Critter Pics.

[simon1]

A smorgasbord on the front lawn.

Plant some veggies and dig a pit. We'll all drop over haha.

There was another pig road killed the day after I took the pic. of the wild hogs. You are more than welcome to come pick them up.

The bald eagle was back again this afternoon...just on the other side of the pond and was pecking on something on the ground. By the time I got the lens cap off the camera, the shutter speed set as fast as it would go, and had it set on burst mode, it was gone. Somewhere, but maybe not far.

If he is migrating he's traveling awful slow. Last time I saw one was about ten years ago, and it hung around all summer. It's been a long, long time since I've seen one around here...I wonder if someone is trying to contact me from "the other side."

Sorry for the mysticism, but I grew up in Indian Territory.

Despite its elevated status as a political and cultural symbol, the bald eagle continues to be a quiet symbol of protection for American Indians, Mitchell said.

“When it’s soaring above and when it notices you, an eagle will sometimes make a complete circle,” he said. “When it does that, it’s anointing you with good blessings, good tidings. Eagles represent strength, protection and, above all, good wisdom.”

Reference: Native History: Sacred Bald Eagle Becomes U.S. National Emblem - IndianCountryToday.com

 

[Esox]

There was another pig road killed the day after I took the pic. of the wild hogs. You are more than welcome to come pick them up.

I prefer mine on the hoof not from the ditch.

Eagles dont stay around where I am but theres a few that travel through every year. Some stay maybe a month at most and then move on.

There was one that lived where we use to go in far northern Ontario. It didnt take it long to learn when it was fish cleaning time at camp. We'd feed it the carcasses of the filleted fish and got to the point we'd throw them in the air and it would dive and try to catch them lol. There were river Otters there the first year we went and what the Eagle didnt get, the Otter family did. They really are comical critters and I missed seeing them every year we went up there after.

Thats about 12 hours north of International Falls MN.

The second picture is about 5 miles upriver from where we camped and the small island directly ahead of us is the mouth of Horseshoe Lake where we fished. Directly on the right out of frame is a small sand beach. Coming back to camp one day I saw what I thought was a pair of Woodland Caribou. As we got closer they faded back into the bush. We beached the boat to check the tracks. It was 2 wolves. The paw prints were wider than the palm of my hand.

We used to go up there every year on Labor Day Weekend and stay 8-10 days. Not once during any of those trips did we hear wolves howling or even saw their tracks other than that one small beach.

We bumped into the same group from Chicago two years in a row. The last time we went, Sept. 1995 they were there but they were also there there in July. They had 16 bears through camp in 2 weeks and had to shoot one that was belligerent.

There was also a couple from California that stayed there for a month every year as they traveled with their 5th wheel trailer down to Florida for the winter. They had a German Shepherd to keep the bears away. I remember his old Dodge diesel truck, he said it had 250,000 miles on it at the time and was just breaking in nicely lol.

This is a good read about a trip up there from a couple of motorcycle riders if you're interested. The ghost town of Stirland Lake is a creepy place to find way up there in all that bush. They closed that place down in 1991. Our first trip up there was 1993. Windigo Lake is literally the end of the road, in summer. From there once it freezes starts 2400 miles of ice roads.

The Windigo Lake ride.

I remember a friend of my fathers, they used to coon hunt together. He was native and refused to go in the bush at night because of spirits. Hard to coon hunt with hounds when you wont go in the bush after them lol. Good thing he had two sons haha.

He was also terrified of snakes. Someone tossed a garter snake in his AMC Scout one night and he jumped right out at 30 mph and let it go into the ditch lol.

 

[Scarry Knight]

I was wondering tonight what kind of impact all the flooding through Iowa, Nebraska, amd Missouri is having on the migration.....how they handle it. No stop overs? Detour around? I haven’t heard them address this yet.

Any of you suffering from it, know that you are in my prayers.

/\ that was written last night but I didnkt post it. I returned today to say....

I just saw a Golden Eagle soaring/ circling low overhead on my Northwestern Chicago Suburban street. Holy Cow! ‘Twas Huge! Saw Three Red-Tails last week....two adults and a juvi. A Peregrin the week before.

 

[simon1]

Armadillos are out in force now. Need to get out the .357 or the shotgun...those destructive things will dig out the foundation from under your house! They can do more damage than a wrecking ball.

 

[Esox]

Armadillos are out in force now. Need to get out the .357 or the shotgun...those destructive things will dig out the foundation from under your house! They can do more damage than a wrecking ball.

View attachment 968307

Your last post in the cowboy coffee thread reminded me of this.

We were sitting around that river way up north one day having supper. Fish, silver dollar fries and some sort of pasta noodles. Whiskey Jacks were always around, as soon as you start a fire they show up for feeding time and one landed right in my friends plate he had on his lap and started helping himself lol.

I rolled out of the tent one wet cold morning and got in the truck to warm up. This one landed on the mirror so I gave him the corners of a pop tart for breakfast.

That picture would have been a day or two after Labour Day 1995. At that time of year it was typical to need to go through a 1/4" or more of ice along the shore of the river every morning. Sleeping on that cold hard ground, even with a neoprene mat, still leaves you with quite a chill when you wake up in the morning.

The Canadian Grey Jay or Whiskey Jacks as they're called here are very friendly. About the same size and shape as a Blue Jay but without all the squawking. They'll eat anything but seem to be partial to buttered pasta noodles. I guess they go down easily lol.

The truck in the background is the guys from Illinois that had the 16 bears through camp the previous July.

Directly to the left out of frame at the rivers edge is where we'd clean the fish and feed the Eagle and Otters.

 

[simon1]

Robert was back today...I guess that's his favorite branch over the pond. There was a crow up there giving him hell, and when he flew off three crows were right on his tail.

 

[Esox]

Heres an owl we came across fishing one day. The crows just about pecked him to death, he was just flopping around on the ground when we got there and couldnt stand. He was so dizzy he couldnt even hold his head straight and could barely hold on to my buddies arm. He held him upright for about an hour by his feet while he slowly came back around. It took him about 6 hours before he could fly off.

I'll bet crows give an eagle a bit more respect.

 

[simon1]

Heres an owl we came across fishing one day. The crows just about pecked him to death, he was just flopping around on the ground when we got there and couldnt stand. He was so dizzy he couldnt even hold his head straight and could barely hold on to my buddies arm. He held him upright for about an hour by his feet while he slowly came back around. It took him about 6 hours before he could fly off.

I'll bet crows give an eagle a bit more respect.

View attachment 968556

That's a neat pic. of your buddy holding the owl. I'm surprised the owl didn't tear him up when he got his wits about him again. Those beaks can tear you up.

I thought Robert was an appropriate name for the eagle...he "Bobs" for fish.

Yeah, the crows are mean, but all they did was caw at the eagle and chase him as he went on his way...no attack. He didn't pay them much attention while he was perched on the tree branch. I've "heard" that about the only way you can tell a female eagle from a male is that females are bigger, and sometimes you have to measure their beaks or talons or something.

Like I'm going to tell Robert, if I ever find him injured..."Okay, hold still while I put this tape measure on your face and on your feet."

 

[simon1]

View attachment 967625

I prefer mine on the hoof not from the ditch.

Eagles dont stay around where I am but theres a few that travel through every year. Some stay maybe a month at most and then move on.

There was one that lived where we use to go in far northern Ontario. It didnt take it long to learn when it was fish cleaning time at camp. We'd feed it the carcasses of the filleted fish and got to the point we'd throw them in the air and it would dive and try to catch them lol. There were river Otters there the first year we went and what the Eagle didnt get, the Otter family did. They really are comical critters and I missed seeing them every year we went up there after.

Thats about 12 hours north of International Falls MN.

View attachment 967627

View attachment 967626

The second picture is about 5 miles upriver from where we camped and the small island directly ahead of us is the mouth of Horseshoe Lake where we fished. Directly on the right out of frame is a small sand beach. Coming back to camp one day I saw what I thought was a pair of Woodland Caribou. As we got closer they faded back into the bush. We beached the boat to check the tracks. It was 2 wolves. The paw prints were wider than the palm of my hand.

We used to go up there every year on Labor Day Weekend and stay 8-10 days. Not once during any of those trips did we hear wolves howling or even saw their tracks other than that one small beach.

We bumped into the same group from Chicago two years in a row. The last time we went, Sept. 1995 they were there but they were also there there in July. They had 16 bears through camp in 2 weeks and had to shoot one that was belligerent.

There was also a couple from California that stayed there for a month every year as they traveled with their 5th wheel trailer down to Florida for the winter. They had a German Shepherd to keep the bears away. I remember his old Dodge diesel truck, he said it had 250,000 miles on it at the time and was just breaking in nicely lol.

This is a good read about a trip up there from a couple of motorcycle riders if you're interested. The ghost town of Stirland Lake is a creepy place to find way up there in all that bush. They closed that place down in 1991. Our first trip up there was 1993. Windigo Lake is literally the end of the road, in summer. From there once it freezes starts 2400 miles of ice roads.

The Windigo Lake ride.

I remember a friend of my fathers, they used to coon hunt together. He was native and refused to go in the bush at night because of spirits. Hard to coon hunt with hounds when you wont go in the bush after them lol. Good thing he had two sons haha.

He was also terrified of snakes. Someone tossed a garter snake in his AMC Scout one night and he jumped right out at 30 mph and let it go into the ditch lol.

I have that Betty Trucker Roadkill Helper book. I use it for the armadillos. Down here we call roadkill armadillos possum on the half shell.

 

[Esox]

That's a neat pic. of your buddy holding the owl. I'm surprised the owl didn't tear him up when he got his wits about him again. Those beaks can tear you up.

He didnt have any fight left in him when we came across him walking upriver. It only took a minute for him to settle down once he knew we wernt going to hurt him.

We crossed the river about where that pic was taken and walked up to the next hole which is just above where that upturned tree trunk is over Jim's shoulder. When he was able to stand on his own, thats where he sat while we fished. Just out of frame to the left in the below pic. That "log jam hole" as we call it always holds Rainbows after opening day, the last Saturday of April, its about 8 feet deep.

Another day fishing at the outflow of a power plant south of Sarnia Ontario on the St Clair River, an Arctic Tern flew into my line as I cast and got tangled. Once he was in my hands he calmed down too. Animals know if you're going to hurt them or not. I had to cut the line off his wings with my teeth and he didnt even try to strike at me. I do wear full coverage polarized sunglasses when I fish so it wouldnt have mattered if he did but that was a worry for everyone. I knew he was okay and so did he so we got along fine lol.

Arctic Terns are beautiful birds. A bit smaller than a crow and very sleek with long wings.

Once they catch a draft they dont flap them much though and use their tails a lot. They dart around like bats while catching bugs and hunting small fish close to the surface. The one that got tangled took a dive at my lure midair.

I have that Betty Trucker Roadkill Helper book. I use it for the armadillos. Down here we call roadkill armadillos possum on the half shell.

Its all yours my friend lol. I drew the line many years ago at Yellow Bellied Marmot and Porcupine. There were too many deer running around for me to get that hungry haha.

Its strange to think now that at one time when I lived in the west, if we didnt hunt we didnt eat. That part of my life carries most of my favorite memories.

 

[simon1]

One of the masked bandits was messing around the pond this afternoon. I couldn't quite tell what it was with the sun on the other side of it and throwing a shadow, but it was moving like a 'coon. Yep, that's what it was. It was there about 5 o'clock...a bit early in the day.

 

[simon1]

Bob was back today...perched on his favorite branch over the pond, with the crows harassing him again.

The camera focused on the tree limb this time and I didn't put in on manual focus as I was wondering if he would fly off. He stayed around for over a half hour.

He flew down to the ground for awhile and the crows were still giving him hell. But he stayed. I've yet to see him catch a fish, but I could have missed it.

 

[Intrigued]

That is so cool, Mike!

 

[simon1]

That is so cool, Mike!

I hadn't seen him in a couple of days, Connie. I thought he may have went on back up north but I guess he's going to hang around awhile, as long as it doesn't get too hot. Plenty of fish in my pond and the others around here.

 

[simon1]

The kingfisher is back again this year. I should be able to get a pic. of him beating the living daylights our of a fish sometime this summer.

 

[Esox]

I've only ever seen one Kingfisher and that was on my favorite Steelhead river. They arent well liked, especially by the fish stocking clubs. Either are Blue Herons or Cormorants, they eat a lot of fish and can pick the smaller rivers clean of fingerlings.

 

[simon1]

I've only ever seen one Kingfisher and that was on my favorite Steelhead river. They arent well liked, especially by the fish stocking clubs. Either are Blue Herons or Cormorants, they eat a lot of fish and can pick the smaller rivers clean of fingerlings.

A few years ago I saw one of the Blue Herons eat about a 2 pound bass from the pond...I was not happy. How he ate that I don't know.

 

[Esox]

A few years ago I saw one of the Blue Herons eat about a 2 pound bass from the pond...I was not happy. How he ate that I don't know.

We were salmon fishing one day, early fall before they spawn, and a friend caught a nice female that was about 20lbs. All the roe was still in tight skeins and since we dont eat it and it was too immature to use for bait, it went in the water with the rest beside the boat ramp. There was one Seagull watching him clean the fish and when we walked away it flew over and had at it. We watched it pick up one skein that likely weighed 3lbs or more and down it went just like a giant floppy noodle. Then someone else showed up at the boat ramp and started backing their boat into the water. That Seagull tried to fly away and couldnt get off the water it was so heavy. I'd bet it ran on the water trying to get enough air under its wings for 100 yards before it lifted its feet lol. We had a good laugh about that.

A Heron would eat a 2lb fish like a light snack. I've always wondered how they dealt with the spines on the back of a fish, they arent exactly dull.

 

[simon1]

We were salmon fishing one day, early fall before they spawn, and a friend caught a nice female that was about 20lbs. All the roe was still in tight skeins and since we dont eat it and it was too immature to use for bait, it went in the water with the rest beside the boat ramp. There was one Seagull watching him clean the fish and when we walked away it flew over and had at it. We watched it pick up one skein that likely weighed 3lbs or more and down it went just like a giant floppy noodle. Then someone else showed up at the boat ramp and started backing their boat into the water. That Seagull tried to fly away and couldnt get off the water it was so heavy. I'd bet it ran on the water trying to get enough air under its wings for 100 yards before it lifted its feet lol. We had a good laugh about that.

A Heron would eat a 2lb fish like a light snack. I've always wondered how they dealt with the spines on the back of a fish, they arent exactly dull.

I believe they eat them head first so the fins and spines fold back as they are going down. At least that's what I thought I've seen.

 

[Esox]

I believe they eat them head first so the fins and spines fold back as they are going down. At least that's what I thought I've seen.

Yeah, but they're usually still wiggling when they go down. I'd think that might be a bit hard on the stomach.