Fierce Animals I Have Known (Part II)

Continuing our odyssey of animals Mrs. T and I have encountered with our cameras, we move on to some equally dangerous but larger types...
It seems I had joined a group of  Wisconsin birders for an outing along the Mississippi. Forgetful, I had inadvertently worn my U. of M. gopher cap and after introducing myself, several asked how my team had done against the Badgers the preceding day in football.  This, of course, was a loaded question since they had lost badly, which made it something like 12 in a row. Taking off my cap, I pointed out that it was 1962, when I was a junior, when my team had been in the Rose Bowl. That produced a good laugh so I added there would be no more football talk while birding.

A hapless gopher

 

A ferocious, extremely predatory Wisconsin Badger found recently under a shed digging for rodents....
Some of you may recall a recent post I did about my early morning encounter on the porch of our cabin in Yellowstone National Park. There was something about his eyes...

http://baron-troutbirder.blogspot.com/2008/08/early-riser.html

 

Then it turns out that fierce animals are not the only ones to pose a danger. It seems some birds in Florida threatened our car as well.

A ranger at a State Park mentioned that the local black vultures had taken a liking to eating tires.

Fortunately I left my waders, flyrod, and swimsuit  in Minnesota

 

 And coming up in Part III Mrs. T. takes on some Grizzly Bears 

The Presidents Book of Secrets

Warning: This book is for Adults Only. 
Click on Mark Twains Picture above for details......

Fierce Animals I Have Known (Part I)

Yes, it's true. I have never killed nor photographed wild creatures in Africa, but North America is not without its' dangers...

Two Right Under Our Rental Cabin....scary!

Then one came closer... right at me.....

Retreating to a nearby grassy area, out of the ground popped a fierce looking wild dog with large protruding teeth - a Prairie Dog!

Spotting  a tree for a quick  escape, I saw it was already occupied. These Great Gray Squirrels were noted for dragging their food up the tree. I wanted no part of that....:(

 

Enough was enough and I headed for a walk around a pond on the local golf course. There rising out of the depths watching me is what I could only describe as a "Golden Shark." Man eater no doubt....

With danger lurking everywhere around us in southern Minnesota,  Mrs. T. and I decided to head off to the wide open spaces of the West. Perhaps were could see danger  coming our way more clearly... And sure enough there a baby Burro  was in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Cute and certainly not aggressive.

Then his parents showed up and did everything but climb in the car with me to get at my bag of potato chips.  Ugh!

We do love our creatures great and small though as evidenced by the recent rescue by our son visiting from Arizona of a rather large Snapping Turtle who made his way, much too slowly across a busy highway.  Tony picked him up by the tail and deposited him safely in the ditch.
Coming soon in Part II the animals grow bigger and fiercer and the two photographers more foolish yet.....

 

Changing Prairie

I had previously put up a mid July view of my friend Gary's (Mr. Science) two acre restored native prairie. It provides a changing palette of native grasses and wildflowers. Take a look if you missed it....

http://baron-troutbirder.blogspot.com/2016/09/restoring-native-prairie.html.

Now we can see the Grand Finale. These are New England Asters which will last till our first heavy frosts and snow. 

 

There are a few remnants of earlier blooming asters and various types of goldenrod mixed in but as you can see the New England variety dominates.

It's also time for many of our song birds and raptors to begin moving south. I, as a fledgling birder, can identify some of the warblers in the spring as the males sport their gorgeous breeding colors. Not  so easy in the fall, as the brighter colors fade. Still this "butter butt" (a.k.a. yellow rumped warbler) stands out on the prairie with his distinctive mark.

VIctory at Yorktown

Keep an open mind now, plug your nose if necessary, and click on Mark Twain above to jump to Troutbirder II's surprisingly  positive  review of disgraced former House Leader Newt Gingrich's historical novel Victory at Yorktown.