The Mountain Story

A good vacation book to read. Check out the details on Troutbirder II reviews by clicking on Mark Twain and Troutbirders picture above.

Happy Holidays everyone....:)

End The Gun Epidemic in America

When I established Troutbirder blog many years ago, I vowed to keep it upbeat and noncontentious by avoiding political and religious "debates." Talk radio kind of "discussion" usually makes me sick. So it was with some foreboding, when I read several of my favorite nonpolitical  blogs recently to find that they had  broken that same self imposed line. And then I was shamed.  Midlife Roadtrippers recent post on guns comes to mind. Here is a link to her post.  http://midlifejobhunter.blogspot.com/2015/12/compass-lost-finding-solution-to-our.html
Her words touched me to the core yet I knew my own outrage over these never ending  murders would leave me inarticulate at best and sounding like the wingnuts who swarm the media and the moneyed interests in Congress.

From  The New York Times whose motto remains "All The News That Fit To Print."

 

"It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection. America’s elected leaders offer prayers for gun victims and then, callously and without fear of consequence, reject the most basic restrictions on weapons of mass killing, as they did on Thursday. They distract us with arguments about the word terrorism. Let’s be clear: These spree killings are all, in their own ways, acts of terrorism.

Opponents of gun control are saying, as they do after every killing, that no law can unfailingly forestall a specific criminal. That is true. They are talking, many with sincerity, about the constitutional challenges to effective gun regulation. Those challenges exist. They point out that determined killers obtained weapons illegally in places like France, England and Norway that have strict gun laws. Yes, they did.

But at least those countries are trying. The United States is not. Worse, politicians abet would-be killers by creating gun markets for them, and voters allow those politicians to keep their jobs. It is past time to stop talking about halting the spread of firearms, and instead to reduce their number drastically — eliminating some large categories of weapons and ammunition.

It is not necessary to debate the peculiar wording of the Second Amendment. No right is unlimited and immune from reasonable regulation.

Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership. It is possible to define those guns in a clear and effective way and, yes, it would require Americans who own those kinds of weapons to give them up for the good of their fellow citizens.

What better time than during a presidential election to show, at long last, that our nation has retained its sense of decency?"
Yes, I hunted for sixty years waterfowl and upland game. I like a challenge and took  up bow hunting for deer for a few years. The deer won that one. My sons followed in my footsteps and we had a great time. It was a bad knee and falling that finally ended it for me.

 Let's begin with something simple and common sense. Military style assault rifles  should only be in the hands of our military forces.

 

 

 

How The Pelicans Saved My ..........

Muffy, Yes "Muffy" the Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Muffy it was. It seems when I brought her home as a puppy home some years ago, I had to go someplace for a few days. When I came back she was already named by my sons and spouse. When I pointed out it might be a little embarrasing calling back "Muffy" in front of  my hunting buddies, the reply was "but we always wanted a kitty." A few years later she  and I were fishing a small bay on Lake Pepin. Lake Pepin is a huge widening of the Mississipi River, caused by the silt laden waters of the Chipewwa River. Huge sandbars, deposited by that river in the Mississippi, keep the Army Corps of Engineers busy maintaining an opening for the 12 ft. river channel. The bluegill fishing was good that day. Real good. So good, in fact, that I forgot the time and my promise to Mrs. Troutbirder to be home by 7 P.M. When I realized that I was running late, Muff and I scooted out into the main part of the lake and headed south to the landing at Lake City. I mention incidentally that we had seen a few eagles, some pelicans and lots of seagulls that afternoon. Pelicans always have fascinated me. They are somewhat awkward looking except for their majestic soaring habit. Hardworking, blue collar types, actually busy seining the waterways for fish. Yup, they are definately cool.

I've seen them play follow the leader floating by as well.

I was tearing down the lake at full speed. On the main channel one must keep at lookout for the river buoys. The river is full of sandbars, deadheads and rocky wingdams, all designed to tear open the bottom of a boat or wreck a lower unit. Stay within the marker buoys to be safe is the rule. With the lake widening to a mile in places that didn't seem to be an issue that day.

It was then that I spotted a bunch of pelicans and seagulls floating calmly in the waves. I whipped out my handy little digital, to get a group picture floating and flying, as I rushed towards them.......

It was then that I realized THEY WERN'T FLOATING - THE WERE STANDING!!!

I managed to kill the motor just in time... coasting to a less than elegant stop. Muff gave me that "what the heck was that all about look" and the birds still seemed quite unconcerned. Whew!!

No doubt about it a bunch of resting white pelicans saved my you know what that day!

Animals I have known....

Yes, I love wild animals, zoo animals and several varieties of  domestic pets. Naturally, they have been the focus of my little point and shoot camera over the years. Take a look at a few...

Nope, I didn't go swimming.

When I caught him looking at me out of the corner of his eye... I'm outta here!

 

Black Hills Moochers

Mrs. T. & Tiger

A highway rescue. And  you have pick up a snapper very carefully by the tail. :)

 

Angel the Bald Eagle - she is my "special  angel."

 

 

 

Bull elk keeping an eye on his harem at Mammoth Hot Springs Y.N.P.

Mom and baby porcupine cut right in front of me on our local bike trail.....

Our next door neighbors the goat family.

Working on the mosquito population in our back yard.

Sleepy screech owl is hard to spot.

In Colorado visiting our grandchildren we spot some sheep.

Baron and I spot a wild something in a nearby woods. Maybe a coyote.

An early morning coyote stalking jack rabbits outside our place on the golf course in Mesa, Arizona.

Miss Lily the GSD chases a raccoon family up a tree in our woods.

Colorado sanctuary for retired and rescued large felines. Wait a minute. That's a rather flimsy looking fence......?

 

 

 

 

 

Lone Wolf

Click on Mark Twain picture above and jump to the book review....:)

Black Earth The Holocaust As History And Warning

A new book review on Troutbirder II. Click on the picture of himself and Mark Twain above.....