ALMOST LOST HOMER CAT - DRAMA, DRAMA

I was on the second floor of the house talking on the cell phone this afternoon to a friend when I stood up from the chair and glanced out the window.  What I saw put a chill down my back.  Homer cat was laying on the lawn staring directly into the face of a very large red fox that was taking very slow steps toward Homer.  Homer isn't afraid of dogs and I figured he thought it was just another dog.  The fox was only about a foot away from Homer who just laid there looking directly into the face of the fox.  There was only a couple seconds to act.  I blasted down the stairs to the living room door and Shade beat me outside.  She rocketed down the porch steps and barreled directly toward Homer and the fox. I saw the fox snap it's head toward Shade who was almost on top of it and the fox took off at top speed toward the woods.  Out of nowhere, Chestnut hound shot past Shade and was on the fox's tail and I thought she was going to nail the fox.  But, it didn't happen.  What a thrilling few moments!  It was over in a moment.  I called Homer to follow me as I walked toward the house and he followed behind.  He was definitely shook up as his eyes were wider than I ever saw them. 

We entered the house and he went straight down to the garage area and hid under the wheelbarrow.  He was terrified, as well he should have been.  This was a very close call.  Homer has been with me as long as Douglas and is an important part of the family.  I'm just relieved, to say the least.  Homer goes out the dog door in the garage when he wants and sleeps on the rocking chair on the porch or goes to the flower area and lays under the rose or clematis bushes.  The fox will remember that there is an easy picking around here and will return, I'm sure.  I just hope I'm home when he does.  This all happened mid afternoon in broad sunlight so the fox isn't shy.  Hopefully Homer learned something today.

 Shade - the protector

There hasn't been anything of interest to photograph on the lakes so tonight I was just messing around looking at old photos.  I ran across a nice group shot of my old gang, Douglas, Shade and Happy.  They are the originals.

I ran across some shots of the puppies that were born in my bedroom when I lived in the warehouse over in Greenback just west of here.  The squeaking noises they made woke me up at 1AM that night.  One squeak lead to two squeaks and so on and so on.

They were put on Petfinders and all received great homes - except Chestnut, and she's with me.  The people were checked out thoroughly and their homes inspected to assure the pups would indeed have forever homes and be loved and truly made members of the family.

Below is a very young Chestnut hound:

 And below she is a bit older:

And, finally today:

Pretty neat, huh?

I also found a few movies from the old days and will post them in the near future.  The important thing is Homer is safe thanks to Shade and Chestnut.  What a scare!

CRITTERS ARE HIDING OUT

No, I didn't take all those eagle shots today.  You may remember them from prior entries.  The Nature Conservancy has a wildlife photo contest where the best shots will be included on their wildlife calendar.  So, I went through some of my photographs on a dark, rainy night and came up with these.  I have some other bald eagle shots taken years ago that are super too.  It's something to do.  Funny that TWRA never picked one of my shots for their calendar.  I submitted twice to them and never got a shot selected.  I'll try again this year.  I think they hired a guy who is in need of glasses to do the picture picking.

Is that 3D or what?

I know I'm going to get hate mail with all these black crowned night herons I've been posting.  Hey - I gotta go with what's available.  When the day is overcast with drizzle and there's a more boats on the water than usual due to the holiday - the critters den up.  I can't say I blame them.

He is plucking out loose plumage due to the molting process.  It seems there are a lot of species molting right now.  Some birds molt up to four times a year while others molt twice.  The raptors never totally molt all at once because they couldn't fly and hunt if they did.  Therefore, they molt in stages.  

I wonder why they're called black crowned night herons when their crowns are blue.

Black crowns are very interesting to watch.  They are super attentive to their surroundings and never miss a thing that moves.  I guess I can understand how it could get boring looking at stationary photographs of one of these over and over but, I don't think of that issue when I'm collecting photographs of them.  This area of the Holston River is heavily populated with black crowns and it's a good thing to see. That means they are successful at life.  Maybe they should be put on the hunting list.  Just kidding!  It just seems that when some critter is successful at life - it gets knocked back by being admitted to some hunting schedule in the name of regulation and control.

By the way - you know I like my job as this is a state holiday today, yet here am I on the river.  It's great!

It was a pretty morning on the river and I enjoyed every minute of it.  I did have some difficulty on the way up the mountain, however.

Seems I picked up a nail in a trailer tire this morning.  No big deal.  I'll get er fixed.  And you thought my job was all wine and roses!

Since the day was overcast and cool, I thought I'd take the girls up to the creek at the trout hatchery.  Rain was threatening and it would be welcomed as far as I was concerned.  

I'm very proud of Chestnut Hound.  She comes to me instantly when called, while Shade does the old "I'll be there is a sec" routine.  This place isn't the best for them but, it's better than not having anything at all.  I sure miss the old state park back West of here and the Lake Shore Hiking trail that goes around Tellico Lake.  Those places were ten minutes from my habitat.  Guess we just have to make do with what we have.

The coming weeks are to be sunny and very nice which will enhance the possibility of some great critter shots.  I also want to take a bike ride up to Royal Blue where the state elk herd is located.  Hear that Kevin?

This has to be one of the greenest places on the planet, next to the Beech Creek section of the Holston River.  I'm going to be canoeing up there shortly.

All the dog shots were taken with the SD990 and I don't have much control over the shutter speed so I can't stop motion very well, especially when it's overcast.  It does alright though.  Hope you liked something on this entry.  Hang in there and I'll get you some bull elks.