mostly gray skies continue. Temperatures hover between 25 overnight to near 40 during the day. Yesterday after a crunchy walk/snowshoe around the mountain loop, I went to the front porch.
Snow melting off the roof provided a symphony in the form of drips and plops on the snow and rocks.
I started with Karl for company…
Bob joined the party.
And…
…finally Steve.
From this morning. That bit of blue at Karl’s chin is his lighted collar.
After a short spurt of Winter, we are back to slush and a dreary mess. But the gray and the mist have their own beauty. And it is both the wonder of “what will it be today” and the mix of things that weave the tapestry of life…and I’m not speaking of only the weather :).
Happy Wednesday!
photos taken 1/27/2010, first 2 about 15 minutes before sunset at 5:15, the moon an hour later.
It was a beautiful day…last Sunday when Steve, Karl and I went to the National Bison Range.
We stopped at several spots and all got out.
Steve and I took photos, watched Karl sniff and explore and we all enjoyed the sunshine and the quiet.
From the National Bison Range, January 10, 2010.
Karl’s and my Christmas Day tradition has been a decadent breakfast followed by a long snowshoe run. It continued this year with Steve and several cameras…
Snow is scarce in the valley. We headed around Flathead Lake on the way to Blacktail Mountain Road an higher elevation.
Driving along the lake, a few mountain peaks of the Continental Divide were visible in sun holes in the cloud cover.
We drove up the road through the low inversion layer of foggy clouds and emerged above it all.
It was a world of sunshine, snow ghosts (see Steve’s Flickr) and mountain mystery.
2 on the ice, 2 in the air: Egan Slough, north of Bigfork, MT – 12/12/2009
