Linny Takes Them Home

Linny and Tom have taken the truck into town for some work but the shop wants to keep it for a few more days. Without a ride back to Base Camp time for Linny to introduce the second new vehicle addition to Base Camp and take them home.

The Picture

Chicken Corner

Linny and Tom have left food for Hurrah but there are no longer any tracks or sign of him. Each day the food is gone and twice the bowl with it but no tracks that look like a dog. But with still no call from the Cowboys confirming that he is with them Linny and Tom will continue to leave food. After dropping off Hurrah's food Linny and Tom continue to Chicken Corner.

Temporary Home

Zorro is getting more comfortable in Kobae's house. There will be a time when Tom will need to drive him out and seal the place up, but not now. There is work that needs to be done under the lodge and until it's completed and the area completely sealed from the outside Zorro can stay where he is.

The Boat Ramp

Linny and Tom head over to the boat ramp to see if the river can be kayaked over to Caveman to save the long drive. Not quite yet.

Kobae Won't be Happy

For the last week Linny and Tom have battled Zorro about his place of residence. He's dug a hole under the porch and some of the large flat rocks that make up the porch from the front of the lodge to the west side have collapsed. Each day Linny and Tom fill up the holes and each day he digs them over. On Friday the holes were not redone and Linny and Tom celebrated their victory. On Saturday morning looking out the office window Tom sees Zorro come out of Kobae's house, yawn as if just waking up, look around a little, slurp some snow, and then go back down in the hole to sleep.

Other Side

Unable to find Hurrah for the 4th straight day and not having received a phone call from the Cowboys saying they have retrieved him Linny and Tom head for town. There is a bit of a dispute between ownership of Caveman Ranch across the river so Linny and Tom are keeping an eye on the place until it's settled. When Tom agreed to watch the place he thought he'd just be kayaking across the river a few times a week but then came the ice and the river became non navigable. So instead, though Caveman is probably no more than 500 feet away, it takes Tom 86 miles and four hours round trip to check on it. While across the river Linny and Tom do a little exploring.

No Hurrah

Tom thought he'd spend the day with Hurrah trying to get him to come out from under the rock but upon arrival for the second day in a row, no Hurrah. Food was mostly eaten and the bowl had been dragged further under the rock than where Tom left it and Linny and Tom saw Hurrah do that twice so it's likely Hurrah is still there somewhere.

Red-winged Blackbirds

Tiffany's advertised a breakfast special for Red-winged blackbirds and it appears to have worked.

Christmas Eve Hurrah

Tom drives down to the former cowboy camp to feed Hurrah. Both bowls are empty. There is no sign of Hurrah. Tom drives down Lockhart Basin a ways to see if there are fresh horse or dog tracks but finds none.

Hurrah

Tom has contacted the Cowboys. The new camp is 15 miles down Lockhart Basin. They will come up with horses and try and get Hurrah to go back with them. However they said they would tie him to the truck and he would chew thru the rope and run up and down Hurrah Pass every day. Nothing they could do about it. That's where he was when they moved out. They think he has coyote in him as he just roams and roams and won't stay still. This is probably not going to have a happy ending as he's not sounding too valuable to the Cowboys for herding cattle. Until there is an ending Linny and Tom will continue to feed him each day.

Welcome to Base Camp

Linny and Tom have made their first selection as to who should replace the aging ATVs.

Hurrah the Dog, Then Crazy Stuff

What Linny and Tom have learned from the Cowboys is they named the dog Hurrah for it's desire to run up and down Hurrah Pass every day. Yesterday Linny and Tom saw it at Kane Creek down the east side of Hurrah Pass. Then after awhile it runs back up the pass, three miles, back down the pass, three miles, and then back to where the Cowboy camp used to be, five miles, so round trip, roughly 22 miles every day, then crawls under a rock. So, each day Linny and Tom drive down and feed it. It comes running out when it sees whatever vehicle Linny and Tom are driving but then crawls back under the rock when it sees it's not the Cowboys.

Linster Jeeping

Kitty in the Kitchen

Pot Ash Boat Ramp

The Dog, and Something Else

Headed up Hurrah Tom runs across one of the cattle dogs coming down the pass. The Cowboys and their herd moved south down Lockhart Basin a few days ago. Hard to believe they left one of their dogs. The next morning headed up Hurrah again Linny and Tom runs across the same dog at almost the same spot on Hurrah. When Tom gets out to call it, a low mean growl comes out from underneath the truck.

A Word About the Blog

Whenever I align them to be on the left side, sometimes I then can't see the whole video on my computer at least and I can't make it bigger. For example I couldn't see the interaction between One Ear and Zorro on the front porch without making the video larger. If you have that same issue click on the youtube number above (DSCF 9259 in that example) and it will enlarge from there.

We Have Contact

With morning Tom finds Kitty waiting on the bench outside the office window. Maybe Kitty is ready for contact.

Progress with Kitty

Tom's working on getting Kitty further in the house, eventually eating out of his hand, and maybe at some point a friend.

Much Going on at Tiffany's

In the first video you see a male House finch hold his composure when everybody else flees. In the second, a Red-winged blackbird lands with a broken or damaged right foot. The third, fourth, and fifth videos are all false alarms caused by Eurasian dove landings. In the fifth video the Eurasian doves even scare themselves when they see everybody else take off.Looking out the office window not even an hour after he brings the GoPro in he sees most, but not all, of the songbirds scatter. This time it really is the Sharp-shinned hawk. Tom doesn't have time to grab a camera and heads out the door. Charging out of the kitchen he can see the Sharp-shinned has something. The Sharp-shinned sees Tom running across the driveway and tries to gather it's meal up and then takes off in flight. There's a male Junco injured on the ground and Tom grabs it. Flying off it appears the Sharp-shinned has something in one claw. Tom takes the injured Junco into the lodge and holds it in the office for a few hours.

The Junco appears ready to return to the outdoors but there's a slight delay, the front porch is occupied.

Once Zorro has left it's out to the Desert Willow. Sometime soon, Tom and the Sharp-shinned are going to have a talk.

You're Not Kitty

Tuesday Critters (Another Surprise)

Tom has decided to keep track today of what critters come to the porch. One Ear, Two Ears, One Ear again, Two Ears again, Two Ears again, Kitty (or somebody that looks like Kitty, Tom found out last night there are at least two the same size, one comes in the house to get chicken while the other stands outside), One Ear, Two Ears, and then the surprise guests just before dark.

In the first two videos the dominant Gray fox is eating and in the third it has moved off the porch to keep watch while the other eats.

Home of Zorro

Tom was concerned that the badger (Zorro) had taken up refuge in Kobae's house but had only seen him go in there once and right back out again. That appears not to be the case. Oh boy.

Meanwhile at Tiffany's

The protocol whenever the first Eurasian Dove shows up for breakfast each morning, because they look so much like Sharp-shinned hawks from below, is to land in the driveway and then walk over to the feeding area. Tom has seen it 100 times. This is what it looks like when somebody doesn't follow protocol. You hear all the song birds telling the dove off when they return.

Kitty Comes In

Two Ears

As darkness begins to close in with the arrival of Two Ears on the front porch.

Trouble on the Front Porch

Shortly after Zorro leaves One Ear shows up for his meal and there's not much left. Turns out Zorro didn't go far. As One Ear departs Zorro reclaims the front porch. Long after One Ear has gone Zorro continues to guard the front porch. Eventually Zorro disappears under the front porch and One Ear returns and figures out a way to get four pieces of hot dog in his mouth at once.

That's Not One Ear, That's Zorro

Tom has left plenty of food on the porch knowing that it's nearly time for One Ear to show up for his meal. Hearing crunching just outside the window Tom stands up to watch. That's not One Ear. For the next 30 minutes Zorro finishes the bowl then tries to figure out how to get two pieces of chicken in it's mouth to take under the porch. Zorro returns again and again until all the chicken is gone.Zorro returns and now it's time to try and figure out how to eat a milk bone. After 45 minutes on the front porch Zorro finally wanders off.

Monday Morning

Sunday Night Critters (Leave My Toes Alone)

A critter whirlwind. It's like the zoo put all the animals in the gym with you and turned the lights off. You hear, sense, and sometimes smell ghosts. There are shadows moving all around you. But all you see are the exit signs. It's quiet but with the senses so overwhelmed it's deafening at the same time. Kitty feels it too. He/she just wants to eat the chicken in peace but everywhere it turns something is there. Every hole it tries to dive into something occupies that spot already.

One Ear and the Sharp-shinned

Out the office window Tom can see a Sharp-shinned has song birds pinned in the bushes. He grabs his camera and heads for the front door to drive it off only to slam on the brakes as he sees One Ear coming up Kobae's ramp for food. One Ear sees movement thru the kitchen door and Tom freezes. Tom inches closer to the door to see the Sharp-shinned and One Ear. The floor squeaks. One Ear comes back to investigate and the Sharp-shinned flies off. Tom backtracks into the office to observe One Ear.

One Ear eats about half the food and then leaves to return in the afternoon and finish all the food. Easy to distinguish the morning and afternoon meals by the shadows.

Saturday Critters

Here Kitty

Caveman Ranch

Tom spends the day at Caveman across the river.

Cowboy Camp

With 400 cattle out here Tom knows there's a Cowboy Camp somewhere. Tom heads out to find them and see if they need anything from town next time he goes. With very few tire tracks in the snow the camp is not difficult to find. Five or six dogs come out to greet Tom but other than the dogs and the horses who have found where the food is hidden no one is home.

Ring tails, Foxes, and Skunks...Oh No

Gray Fox

Usually the critters don't come to the porch for food until dark. But it's been cold for so long food is scarce and more and more show up during light each day.

That's Crazy

Returning from town Tom sees a single vehicle parked by the Tombstones. Surely nobody would try and climb the Tombstones with this much snow and ice up on the ground. He pulls over to check on the vehicle and getting out of the truck sees a single figure on top of the Tombstones.

Friends

The Red-winged blackbird must have enjoyed his stay in the stove pipe more than Tom thought because for breakfast this morning he brought some friends.

Kobae's Not Going to be Happy

In seven years and some change Tom has never seen a critter, other than antelope squirrel, chipmunk, or bird go into Kobae's hole. But now, with Kobae in San Diego for the winter, somebody is visiting. Tom is pretty sure that's it the small ring tail from the tracks so he's not too concerned about it. Monday afternoon though Tom looks out the office window and sees the badger sprint across the yard and into the hole. At some point, should the temperature ever get above freezing again Tom will climb down into the hole to make sure nobody is there and then seal it off until Kobae's March return.

White

Oh What a Night

Base Jumping

While all the base jumpers Linny and Tom were with went well, they all didn't. While this one survived it's graphic in both video and sound. Keep that in mind for those around you.

A New Friend

Each night raccoon, skunk, fox, ring tail, and apparently badger come to the porch to eat. Right at dark, before any of the others, the smallest ring tail of them all comes to the door and waits. Each feeding it comes a little closer. Tom's plan is to eventually have the ring tail eating out of his hand. So, sometime in the next few weeks or so Tom will have a new friend or rabies.

Duplicate?

Yes this looks like a post from last week and Tom wishes it were.

Question: How Close to a Badger........

Tom can see something moving across the driveway but can't quite tell what it is. In sandals (it will matter shortly) Tom heads outside to get a better look. If it's like most of the other critters around Base Camp it's near sighted and Tom should be able to get close. Tom has moved back against the lodge trying to get some heat reflecting off the wall and to get out of the breeze, when a car pulls up. The badger seeing the vehicle runs up on the porch and bumps right into Tom.

There Were Seven

Crazier and Crazier

Who Wants a Hot Dog?

Oh good, we have a volunteer.

More Cows (Commentary by Linny)

Ice Cream Parlor

Linny and Tom hear talking on the cliffs above and both grab a camera. Linny catches all three jumpers on the Fuji and Tom gets the last two of the three on the GoPro.