Fauna and other natural things

[Wahoo Redux]

An owl.

Sitting on an unlit barbeque in the park.

Looked at us. Unconcerned.  Swiveled her head.

Two stoned college students staring at her.  Smiling.

[Parasaurolophus]

Saw a big black bear crossing the road yesterday, two vultures atop telephone poles today, and a pod of orcas from the ferry today.

[FishProf]

Three turkeys, a woodchuck, and several scurrying chipmunks and squirrels all together.  When Smolt "spread" the seed yesterday. she must've choked down on the bag...

[paultuttle]

On my morning walk today: three rabbits and one fox. A great horned owl was inferred via some characteristic hooting in the distance.

[apl68]

During a hike, on a short vacation a week ago, I came across the most amazing echo I've ever encountered.  I had found it during a hike several years back, and was able to find the same spot.  That echo will return as many as five or six syllables, perfectly.  It ought to have a sign to mark it, so that more people can know it's there.  Plus that sign would look friendlier than the "No Camping" sign that already sits there.

It's a lovely spot on a lake inlet, with a steep, wooded bank on the other side.  There's a hike-in camp area nearby.  The morning was clear and mild.  There was nobody else at that spot while I was there, except for a passing lake kayaker.  A perfect place for impromptu worship.

[apl68]

Yesterday evening I was driving through the neighborhood on my way to a meeting outside of town when a squirrel ran in front of me.  I tried to slow down to miss it.  But in its fear and confusion it ended up running right under my wheels.  I could see in my rear-view mirror that I had struck it.  I made a block and came back by.  It was dead by then.  At least it didn't suffer for long.

I'm not sentimental about squirrels.  I ate squirrel dumplings for supper at some friends' house just the other evening.  But that squirrel died for a reason.  Its role in the system of nature was to eventually be killed and eaten by some other creature.  Just getting run over by accident was a senseless waste.  It felt even worse when I discovered that the meeting had been cancelled, and I didn't even need to be driving that evening in the first place. 

So often we blunder around wrecking things when we don't even mean to.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Yesterday evening I was driving through the neighborhood on my way to a meeting outside of town when a squirrel ran in front of me.  I tried to slow down to miss it.  But in its fear and confusion it ended up running right under my wheels.  I could see in my rear-view mirror that I had struck it.  I made a block and came back by.  It was dead by then.  At least it didn't suffer for long.

I'm not sentimental about squirrels.  I ate squirrel dumplings for supper at some friends' house just the other evening.  But that squirrel died for a reason.  Its role in the system of nature was to eventually be killed and eaten by some other creature.  Just getting run over by accident was a senseless waste.  It felt even worse when I discovered that the meeting had been cancelled, and I didn't even need to be driving that evening in the first place. 

So often we blunder around wrecking things when we don't even mean to.

Maybe it was intended to be eaten by vultures or maybe crows. On another note, someone hit a deer weeks ago and the body was left on the side of the road. It was skeletonized in a few days, so something ate it.

[mamselle]

A friend in another state, a minister, created a deer harvesting collect/community-butchering program for road-kill.

The animals were picked up within a very few hours of being hit and processed for meat to be sent to the shelters and feeding programs in the area.

The state police knew to call them once the animal had been cleared for pickup and the venison was prepared in  USDA-approved facilities.

Since it was a heavily forested area with many unthinking visitors roaring through, it was at least a way to transform the situation to something more positive.

M.

[apl68]

A friend in another state, a minister, created a deer harvesting collect/community-butchering program for road-kill.

The animals were picked up within a very few hours of being hit and processed for meat to be sent to the shelters and feeding programs in the area.

The state police knew to call them once the animal had been cleared for pickup and the venison was prepared in  USDA-approved facilities.

Since it was a heavily forested area with many unthinking visitors roaring through, it was at least a way to transform the situation to something more positive.

M.

Sounds like a good project.  Around here I think enterprising individuals tend to get there first whenever a deer or hog perishes on the road.

[kaysixteen]

Remind me what squirrel tastes like?

[nebo113]

Remind me what squirrel tastes like?

Chicken ~:)

[apl68]

Remind me what squirrel tastes like?

Chicken ~:)

No...I wouldn't say that.  As with chicken, you can make some good dumplings with them.

[FishProf]

Tastes like Chipmunk

[mamselle]

On my walk this AM, I found half a grey, dried-up pelt, and then a pretty, bushy part of squirrel tail, a bit further down the sidewalk.

I'm guessing an owl, hawk, or other large bird dined on squirrel last night. I suspect no dumplings were involved.

Whatever it was also left a half-digested slug to wander around on the same square in the sidewalk until it, too, died.

After photographing them as forensic evidence, I moved all these signs of carnage under the bushes in the garden abutting the sidewalk since I couldn't properly bury them.

Nature red in tooth and claw, and all that....

RIP, all small critters.

M.

[clean]

Remind me what squirrel tastes like?

It really depends on what they have been eating.

In my youth, I would quail hunt with my grandfather, and we had feeders set up.  One particular feeder was near an oak tree, but the squirrels much preferred the corn.  One day we were able to harvest 4 of those corn fed ones, and let me tell you, they were mighty tasty!  Very much like chicken (though it also depends on how it was cooked).

In PhD school, I visited my Great Aunt and she had a lot of hickory trees on her property. I harvested several squirrels from that property, but they had been eating green hickory nuts, and they had a very strong taste, not pleasant taste. 

The answer then depends on How you Cook Them, and what they had been eating. 

Similarly, grass fed beef is supposed to have a different taste than other (feed lot ) beef. 

Also, Catfish....  I have had wild catfish that made me think that I was NOT a fan.  But my Great Aunt (mentioned above) had a catfish pond and those corn/feed fed fish were damn good!    Mississippi used to have a lot of catfish farms (I dont know if they still do or not,) but those factory fish were much better than the wild caught ones, though I also admit that the species were different, so that may have something to do with it too.