Eagle Chat

"Hey. Hey you ... I'm talkin' to ya."

"Me?"

"Yes, YOU Einstein. Let me tell you a little about the Pure Florida eagles."

"Okaaaayy. This is weird though."

"Weird? What's weird is people thinking of condos, beach bodies, and fake magic kingdoms when they think of Florida. They should be thinking of us. We own this place."

" Well, the beach body thing is okay ... Whachu mean ... you own this place?"

" I mean, you are more likely to see a bald eagle in Florida ... over built, over populated Florida, than in any of the lower 48 states. In fact, you'd have to go to Alaska to see more and ... let's face it, that's hardly fair competition ... have you seen how big that state is?

"Now that you mention it, I do see you guys on a regular basis. Why just last week there were 4 of you feeding on a road killed deer. I remember thinking at the time, that eating road kill wasn't good for your noble image ... you know the whole anti-scavenger bias thing ..."

"Yes, we take advantage of easy fast food ...you ever eat at McDonald's?"

"Okay, I see your point."

"Look, I just dropped in to remind you that Florida is THE eagle state south of Alaska with over 1000 nesting pairs. In fact, much of the restored eagle population in the states between Alaska and Florida is due to eagle eggs we donated in the years following the banning of DDT."

I remember reading about the restoration program as a kid in our Weekly Readers and in National Geographic.
Sorry about that whole DDT thing ... Thank God for Rachel Carson.

"Yeah, well, apology accepted. It's more about habitat preservation these days. We need space."

"I hear ya. Then I'll say another Thank God for Florida's efforts to preserve environmentally sensitive lands in the face of developers and a budget crisis...Once it's gone, it ain't never coming back again."

"True ... that last line sounds familiar..."

"Eagles listen to Zachary Richard?"

"Dude ... you know how easy it is for me to soar over to Louisiana? I can listen to fresh Cajun music anytime I want."

"I would have thought you guys were more partial to ... the Eagles ... wacka, wacka."

"We may be amazing raptorial beings, but we haven't evolved a sense of humor yet, so I'm guessing you were trying to be funny ... also guessing you failed."

"Hey, not the first time either! "

" Well, I've enjoyed this little chat, but it's time for me to fly ..."

"Wait! I wanted to thank you Florida Eagles for donating all those eggs to the other states over the years. It made a huge difference. You should take a bow on behalf of your clan."

"Very well then ... You are welcome."

Friday Florida Food Fest: Desert First Please

Let's have desert first.


How about some cheese cake with a blackberry/blueberry sauce? The crust on this cake is crushed pretzels instead of the usual graham cracker crust.

I wrinkled my nose at this news during the making ... but the results were wonderful!

SO wonderful that I had another piece the next day at breakfast to verify my original opinion.



Bear has a nose for good food.



Above you can see the main course, which was kind of a philly steak sandwich, but baked in french bread dough with mushrooms, swiss cheese, onions and peppers. There was also a pepperoni and cheese creation.

Yes, I tried both.



I liked the Philly one the best.



The part I really was stoked about was the potato salad concoction filling the lettuce leaf on that plate. I didn't make any of this food so I can't give details, but it was herby, sourcreamy, delicious. I told Mrs. FC to write down what ever she did as it was spectacular. You could give me that and the tossed salad below and I would be a happy herbivore.



Above is the reason I cut my kayaking short last Sunday ... well, this food and the wonderful people waiting to enjoy it with me.



Lasagna, Tossed Selmo Salad, Garlic/herb bread, and Texas Sheet Cake.



I did NOT want to be late for that meal!



It was delicious and even with 7 of us, there was still a leftover pan of lasagna that we were able to deliver to a single mom friend of ours who is battling cancer.



Maybe that was the sweetest desert of all.

Looking Up Through Clouds: A Frank Update

Back in October, I told you about Frank.

Here is a brief update.

Just before Christmas break, while keeping the peace at afternoon bus duty, I watched as a girl teased Frank about taking his books home. He had a pair of heavy textbooks under his arm as he jumped up into the bus and she had noticed this strange anomaly.

He shrugged, smiled sheepishly, and disappeared into the bus.

I was smiling too.

A few days later, Frank caught me in the hall and told me he had made the A/B honor roll for that 9 week grading period.

I slapped him on the back with a big "Congratulations!" and you could tell he was proud.

Now, if this were fiction, our story might continue along this vein, happy progress by a needy kid and a concerned adult.

Life is nonfiction however.

Over the Christmas break, a schedule change occurred... one directly linked to the global economic crisis.

The chain of events ... massive global economic slowdown ...national economic crisis ... state economic crisis ... state budget cuts in education ... school districts suddenly forced to cut costs ... all the way down to Frank.

Here's how...

For years, our county offered a stipend (supplemental pay) to teachers who forgo a planning period and take on an extra class.

Due to the budget crunch, this stipend was cancelled for the second half of the year, even though the county had a good faith agreement to pay this for the length of the course. A science teacher at our school had his supplement revoked and exercised his right to say, "Well, if you are going back on the agreement, I am too" ... and he refused to keep teaching the extra class.

The day before Christmas break, I was told, " We're taking your 4th period 7th grade class and shipping them out to other classes to absorb. You will be getting Mr. C's Environmental Science class during that time, as he is refusing to keep 6 classes without the supplement."

Are you following this? Due to a global economic shutdown, my small 4th period class of needy 7th grade students, who I had spent 4 months building a good rapport with, were taken from me.

Frank was one of those.

Frank went to a different science teacher.

The schedule change had really overloaded this teacher's classroom as he absorbed my students, so when Frank approached me about coming back to a different 7th grade class (I still had 2 on my schedule) I knew the other teacher would be agreeable to a move.

To make a long story short, Frank is back in one of my classes, but it is the advanced class and he landed in there near the end of a unit on genetics ... so I can sense he's feeling kind of lost.

He also got into a little trouble last week and I pulled him aside for an explanation and he told me his version. He essentially lost his cool with an adult and was out of line.

We talked about self control and smart decisions.

I guess the point of this update is that the ripples of the economic downturn reach deep and move lives around in ways unexpected ... and that Frank is still trying despite the obstacles tossed his way by adults on Wall Street and in school administration.

It's not over either ... there are more cuts to come.

Here in the smallest cove of the big pond, we go about our business, anxiously awaiting the next ripple.

Wordless Wednesday: McCormick Creek Video (Long)

We Push On In McCormick Creek

Meanwhile ...


Yes, I went on through the tree fall.

Cabbage palms pushing the edge of their capabilities.

I came to another log jam at the end of the video and went over it too, but soon turned around, because there were other branches of this creek I wished to explore.
The refuge website had this warning about McCormick:

"McCormick Creek off the Lower Suwannee Nature Drive offers a nice spot to begin a quiet paddle. From the ramp, the creek to your left winds through forested wetlands. To the right you will find marshes that eventually open into the Gulf of Mexico. Beware of the many creek branches that may be confusing upon your return.


I paddled downstream past the boat launch where a powerboat was coming in after a day of fishing.
As soon as I passed the ramp, the creek split into a mutltitude of possibilities and I took the first one on my port side. This creek became skinnier and skinnier and it also split into new paths... new to me anyway.
The grasses and rushes were rustling in the breeze and birds like blackbirds and marsh hens could be heard from time to time, but mostly I felt like the only animal in a sea of whispering plants.

I chose (or did it choose me?) this needle rush lined branch and paddled slowly and quietly. I still had hopes of bringing you a gator sloshing suddenly off the bank and into the water ... and I did spook one, but I had both hands on the paddle at that moment.

After that, I did alot of one handed paddling with the camera set on video as I crept along and the width of the creek continued to dwindle. Surely another gator would be up in this quiet place where real boats can't go.

Nope.

There was this one interesting swirl just ahead of the bow as if a gator, otter, or grebe had just surfaced, but I only glimpsed the movement and not the mover.

No cliff hanger here ... there were no more gators, but I do have some peaceful quiet paddling video.

Perhaps they would make a good "Wordless Wednesday" post ... and there are the photos of that lasagna,salad, garlic bread, cake dinner after the paddling was over.

Kayaking Lower Suwannee NWR

McCormick Creek boat ramp, Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge.

Sunday at mid-day, I stole away for a few hours of kayak time in the vast Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. I didn't have much time, because I was supposed to be back at my bright orange kitchen for a lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and Texas sheet cake early supper with all my babies and a few of their friends.

Knowing my time was limited, I chose the nearby refuge's McCormick Creek for some water time. The "ramp" at McCormick Creek is just barely that ... a little bit of limerock gravel and a sandy track out to it. Once you unload your vessel, you park your vehicle on the slope of the road shoulder ... misjudge and you are in the marsh.



Can you say "redneck"?

I was trying to get a shot of my kayak beyond the "bow with feet" shots that I use to show where we are heading in these kayak posts.

You'd never know that hat cost me only $2.00.
What?
What do you mean I spent too much?

It's not my favorite hat either, but as much as I like chatting with my perky dermatologist, I don't want her cutting on me anymore so there's always a hat and SPF 5000 sunscreen in the JEEP.



I went upstream first. Downstream, the creek widens and an afternoon breeze was blowing in off the Gulf of Florida, so the shelter of the high grassy banks was inviting.

Plus, for me, the purpose of the kayak is to get me into skinny water where other boats can't go and upstream was definitely skinny.


There was a choice in sharp grasses along this creek. On one bank, sawgrass dominated while on the other, sharp pointy needle rush ruled. So, you could alternate between getting slashed or punctured depending on which bank you bumped against.

There were lots of gator laydowns along the way. In the winter, they like to bask up on the bank and it causes areas of flattened rushes ... the "laydowns". There's usually a bit of slick bank from their hauling out and sliding in activity too.
This was a warm day after a week of freezing temps so most of the gators were out grocery shopping, not lying about.

I paddled upstream with an incoming tide, hoping for critters but getting mostly scenery. The creek got tighter and tighter and then I came to this treefall.

Did I turn around and explore elsewhere or did I go forward?

That is the question...
... for tomorrow.

Guana

It's scary for me to think about how long I've been coming to this place called Guana. My parents took us surf fishing along the adjoining beach when I was pretty little ... so it's tempting to say I've been coming here for my whole life.

In that time Guana has changed from a vast private holding to a state park and finally to a special status national preserve.



(Pterodactyl?)


Guana is some of the finest real estate in the peninsula and would be covered from shore to shore in concrete or ugh ... golf courses like Sawgrass, if not for it's protected status. It includes high ground on the beach, high ground adjacent to an estuary, and high ground along the intracoastal waterway to the west.

The view above is looking northish at Guana Lake, which is a dammed tidal river. North of the dam the brackish lake is a haven for waterfowl and all sorts of marshy critters.


On the intracoastal side, broad (not by my county standards!) marshes are broken by beaches of shelly sand and twisty tidal creeks.

Trails run through the maritime hardwood forest to the intracoastal where you can fish, poke around, or picnic.

Guana shows evidence of human use from the prehistoric to the historic to the present. Above is a coquina lined well that sits near the western shore.

As a kid, I was extremely lucky to be invited along with my Uncle Richard and my cousins on a special once a year camping trip in Guana. The land was privately owned then and the National Guard Dads had worked out an arrangement to camp there one weekend a year with their sons.

My cousins, friends, and I would explore, eat, have hickory nut battles, chase wild hogs, ... it was magic.

The trip was always at the time of year when the huge Black Drum were present in the intracoastal and fishing for them at night was a highlight of the trip. Their drumming was so loud that the bottom of Uncle Richard's skiff would vibrate and you could hear them plain as day.

I even remember lying on the floor of the tent, my ear to the ground, trying to fall asleep after so much fun and hearing the drumming through the soil. The shore was only a few yards away and I wonder now if I was dreaming it and remember it as reality, or if the sound really did carry up the slope to my ten year old ears.

It doesn't really matter if I dreamt it or it was real, those camping trip memories are magic and with magic, anything is possible.

612 Months

It occurred to me yesterday, after 15 minutes of chasing Bear around and around the property,(he with a live rooster in his mouth ... me with a belly full of chili and tollhouse cookies), that dieing of a heart attack while chasing a caninsanine on my last day of being 50 would be a stupid way to go.
I imagined explaining my demise to Saint Peter and waiting for him to stop laughing at my stupidity ...

So, I slowed down and drank in great gulps of cold winter air. (We were in the teens for our low temp!)

Bear slowed too, still keeping his distance. He stared at me with a look that said, "Come on! Keep chasing me! This chicken isn't getting any younger!"

Me neither dog.

"Bear! Bad Dog, Bad Dog!"

I was so angry with him. He was being stubborn and disobedient, plus, I had my doubts about the chicken's health after at least 15 minutes in a Lab mouth. He usually handles the chickens with a soft grip, but I couldn't be sure that Bear had not messed up and squeezed a little too tight.

We stared at each other ... human, dog, and upside down chicken ... waiting for someone to flinch.

I was starting to feel a little reoxygenated by then and was about to try a sly, slow, happy voice approach, but then Bear must have relaxed his grip just a bit.

The impasse was broken.

Sensing it was now or never the rooster lept from Bear's jaws. He hit the ground running and scooted under the JEEP with Bear a tail feather away.

Bear circled the JEEP, head under, butt up, totally focused on the chicken and I saw my chance.

I covered the 30 feet between us quickly while he was distracted, grabbed handfuls of fur and collar and tossed him down like a rodeo bovine wrestler.

Ladies and gentlemen, at that point, there was a spanking and a good "talking to".

Sorry if that shocks you, but it worked on my kids (they do not chase chickens anymore) and it works on dogs too.

Then I towed Bear, still panting with chicken lust, (Bear not me) into the house by his collar, where he immediately went and hid under the 4-poster bed. He stayed there a while.

Later, all was forgiven and I could shake my head and chuckle a little at those precious minutes spent running in circles, the stubbornness of the adolescent Lab, the resiliency of the chicken body, the wonder of instinctive traits such as the 'soft mouth" grip of Lab on bird, and the need for me to do more aerobic type exercise.

Eventually, Bear came out from under the bed and curled his body into mine as I sat on the fireplace hearth. When I spoke to him and rubbed his head, he oozed up on to me, paws on my shoulder, massive head even with mine and proceeded to cover me with doggy kisses.

At that point, it was hard to remember being sooooo angry with him earlier...
... but that could just be a symptom of my advancing age.

Wordless Wednesday On Thursday Evening

Postcard From Robin

Greetings from your migrating Robins!


We're fine. The weather is chilly, but nothing like Minnesotarctica.

It rained too, so there's plenty of water to drink ... and it's Florida, so there's always delicious bugs to eat.

Some fellow travelers have shown up at the resort and we are meeting lots of new friends.

There are some weird folks down here though ...

...we think this guy is stalking us!

Why I Love This Little Restaurant And ... FC's Favorite Chick Flick

Theo's Restaurant sits along King Street and next to the San Sebastion River in St. Augustine. Each morning, the owner and his wonderful staff show up early to bake fresh bread and prepare wonderful food for their loyal customers and the lucky tourist who finds Theo's.

My parent's found Theo's decades ago when it was a few miles away on San Marco Avenue and they made it their EVERY Saturday breakfast spot.
My folks love Theo's.
They are so regular, that the Theo's crew starts cooking their order the minute they see them come in the door.
I love this place too ...

... not just because of the great breakfasts ...

... or the "cover your plate" sized delicious fresh cinnamon buns ...

... this is why I love Theo's ... these people.

When Dad fell and broke his leg a month ago, the good folks at Theo's called to check on them and offered to deliver their traditional breakfast. Theo's doesn't deliver take out by the way ... they were just taking care of my folks out of the goodness of their hearts. They knew Mom doesn't drive and with Dad down, getting to Theo's would be a problem.

Luckily, my brother stepped in for the delivery, so the busy Theo's crew only had to make the breakfast ... but wasn't that an amazing example of caring about your customers?

Like I said, I love this restaurant.

Alot of you have asked about Porki the Pneumonia Pig's progress.

She seems to be almost recovered and is grunting normally, eating with gusto, and breathing so much clearer.

Thanks for your concern.

She does seem to have developed a Gatorade habit though during her sick spell. In the picture above, Mrs. FC is administering a little Ade mixed with an antibiotic.

Just so we have a little nature on this nature blog today, I've included a heavily cropped distant shot of a pair of Hooded Mergansers rafting on the San Sebastion River. I took this just outside of Theo's as I waited to pick up Mom and Dad's breakfast last Saturday.

Oh, yeah ... and what is FC's favorite chick flick?

"Sliding Doors" with Gwyneth Paltrow and some guy with a great Scottish accent. Mrs. FC and I watched it yesterday again. She got weepy, I did not.

It ain't "The Yearling" or Old Yeller", after all, so no tears from me.

(and since you are going to ask ... no, I have not seen "Marley and Me"... when I do, it will be in the privacy of my own home)

Now you know.

Bear Mice

No, No, Bear! NO, NO!

Bear! If there are any more mice in there, cough 'em up right now mister!!

Saturday, Mrs. FC, Junior, and faithful Junior buddy Jonathon, spent all day working in the yard, house, and barn while I was out of town. It seems they noticed all the little jobs that had been piling up on my "to do" list and decided to knock them out for me as an early birthday gift.

Bear was present during all of this of course, ... chasing chickens, catching chickens, being chased by Junior to rescue chickens, wandering off, being searched for, shredding things, moving neatly stacked trash back into the yard, and generally driving the good deeders crazy.
I missed all this, but I can relate as this post was prepublished briefly thanks to a Bear paw and the writing of the post was interrupted by a good 15 minute chase through the woods when a certain hard headed dog refused to come when called.



Anyway ... where was I? Oh, yes ... a mouses tale.

Late Saturday afternoon, Mrs. FC called me to tell me that Bear had discovered a Momma field mouse with babies during the clean out of the barn area. Before they could stop him he scooped up the mouse madre with babies clinging to her back and took off.
Junior and Mrs. FC gave chase of course.
Bear responded with that "YES! A GAME OF KEEPAWAY!" look and easily outran them even with a mouth full of mice.

When they finally caught him, the mice were gone and he was in some trouble.
But then, Mrs. FC found a tiny minimouse by backtracking the chase route. So she, Junior, and Jonathon brought it inside and placed it in a little Tupperware container with some bedding material. The lid was perforated for air and snapped on securely.

The young mouse took some half and half with honey through a syringe, and then fell asleep, no doubt exhausted from it's harrowing adventure.


Later, she called me back to say she had walked into the kitchen where the mouse container sat upon the counter to find the mouse on the floor. So, she scooped it up and popped open the Tupperware container only to find the original mouse still where she had left it.


Now there were two baby mice. Where the second one came from is a bit of a moustery. Was it clinging to Bear somehow and they missed it in his dense, dark fur?



Or, did he keep it in that soft Lab mouth of his unbeknownst to them?

I guess, we will never know, but as of today, there are two tiny mouse snuggled in the kitchen awaiting eventual release at some distance from the house.


Of course, while all this Ursus versus Mouse chaos was occurring, I was across the state in St. Augustine. It was a chore weekend at Mom and Dad's for me. The gutters needed cleaning out and a huge, wickedly prickly holly needed to be pruned back from electrical wires and the eaves of the house.

I did get to the beach after working though and Mom fed me roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and fresh green beans so it wasn't all work and no play.



And... there were those 100 Toll House cookies she bakes me every year about this time. I swear they deserve their own post. The ultimate cookie.



Back to the beach ...


Which gull above is menopausal?
Any husband who has literally frozen alive while his ... ahem, mature wife complained about the heat, can answer the question for you.

Saturday was cold and windy in St. Augustine, so of course I pointed the JEEP towards the beach after I finished cleaning out the gutters at Mom and Dad's house.

The last time I did that, it was cold, windy, misty, and grey. Saturday had only the first two characteristics beneath a brilliant blue sky and bright sun.





The Ruddy Turnstones were wading about feeding while the gulls were mostly resting, bills tucked in tight for warmth. Of course, here in Florida, we don't have stones, so these are Ruddy Turnshells while on their winter vacation.

Other important things we should talk about since I missed posting for two days ... the horror!

• It seems that Wren and the nice folks at Nature Blog Network have picked ol' FC for an interview ... this is my 15 minutes of fame and I'm soaking it up. Thanks Wren for thinking of Pure Florida!
• Porki, the FFA pig is recovering nicely from pneumonia and she sends her thanks for all your concerned comments.
• I missed announcing my oldest buddy Kevin's birthday back on January 12. I always razz him here at PF on that day and totally let it slip this year. Kevin, I'm not worthy.
• Dad's broken leg is seemingly mending well, he's not in pain, but he is restless due to the need to stay off of it. It's been a month now and he goes to the Doc on Wednesday, so I will update y'all on his progress. Mom is taking great care of him and working hard, but she is doing great too.
• This last news is something I have been sitting on, waiting to get a picture of the happy couple, but we don't cross paths that often and I have failed to get that shot. So, I'll go ahead and spill the beans now ... my big brother is getting married to a wonderful woman next month and we are all thrilled and awestruck as we had given up hope on this guy ever getting married. He hit the jackpot this time as Annette is a sweetheart. I'm sure you will see wedding pictures here sometime next month.

Frozen Friday Florida Food Fest (with gratuituous Bear cuteness)

Last night at sundown, I went out to the garden and picked snow peas, lettuce, and collard greens in advance of some freezing temperatures that are forecast for tonight. The collards might have been fine through the cold night, but the lettuce would probably be mush, so I picked both.
We are looking at possible low 20's / high teen temps!

The lettuce went in the fridge, but the greens went into a wok with a splash of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a splitz of Tony C's cajun spice.

These collard leaves were young with small stalks, so I just tossed them in whole and wokked their world.


The greens were scrumptiously fresh with a wonderful blend of tender leaves and mildly crunchy stems.

They were a great accompaniment to my homemade chicken noodle soup, because I don't put ANY vegetables in it.

Chicken.
Noodles.
Salt.
Pepper.
Thyme
Bay leaf ... not really a vegetable now, is it?
Splash of wine.

Simple fare.



Here's a gratuitous glimpse of Bear.

He is not food, just cute.

Feeling Shrimpy? We Are.

Here's what we are doing today.

It's the Live Crustacean Observation Lab!
I love this activity, although it's not deep science or highly technogeekable.

It's mostly about stimulating wonder.

Stimulating a sense of wonder in kids who have multiple nature channels on their tv's and whole fantastic virtual worlds on their home computers and Wii's has become a bit of a challenge.

Mostly, they are isolated from real live things beyond their own pets ... and these are country kids!

Surprisingly, dead stuff in jars is still interesting to them ... but not WOW inducing ... not to me anyway, and I need to be WOWED too. I get my WOW's from their WOW's ... sort of a WOW to WOW chain reaction.


Most of these Florida kids have eaten shrimp, but you would be surprised at how few have been up close and personal with a live shrimp. Having grown up tossing castnets for shrimp, eating shrimp, keeping them in aquaria and using shrimp as bait ... I still find that hard to believe.


The lab is pretty straight forward ...
Every team of students receives a small plastic aquarium and a live shrimp to observe.
They draw and label some major structures.
These kids draw from their text fairly often, but drawing from life freaks them out a little bit.
I like to freak them out every so often.

When the drawing is complete, they track the shrimp's movements for 5 minutes. This can be interesting or not so interesting depending on the shrimp. Today's shrimp were pretty chilly from being outside in a baitshop tank during a night with freezing temperatures, so the first class had some very calm shrimp.
Oh well, patience is a virtue in science.

After the required lab items are covered and a brief safety/humane handling demo, they are encouraged to gently handle the shrimp.
Shrimp jump backwards to escape danger, so this can get pretty exciting.
Sometimes, they leap out of the tank in a spray of salt water.
That usually elicits some Wowwhoaexclaimacalation, which I always enjoy.
The shrimp, protected by their wonderful exoskeleton, survive the leap and are quickly reaquaintaquarianated.

Shrimp thoughts ... "Hmmm, cold smack landing on classroom floor then quick return to aquarium VS hook through my body & tossed to a hungry fish as bait ... okay, a no brainer, even for an invertebrate like me"


Wow! Look at that face!


The shrimp were purchased from a tiny store in Otter Creek. Depending on how you look at it, they are either real lucky or real unlucky.
They were unlucky to be caught for sale as live bait, but lucky that I stopped in the store at 7:00 am today and bought them for this lab.

Instead of being put on a hook and tossed out for a hungry seatrout or redfish to strike, they will be spending some extra time on the planet swimming in my large classroom saltwater tank.
A little handling by skittish teenagers was a minor inconvenience compared to that whole "hook through your butt" fishing bait thing.

Shrimp swimmerets in action.

Woody Wordless Wednesday

Porki Pneumonia Problem

Porki has pneumonia. We almost lost her Saturday, but an injection of a powerful antibiotic has started to pay off. Still touch and go, but she's better than she was.

Modern pigs are fairly delicate animals and can die in a minute if under stress. I never knew that until we began raising pigs for the kids fair projects about 6 years ago. They are also susceptible to pneumonia which she appears to have.

The weather today is cold, grey, and wet, plus a freeze is coming. If you had to put in an order for weather conditions guaranteed to stress a sick pig, this is it.

In the photo, I'm administering Pedialyte (we also use Gatorade) to keep her hydrated and keep her electrolyte levels up.

I'll be nursing her tonight instead of going to Jr.'s basketball game ... we can both nurse a pig with gatorade, but only he can do a decent lay-up shot.

Now, THAT Is A Water Moccasin.

Warning:
At the bottom of this post is a video that you may not enjoy if you are not crazy about seeing poisonous snakes up close and personal.


I brake for snakes.



Now, that is a big water moccasin ... aka, "cottonmouth".

(Tripod & camera self-timer shot, shutterbugs. Always have your tripod with you!)


As I found her ... with her head in a pretty normal position.


Now she's going defensive. By raising her head, she's perhaps warning you, but I think mainly it increases her field of vision, so she can react to any perceived threat ...
... like me.

Only, I was friend, not foe.

Try explaining that to a deaf, angry, poisonous serpent.

(Did J. K. Rowling not realize snakes are deaf when she came up with that whole parceltongue snake speak thang?)

Now, she is really, really ticked off, but it gives us a chance to see why she's called a "cottonmouth".

If you look closely, you can see one fang pretty clearly.

I imagine this is the last view of many a fish and frog.

This is the way I left her. She's off the roadway and in the roadside grass next to a cozy brushy field.

She's not happy with me, but she's not run over and dead either.


I realize that after I left, she may have slid right back out there to bask on the gravel road, but my little moccasin slide attempt may have saved her for this day. Maybe it wouldn't have mattered, with the sun low in the sky, perhaps no one would even have come by.


When I first encountered her, I was hoping she would scootch off on her own after a few shots, but she was absolutely not going anywhere, whether it was brazen confidence or slothful roadwarmth basking, she showed no signs of moving anywhere.

Yes, I messed with her ... read the banner mission statement at the top of this blog.

I'm hands on.

Well, in this case, hands on my extended tripodleg snake rescue device and my camera, not hands on the very poisonous, very irritated moccasin.

Although the camera angle and the video may not make this clear, I did keep just out of the strike zone and never, ever, never took my eye off her head even while filming ... you saw me jump, even though I was out of reach.



I like to call it "calculated risk" not "being crazy"... unlike my wife and certain friends.


MY ADVICE TO YOU:

DON'T DO DIS.

STAY AWAY FROM POISONOUS SNAKES.

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER.



And give a snake a brake.

Moon Gators

Friday, I found these gators hiding in the bushes, soaking up the last rays of a winter sun.

The one above is a youngster, about two feet long and he's semi-vertical on a steep bank.

This larger 6 footer was perched up above the first pic gator and was getting the best sun. There were actually three gators, two young vertical baskers and the box seat basker above them.

Monday's big critter post has nothing to do with gators by the way ... it is reptilian though.

The moon was out early with plenty of daylight left, so I stopped for this cypressy moonshot on the way back to pavement.

This one is for all you moon lovers out there.