Martin Hogeboom FOTOGRAAF: Nattigheid

Martin Hogeboom FOTOGRAAF: Nattigheid
Beautiful Photographs! I'll have to come back and look again soon.

Velvet Buck

We have two bucks that seem to have taken up residence in our and our vacant neighbor's back yards. I see them when I come home from work, and there are also some little does that hang out with them. I'm guessing the does are yearlings and that they were too young to mate this year.

One of the bucks has 6 points and the other has 8. The 8 pointer's topmost points look like thick knobs, so they may grow out and branch into twins and make him a 10 pointer. They look so young and thin, I have no idea how many years it takes to become a 10 pointer, but both bucks don't look more than a year old.

The grass is thick and lush this year with the frequent rains, so I wonder if they are getting more than enough to eat.

Photo (later) by Andrea's camera

The Eagle is Grounded

Actually, it's a red tailed hawk, and he's actually being pinned down by some blackbirds about 1/4 his size. I watched them doing the typical hawk/tiny bird scene. The hawk cruises along slowly and the little birds dart in and out, trying to peck him in the head.

This reminds me of little fighter planes attacking a big bomber.

The hawk was watching me and seemed pretty calm as I walked around the parking lot and took several pictures of it. Then he seemed to get nervous and flew away. The little blackbirds were after him immediately. I'm sure he got away, but maybe not without a few pulled feathers on his head.

Mascot Misfire

We were driving up to the Sheridan's Frozen Custard store nearby this weekend, when we noticed a crowd of boy scouts out by the highway, waving at cars. This is a highway with stoplights every block, so it's not as dangerous as it sounds. The store was having a promotion where boy scouts were cooking hot dogs on a grill out front, and in addition to the boys waving at cars, they had a big guy in a dog mascot costume.

My wife thought it was pretty silly. When she first saw the dog mascot guy, he was jumping or bobbing up and down. It was hot out and she was in the middle of commenting about how ridiculous it would be to wear a thick furry costume on a hot day like this and then jumping up and down when she interrupted herself and blurted, "He's passing out!" Then she saw that he was just bouncing around to call attention to himself. The costume was big and round in the middle, so it looked like he was sitting down or something. Then Andrea said "he's going to the bathroom!" Which made us both laugh.

So we named the mascot Poopy Dog.

Tolerance through Lounging

These two cats normally do not like to be very close to each other. However, full tummies and the perfect spot to take a nap has served to make them temporary buddies.

Smudge (on the right) seems to really enjoy lying on his back. Andrea calls the white stripe on his belly his racing stripe. Don't try to touch it, though.

Goats Galore

My cousins are raising goats for showing this year for the first time.

They are meat goats, as opposed to milk goats, which apparently are harder to control and climb all over everything.

These goats were calm and docile, like dogs. That'll get them best in show.

Lounging Lisa

You know a dog is having a good time when she's on her back.

I'm not sure why dogs look so funny upside down, but they really do.

Gone Fishin'

Here's Ray, learning about the joys of being a dog with Lab blood and large bodies of water.

You can lead a dog to water, but you don't have to teach him any tricks. He knows what to do.

4H prep

Tyce and Cade are going to show some pigs later this year at some competition.

Here's Tyce working to keep them fat and happy.

Snapper Zombies

This year is another record year for my subjective count of snapping turtle sightings.

They lose all fear and common sense when in their mating frenzy, and they are often found crossing streets. I've rescued a couple of live turtles, but seen many more squished on the road.

This guy was going across the parking lot at work. I was of the impression that he could not make it up the high curb, but he was up and over before I could even see how he did it.

Not only snapping turtles, but I've been seeing a lot of box turtles, too. One was down by the pond in some high grass I was trimming down with a weed eater. I picked him up, put him behind me, trimmed the grass and turned around to get him again. He was already 10' away and moving fast. His legs were full out like a high schooler's souped up jacked up pick 'em up truck. For a tiny heavy little animal with a reputation for being slow, those guys can really move.

In addition to snappers and box turtles, I found a painted turtle last week out by the back patio, when one of the cats was looking at her in the tall grass. Why a spot 10' away from our patio with several cats lounging around would look like a great place to lay eggs is beyond me. However, that is what she was doing. I think egg-laying must be the kind of activity that you can't interrupt. She certainly was completely unfazed by me and several cats as she did her business. Although some turtles apparently dig "test nests" and don't lay eggs in them, we can find out. The incubation period is about 72 days. I'll be watching.

Fuzzy Goslings

This is the first year I've ever seen Canada Geese babies.

The first place I saw them was on I-70 outside of Lawrence at a rest stop. They were about 50' or 60' away from the highway.

I saw them in the same place a week later, in the median. The rest stop had a big pond that they probably use for their wastewater, but it was nice and I'll bet the geese don't know that it comes from rest stop toilets (I'm sure it's treated).

These geese were out in the country next to a lake that used to be a quarry. You have to move fast, because they start slinking away as soon as you draw near.

Rhinos

The town of Marion Kansas must have had one of those art contests involving animals. I've seen cows in Kansas City and other animals in other cities, but they used Rhinoceroses (or is it Rhinoceri?).

This one, created in a blatant attempt to turn art into commercialization, was placed outside the local drug store (I hope you didn't think I was going to say diner).

We did not seek an explanation from the locals as to why they selected the Rhino as representative of their small Kansas town. Rhinoceros is Greek for nose horn, by the way. Most animals with horns have them on their head, not their nose.

We did not seek an explanation as to how the town was able to book Grand Funk Railroad for their 4th of July concert. With such hits as "Loco-Motion" and "American Band", I'm sure the band from Flint Michigan has a special connection with the mostly rural and agricultural based locals.

I may have to go back and see. Maybe I can horn in on the concert. Or maybe I should keep my nose out of it.

Scary Bins of Babies

We tried to go to Powell Gardens for an enjoyable evening of looking at flowers, but the place closes around 5:30 or 6, making it virtually impossible to enjoy in the summer during the week after work. Bummer.

As an equally fulfilling alternative, we stopped by this little auction and old-timey place that was near the entrance on 50 highway.

Instead of quaint antiques or other remnants of a bygone era of better days, we were treated to creepy bins of naked dolls. We didn't stay for the auction.

Turkey Dance

It's that time of the year again! Turkeys making that gobbly blithering idiot sound that never fails to make me laugh.

I thought that by now they would have already laid some eggs, if not have chicks hatched already. Maybe there are two mating seasons in one year.

Andrea likes to mimic what the toms would say if they could speak. "Oh yeah! Look at me! Hot stuff!"

Back that Mockingbird up!

I was walking out of a building last week after a meeting. It was a beautiful day, sunny with a bright blue sky and at the perfect temperature. I stopped before getting into my car to take it all in and appreciate it.

I noticed that there was a bird singing nearby, really going at it. I searched around and couldn't spot him, then I heard the nearby backup alarm of a small truck or forklift. This was an industrial park, so the sound was not unexpected or particularly noteworthy. I was still looking for the bird. I spotted it, and saw that it was a Mockingbird, which was flying from the top of a streetlight, to a power line, and then over into a tree. As soon as it landed, it started up its litany again. Fluid whistles and tweets running up and down the scale.

That's when I watched it again break into its rendition of a vehicle backing up alarm. It was right on the money, and hilarious to see the bird duplicate it so perfectly. The Mockingbird flew away shortly after that, but I hope to see it again some day soon.