Twins!

We've had lots of wildlife activity today. A bear came through the yard this morning at about 9am- not Paul! It was drizzling rain and we opt'd not to grab any shots, but just watch. This afternoon, Mama deer and her two darling fawns came by. The fawns have to hop to keep up with her and I'm guessing they are practicing a skill they'll use a lot in life. Anyway, they weren't very old and just precious!

Paul and friends

Last night we had a visit from Paul and his 2 friends. Here's one of the smaller bears in his posse.

Bear Release

Yesterday I was invited to shadow my friend Bruce who is on the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife team on a hard release of 3 bears. Orphaned as cubs, these three bears were brought to an animal wildlife rehabilitation center and cared for, for 8 months until now. At this point in their young lives, they were healthy and strong enough to survive on their own and had to be returned to the wild to live their full lives. One of the orphans arrived at the shelter after being picked up by Fish and Wildlife with a broken paw. It was the only survivor to live after a car hit it's mother and another cub. During it's rehab, a surgical rod was implanted into it's paw and the strong young bones had healed over it all- as good as new.

When the rehab center fed the bears and cleaned cages during those 8 months, they didn't speak and wore dark hoods to help in an attempt to keep the bears as wild as possible. Yesterday, when I arrived and looked in the bear containers, the yearlings were spunky and edgy- even slamming their weight against the sides. They were ready to go.

Four DFW guys, including one biologist and 4 Kareilean Bear Dogs were on the release. The bear dogs are amazing working dogs and know their job well. The dogs bark like crazy to scare the bears and are specially trained for tracking loose bear and treeing them. Some dogs, like Mishka are actually cadaver dogs as well and assist in recovery missions occasionally. Not only are they smart and beautiful, but they are responsive and friendly.

It's kind of a hard thing to watch, but you know that it's in the bears best interest, so somehow it makes things better. The idea behind these releases is to give these bears the scare of their lives and traumatize them to the point where they realize that people are bad. It's humane, non-lethal and really works. The DFW guys load their guns with bean bags and shoot the bears in the rear if possible. It doesn't break the skin, only bruise (even then only sometimes) and teaches these bears to stay out of people's way. The bear dogs help frighten the bears. Observers are asked to shout at the bears, so they hear human voices while this goes down. All of this happens very quickly and the bears are flying into the woods away from all the commotion. Yesterday's release was perfect and as always, fascinating to watch. I learn so much hanging out with these guys about wildlife!

This is Savue. He hasn't been on the force as long as some of the other bear dogs, but he's very smart and knows his job. The DFW are trying to get more mostly white KBD's so that they can see them well when tracking bears at night or at dusk.

This is the bear that was named "Mean Dean". He was pretty sweet most of the time, until near the end when he jaw-popped and huffed through the trap.
Awwwwww....he doesn't look so mean here!
This is Mishka riding along in Bruce's truck. Mishka is one of the most senior dogs on the force.
The bears were released in an area closed to the public in a protected watershed.
Traveling as a caravan, we stopped for a couple minutes. The bears were getting pretty anxious at this point bumping along down gravel roads.
Officer B. Richards.
The release spot. Traps are checked. Guns are checked. Everything is staged.
Savue is encouraged by Officer Mozetter who says "Get that bear, Savue, get that bear." Savue gets really riled up and knows his job is to bark and make it nervous.
Mishka doing the same.
On the count of three....
There were two bears in one trap. In theses pictures the first is out, the second nervously coming out as well.
Look at the stare-down here between Savue and the second bear.
Run bears, run!
Finally the third heads out into the hills.

Fishing Rattlesnake

Isn't he cute? I pulled this crazy carp-like creature out of Rattlesnake Lake. Honestly, he had the face that only a Mother could love, but at the same time...he was so ugly, he was cute. I posted in a fly-fishing forum to figure out what the heck I had caught. I thought that lake only had Rainbow Trout! I'll keep you posted, but so far I'm mostly getting replies that say "LOL". Look at that long nose! Good grief...only I would catch something so ugly!

The feathered ones were also out fishing. The fishing was slow for them too.

New bird feeder strategy

We may have outsmarted those bears after all. Vil rigged up the feeder on a wire between two trees with a pulley system to get it down. So far, neither Paul nor any of the other bears have gotten her down (or even tried). It gets constant bird action from some of our favorites including my black-headed grosbeaks and the most recent visitor, the Band-Tailed Pigeons. When all of these big birds gather on the feeder it's like a Japanese elevator- they squeeze themselves on there shoulder to shoulder, balancing and flapping as they feed. Years ago they were endangered, so it's exciting to have them here. They are a very shy, large forest pigeon.

This is the female grosbeak. She's not as beautiful as the colorful black and yellow males, but she must be bursting with personality.

Paul the bear

Vil and I decided the name "Paul" fit this big bear. Somehow he just looked like a Paul and when I told him his name, he didn't object. On Saturday I spent some time with Paul as I sat outside on our deck. He came under out gazebo and ate 'yard salad' while we chatted. He told me he was hot. It was over 70 which was probably miserable in a winter fur coat. During the weekend he showed up in the yard over and over again. I would guess we saw him about 8 times between Saturday and Sunday, over and over again. He likes our salad bar, I guess. He's a beautiful, healthy black bear and is becoming a frequent yard guest. Depending on the lighting, he either looks cinnamon or black- either way he's stunning.

In the front yard

Heading back on Pup's trail

Elbow deep in salmonberry bushes...dreaming of beautiful, juicy berries

Dandelions are the best

Crossing the end of our driveway on Sunday

I love this one...the hind-end and that big back paw crack me up. He's headed to the landscaping.