The natural world, life, and dogs.
Conall is still wary when we venture near where we heard the coyote crying in pain last weekend. This morning, that wariness is compounded when we hear two rifle shots in rapid succession just as we leave the house on our way to the fields and woods. The sound comes from the same area as… Continue reading A Cairn for the Coyote
Saturday, March 5, 2022 I’m struggling. Something happened today that was terribly disturbing. I need to work through it, write about it, see if there's a way to turn a terrible negative into something a little bit positive. It’s evening, I’m listening to the soothing music of Eamonn Karran streaming over the Internet as I… Continue reading Get Back On the Horse
The snow just keeps falling. And accumulating. I measured 40 inches (101.6 cm) on the ground this morning, February 17, 2021. Forecast calls for more snow over the next several days. Ullr - the Norse god of snow and patron saint of skiers - sure is delivering this winter. Skiers are happy. My last post… Continue reading Snow and Voles: the Drama Continues
It's snowing, again. I love snow! Even though winter officially started December 21st, and spring arrives March 21st, here in Idaho's mountains winter doesn't gain full steam until January. New snow intermittently drifts down from the sky through March and into April. Locals joke that it always snows on Memorial Day (late May), and it… Continue reading Half-way Through Winter
I’ve been feeling wordless lately. Shocker, right? It happens. No worthwhile topic I’m itching to write about. No current stream-of-consciousness idea presenting itself to me as worthy of words on the page/screen. Instead, I turn to my dogs and let them console and entertain me. They’re good at that. Conall’s Food Bank for Ravens has… Continue reading Wolf Moon
I confess, I'm easily entertained. Especially by dogs and their close relatives: wolves, coyotes and foxes. They fascinate me. I recently wrote about a fox who visits regularly, hunting for voles in my field, irritating Conall. I also wrote about the budding symbiotic relationship between a local raven pair and Conall's voles, left in the… Continue reading Wild Conversations
Some of the local birds have been busy lately, fascinating to watch. Some updates to previous posts. Cranes The boys monitoring the ditch on the west side of the road. Earlier this month while walking my dogs on our usual valley road, I heard sandhill cranes making more than their usual ruckus. (I wrote about… Continue reading Bird Updates: Sandhill Cranes and Tree Swallows
To send out this decade on a happy "note" I bring you recordings of my Malamute Conall singing along with some local coyotes. Coyotes are sometimes called song dogs because they're so vocal. Their scientific name - Canis latrans - translates as "barking dog." They possess versatility, with high-pitched howls, barks, and yips in their… Continue reading Howling New Year!
Wild Sensibility 