Kobae

This has been my best year with Kobae and watching Erich hand feed him has made a difference. I hand feed him every day and he likes it. I think we're much closer. Just putting his food on the ground because his forks have grown out so much he can't get his neck to stretch over the forks to reach his food in many cases. We've got feeding wired. There are still moments where the last bit of the cucumber or green pepper is dangerous and I have to be completely focused. Today he took such a big bite out of a green pepper it sprayed juice into my eye and before I could drop the green pepper and clean my eye he took another bite and just nipped the end of my fingers. If he gets them I'm comfortable the damage will be significant.

Lot more guests with dogs this year so about the only days we don't go hiking are when dogs are staying here and Kobae feels he has to stay here to defend his turf.

Every time he walks along a creek with an overhang I call his name in a low, slow, drawn out voice. He knows that it means there is danger. So while he still walks into the danger, he walks slower into the danger, which makes no difference to the overhang. Weight is weight and they still collapse on him occasionally.

Five times Kobae walked into the dead end canyon that he found a way out of last time we were there and he couldn't remember how he got out so he's go back out of the canyon, turn around and go back in. Each time it was like he knows he's a creature of habit and so he's getting a fresh start. Ten times he walked by my reading spot. I got a lot of reading in.

He leads and I catch up occasionally when it looks like there might be danger ahead or we're on a road and there is traffic coming but other than that he leads. Sometimes down a creek bed to the river, through the dry grass, on the road, or across a field. Kobae, from six inches off the ground has a unique perspective about what he wants to see and where he wants to go.

Kobae discovered "The Bottle Place" on the north side of the property and walked around it checking out all the bottles and rocks for twenty or so minutes. He was fascinated. Eventually his fascination faded and we headed further back on the slope to see if the big horn were feeding but never saw them.

When we got back from one of the hikes Kobae found someone had left a gravity chair where he usually sits in the sun. He was pissed off about it but while pushing the gravity chair out of the way he got tangled up in it and dragged it around the porch until I got bored with seeing them both go by and disconnected him from it.

Hiking up towards Hurrah Pass I heard two ravens high on the Anti-Cline calling up a storm. While we were sitting in the shade two sets of ravens came by faster than I could even imagine they could fly heading towards the incident and a few seconds later another one. I suspect I'll find the remains of a hawk of sorts in the next few weeks over by the Anti-Cline somewhere.