Soaked Through
25 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
This fellow was out in the driving rain, and thoroughly drenched. Note that he’s almost trying to “duck” the rain as he walks. He kept looking up at it, licking drops off his mouth, blinking the water out of his eyes, shaking himself, and lifted legs high to walk through the very soaked ground. The coyote was obviously soaked through and through.
I’ve seen coyotes at other times who are not at all bothered by the rain — they’ll actually hunker down on a hill during a heavy rain and remain there for some time, watching whatever is happening in the distance. And I’ve seen them hunting nonchalantly on a hillside in the rain. But today, this coyote looked and behaved as though the wet was not appreciated.
Please Sign The Petition to Preserve our Urban Forests in San Francisco!
03 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
Please sign the petition to preserve our urban forests and wildlife habitat in San Francisco. You may read the petition and sign at: http://signon.org/sign/stop-the-wasteful-destructio-1
Spectacular Ordinary Sand!
27 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in individuality, Uncategorized
Wow, this post is totally off topic, but I thought everyone might want to see the beauty which photography can reveal. Who would have known??
“Viewed at a magnification of over 250 times real life, tiny grains of sand are shown to be delicate, colorful structures as unique as snowflakes. When seen well beyond the limits of human eyesight, the miniature particles are exposed as fragments of crystals, spiral fragments of shells and crumbs of volcanic rock.”
Note that they are as individualistic and as interesting as people or coyotes if you’re willing to look hard enough!!
Please see the full article in the Daily Mail, or Dr. Gary Greenberg’s Microphotography site: sandgrains.com
(posted with Dr. Gary Greenberg’s permission)
Asking for Help and Getting It – A Story For The Holiday Season
31 Dec 2011 1 Comment
Occasionally I like to post stories about different animals. Here is a deer story from Alaska. A Heart Warming and Amazing Rescue, in Sitka .. “a miracle of sorts”, the author says, “really!” This posting was sent as an email, making its rounds until it got to me. Here it is for everyone to enjoy.
The Best Day Of Fishing Ever!
I’ve heard of salmon jumping into boats, but never anything quite like this… Tom Satre told the Sitka Gazette that he was out with a charter group on his 62-foot fishing vessel when four juvenile black-tailed deer swam directly towards his boat.
“Once the deer reached the boat, the four began to circle the boat, looking directly at us. We could tell right away that the young bucks were distressed.
I opened up my back gate and we helped the typically skittish and absolutely wild animals onto the boat.
In all my years of fishing, I’ve never seen anything quite like it!
Once onboard, they collapsed with exhaustion, shivering.”
“This is a picture I took of the rescued bucks on the back of my boat, the Alaska Quest. We headed for Taku Harbour.
Once we reached the dock, the first buck that we had pulled from the water hopped onto the dock, looked back as if to say ‘thank you’ and disappeared into the forest.
After a bit of prodding and assistance, two more followed, but the smallest deer needed a little more help.
This is me carrying the little guy.
My daughter, Anna, and son, Tim, helped the last buck to its feet. We didn’t know how long they had been in the icy waters or if there had been others who did not survive.
My daughter later told me that the experience was something that she would never forget, and I suspect the deer felt the same way as well!”
Scouting Around A Log
15 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in coyote behavior, curiosity, foraging, hunting, Uncategorized, video Tags: coyote, coyote hunting, coyotes, urban coyotes
A coyote stops at a log to scout for a possible meal. The scrutiny was intense and thorough, but yielded nothing! I didn’t start the video until most of the exploring was already over, but you can see from the stills I took before the video that the coyote was all over the log. I didn’t see any digging, just poking and sniffing, so I assume it was scent and not sound that drew the coyote to the log.
Squirrel Yawns & Stretches While Hanging From His Toenails
12 Nov 2011 2 Comments
in Uncategorized, video
Occasionally I’ll add a post about another animal, to add some variety to the blog. I was too late to catch two squirrels chasing each other around the tree trunk. It was a noisy and active chase, which is why I noticed them. By the time my camera was up, one squirrel had leaped to another tree — you can briefly glimpse him in the lower left-hand corner of the video. Meanwhile, this center-stage guy took a break from the play with a yawn and a stretch while hanging from his toenails — and he does it again a second time!
Another Great Sketch by Courtney
27 Sep 2011 4 Comments
Owlet by Courtney Quirin
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I’m really taken with Courtney’s wildlife drawings. She captures the Great Horned owlet’s character so wonderfully here!
Thank you Courtney for another great sketch!
Sketches from Courtney!
20 Aug 2011 1 Comment
Courtney Quirin has allowed me to post a couple of her wonderful sketches. These charcoal drawings capture the special personality and character of coyotes in a way that my photos and my behavior descriptions cannot. Thank you, Courtney! Courtney is an artist, an ecologist who has worked in Ethiopia, and an All American runner, to list just a few of her talents. San Francisco is her new home where we embrace and welcome her!
BUCK
26 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
We just returned from seeing the movie BUCK, a documentary about a horse trainer, Buck Brannaman. Yes, I, too, have loved horses throughout my life — and that is why I was drawn to this film, but the movie’s message can be read to include much more than just horses. It shows the sensitivity, understanding and respect that we can encompass in our dealings with all animals. There are a few individuals out there who truly understand animals and who can relate to them absolutely. With horses, that person is Buck Brannaman — he is a “horse-whisperer”.
He emerged from a violent upbringing with the ability to help people understand where a horse is coming from — and also where they themselves are coming from. He teaches that you can gain a horse’s trust with a soft lead which makes it sensitive and responsive, whereas rough handling only causes it to shut down out of fear. Under his guidance, bucking horses are transformed into trusting creatures that follow their riders’ leads at the slightest pull of the rope — or sometimes even a gesture.
He teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not abusive punishment or put-downs. He says, ”I started to realize that things would come much easier for me once I learned why a horse does what he does.” The key is understanding “why” any animal does what it does. Buck learned from Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt, the developers of “natural horsemanship,” which advocates mutual respect between rider and horse. His approach is as much about people as about horses. “A lot of times, rather than helping people with horse problems, I’m helping horses with people problems.” ”It is about a communion between man and animal that runs deeper than any division”.
Buck dramatically transforms both horses and people – always with his understanding, compassion and respect. By the end of this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a euphemism for facing challenges to life and for facing yourself. “Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” When you can start seeing yourself through animals, you can start really relating to them, and therefore really understanding them. I feel that I’ve bridged this gap with some of the coyotes I’ve observed.
“It’s A Good Time Of Year To Spot Urban Wildlife” by Victoria Schlesinger
07 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
Victoria Schlesinger is one of the founders of Way Out West News, or WOW. This journal, which covers the environmental news in the Bay Area, is a fairly recent creation which is growing by leaps and bounds. Victoria contacted me about wildlife and my wildlife photography. Please check out the journal, and while you are at it, check out her article and slide show based on our interview: http://www.wayoutwestnews.com/2011/06/06/its-a-good-time-of-year-to-spot-urban-wildlife/
