Cattle Pens

I've seen these pens on the Turnpike in Kansas for years, but never stopped until the trip down this last Easter.

I can see stopping to let your dog out to take a walk, but what is the deal with cows? Do they actually unload them into these chutes, or is this a place where cattle were driven from the fields to trucks?

It's not exactly Stonehenge, but it is a mystery to me.

Half Bunny, Half Boy

As Easter nears, you see all sorts of strange things.

Yeti Sighting!

Just when you start to believe all the naysayers that tell you there is no Yeti, you finally sight one! The Easter Bunny was hanging out with him, but ran away before I could get a picture. Mr. Yeti was riding a unicorn, but he's behind the trees.

Blurry Deer

Here's the first time I got out a tripod to take pictures of the deer across the street from work. They saw me setting up the tripod and taking the pictures and were staring at me intently. The one in the foreground was ignoring me and grazing around while I snapped the picture. You can see how he blurs as a result.

Jazz Cow vs. Crocuses

I hope the Jazz Cow doesn't eat the first Crocuses of Spring.

A Mule and his Barn are soon parted

This looks like something from a hundred years ago. You may have to click on the picture to make it larger to see the little girl at the edge of the picture behind the mule.

First Robin of Spring

While out Geocaching, we saw the first robin of spring. This was on 3/12.

Smudgie of Darkness

I can hear the Darth Vader theme music in the background when I look at this picture.

Good Day, Sunshine

Finally, a day with some sun to show off the hawk. I'm not sure if you can tell a female from a male, so I'm going to say this is the female.

Hawk Pair

Here's a picture of the hawks across the street from work. You may have to click on the picture to see the back of the hawk on the left as well as the silhouette of the hawk on the right.

Red Tailed Hawks lay eggs from March to May, and they take 28 days to hatch.

The ultimate outcome of the Hawk Watch would be some pictures in a month or two of baby hawks, so stay tuned!

Squirrely Bandito

This little guy was in the front yard, digging up nuts. By the time I got my camera and took this picture, the squirrel was running off with his booty. Does he, or does he not, look like he needs a little cape?

Mark Trail

Mark Trail has been a staple (some would say the keystone) on the comics pages for decades.

I am his biggest fan.

I'm not sure how this happens, but Mark's trials and tribulations somehow seem stupid or silly when you try to describe them to people. This does nothing to diminish his stature in my mind. The man is a giant. His attributes are a blend of The Lone Ranger, the Crocodile Hunter, and the Hardy Boys. Although one might think that dognapping or guys living in trailers making their money by poaching are rare problems, Mr. Trail shows us the serious underbelly of these issues.

While delivering the action packed yet insightful saga of Mark Trail from Monday through Saturday, my own paper has sadly stopped carrying the CapStone of the Mark Trail experience - the Sunday comic. Not only does the full color boost the Sunday comic into lifelike relief, the Marlin Perkins-esk character of animal kingdom education, along with the superposition of a calm Mark Trail has an impact that cannot be overstated.

While Mr. Trail soldiers on in timeless and ageless fashion, it remains to be seen what will happen with his useless doormat of a wife Candy, his closeted adoptive son, Rusty, his senile veterinarian father-in-law Doc, and his slack jawed goliath of a dog, Andy. Although surrounded by this gaggle of misfits, Mr. Trail's contribution to the world cannot be overlooked. Without his calm guidance in this era of climate change and mass extinctions, we would surely fall prey to worst in our own human natures. Who knows how much worse it would be without the watchful eyes of Mark Trail to guide us forward.

Thank you Mark Trail, and god bless you.

Spring Henge

Today was the first day of Spring.

We live on a curve, and one leg of the curve goes due West away from our house. This means that on the Equinox (the first day of Spring) the sun sets directly down the road.

In mid winter, it sets behind the trees on the left, and by the middle of summer, it sets behind a house to the right.

So for a couple of weeks, it sets right down the road, where we can see it. I always like these Equinox sunsets.

Spring Magic

When I was leaving for work this morning, a little earlier than I normally do, the sun was not yet up. The sky was lightening, though, and there was enough brightness in the sky that the pond (recently filled up by rains) reflected the sky nicely. I stopped and looked at it for a moment to enjoy the pretty sight, and something magical looking happened. There was obviously a deer running along the dam of the pond. You couldn't hear it (they are really silent!) and you couldn't see the deer directly, because the woods were dark. What I could see was the silouette of the deer, running along upside down in the reflection on the pond.

I froze and enjoyed the moment, it was over pretty quickly. I just had time to register what I saw and was forming the description and replay in my mind when it happened again. This time, I could really enjoy it. I'm not sure what spooked them into running, but it made them more noticeable and distinct in the reflection than walking would have.

When I got to work, my wife called me from the road. She was excited because on her drive in, there was a huge owl on a telephone wire right over the road. She said she could see his head swivelling around, looking this way and that. You think of owls as pretty shy. It's a rare treat to see one from the road.

Skunked

This must be the mating season for skunks. OK, wikipedia confirms it.

I've never seen so many hit by cars before. I've seen 3 or 4 every time I drive somewhere in the last week.

They must be horrible at dodging cars.

I know deer get distracted when they are mating and get hit by cars more often, but I've never noticed this same thing happening to deer before.

It's funny. For some reason (perhaps Pepé Le Pew cartoons) we are taught that we are supposed to be afraid of or avoid skunks. The skunk has only one major problem, and that's it's smell. Don't get too close or scare it, and you won't have to deal with that issue. I suppose they also have rabies a lot, which is a major concern, too.

It's too bad, they really are pretty animals. As far as road kill goes, it's some of the nicer looking pelts you'll see. Too bad about the stink, that black & white stripe pattern would make a nice coat. I guess I hate to see any animal killed by a car, it seems like such a waste and so needlessly cruel.

Plus, who enjoys driving through the skunk smell. Not good.

Hawk's Nest

Sharon has been watching a breeding pair of hawks from her desk. She can see the nest they are building across the street.

We've been watching the nest and can sometimes see the hawks working on the nest or sitting in a branch nearby. It's definitely a breeding pair, so maybe we will be able to see the babies.

I'm sure there will be more to follow.

Mango

We have a possum that knows when the outside cats are being fed. He shows up soon afterward. Possums and raccoons are voracious. They eat so much cat food, it's hard to believe.

So when this little guy showed up to eat the other night, I opened up the door to take away his food and was stopped in my tracks when I saw his face and shoulder.

I'm not sure what happened to this guy, but I've got a new name for him now.

Mango.

It's short for mangled. He has something wrong with his left eye, it looks like it might be blind and the hide around it has no fur in it, it's scraped clean as if it was shaved. He has another raw patch on his left shoulder, which for some reason reminds me of a healed burn scar.

I'm guessing he was hit by a car and survived.

I left the food for him. I figured he's been through enough rough stuff to need a few easy meals. This one's on me.

The First Frog of Spring

It got over 70° this weekend. We spent it hiking through the countryside, and ended up Sunday afternoon in a place called Monkey Mountain Park.

While looking for a place to cross a small creek, we spooked up this little guy.

The first frog of spring! Now that is one heck of a sign of spring.

On the way back to the car, we heard a little pond or stream that had several frogs croaking away.

That night it rained hard all night and we woke up to temperatures just above freezing. The next night, it was 15°.

The coming of spring is not a one way street.

Target Practice

I'm glad that the good whiskey swilling, gun toting woodsmen find this to be a threat. One less piece of galvanized metal to to menace us when we are trekking through the woods.

Isn't it ironic?

When the greenest thing in the winter is the coating of moss on a rock?

Notice the sunglass lens on the camera? Soon after this, it fell off, but we didn't notice it was gone until after we finished our hiking in the woods and went home. I backtracked an found it the next morning.

You won't catch moss growing on me.

Whiskey Tango

There is a bar in Grain Valley called Whiskey Tango. This is code for White Trash.

These people drink a lot, dance to loud country music, wear giant belt buckles, drive giant pickup trucks and perform strange mating rituals in the building shown.

You are welcome to join them. You can never have too many Whiskey Tangos.

Thorny Issues

We saw plenty of locust trees when we hiked around this weekend. I believe in tough love. These trees just have an image problem - they are misunderstood. I think they need a hug.

Bat Box

I always wanted to build a bat box. I read about it in a Missouri Department of conservation years ago. If you make some habitat for the bats, they may favor you with settling in your neighborhood. I have heard that the number of insects (particularly mosquitos!) that one bat can eat in a day is more than the bat weighs. Talk about an efficient and effective substitute to insect repellent and bug zappers.

There are cool plans at: http://free.woodworking-plans.org/bat-house-plans.html including the Missouri one. I will probably try it this summer.

Bats are endangered, so it probably doesn't hurt to give them a home. Most of the problems with bat population in Missouri are from people visiting caves and disturbing them. They get fat in the fall and survive on this fat through the winter, but if they fly around in the winter, they burn up their reserve and can die. I just heard that there is a virus attacking bats in upstate New York that may be like the one attacking and wiping out honeybees. They are very afraid that the bat populations may get decimated, too.

This is the first time I've ever seen one, at a park called Burr Oaks near here in Blue Springs. I wonder if they understand that it's ok to live there because it has the bat logo on it?

Litter Notice

I hate this poster.

It's hard to believe that trash can deform a turtle this much.

Funny little fungus

These fungi look like little fans on the side of this fallen tree. Notice that they have moss on them?

Crinoid Stems

I remember crinoid stems from when I was little.

These are fossils of a plant that comes in segments and looks like a little stack of disks.

We were told that the Indians used them as money, which I've never heard confirmed now that I'm older. I think it's just that they look like little stacks of coins.

We found this one during a winter walk in the woods.

Where's the Turtle

We found this turtle shell near Lake Jacomo last weekend. I can tell it's a box turtle by the shape and size.

I'm not sure why it turned white. I must have been bleached by the sun, but why doesn't a live turtle shell bleach out? The shell is made of a material called keratin that is like fingernails, hooves, and even hair.

The spine is visible inside the shell. It's fused to the top of the shell. You get a feeling that the turtle was really part of the shell.

I'm sure this one did not like coming out of his shell.