Historical Photography Quiz (Part )

A young soldier holds up the singed and shredded pants of a famous person. That person was.......? Make a guess then check it by clicking on Mark Twain above to find the answer on Troutbirder II.

Fierce Animals She Has Known (Part III)

Mrs. T And The Bears:

Some years ago a thousand miles from home in Minnesota and fifty miles south of Big Timber, Montana, on a rutted gravel road we’d been headed south toward a beautiful Forest Service campground. It was the last one before the road ended in the Beartooth /Absaroka range north of Yellowstone National Park. The Boulder River is a prime trout-fishing destination. That was my goal. Then we spotted a red sign. "There are grizzly bears here?", Mrs. T queried. "Yes dear, but I will protect you," I replied. "I wanna go back home," she asserted firmly.

Near Darby, Montana, in the beautiful Bitterroot Range, at the Sam Billings Campground, we were just about ready to hike up a trail to the falls. "Are you sure there are no grizzly bears in these mountains?" "Yes, dear. There is a big controversy about bringing them back here, but it hasn’t happened yet, "  I informed her. "Well, Lucille (my sister in law) and I are going to wear bells just in case. To warn them off !" My brother smiled, and then I couldn’t help myself. "Err... I read there are a lot of mountain lions here though and tinkle bells really tick them off." "Whatever you jerk!"

A couple of years later we were about to launch our canoes from the landing, at Sawbill Campground, into the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness, for a week long trip along with our two teenage sons. It was at the landing where we encountered a returning couple. with a terrorized woman who informed Mrs T. that a black bear had eaten all their food. Then "we" decided to spend the week at the public campground instead of in the wilderness among the marauding bears….

Clearly this woman is deathly afraid of bears. Right? Wrong! It all depends on the circumstances. Camera in hand a magical transformation takes place... she suddenly becomes the wild bear paparazzi woman.

We are on a back road in Grand Teton National Park with my brother and sister-in-law. My brother is driving. As we come around a bend in the road he stops suddenly. There is an abandoned car blocking the road with the front door left open. I have seen this act before. Looking out into the woods I see  some guy stalking a grizzly bear.  Almost immediately I hear our rear door slam and my timid spouse, camera in hand, begins  following the idiot who abandoned his car in the road. "Come back," I yell from the road. "This could be dangerous" My brother later asked for copies of her shots of the apparently oblivious grizzly.

Ten years ago in Alaska, she rolled down the car window and leaned out, camera in hand. I suggested somewhat facetiously, "why don't you reach out and pet him dear. He certainly looks friendly enough." Fortunately, Mr. Bear ignored her....

 

Some, with flyrod in hand, are willing to take risks in search of Montana trout. I've seen more than a few paw marks along some streams.

Others, camera at the ready, look for the perfect shot. This is how it was among the Troutbirders.

 

People of the Book

Click on Mark Twain and Troutbirder above to jump to my book review blog.....

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.