A Life In My Hands

Tidy, my 19 year old cat with bladder cancer and kidney trouble, is still here. I have come to the decision that I will not continue to give her medications any more. I will give her some fluids only. The medicine was never intended to make her better and it is only prolonging the inevitable. She's getting very thin. I have told her to just go to sleep and let her soul go the Heaven-I will understand and miss her. She is still eating, drinking, walking, purring, and looking out of the window. But I know she is not well at all. I cannot put her down with that much life left in her even if she is already dying. That's is supposed to be God's decision not mine. I guess by my decision for the cat that is His will being imposed through me. Having the power to end another's life is not a power I care to have.

The picture is Tidy outside on a leash on a bright sunny day. As a younger cat, Tidy was petite but fiesty, not a cat any other cat wanted to mess with. She would take off for 2 and 3 days at a time. I never knew where she went and sometimes I would go out looking at dead cats on the roads to make sure Tidy wasn't one of them. Sometimes she would come back smelling like a cow pasture! She only goes outside for about 5 minutes now before she wants to go back in. Tidy will be survived by one cat sister, Kitty, who is 17 now. Her older sister died 3 years ago of hyperthyroidism at 16 years old. These cats were with me for half of my life! They've been through a lot.

Southwestern Wolves & A Little Respect

Well, the wolves of the Southwest have been under fire for a while now. I was so mentally tired from fighting for the Yellowstone wolves for months that I admit I am not up to par on what is happening with these other wolves. All I know for sure is that there are only 59 wolves total down there and that is apparently too many for some folks. So another battle is brewing.

I feel for wolves maybe moreso than any other animal. I don't know why. I am not a dog person-I do like dogs but I don't care to have on as a pet and don't get all excited when I see one. I'm actually somewhat afraid of dogs a little after a 2-pit bull incident at work many years ago. But I am not afraid of a wolf. When a wolf ran within 10 feet of me and the kid the other year, I felt awe. I was physically weak and speechless, eyes huge with excitement (hence no photographs!). I felt no need to fear it. Respect yes, fear no. I did not intentionally go out seeking to come that close to one and had no idea it was even around until it came by unexpectedly. I do not teach the kid to fear animals, just repsect them and their homes and to be aware of potential dangers associated with each species. I am more afraid of a dog harming my kid than a wolf because who knows what the dog owner has instilled into that pet. With a wolf, it rather just stay away from people and with good reason. I am mysteriously drawn to wolves more than any other animal.

Everyone wants respect. All species, not only humans. Wolves get little respect and I get tired of their persecution. They are wonderful animals. In fact, all animals are wonderful in some way and I do include those that I don't particularly care for. They are just like us. They have families, friends, and feelings and are just trying to make a living. Animals need respect.

And don't even think about telling me animals don't think and feel because I know better! For a good book on animals emotions, I suggest The Emotional Lives of Animals by Marc Bekoff with a foreward by Jane Goodall (2007, New World Library).

I urge everyone to stand up for the 59 wolves of the Southwest.

Here's a link to learn more about the Mexican Wolves:
Southwestern Wolf Information & USFWP Recommmendations

Also, I was finally able to get the short fox video onto the top right sidebar. If you click on it, it plays above the latest post, right under the title. I was lucky enough to get it there so that's where it will stay for now. I have a short deer one to get up too. I may end up with an animal video link on that side somewhere and sometime in the future. And notice how the links in posts are finally working correctly!!!

Home On The Range

Ever take the time to watch a prairie dog? Interesting little creatures. Cute. Always living on the edge, wary of predators waiting to get a good meal.

Prairie dogs have again come under attack by the U.S. Forest Service:

According to Defenders of Wildlife: The Forest Service is proposing to make it easier to poison and kill prairie dogs anywhere on three public grasslands. They’re even targeting an area in South Dakota’s Buffalo Gap National Grassland called Conata Basin -- key habitat for the recently reintroduced swift fox and our nation’s most important recovery area for the endangered black-footed ferret.

Prairie dogs are a keystone species and a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Many animals eat these little critters and many larger critters also take over their tunnels to make a home of their own. If prairie dogs are gone, so is the other wildlife. Poisoning prairie dogs is also questionable because other animals, plants, and insects can be poisoned "accidentally." I say "accidentally" because if they know this is going to happen and it is done anyway, then it was no accident at all. The other species poisoning will be an overlooked by-product not given another thought to. The worst part of this proposed poisoning is that it is in areas set aside as National Grasslands where prairie dogs are expected to be living. And yes, our tax dollars will be funding this terrible project. Please go to the Defender's site to comment on this absurd proposal (or send one in to the Forest Service yourself) before it is too late. It just seems like the animal attack never stops. Makes my heart heavy thinking about it.

The picture above, a Unita ground squirrel, and one other one from a different hole, were the permanent residents of my Slough Creek campsite. Ground squirrels and prairie dogs are related and if one did not know any better, they could very easily be mistaken for each other.

Oh, while I'm on the subject, I know many people that go out shooting prairie dogs for weekend fun. Some of these folks even have their maps marked with prairie dog towns all over the state. They share the maps with other killers. Then they come in to work or school and laugh about blasting away these little animals, guts and blood splattered everywhere as the other animals watch. I think it is just plain sick.

Here's a link to learn more about these little critters:
Save The Prairie Dogs

Thinking Blogger Award Choices

So here are my 5 choices to receive the “Thinking Blogger” Award:

1. Creation on the Blade
God and our animal world all rolled into one! Great pictures and a fun new feature-an interactive puzzle to figure out every month.
2. Waitress Stories
Gives people a behind the scenes look into the everyday life of a waitress. A must-visit site for those who have never worked in the service industry and enjoy dining out. Please tip generously!
3. A Step Apart: A Few Random Musings
A great personal perspective into the happenings around Yellowstone Park and the outdoors.
4. My Journey to Eliminate Debt
One brave family’s quest to wipe out debt. The ups and downs of their newly-started journey. A lesson anyone with debt can learn from (and perhaps try to encourage this family with).
5. Rick’s Astronomy Journal
An amateur astronomy site because sometimes we need a break from the trials of everyday life to think about what else is out there! Cool pictures along with photographer’s notes.

THE RULES ARE: Congratulations, you won a Thinking Blogger Award:

Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the memo

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (there is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

A Two-Award Treat

How fortunate I am! I won a Creation on the Blade's Animal Knowledge Award for June and a Thinking Blogger Award from Victorya Chase Goes To Therapy. How delightful, unexpected, and appreciated.

I will say that the wildlife and nature I hold so dear are the reasons I won these awards. Without them I would have nothing to write about or no animals to know about. These same entities have also drawn in others that enjoy the same things and I thank you guys and girls for that.

Since I am on a constricted schedule today, I will post these awards and "Tag" someone else when time allows.

A Lesson In Tolerance

I thought about the animals I saw on my trip and just had to say something about the tolerance of animals in general. As I stated earlier, many (maybe all) of the predatory animals wandering into town here are killed, not relocated. Deer are a common sight lying dead along the roads, as of course are racoons, rabbits, prairie dogs and our own pet cats. After really taking the time to watch all the wildlife in Yellowstone the past 2 days, I KNOW animals have a very high tolerance for humans. Fears have been instilled into us; we think wild animals are out to attack and kill us. We are taught to fear these animals. Sure sometimes an animal may attack but most times it is because we were in their territory and were surprised, or for protection of their young, and only rarley purely predatory.

The grizzly was just going about its business, no intentions of harming a person. The fox was playful and curious, only a couple feet away from humans and not afraid at all. The deer did their grazing as us campers camped. The sheep went about grazing at the side of the road, never once moving as a person in each car took a turn for a picture. The moose kept on grazing as many people moved in to get pictures. Buffalo lay only about 10 feet away, resting on thermal ground near hot springs as tourists walked by and stopped to take pictures. These wild animals were kind enough to share their home and themselves with us-and peacefully. Very tolerant of our strange habits.

Now on the other hand, the mountain lions and bears coming into town to try to share our home with us do not get out alive. They are treated as criminals and without a trial. They are shot dead as they try to find their way in a world that has few places left for them. The poor deer are probably the most tolerant here. Far too many of them are hit by cars and left dead, thrown in the trash by the roadkill cleanup crew like trash. Humans have little tolerance left for animals. It will be a sad world indeed when the only animals left are trapped in zoos and as pets while the ones people don't favor are wiped off the face of the Earth.

The tolerance of animals is a lesson we need to learn. They are accepting and adapting to us so why can't we do the same? God gave us all this planet as home.

Animals are amazing!

Animals, Animals Everywhere!

I had an unexpectedly amazing overnight trip. First, I must say that the Slough Creek Campground is absolutely gorgeous. My intentions were to camp along the creek but those sites were full. To my delight, I ended up in the best site of them all. Under 3 huge pine trees with a small, sagebrush & wildflower-covered meadow for a view and hills and mountains in the background. Many deer came through the meadow. Some stopped to graze, some ran through. A fox played along the creek and in the meadow. It came into people's camps and was quite a people-friendly creature. I took a short video of it but I don't know how to load those into the blog yet. Other animals on the trip (not in the campground): a small black bear, a lone bighorn sheep grazing roadside, a small moose, lots of pelicans, the usual buffalo but only one elk, and the prize this time-a grizzly. The buffalo had a lot of calves. This is only the third time I've ever seen a moose here(keep in mind I've been coming here since I was 7 years old and am now 38!). Bighorn sheep seem pretty rare anymore. There used to be herds of them coming down out of the high mountains in winter to graze the lower elevations now I'm lucky to see a single sheep every few years.

Now the bear story. The grizzly was in southern Hayden Valley in the Trout Creek area about 10am. It wandered up by a buffalo and kind of half-attempted to charge it but it backed off quickly and ran away. The buffalo never moved an inch. Then the bear wandered around looking at plants until it got to the top of a hill (by the road). Then it saw all of us tourists and debated on crossing the road or not. It was a cute bear and appeared unaggitated with all of us, just a bit leary. Then another buffalo came running from across the other side of the road not knowing the bear was there. The bear had already decided to cross the road at that time so there was no interaction between the two. After that, I decided I would leave the "bear jam". I had a couple pictures and did not want to bother the animal more. It was a collared bear and somebody said it was a female. Beautiful sight with its brown fur and muscle rippling in the sunlight! No wolves this time-not even a howl-and I even camped in an area of overlapping territory for 3 packs.

Also, this Slough Creek campground is where the poor cinnamon black bear from an earlier post met its untimely death. I felt quite sad as I glanced along the creek where the bear had died, still laying partially in the water. Despite this sadness, the trip was a fantastic celebration of animal life.

Sparkling Summer Nights

The firefly, also known as the lightning bug, is actually neither a fly nor a bug, but a beetle, say Purdue entomologists. This particular firefly is called Say's firefly (Pyractomena angulata), one of about 175 species of fireflies in the United States. (Scientific illustration by Arwin Provonsha, Purdue Department of Entomology.)

I was thinking about fireflies for a while now. They are not out here in Montana and I think of them every summer.

Read this paragraph of an old paper of mine and you will understand a little about why I am so fond of these tiny glowing wonders:

I have many fond memories of St. Clair (Pennsylvania), but the best thing I remember is catching the lightning bugs in those humid summer evenings. Most of the townsfolk would go out to sit on their porches to cool off because there is no air conditioning, even to this day. My grandparents used to sit on their swing and my brothers and I would play on the front porch and wait for the lightning bugs to come out. Sometimes we could catch them on the street, but it was far more entertaining to lie on the grass at the church and wait. We would track them through the grass and air by the yellow glow of their tails. If we caught any lightning bugs, we would only keep them over night before releasing them. I am a lot older now, but I still catch lightning bugs when I go back to St. Clair. There is nothing better.

I tried to put the whole paper on so the full sense comes through but I can't add a document anywhere I guess without copying several pages of text right into a post.

Now I'm off on an overnight camping trip into prime wolf and grizzly habitat-Slough Creek in Yellowstone! Lucky for me, the kid has now decided not to fish down there. I know she will probably change her mind again so I have the gear packed anyway.

Must I Kill To Connect With Nature?

Photo: If I remember correctly, these elk were grazing along the Firehole River a couple years ago. One was behind the left tree so it can't be seen. Notice how I am NOT standing beside a dead elk with my gun and showing off its rack!

I woke up this morning thinking about going camping when I remembered a conversation (one-sided argument maybe is a better term) I had with a person about connecting with nature months ago. This person insisted that he was closer to nature than those of us that do not "harvest" animals for sport. He said he is right out in nature and gets to see the animals doing what they do. After saying I do everything he does except kill animals he still would not see that us non-hunters are also close to nature. Apparently, the kill puts you closer to nature. This is only the basic just of the conversation. I ended up leaving this conversation feeling abused, confused, and angered. And I still do when I think about it. I do not see the difference between what hunters do and what I do except fot the killing part. I camp and hike in the wild. I even use hunting equipment bought at hunting stores (unfortunately)-a laser-sighted spotting scope, GPS, camp gear, etc. I may spend less time outside because I am not stalking animals to their death so I can leave whenever I want. I just don't understand why a hunter is closer to nature than I am. I think it is terrible that one thinks taking the life of an animal brings you closer to nature. It doesn't make sense. Must feel good to rip the life away from some unsuspecting animal I guess. Makes a hunter feel big and powerful. I think this thinking is sick and misguided. It take a bigger person to see the beauty in animals without wanting to possess their very lives. Maybe somebody could help me understand this hunter's point a little better because I just don't see it.

When I get a chance I will have to get more photos off my camera to use in this blog. I am too lazy to climb behind my desk and sort through all the wires. I'm no pro (as you can tell by the date stamps! I do not use those anymore for obvious reasons) but I would prefer to use my own stuff when I have it and if I can fit it in somehow.

And thanks to everyone for the nice comments about this blog. When I started it I was afraid I would get a bunch of angry hunters trying to put me down. Thankfully, I haven't had to deal with that yet. I would delete the stuff anyway since this is supposed to be a conflict-free zone. I do enough defending my postion in real life. I'm even an official environmenatlist now but this field tends to be one-sided as well. Everything is shifted towards finding solutions (like with energy), but very few are looking at the real root of problems and those of us that do are outcasts. I am tired of conflict. Thanks to all you supporters of nature and LIVE wildlife.

Ah, Yellowstone!

I am glad that a poster (postee?) decided that Yellowstone is now a must visit place! Oh, I could blab on endlessly about that place. I am obsessed with it and very fortunate to live within driving distance. Luckily for me with my recent environmental degree, I may now have a shot at being a naturlist or something there. Heck, I would love to even volunteer as a campground host or a retail employee just to be there-but that does not pay the bills. Animals, geology, biology, chemistry,great thunderstorms, camping and hiking, peace,and God all rolled into one beautiful, no-hunting, supervolcanic mountain ecosystem! Now really, what more could a person ask for?

I must say, I do prefer to camp. However, showers can be a long drive away and cost $3/shower. I really don't care to smell like food in bear country if I don't have to. I would also recommend a stay in the cabins at Canyon Village or in a room with a view of Old Faithlful. Anywhere a person stays in the Park, they will not be disappointed. For animal watching-don't expect to see bears and wolves by staying on the main roads (although you can at the right times)-take a patient hike and enjoy. For moose, I would just go down to the Grand Tetons since that's where I always see them at. I haven't seen a moose in the Park since I was a kid.

Also, I would be glad to check out other blogs so leave your URL. It's good to connect in even a small way with people from all around the world. I do have few links on the right to some other blogs of interest that I've found so far.

Oh, this geyser is in the Old Faithful area. I forget the name.

Sorry! I blew away a post accidentally.

I appear to have lost another post I thought I had published. I feel bad. It was from Anonymous and contained a link to widgets for our blogs. Just letting you know that I did read your comment and thanks. In the meantime I am searching for new stuff to add to this blog and the website. I am no computer whiz by any means, but I am finding this "html" stuff is the way to go for customizing stuff. Frustrating though since I am doing it by trial and error. Currently, I am trying to get one of my own pictures to fit precisely behind my title and subtitle-not under or over it, not larger or smaller. I cannot find a way. What a way to waste a summer away!

Stay Away, Fish!

I regretfully admit that I am going to teach a kid to fish in a couple weeks. The kid is begging to go fishing all of a sudden. I do not care to kill fish for sport, nor would I advocate harrassing them by ripping them out of the water on a hook and releasing them but I have an obligation to teach the kid. I figure in Yellowstone, it is mainly catch and release (except for certain species)and barbless hooks are required so we will go there-to the heart of bear and wolf country to fish a mountain stream for Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. I hope to not even catch one but if we do, at least I know I will not be killing it. Sound hypocritical of me? Maybe but when God put's a kid's life in your hands, you have to do your best to support that kid even if you may not approve of everything they do or like (unless it is harmful or illegal activity). I may just get more use out of my bat counting waders.

The new website is going well. I put quite a bit of stuff on it but it is far from done. It's an addicting hobby but neat to learn about programming. Again, the link doesn't work in the posts so it's on the right above profile. Adding links can't be that difficult of a thing to get to work can it?

Wanted: Room To Rent

A couple weeks ago, a young mountain lion was found resting in a tree of someone's backyard (in town). Of course, that young lion was immediately killed by wildlife officials. Before this some time ago, the same fate was dealt to a black bear cub also found in someone's yard and also in a tree. Mountain lions are becoming more visible along the edges of town. I believe one attacked a kid in his yard a while ago. Maybe it was his dog that was attacked. Antelope and deer have become a fixed part of the city. Problem is good old urban sprawl. These animals have nowhere left to go. People have developed the animal's usual habitats and then come whining and killing when the animals try to come back home. Houses being built here in Big Sky country are HUGE and causing a lot of sprawl. I wonder what family really needs something the size of a motel to live in? And worse yet, the houses are nearly all up for sale! In the meantime, the already developed housing sits idle because all the people want the huge new houses. So a perfectly fine inner city is becoming underappreciated while animals' territory is being destroyed by people buying homes that they soon realize they cannot afford. I really don't see a positive future for animals unless this whole "let's exploit it all" way of life changes completely.

Websites & Waders

I have found a way to make a free website using Google Page Creator. Now I am slowly making a Wildlife Alive website that can be reached from the link on this blog. I find the Page Creator fairly simple but frustrating at times because it doesn't allow me to do some things I would expect it to. Also, I cannot get the site to come up even when I type in the exact address of it. This is a common complaint from what I have read so far. It is a new service so I would image they are still working out the bugs. Anyway, it is free and I should not complain too much about it. It is somthing new to me and I appreciate just being able to have a "mini-website". I believe it can hold 5 pages-I have 4 started but it is a long way from being finished any time soon.

Another interestingly funny note: I needed to get a pair of waders for netting bats next week. Well, I am not made of money and was looking at all the stores in town for some hip waders. Well, in the largest city (town?)in a state known for its fishing (Montana), there are no hip waders available and the only regular waders are over $100. What did I do? Ordered some for $35 from FishUSA.com clear over in Pennsylvania! Go figure.

Night Fliers

I am doing an interesting volunteer project next weekend. It is Montana's first BioBlitz-a Yellowstone River species count. They will be checking on plants, bird, fish, mammals, and the rest of the works. I am interseted in all types of species and don't really care what group I am involved with since it is all exciting to me. However, I did say I would prefer to help with the bats (I know they are mammals but they were grouped seperately from that category). I have always been a tad bit curious about bats. Once I was going to sign up to help a grad student identify bats in Yellowstone but I never could get the time off or the money to go. I have also looked at some New Mexico bat study opportunities. Don't ask me why I have a slight bat fetish. I don't know. I just think it would be a neat thing to do. Montana has 15 bat species listed and out of that 6 of them are labeled as Species of Concern.

A good bat website is available through the Favorite Site Links.

Farewell Little Duck

Duckie was buried last night in his/her shell under some lovely magenta flowers. This is for the best as no duck really needs a human mom and cat sisters. I believe the little duck almost made it until about 2 days before hatch day. After this, I couldn't detect any more movement even though the duck took up most of the egg at that point. I keep the egg for a couple days just in case. Then last evening the egg was starting to get discolored and I knew for sure Duckie's soul had left the egg to go to that sparkling duck pond in the sky. The beautiful little Pekin-Swede-Mallard duckling is a lot better off there.