The natural world, life, and dogs.
Baby steps. I'm learning that's what it takes to get ravens to trust me. I'm good with that. I’m growing inordinately fond of the raven pair that have been enjoying the voles Conall catches, along with the occasional marrow bone I toss over the fence after the boys are done with them. I find these… Continue reading Building Trust with Ravens
Living in the mountains, one quickly learns that predicting weather in March is a fool's errand. For several weeks, the swings between winter and spring are wild and seemingly random. Nature teases with warm days of sunshine, melting the long winter's snow pack on the ground and inviting you to step outside without jacket, hat… Continue reading Fool’s Spring
It has been a long while since Conall caught a vole in the yard, so his food bank for the local raven pair has been bare. I worried that the ravens had given up on us as I hadn't seen or heard them much recently. Now I realize that was mostly due to weather. We've… Continue reading Raven Check-in
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
Blood. Guts. Bones. The past few days have delivered some up-close and raw aspects of nature. If you're made queasy by the sight of blood, large animal bones or small animal organs, you may want to skip this post. Nothing horrific, but nature isn't always wildflowers and butterflies. Sometimes, nature gets real. I've been writing… Continue reading Nature, Uncensored
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
If you pay attention, the natural world offers endless entertainment. This winter there's almost daily life-and-death drama unfolding right in my yard. Nature's circle of life, on a small scale. In late December I wrote about two ravens who had discovered my dogs' discarded marrow bones. I toss them over the yard fence into the… Continue reading Conall’s Food Bank for Ravens
Starting with his earliest forays into the forest near home as a puppy, Conall has had the ability to follow his nose to animal bones left on the ground. Some bones appear in the normal course of life, after animals die from natural causes or as a predator's meal. Other bones appear after hunters kill… Continue reading Who Stole My Treasure?
Animal sentience is generally defined as the ability to feel, perceive, be conscious, or to experience subjectivity. The word “sentience” comes from the Latin verb sentire, which means “to feel.” The RSPCA Australia (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Knowledge Base website has a good definition that’s easily understood: Animal sentience is… Continue reading Altruism
Great horned owls are making a comeback in my neighborhood. At least, I hope they are. I wrote last summer about my dog Conall briefly catching an owlet in his mouth in July of 2016 (it survived). I also described two encounters, several years ago, with great horned owls in the forest. I used to… Continue reading Spring 2020 Critter Encounters: Great Horned Owl
