Spotlighting

I didn’t think I was going to get to do this but as it turned out I did. Spotlighting is another population study done by ODFW. In this case it’s a study of Black Tail deer and it’s accomplished at night just like it sounds, by driving down the road and looking for deer with a spotlight. After my medical procedure I just didn’t think I would be able to do this, so I took myself off the schedule. But then just last week, very late in the schedule Doug asked if I’d like to go with him. I’ve been working for and with Doug during our stay here and he is a very nice guy. So me being a little better than I was, and being very comfortable with Doug, I thought I could make a go of it. The worst part would be bathroom breaks because I still can’t hold my water very well, and getting in and out of the truck. They have some big pick-ups here. The kind I need a ladder to get into and a parachute to get out of. Doug assured me I could do it and anyway we’d be in the woods in the dark where there was no shortage of restrooms. So I bought some junk food and we were off.

We were to work an area out of Willamina and Sheridan west of Salem in the foothills of the coast range. My instructions were to open the window, hold the spotlight out and look for deer. A real tough gig! So after turning the light on inside the pick-up and blinding both myself and Doug, then shining the light through the closed window and blinding us again, I kind of got the hang of it. Only to find out I forgot my gloves. And it is cold with your arm out the window in the rain and wind in the foothills of the coast range in late November. But I did remember the junk food! Got to keep your priorities in order, and Doug had some gloves. So we drove around the country side, up and down some roads I wouldn’t even take during the day, looking for deer. Doug said I couldn’t count the ones with lights and shiny red noses. They were too easy, but there were some of those. There were two other spotlighting rigs out that night and Doug kept in touch via radio. I didn’t ask but assumed it’s kind of a safety thing even though we were a considerable distance apart. So we looked while Doug drove and I recorded the results. I believe that our count at the end of the night, maybe 2 hours of real looking, was 53. That was broken down by fawns, does, and bucks. As with the Bear Baiting study, I suppose these numbers are worked and massaged by the experts wearing white coats in headquarters and decisions are then made as to the health and population of the herds. Based on what I saw they won’t be shutting down any hunts. There are many nice looking deer out there and it was good to take part again.

We lost in the deer count though. And Doug always wins in getting the largest count of deer. This night he was a little handicapped. Me! The count was real close, but I guess we just had to stop a few too many times to pee and climb in and out of that big pick-up. Doug took it in stride and I still had a good time. It was another thing, on my list of things, that I never thought would be on my list of things, that now, I have done. Ain’t it Grand!!!!

All the same, I'd rather be the crow"

Well, we won’t be leaving for Texas in time to make it to the Rio Grande valley. The medics just won’t be done with me soon enough so we had to cancel our reservations. But for now we don’t lose our deposit. We have a years grace before we lose anything. It seemed pretty nice to me. I guess RV parks like where we we’re going understand their clientele? I’m sure there are always people, like us, who have medical changes in plans and they need to make allowances for that. Good for them, good for us.

Other than that, ‘all is well’. The weather has been very nice for the last couple of weeks. It’s supposed to be 62o and sunny today. That makes our extended stay here a little more palatable but this is still not a great place to winter in an RV. We’ll be here into December but head south to California ASAP. South being the operative word. Exactly when and where remains to be seen? We’ll be watching the weather and the passes as our departure nears.

I’ve been up to my knees in leaves for the last couple of weeks. That is my primary job right now. There are lots of trees on the complex and it’s keeping me busy. I’ve been using a blower, tractor, and a big tractor tote to keep them under control. So it’s not a bunch of raking by hand. I’ve even learned to pick up a tote with the fork lift, take it to the compost pile, turn it over to dump the leaves, and pick it back up without getting off the tractor. Kat is busy in the office and Jade is enjoying the birds and squirrels. Once or twice a week we have to drive somewhere. The work is easy, mostly enjoyable, but not always understandable. We drove an injured crow 40 miles to the Audubon Society but then a couple of days ago I was watching turtles being euthanized. Oregon has a season for crows; so you can kill them but if you find an injured one, they’ll save it for you. Turtles on the other hand, are not so lucky. They were non-native and expendable. In this case a Red Eared Racer (the kind we got as kids) and a Snapping turtle. But they did get a sedative before they lost their heads. Go figure! In fairness this doesn’t happen often and the state is kind of between a rock and a hard spot. Either way they choose to react they’ll offend someone. And common sense be damned! Some of you may have heard of the “Snowball incident”. That was a deer the state was taking away from some family because you can’t maintain wild animals without a license. That has caused a stir and cost the state $40,000 in legal fees, and it ain’t over.

My procedure is over! All is apparently OK. Everything still works even if it’s a little uncomfortable at times. And time should take care of that. I must confess I was a little scared after my visit with the doctor before the procedure. This was the visit that I think covers their rear ends and tells you all the things that can go wrong. I was reminded that one in four can’t do this, one in four can’t do that, you’ll be incontinent, you’ll be impotent, one in a hundred will have a perforated what’s’ it and die, and someday we’re just going to get angry and cut somebody’s off. Well, maybe not the last, but you get my point. Then at the end he did say that one in four were kind of ‘poster patients’ and everything went just dandy. Then just before the procedure he stopped by to say he thought everything looked ‘real good’. Well, it did and I think I am one of those ‘poster patients’.

So! I have a couple of more visits and if things look good like I think they will, we ought to be able to be on our way. Maybe around the second week in December. In the meantime I’ll be battling those leaves with a break for Thanksgiving at Rick (Kat’s oldest) and Tina’s.

A CROW FUNERAL

The sound of many crows calling at once filled the air. I peeked out the window, and everywhere I could see, crows, maybe a couple hundred of them. They were on the sidewalk. They were on the power lines. They were on the logs that served as stops for parked cars, and they were in the trees. Almost hidden against one of the logs, I saw a dead crow. There were a few crows standing near the body. The noise continued for about a minute or so, when suddenly, an unseen conductor waved his baton, and the cawing stopped. The silence was equally as loud.
There was a pause.
Then, the invisible conductor again waved his baton, and there was a great and noisy flurry of feathers, as the crows took off and flew in all directions. Soon they were gone, leaving their lifeless kin to the elements. I continued my watch in silent awe, feeling that I had just witnessed something few have seen. In the various articles and books I have read about the corvids and their behavior, the authors cannot agree as to whether the Crow "Funeral" is fact or legend.
What it comes down to is, only the crows know the significance of this behavior. The term "funeral" is for us a convenience, a way to explain what appears to be the obvious. But, until a Crow-Human/Human-Crow dictionary comes out, we may never know the absolute truth. Better to observe and appreciate another highly evolved species and the rituals that keep their "society" together.