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Swamping Again
The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten. ~Sigurd F. Olson The Swamp Queen (aka Melissa) did it again…planned a canoe/camping adventure to our favorite swamp destination, the Roanoke River. So, last week, we headed east to spend a planned 6 days paddling over 50 miles… Read more
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Yard Distraction
You can always find a distraction if you are looking for one. ~Tom Kite The beautiful weather this week finds me outside starting some yard work – weed pulling, mulching, contemplating building some benches for the fire circle, etc. As is often the case, yesterday something caught my eye and pulled me away from my… Read more
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Jones Lake and Paddling the Black River
The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten. ~Sigurd F. Olson Two weeks ago, we had a chance to paddle the Black River with our friend, Jerry, and a great group of other folks he had gathered for a planning trip for one of his upcoming… Read more
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Squirrely Behavior
…for all the motions of a squirrel, even in the most solitary recesses of the forest, imply spectators… ~Henry David Thoreau Yesterday I posted about deer communication through scent at a community scrape. Are the other animals in our woods communicating to one another with scent? Do they have their own “social media sites”? I… Read more
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Woodland Social Media
Every act of communication is a miracle of translation. ~Ken Liu I recognize a buck scrape in our woods when I see one. It is a bare patch of earth with lots of hoof scrapes and deer tracks under an overhanging low limb (usually an evergreen). One or more twigs are often broken from the… Read more
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More Bang for the Buck(s)
The life of the wood, meadow, and lake go on without us. Flowers bloom, set seed and die back; squirrels hide nuts in the fall and scold all year long; bobcats track the snowy lake in winter; deer browse the willow shoots in spring. Humans are but intruders who have presumed the right to be… Read more
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Deer Play
White-tailed deer were observed throughout 1,711 hours on the Welder Wildlife Refuge, Texas. Only 11 events considered to be forms of play were witnessed, seven by fawns and four by adults. It is concluded that white-tailed deer are not typically playful animals. ~Edwin D. Michael, 1968 publication I did some research online after looking at… Read more
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Fly Like an Eagle
I know he’d be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly. ~John Denver A couple of weeks ago I made a trip over to the B. Everett Jordan Dam about 25 minutes from our house. I had seen a lot of images recently on social media of the Bald Eagles that tend… Read more
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Opossum Afterlife
Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. ~Lao Tzu One day earlier this month I discovered a recently deceased Virginia Opossum out by one of the wood piles. No idea what might have happened to it though it was not long after some severely cold weather. I decided to… Read more
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Mustelid Moments
We need the tonic of wildness, — to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground. ~Henry David… Read more
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Roads End Naturalist 