Thorodin View - Rocky Mountain High - LIVE!

Bungling Bear Burgler Returns

2011-08-25T10:44:00.003-06:00

It looks like the bear come back.

I now have the door by the kitchen closed because of the damage he caused to the storm door last time. The replacement security door has not been installed yet.

This time the bear pushed in a window screen before realizing that the hole was to small and high for him to get into the kitchen that way.

He then pushed in a second screen. However this knocked over a box of mason jars and lids. The resulting racket scared the bear and woke me up.

A Bungling Bear Burgler pays a Visit

2011-08-14T19:15:00.002-06:00

I woke up at two am to the sound of a rustling paper bag. I figured I had better see what the cat had gotten into.

I grabbed a flashlight and headed for the kitchen.

Something was not right...

As I looked around, I realized that the rustling sound was actually the sound of crunching aluminum. The screen "storm" door had the kick panel pushed in and a metal grill was lying on the floor. There were gashes in the window screen material.

I heard heavy footsteps recede across the deck and lawn.

I shirted around the trashed open storm door and onto the deck. A long trail of saliva started by the screen door and ran 12 feet to the steps at the edge of the deck.

Only a bear could have done that, but fortunately, he was more afraid of me then I was of him in my sleepy state.

It's a good thing I got there when I did because it would not have been pretty had the bear gotten inside and had a taste of food.

The next day, I asked about a bear proof storm door at Home Depot. I got some funny looks, and it seems they don't carry such a thing... Odd. But they do have some sturdy looking storm doors for about $100.

Mysterious Sounds in the Woods

2011-07-10T21:56:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, while working in the garden, I heard what sounded like horse snorts coming from the nearby woods.

After this went on for about half an hour, I went to investigate.

What I saw surprised me.

There, in between the trees where two huge bull elk! There racks were quite impressive. I beat a hasty retreat, mostly because did not want to disturb these large but shy creatures.

Summer Solstice Snow

2011-06-20T11:25:00.004-06:00

Here it is a day before the summer solstice. Last night it snowed on Thorodin. But at the slightly lower elevation here we only got about 2 inches of rain. I'm looking forward to the wild flower explosion in a few days.

In other news, there were two bear sightings on the north side of Winiger Ridge yesterday.

Summer Solstice Snow

2011-06-20T11:25:00.003-06:00

Here it is a day before the summer solstice. Last night it snowed on Thorodin. But at the slightly lower elevation ehre we only got about 2 inches of rain.

In other news, there were two bear sightings on the north side of Winiger Ridge yesterday.

Yesterday, it Got so Cold the Hell Froze Over...

2011-02-03T15:36:00.009-07:00

In fact it got down to -25 Fahrenheit. From what I understand this is not enough to kill the pine beetles that are destroying the forest.

In other news, my cat wanted to go for a walk today,despite the fresh snow. You can watch a video of Cloe the cat walking through the woods in the fresh snow below.

Also, a few days ago, I caught a heard of about 50 elk at the side of the road. If you listen carefully, you can even hear the males buggling.

What is a Dragon Fruit?

2011-01-16T20:40:00.004-07:00

I'll admit, the above picture has NOTHING to do with what's happening around here, unlike most of my blog posts. However, I was adventure shopping at the Pacific Asian Market in Broomfield and I noticed they had FRESH dragon fruits. I had never seen this fruit fresh, only dried.

I HAD to try one and thanks to about.com, I learned how to get one ready to eat. The shell on the left has had the meat scooped out. The outer shell is not edible. The shell on the right has the diced meat in it. The black dots are seeds, like in kiwi. The meat is sort of watery, with the consistency of watermelon. It has a slightly sweet taste. It kind of felt like I was eating a "negative calorie" food, but after a few bites it grew on me and I had no trouble eating the all the contents of the fruit.

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FourMile Canyon Fire Update

2010-09-06T18:20:00.005-06:00

News updates can be found at

http://news.lalate.com/2010/09/06/boulder-fourmile-canyon-fire-prompts-evacuations/

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/24898399/detail.html

Aerial and viewer slide shows at
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=151618&catid=339

Below is a video taken from the old growth tree where I had a bird's eye view of the whole area. The 19 second video sweeps across the horizon and follows the smoke cloud.

Four Mile Canyon Fire

2010-09-06T17:45:00.003-06:00

The following pictures were taken from the top of an old growth tree on Winiger ridge.

The camera was pointing approximately north. Forsythe Rock is in the foreground, and Sugarloaf is on the left on the second picture.

The fire is reported to have started in the Emerson Gulch area of Four Mile Canyon.

A news helicopter reports that dozens of structures have been destroyed as of now. About 3000 acres have been burned. About 100 men are now battling the blaze, along with air support.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Stinging Nettle Soup

2010-08-28T17:22:00.002-06:00

This stinging nettle soup seems to have that almost magical quality that it cures my hay fever (seasonal allergies) with just one "dose" every few months.

2 cups water
1 veggie bouillon
1 pat of butter
1/4 onion
colander full of stinging nettle tips.

Bring water to boil .
Add butter, bouillon, onion and stinging nettles to water in that order. Be careful not to get stung, although that may be therapeutic in its own right.

Remove from flame and pour into blender
Gradually bring blender up to speed and blend for 5 minutes.

Pour into cups or soup bowls and enjoy

My seasonal allergies come to a halt within minutes of eating the above and do not come back for weeks.

Danger: Hail, Frost and Pests.

2010-07-26T12:49:00.011-06:00

Deon asks:

I'm not sure the entire group is interested in the topic, but I'd love to get advice and commiserate with other gardeners (or those of us that attempt it anyway) here along Magnolia. For example, take ground squirrels. Please! Someone take mine, at least. ;)

Or how do you get anything but green marbles from tomato plants.

Does anyone grow perennial lavender up here successfully? What variety? I'm really interested in getting it started on a south-facing soil slope with poor soil.

My Answer:

Hi Deon,

My big disappointment most years is when a passing hailstorm totally shreds my garden. It's a real heartbreak when my squash leaves get torn into little pieces by the hail stones and then quickly rot, killing my crop.

Getting shredded by hail is a problem for most broad leaf plants up here. This is why most plants up here have narrow leaves that can deflect hail stones.

Also, frost can come early, stunting growth.

And yes, there are lots of pest too that think that you put up the garden just for them.

So, those are the three big dangers I've experienced with gardens up here: hail, frost and pests.

On the flip side, there is a lot of sun. As a matter of fact, I've had seedlings get sun burned once I've put them outside after starting them inside.

This year, I'm experimenting with hanging the tomatoes upside down in planters. That way they are shielded from the hail a bit, I can hang them inside in case of frost, and it is difficult for pesty mammals to get to them.

Also, I have a Goji berry plant that is doing really well in a 5 gallon bucket. I started it indoors and it is currently loaded down with hundreds of berries.

About the chipmunks... I had one that caught it's head in the chicken wire around my flowers the other day. I ended up having to cut the wire loose around it's little head to set it free.

The little guy was just to cute to let him die of thirst.

- Mike

Bear Alert

2010-06-21T18:01:00.003-06:00

A bear came by yesterday while I wasn't looking.

Then how do I know?

... because the bear likes to roll over boulders that are about a foot in diameter as he searches for edible insects.

... and yesterday I found a bunch of rolled over boulders.

Case closed.

In other news: it just sprinked a bit. This has pasted down the thick layers of Ponderosa pine pollen. That should close out the pine pollen season at this altitude. However, I can see that the wind is still kicking up the pine pollen on the north flanks of Thorodin.

Puff! Goes the Ponderosa Pine Pollen

2010-06-17T15:14:00.003-06:00

Every altitude has it's Ponderosa Pine Pollen day.
It is usually a warm, windy day. Today is that day here on Lazy Z.

While this is usually as exciting as watching paint dry, it get's more interesting when a gust of wind come by. Then in moments, the air turns a yellowish orange, as the pine pollen lifts off the trees. Sometimes, you can even watch a yellow "shadow" of a tree fly away with the gust.

When I see this, I know it's time to run around and close all the doors and windows for a while , before a yellow layer of pine pollen settles all over everything.

Wildflower Season Has Started

2010-06-04T10:36:00.002-06:00

There are now more then 3 different colors of wild flower blooming. It's only been 3 weeks since the last frost.

Wildflower season lasts until it gets to dry in August.

This Local Pine Beetle Plan Needs Our Support

2010-04-27T20:11:00.002-06:00

It's ambitious, but the problem is huge

http://peaktopeakrotary.org/2010/04/community-group-to-tackle-pine-beetles/

Humming Bird Alert

2010-04-19T19:25:00.002-06:00

George and Yvonne, neighbors, report:

The hummers are back!

Keep in mind that the bears are probably not far behind - and they love sugar water as much as the next life form.

Amazing Snow

2010-04-15T23:00:00.002-06:00

The unusally deep snow pack in the yard is gradually receding.

At this point, I can run two inverse mazes through the 4 acres that is in the trees.

The first maze is to go from one snow to another drift by x-c ski without touching soil.

The second maze is to stay on soil without having to go through snow.

Currently, both mazes work with only a couple of "cheats."

But soon, the snow will be gone. The, I can finally get to the firewood I meant to pick up last fall before the snow came early.

A bit of Magnolia Road History

2010-04-10T11:38:00.006-06:00

John asks:

Does anyone know the history of the log structure ruins just off the east side of Magnolia in the large meadow at about mile marker 8.5? I was told once that it was the ruin of a school, but I doubt the logs are more than maybe 40 or 50 years old and I can't picture a log school here in the 60's or 70's??

Just curious (I pass it almost every day and wonder)...

Vivian Long has the answer:

The ruins (foundation) of the schoolhouse are on the same side of the road as the boy scout trails and it was erected in 1912-13, which would be NW side of the road. It was moved to Nederland in ~1970. The log structure is older than you think; things don't decay here very quickly. It was the Wing's barn, part of the Wing's sawmill, which was just downhill from the school site and provided the lumber for the school. The barn was used by the students to shelter their horses

.
Finally, the current owner of the property that the ruin is on adds:

Hi John,

That structure was an old hay barn that Dick Skates built years ago, now on the Kellogg property. About 30 years ago, my dad (Will Kellogg) and a few others repaired the roof and a bit of the wall, but ithe roof blew off about 10 years later - remains of it are still lying in the field - and all that's left now is essentially the foundation and a few wall logs. Will died in December, 2007.

Karl Kellogg

The area they are talking about is at:

View Larger Map

More Snow Flees

2010-04-10T11:35:00.002-06:00

I've been having computer problems, this is a delayed post.

Three observations from the end of March
1) the snow flees are back
2) the elk came around
3) The "National Forest Boundary" by the power-line was still buried to the top in a snow drift. I've never seen a snow pack like this before.

They're Called Snow Fleas

2010-01-11T10:31:00.004-07:00

Thanks Ken Hobson for letting me know what that large swarm of small bugs on the snow are.

They're snow flees.

He further notes:

"The Collembola or spring tails are fun to watch in the winter. The snow fleas are out on cold days feeding on pollen and spores laying on top of the snow. Odd group once thought to be insects.. now considered more like shrimp or crustacea.. enormously abundant. "

From Wikipedia:

"Snow flea"

A species of Sminthurinae(Symphypleona: Sminthuridoidea:Sminthuridae)

In sheer numbers, they are reputed to be one of the most abundant of all macroscopic animals, with estimates of 100,000 individuals per cubic meter of topsoil, essentially everywhere on Earth where soil and related habitats (moss cushions, fallen wood, grass tufts, ant and termite nests) occur; onlynematodes, crustaceans, and mites are likely to have global populations of similar magnitude, and each of those groups except mites is more inclusive: though taxonomic rank cannot be used for absolute comparisons, it is notable that nematodes are a phylum and crustaceans a subphylum. Most springtails are small and difficult to see by casual observation, but one springtail, the so-calledsnow flea (Hypogastrura nivicola), is readily observed on warm winter days when it is active and its dark color contrasts sharply with a background of snow.[2]

The Cat Who Walked in Snow

2009-12-29T11:05:00.002-07:00

I miss Zoe so much. Yesterday morning, she was a lively young cat.

We took our nearly daily walk to get the paper. There was fresh snow, so it was my turn to make a track. Zoe followed in my footsteps.

This morning, I noticed that she would make 2 tracks on every one of mine. Really, this meant that she was taking 4 steps for one of mine, because she has twice as many legs.

Aside: the tiny specs in one of the pictures are tiny, flea like bug. They come out after a fresh snow and settles on the ground by the millions.

Farewell to Zoe the Cat

2009-12-29T00:49:00.005-07:00

Zoe was only about 14 months old when she died quietly after accidentally drinking poison.

She was a special cat. Let me tell you why.

We should go on walks most every day, except when it was really, really cold. Then, she would go and hide when she saw me get dressed to go out.

I would carry her to get the paper. After I got the paper, she would struggle to get out of the carry sling. Once on the ground, she lead the way on the circuitous path back. She knew every twist and turn of the trail, even if it was covered in snow.

It was amazing to watch her lead the way back, especially in the snow. However, if the snow was to deep, I would have to lead and make way for her by breaking the snow first, step by step.

IN the summer, I once saved her from two dogs that were tracking her by picking her up and holding her tight. After that, she always trusted me to protect her.

Today, I fell short. I was to tired and distracted to be mindful to protect her. I'm not quite sure what she drank, but it must have killed her in an hour or two.

She had a favorite patch of grass on the way back trail. She would always stop and see if per chance it had a bit of green in the winter. She also loved eating goji berry vine leaves, and sometimes liked eating the berries too.

If she started to lag behind on the trail, I would start to go back to get her. When she saw me do this, she would run past me while making a trilling sound. She would then again take the lead.

She was starting to gain a bit of extra weight lately, I was getting worried that even Science Diet cat food was not healthy enough for her. Cats are not made to eat corn!

Zoe was a very sociable cat. She loved everyone and only know love.

I felt a rapport with her like no other cat.

I miss her so.

Millions and Millions of... bugs? In winter?

2009-12-16T12:38:00.003-07:00

While walking through my woods this morning, I noticed that the snow that fell a couple of days ago was covered with a thin layer of black "dust."

However, when I put my finger down in the dust, the "dust" motes would jump out of the way, like flees.

I wonder what kind of bug this is, and what kind of life cycle it has if it is blanketing the snow with millions of themselves.

In other news: I can see from the tracks and scat that the elk came through the yard in the last 12 hours.

The first 100 Robins of the Winter Solstice?

2009-12-12T17:59:00.002-07:00

We're finally getting some milder weather after a week of extreme cold. It was below zero every night.

This afternoon, the air was filled with robins. They would flit from tree to tree, generally heading south. There must have been hundreds of them.

It's Friggin' Cold

2009-12-03T22:03:00.003-07:00

Tonight and last night the temperature has been sea-sawing around 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

It's cold, but not cold enough to kill the pine beetles.

In other news, I saw a small heard of elk yesterday at about the 7 mile mark on Magnolia

First x-c Ski-able Snow Ever

2009-10-28T23:14:00.003-06:00

Wow.

We've never had a snow that is deep enough for cross-country skiing anywhere near this early.

In fact, the 22 inches (as of now) may be enough to keep the ground white till April. (I hope not because I've not gotten nearly enough snow out of the woods.

I'd say that this must be good for the ski slopes, but according the weather radar, this is a very local storm.

Winter - I Mean Fall - Came a Day Early

2009-09-21T16:18:00.002-06:00

On Sunday, a spot on the Peak to Peak Highway was mobbed with people admiring the changing Aspen. Today, Monday, it's been snowing all day and the Aspen leaves are trying to shrug of the white stuff.

I also brought in the house plants, who seem to have survived the few inches of snow.

Great Smokey Mountains, Colorado Style

2009-08-31T20:12:00.003-06:00

It has been hazy all day and the layers of mountains have a misty "smokey mountain" look. Also, the afternoon sun was dim and orange and there was a faint smell of smoke in the air.

I suspect it is because of the forest fires in California.

Never race a cat down the mountain

2009-08-12T23:00:00.004-06:00

Zoe (who is one of our two cats) and I take a half our walk to Balancing Beam Rock most days.

The last 100 yards back go down the steep Alpine slope of Winiger Ridge.

Zoe loves to race down the slope at top speed. I like to go racing after her, but she always wins. That's because a cat's speed on level ground can be over 30 miles an hour. I can only imagine what her speed is going down hill. Needless to say, I can't run that fast. But it doesn't stop me from racing her - until now.

Today, she suddenly stopped about a quarter of the way down. I put on the brakes myself to keep from running over her. But my ankle gave out and I found myself on the ground. By the time I limped back to the house, I my ankle had swollen huge from a sprain.

I got out a cane to so I could limp around the house.

Then, I put ice on the ankle and kept in elevated for an hour. The swelling went down and I was able to walk again. I suspect that the Moxxor and Astaxanthin I take also helped.

In other news: I watched the Perseid's for a few minutes. The sky was almost clear and quite dark. It was a good show.

Bears: #1 Reason NOT to Feed the Birds

2009-08-08T08:54:00.002-06:00

A large adult male bear walked right by the house this morning.

I had put out a hummingbird feeder for the crowds here last weekend. The house was filled to the rafters with people here for the wedding. (That's another story, for another time.)

In the past, I've had a bear distroy all my hummingbird feeders so he could get to the sugar water. Now I just have one left.

I'm taking it in - in case the bear comes back.

Local Newspapers All Abuzz About Bugs

2009-07-15T21:19:00.003-06:00

Both the Tuesday Camera and the Colorado Daily had pictures of massive invasions of lady bugs on the cover.

I noticed lady bugs swarming up here nearly a week ago. The now seem to have congregated at the top of green mountain.

In related news, I also see Ips beetles flying around. I just noticed today that they had burrowed by the dozens in a section of lodge pole pine that had snapped of in the spring snowstorm.

Wrapped and FRYing (NOT FLYing) Beetle

2009-07-02T12:35:00.004-06:00

Preview of coming attractions? See

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/garden/02tree.html?_r=1

Yesterday, I was sitting on the deck when an Ips or Pine Beetle landed right in front of me. I crushed it before I could inspect which of the two species it was.

What is fascinating to me is that the Ips beetle has infected exactly 2 trees of out of hundreds in my yard. The first tree was about a foot in diameter and broke in half during the big snow storm in the spring. Hundreds of Ips burrowed into the entire length of the fallen tree. The second tree was about 6 inches in diameter. I had cut it shortly after the storm

I've been carefully inspecting and monitoring the beetle kill up here on Winiger Ridge. I now understand WHY the beetles prefer larger trees. It's because the bark is thicker. The thicker bark protects the beetles from the woodpeckers. The woodpeckers can easily remove and dig through the bark of a 4 inch pine. However, the cost/benefit ratio tilts in favor of the beetle and away from the woodpecker for larger trees with thicker bark.

In other words, the calories bound up in the tiny beetles are too small to feed a woodpecker if the bark is too thick. (Thicker bark requires more calories to burrow through.)

Let me get back to the two fallen trees that became Ips beetle magnets. Clearly, the beetle could sense that these trees were helpless. Every beetle from hundreds of yards around came to these select trees. It would seem to me that one could design an Ips beetle trap by simulating a fallen tree. Once the Ips beetles are trapped, they can be managed.

The two infected trees are now under wrap. Pray for a serious cold snap this winter. I'll be OK with the cold; by then the plastic wrapped trees will be firewood for the wood stove.

Goji Experience & the 3 bear little bears, Part 2

2009-06-15T20:03:00.008-06:00

Today the bear cub mentioned in the last post came back. Neighbors report seeing 3 bear cubs without mom. No idea where the other two are, but something bad has happened to mom.

It was clear the the bear cub was too young to survive on its own, so I coaxed it into our cat pen. The cat pen is designed to keep cats safe from marauding packs of coyotes, but it can also hold a bear... for a little while anyway.

Then I called the department of wildlife. Kristin Cannon and an assitant came and got the bear cub into a large dog carrier. It will be relocated to western Colorado, where it will be cared for until next year. At that point, it will be released to be out on its own.

I've also included a picture of the rainbow that showed up right after the bear cub left in a department of wildlife truck. I think it was God bestowing a blessing.

Note: If you click on the picture, you can see a full size (huge) version.

Goji Experience & the 3 bear little bears, Part One

2009-06-15T19:45:00.002-06:00

Last Friday, I sent out the following request for help to my neighbors:

Hi fellow neighbours and wildlife watchers,

Our filming of a user experience with "Goji Experience" (A weight loss and anti-aging supplement) was interrupted by a wild (and very cute) bear cub at about 1 minute 20 seconds into the taping. You can see the video taken earlier today at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Be3qITbtNc

We dropped what we were doing and immediately focused on the bear cub. He looked to weigh about 20 - 25 pounds and was obviously very hungry... and lost. Sadly, we never did see the mother.

The cub left after about 10 minutes. After the bear cub left, we continued our taping for "Goji Experience" The temptation was great to feed the cub, since he was still so young. But cubs turn into bears... which then would not be afraid of humans. That would be bad. The cub is still afraid of strange large animals. That is why you see him try to climb the tree after standing up to get a better look at me.

Any suggestions or comments?

- Mike

Lightning Strikes Close to Home

2009-05-26T15:51:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, I was talking with someone and I mentioned that lightning can strike miles from the apparent center of a storm. Little did I know that this would be the prelude to a "coincidence."

At about 4:30 AM I was half awake when I saw a flicker of light through my closed eye lids and hear a dull explosion at the same time. Immediately after that, the computer UPS went crazy.

I realized that the power was out. Because of the boom, I assumed that the problem was very close by, so we called the Electric Company (Excel) to report it.

I went back to sleep after turning of all computers and UPSs except the one running the co-op wifi. Then I went back to sleep.

This morning I woke up as I heard the sounds of the electricity coming back on. I quickly jumped into my cloths and drove around until I found the Excel repair man.

He told me that a lightning arrestor had blown (actually shorted) and this had taken the local grid with it. So he had to climb up and over Winiger Ridge to get to the fuse in the valley by Forsythe Creek.

When I met him I told him right away that that fixed it.

It's been too long for me to remember since the last direct strike in the neighborhood, but we got one within hours of me mentioning it, and it was also not part of a major storm that consisted of lots of thunder and lightning.

Science Finally Proves 'Nature' is Good For You

2009-05-26T15:49:00.002-06:00

Living Near Trees Improves Physical, Mental and Social Health
by David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) People living in areas with more parks, trees and grass live longer and happier lives, with less violence and improved mental and physical health, according to research presented at the conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago.

"Humans are evolved organisms and the environment is our habitat," lead researcher Frances Kuo said. "Now, as human societies become more urban, we as scientists are in a position to look at humans in much the same way that those who study animal behavior have looked at animals in the wild to see the effect of a changing habitat on this species."

A growing number of studies are showing that humans living in settings lacking living plants show physical, psychological and social disorders similar to those developed by other animals that have been removed from their natural habitats.

"In animals what you see is increases in aggression, you see disrupted parenting patterns," Kuo said.

On the physical level, a large-scale Dutch study found that the amount of green space within a one- to three-mile radius of a person's home is a significant predictor of their overall health. A Japanese study found that elderly people who lived within walking distance of a park or other green space had significantly longer life expectancies than those who lived farther away.

College students have been found to perform higher on tests of cognitive function if they live in rooms overlooking living plants, while people living far from natural settings demonstrate not only worsened cognitive function, but also impulse control and management of life conflicts. A walk in a park has been proven to reduce hyperactivity in children as much as standard drug treatments.

Finally, communities with more green space have lower levels of crime and violence than communities with more green space. Communities without green space, on the other hand, have higher levels of property, crime, graffiti and litter.

"We might call some of that 'soiling the nest,' which is not healthy," Kuo said. "No organisms do that when they're in good shape."

Tick, Tick, Tick - Signs of Spring

2009-05-17T17:43:00.002-06:00

7 signs of spring up here to the Rocky Mountains.

1) I find a tick crawling around in the kitchen. No idea how it got there.

2) The frogs in the old beaver pond are signing love songs to each other.

3) The far off neighbor is redecorating the attic room. I can hear him hammering and sawing away through his open window.

4) The cliff swallow have been swooping and diving in search of flying spring insects for a week now.

5) The cats have suddenly noticed that there's an out there out there.

6) I can't find a patch of snow anywhere

7) The grass is growing, the flowers are budding, and the Aspens are greening.

Bonuses - I've put the house plants outside - making more room inside and the local estrogen dominant homo sapien's oxytocin levels have shot through the roof, causing an instinctive cleaning and organizing frenzy - i.e. it's spring cleaning time around here.

Big day for wildlife

2009-04-24T17:18:00.000-06:00

Today I heard my first humingbird for the year.

Then about 30 to 40 elk came through the yard and mowed my lawn a bit.

X-C ski: To Go Where Only the Elk Have Gone Before

2009-04-21T19:46:00.006-06:00

This afternoon I took the time to enjoy one of the "fringe" benefits of living up high in the Colorado Rockies - being able to x-c ski right out the back door in April.

When I got to the top of the ridge, I found that I was not the first one on the trail - a couple of elk had beat me to it.

The carnage to the trees from the weight of the snow continues to impress me. Full sized trees would be snapped off half way up. I've always wondered why there are some ponderousa pine trees around here that had a curious 'Y' shape to them. Now I know why. A previous storm had snapped of the top and the two nearest top branches would form a new top.

It appears that the last time this happened, judging from the maturity of the 'Y' shapes, was probably 20 or 30 year ago.

So, given this evidence, I can safely say that this was the worst storm in decades.

Storm Causes Carnage

2009-04-20T19:53:00.003-06:00

Some more updates about the snow storm from my previous post.

It looks like this storm dropped more snow, by weight then the famous snowstorm of March, 2003.

Let me explain.

This snow storm dropped over 4 feet of snow around here. That's over an inch an hour.

I noticed on our drive back on Sunday that I've never seen as many broken branches and trees every since I've lived around here. By the way, that explains why the power was out for nearly 2 days - the trees where overburdened with snow and took down power lines as they fell.

Today, the snow was melting down at a rate of about an inch an hour in the intense April sun. This has gradually exposed a carnage of broken trees and branches in the yard as well.

The good news is that the snow melted enough for me to be able to drive the Toyota truck all the way into the garage. However, turning around will be another matter. But, if the snow melts as fast tomorrow as it did today, the ground should be mostly clear in a day or two.

Snowstorm of April 2009

2009-04-19T21:44:00.006-06:00

This storm made the national news.

The following is a blow by blow of the snow storm of 2009 as told through an email thread. I have also edited out email addresses and certain other identifying details so that they will not end up on a spam list.

Hi All,

Yesterday (Friday) morning I was watching the snow pile up on the pick nick table outside my window on Lazy Z, when my gut whispered "Storm of March '03" You might remember it - it dumped 4 to 5 feet of snow in our neighborhood.

... THEN the power goes out. ... and I figured that the internet would not be far behind.

I love where I live, except when the power and internet goes out - so I bailed.

What I mean is: I beat a retreat to Boulder - the land of health food stores, free wifi, and (more) reliable power and snow plowing service.

Not that all is peaches and cream however. For example, I heard that the "improved" King Soopers on 30th is leaking like a sieve and is closed. However, the traffic is moving pretty well in the rain.

Rain down here... snow up there. That's the way it usually works this time of year, right?

Anyway, does anybody have enough electricity and digital bandwidth to give a report of the conditions in the PUMA neighborhood?

BTW, I meet a couple in Sunflower market that said that Ned was still a mess, with power in some parts and not others. Sunflower market itself was taking on water too, but was open.

Excuse me for taking this long to get to my point, but I'd like to start a discussion about current road conditions on Magnolia as well as side streets such as Lazy Z.

Also, how's the power holding up? (No need to answer if you don't have any :-)

- Mike

Allen Gordon

to Mike

show details Apr 18 (2 days ago)

Hi Mike

Power was off on on then off again about 6 PM last night. Still off until estimated 6PM tonight. This appears to be area wide. Snow is about 4 feet and stll snowing. Don't know how the roads are. Haven't finished plowing yet. I don't know if this will go to to the puma list. If you come up, post a note about the road conditions.

Allen Gordon
Pine Glade

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Greg Ching

to Mike

show details Apr 18 (1 day ago)

I've been on battery backup going on 20 hours the last 24 hours and 4.5 hours the previous. I've been on battery backup going on 20 hours the last 24 hours and 4.5 hours the previous. Phones out since last night. I've not driven. Roads by me have one lane plowed.
ones out since last night. I've not driven. Roads by me have one lane plowed.

greg

mvgerard

to mikeseiler

show details Apr 18 (1 day ago)

Just got my power back about 2 hrs ago on Pinon Way.

Clark R Chapman

to Mike

show details 8:27 AM (13 hours ago)

Mike -- I assume that you've made it back. Our internet was out until this morning. Briefly, here's what happened around here. A snowplow came down Lazy Z around midnight Thursday night, then not again until around noon on Friday. It was just before noon on Friday that the power went out. I was down in Boulder on Friday and returned between 5 pm and 6 pm, driving up Magnolia. It was totally marginal, even with our high clearance, all-wheel drive, and studded snowtires. There was about a foot of unplowed snow on this part of Magnolia and Lazy Z. The temperature got down to about 47 degrees in our house. Finally, a major snowplowing effort was made fairly early Saturday morning. The power came back on last evening at 8:50 pm -- 33 hours without power! (The weather bureau reported a snow guage 3 miles southeast of Pinecliffe with 53 inches of snow...roughly what I guess we had here.) Hope your feline is o.k. Clark

Mike Seiler

to Clark

show details 9:18 AM (12 hours ago)

Clark,

Thanks for the update.

Rachel and I are glad we sat this one out at the Golden Buff in Boulder.

We're heading back up after a good breakfast.

- Mike

Mike Seiler

to Clark

show details 9:43 PM (0 minutes ago)

Hi All,

Thanks all for the updates.

We got back this afternoon.

About 1/2 mile from home, we suddenly found ourselves in the ditch because of a surprising thick,irregular and hard patch of snow, which was followed by a slippery mix of mud and snow. Fortunately, a neighbor yanked us out.

Right after that, it was my turn to try yanking another neighbor out. (Long, strong tow straps are a must have in the car up here) But this neighbor was much more stuck then I had been.

Just then Steven McCullum (from Blackhawk) came by with his backhoe. Steven pulled the neighbor out, then he came by to dig out my driveway. 1 hour and $100 later, he had made it all the way up except the last 100 feet. That was just to steep and the backhoe kept spinning its wheels in the heavy wet snow. ... but getting almost all the way up was good enough for me.

It was good to be back after two days and everything was just fine. Power and internet were both back on. The cats were really glad to see us (we had left lots of food and water)

- Mike

Rocky Mountain Winter Wonderland

2009-04-05T19:23:00.003-06:00

In the past 9 days, we've had 3 significant snows. This is the time of year for heavy snows since the air has a lot of spring moisture in it.

Some Local Views of the Snow

You Can't Split Frozen Wood

2009-01-17T14:11:00.005-07:00

This fall I decided to turn some dead trees (mostly pine) into firewood for winter.

The tree was cut down and cut into portable sections. The sections where then trucked up to a cutting and chopping station right next to the deck.

Each trunk section was cut into logs that would fit into the wood stove. If the log was more then about 4 inches thick it was chopped.

The ready-to-burn wood was pilled onto the covered deck. This way it would be easily accessable even if it was snowing.

The whole operation went smoothly until it started getting really cold at night. Suddenly, instead of hearing a loud CRACK!!! when I brough the maul down on the end of a log, I'd just get a dull thud.

That's how I discovered that you can't split frozen wood. We recently had a warm spell, and I was curious if I could once again the logs I had prepared for that step.

What I discoved was that I could split smaller logs, and larger logs as long as I avoided the still frozen core. Here's a couple of pictures of a log that I could split about 4 inches in. The inner core was still frozen and would not split.

You can see how the maul blade would just dig into the frozen core without creating a split like it's supposed to. You can also see the section that split off. The split would follow a tree ring at the edge of the frozen core. That way, I ended up taking a slice out of the log.

Moral of the story: Don't try to split frozen wood. You may have to wait for a few days, or even a week, of above freezing temperatures for the wood to "melt." Then you can split it.

Blowing Snow Closes Mountain Schools

2009-01-07T16:20:00.002-07:00

It's been quite windy of late. In fact, the below freezing temperatures and high winds (gusting to near huricane strengths) has been hard on the trees. At about the half mile mark on Lazy Z, I saw one live tree pulled up by the roots. Another tree had the top 20 feet snapped of.

Today there is a light snow with the wind. This creates large swirling clouds of snow and near whiteout conditions. I heard that this even caused the closing of mountain area schools around here.

Fortunetly, I recently cut down some trees from the forest below the house. I've cut, chopped and stacked them on the deck. It's enough to keep us nice and tosty warm. Aside from a little work, they did not cost me anything, so I don't mind cranking the heat up a bit.

Solstice Sun

2008-12-21T08:32:00.005-07:00

This is where the sun rises on the winter solstice. Sunrise was about 7:26 am

I Love My Bed

2008-12-14T19:39:00.004-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I was surveying the 4 acre forest that is between my home and the road. There where a 5 beetle kill trees that I had the neighbor kid cut down and are now fire wood. They should keep me warm for January and Feburary.

But that's not what this is about. I noticed a few dozen ice patches in the 4 inches of snow. It took only a moment to realize that they where made by the elk that came through a few days ago.

Can you imagine this? The elk must simply sleep on the snow. Gradually, the snow melts as they slee on it. This leaves an icy patch to freezes up after they get on with their day.

I now have a whole new appreciation for my nice WARM, soft bed.

100 Elk on the Meadow

2008-11-19T18:47:00.004-07:00

I took this picture of about 100 elk at about 10 mile marker on Magnolia

I wish I had a video camera to take a video of two bucks that where locking horns in the middle of the herd.

The herd was to big fit into the picture. The mountain in the background is Thorodin.

Moxxor

2008-11-10T20:13:00.003-07:00

I've been exploring all kinds of new corners around here in the last few weeks. I've even blogged about some of them.

It's been fun seeing familiar sites from totally new angles. ... and even seeing them with greater clarity then before. My distance vision, although already fairly good, has recently improved.

I owe my new athletic energy, as well as other improvements to my health to an number of things I've recently discovered that work really well. One of them is an antioxident called astaxanthin.

Another is a extremely potent "fish" oil called Moxxor. I would never have believed that such a small quantity of oil could have such an energizing effect. Moxxor is supposed to have lot's of "essential fatty acids" or EFAs. I guess that the fats really are essential, and I've not been getting enough of them.

How Cute! Mommy and Kitten Bobcat Pay a Visit

2008-11-08T17:02:00.003-07:00

I took these pictures 2 days ago, about 10 am. I first noticed them because the walked across the entire length of the deck.

The 2 bobcats are not that easy to spot because they are camoflaged quite well. They where making the rounds, looking for brunch.

The kitten is almost impossible to spot in the upper picture (it's on the very upper left) because it blends in so well with the wood pile.

Is Winiger Ridge a Glacial Deposit?

2008-11-08T16:44:00.002-07:00

On the way back from the post office, I notice a large white van parked on Lazy Z at about the .5 mile marker. There where about 10 people standing at the side of the road.

Curious, I stopped and joined them.

The group was a geology class being lead by Ken Hopkins of the University of Northern Colorado.

I learned that IF this was a glacial deposit, then it would be between 600,000 and 1.2 million years old. However, it is uncertain if this is what Winiger Ridge actually is.

Mystery Bear: Case Solved

2008-11-03T16:48:00.002-07:00

I met a neighbor on my way to the post office this afternoon. I asked her about the large plastic honey bear.

She knew all about it.

It turns out that it hidden away in the woods like that so that they could cheer up a mountain biking friend who was having a hard day.

Mystery Honey Bear

2008-11-03T12:42:00.005-07:00

It's been an amazingly mild fall this year. It's one thing to hear scientists argue if global warming is real, but another entirely to experience such unseasonally warm weather personally.

I've been taking advantage of the warm weather by spending some time soaking up lots of vitamin D producing sunlight.

While riding around in the woods, I found a mysterious large plastic honey bear just hanging out in a dense stand of trees. It was clear that someone put it there for reasons that I'm sure was clear to them.

Also, I noticed 2 elk in the trees near there as well, but I don't think the elk were there to admire the honey bear.

First Snow of the Season

2008-10-12T17:31:00.002-06:00

Freezing rain and snow have been making clear that winter is here.

Note the thin layer of ice on the Aspen leaves. Click on small picture for a larger image.

Found Another One

2008-10-06T17:08:00.001-06:00

I found another large puff ball today. It weighted in at 1 pound, 4.2 ounces.

Into the cooking pot it goes.

The Aspens are turning

2008-09-27T18:36:00.001-06:00

A Goji Juice Project

2008-09-27T18:30:00.004-06:00

People have been asking for the "good stuff" that is in Goji Berries for a couple of years now.

But what shocked me is when I discovered that Goji Juice cannot possibly contain the most important active ingredient from the Goji Berry, namely the Goji Polysaccharides.

Once I understood this, I had to write up about it. You can see the result at BetterThanGojiJuice.com

I talked to the first person that bought from the site. He was even more excited than I was about my discovery.

Puff Ball Find of the Decade

2008-09-24T18:34:00.003-06:00

Today we found a 1pound 13 ounce puff ball. That's a really big mushroom! ... and I know from experience that it is still solid and good, not to ripe yet.

It's the biggest puff ball I've seen around here in a decade.

I also found some smaller puff balls as well. It all totalled 2 pounds, 5.4 ounces of good mushrooms. (I left the overripe ones where I found them, still rooted. You can tell by giving them a light squeeze if they are already to far gone)

What are these mushrooms?

2008-09-24T18:34:00.002-06:00

As best as I can tell they belong to the Lentinellus family. But the gills don't look very serrated. Click on the picture for a larger view.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/lentinellus.html

The 3 turkeys of Winiger Ridge

2008-09-23T19:28:00.002-06:00

While on a late afternoon walk up on the ridge, I saw a flock of 3 turkeys. They would not let me get any closer then about 25 feet. I got the feeling that they where related, but I could not tell what the relationship was.

Organic Goji Slim n' Trim

2008-09-10T21:17:00.002-06:00

This is a project I've been working on.

Goji berries are getting more and more popular... but not everyone likes the taste... or wants to carry around a odd looking dried fruit.

That's why I think the time is right for Goji in a bottle. ... and of course, everyone wants yet another weight loss product to try.

See what I mean at Organic Goji Slim N' Trim

What I did this summer

2008-09-10T21:15:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I did a post.

Well... I've been busy traveling this summer.

You can see a very few of the 1000+ pictures I took this summer here.

Dummy and the Bear

2008-06-06T07:53:00.012-06:00

At about 4 am, I awoke from a light sleep because I heard heavy footsteps on the deck. Then I heard heavy footsteps on the ground below the deck.

My curiosity got the better of me and I grabbed a flashlight and carefully (it might be a bear!) opened the door.

Whatever it was ran off to the right and was gone before I could shine the flashlight beam in that direction.

At about 7, we saw a large, dark brown bear wandering around the yard. (So it WAS a bear that I heard!)

I got over a dozen pictures of it over about a 10 minute period before it wandered off at about 2 mph across the meadow to the west. The bear clearly knew I was there, but seemed indifferent, except to look my way a few times.

What kept the bear around for over 3 hours? Last night, I had thoughtlessly tossed a few remaining bites of rice from my cold dinner over the deck.

I won't be doing that again.

P.S. This bear was not interested in the hummingbird feeders, unlike the bear of the May 25, 2007 post. It did however bite into a plastic gallon jug that had just water in it once.

Tick Resources

2008-05-23T09:30:00.001-06:00

My neighbor Jennifer found the following 2 great resources about ticks:

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/72109.htm
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05593.html

So that's what a fresh elk skull looks like

2008-05-07T14:45:00.003-06:00

I was taking a walk this afternoon on my usual trail, and there, right in the middle of the trail, was a fresh elk skull. It was so fresh, that the brains looked like they where still inside the skull. There was no sight of the rest of the skeleton.

My guess is that a coyotes took down the elk. They don't look like they have jaws strong enough to crush an elk skull. On the other hand mountain lion or bear would have crushed the skull to get to the brains.

Then, perhaps a dog picked up the skull and dropped it on the trail after getting tired of it.

Other random observations:
* I just heard the first thunder of the season
* a couple of days ago, I was outside heard a familiar melodious chrip. I looked over to the barn and, indeed, there was Mr. Bluebird.

Positive Handyman Reference

2008-04-25T18:29:00.001-06:00

The following comment was added to the post I did about a local handyman. I have reprinted it here so that it is easier to find.

Bonnie S. has left a new comment on your post "Local to Magnolia Handyman Available":

Dear Neighbors,
I saw on Mike Seiler's blog a request for a post about Van Hunt's handyman work.

When I hired Van Hunt last year to do some work, I was grateful that:
--he shows up at the time agreed to

--he brings his own good ideas for improving the projects we work on as I like people who work with me to offer that
--He is skilled and when he doesn't know something is ready to acknowledge that he doesn't yet willing to discuss ways to accomplish it

I recommend him as a handyman. He charges reasonable prices and is effective in his work. He is also quite skilled at packing moving trucks and gardening help.

So if you have projects you want to tackle with someone's help, do call on him.

tick, Tick, TICK... BOOM!

2008-04-25T18:24:00.002-06:00

tick, Tick, TICK...

BOOM!

Alright. I admit that above is a cheap shot.

Yesterday I found the first tick of the season on my ankle. The body was about .1 inches in size.

Beware.

I Know to Much

2008-04-22T21:04:00.003-06:00

Warning - True confessions:

I was just asked a question on a social networking site, "What do you know a lot about?"

My Answer:

I know a lot about... about... a whole lot of things. Seems like I spend way to much time reading. I sometimes feel like all the stuff I know is like a all the parts in a lumber yard. I keep acquiring more "stuff" (facts, really) but don't spend enough time using it to build my success.

I guess my fantasy is that at some point my "lumbar yard" will spontaneously explode because it is sooooo overstuffed. Then, as everything falls back down after being blown sky high, it will spontaneously assemble itself into a castle of success that will put the Disney Kingdom castle to shame.

OK. Maybe I'm just weird to imagine this, but do any other overeducated information hogs out there wish that this could actually come true?

Local to Magnolia Handyman Available

2008-04-16T21:22:00.003-06:00

I find that it is sometimes hard to get handyman type help up here. So I'd like to welcome Van Hunt (see below) to our local labor pool

The following post came through on the PUMA list today. Please leave a comment to this blog post if you use Van Hunt and let us have your impression of him.
________________________________________________________________

I am Van Hunt, living on Forsythe Road, and I am available for general labor and other kinds of help - for example, house and/or pet sitting, any kind of tree and firewood work (I have my own chainsaw), outdoor spring clean-up, garage or shed organizing, hauling (I have a truck), general handyman work, and/or anything you can think of. I can provide local references, no job too small, reasonable rates.

Please call 303 449 9237 or email accoaone (at) gmail.com

Let us work together for our mutual advantage

The Bears are Back

2008-04-06T16:26:00.000-06:00

A couple of neighbors have reported seeing bear tracks in the last two days.

The Birds Are Back

2008-04-03T17:12:00.002-06:00

A swirl of clouds came through this afternoon.

What was so striking is that right after the clouds rolled in, that there was suddenly a flurry of birds EVERYWHERE.

Nutty woodpeckers, "humingbird feeder" (see previous post) woodpecker, chic-a-dees, lots of robins, and finally, "our" hawk even lighted on his favorite perch.

"Plan B"

2008-04-01T20:22:00.002-06:00

Google and Virgin Galactic are now taking applications for people wanting to help colonize Mars.

Mars, here I come!

... that's "Plan B" in case things get to weird on this little swirly blue and white marble we call home.

The Moose Are Coming!

2008-03-27T11:50:00.002-06:00

About 5 years, ago, I was camping west of the Divide, not to far away from here.

I was surprised to see a Cow Moose and her baby munching their way through a swamp at about 10,000 feet.

Now comes word from a neighbor (Jennifer) that she's spotted a momma Moose and her yearling right here in the neighborhood last night.

Excel Energy Bird Cams

2008-03-24T16:16:00.003-06:00

As a regular reader of my blog, you've noticed that I like to keep up with natural phenomena in the Colorado Rockies area.

I just came across this cool set of birding webcams

I'm sure this is a nice little public relations move for Xcel Energy, but, as the old saying goes, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

Anyway, enough blabbing, here's the link:
Birding Webcams

The Bear and Hummingbird feeder video, Part II

2008-03-16T11:50:00.003-06:00

Linda writes:

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:12 am
Subject: Bear in Hummingbird Feeder Photo

Hi Mike,

this is Linda Masterson, author of Living with Bear: A Practical Guide to Bear Country (www.pixyjackpress.com)

Wendy at Sinapu forwarded me your bear in the hummingbird feeder photo last year, and somehow I misfiled your info and just discovered it.

I wondered if you had any other photos of this incident (or any others) I am looking for a good photo showing a bear with a hummingbird feeder - tried looking at this one in b&w, and it does not show up very well.

I am also working on a redo of all of the Division of Wildlife's bear literature (as a volunteer) and we are collecting photos for use in brochures and fact sheets...

So, if you have anything you are willing to share and give permission to use, we'd be very grateful. I'd be happy to send you a copy of my book as a thank you if you'll send your address.

Thanks a bunch,

Linda Masterson
Living with Bears: A Practical Guide to Bear Country
livewithbears (at) aol.com
Practical Guide to Bear Country

My reply:

Dear Linda,

The picture looks like it came from a video I took.

You can find the video at video.google.com
Bear, Hummingbird feeder

Since the video is about 10 seconds long, and I think it's showing at 15 frames a second, you should have 150 frame (pictures) to choose from. However, all were taken from the same angle. I chased the bear off right after this. I did not want him to think that coming onto my deck was exceptable behaviour. Also, and the bear broke the feeder with his bite in his hurry to get to the sugar water.

I personally do not have a bad relationship with this bear. It once watched me for about 20 minutes while I was busy doing something about a mile from my home(where the video was taken). Te bear sate uphill on a jeep track and could have charged. But it just sat there after giving a snort to let me know it was there. It seemed that the bear was just letting me know I was its' guest at the edge of it's territory.

Yes, I did have a exit to a nearby tree planned in case it charged. ...And I'm good at climbing trees.

As it was, I got done what I doing and left without incident.

However, my next neighbor has had endless trouble with bears. One night a bear used it's powerful claws to bend the top edge of the door frame away from the body of the minivan. The bear appears to have left when the safety glass suddenly shattered because the frame had been bent out by about an inch.

The year before that a bear made off with a 150 lb goat. That was a shame because I would borrow the goat to mow my lawn, thistle path and cheat grass patch. Now I have to pay the same neighbor's kid to do the same.

A bear also went right through an electric fence to make it's way into a chicken coup a couple of years ago.

If you send me the time stamp of the exact frame you an want, I can probably find it on the original video and extract a black and white version of it. A proper adjustment of the contrast should fade out the background trees so that the picture works in black and white.

By the way, this morning I heard a familiar chirping sound in the neighborhood of the hummingbird feeder. I had put it up last summer again, once it was clear that the bear was ignoring my house in favor of having a territorial spat with the neighbor.

There was still a bit of sugar water in it from last summer. The water has been frozen for much of the last 5 months. But a familiar woodpecker had to check to see if his favorite nectar was available. I'm sure he'll keep checking back until it melts.

I wonder what will happen come May when the hummingbirds will want their share.

-

The Bobcat came by

2008-02-17T19:42:00.002-07:00

I'm always amazed that any animal can survive the winter here without going into hibernation.

But the bobcat came through the yard today. At one point he scratched in the fresh snow, as if looking for something. Then he moved on and wandered of.

His paws where wide enough to keep him from breaking through the snow crust. He just had to "post hole" through a couple of inches of fresh, light powder.

Instant Newspaper Logs without a Rolling Device

2008-01-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

It's been quite cold that last few weeks.

I can always tell because my normally perfectly tuned wind chimes start to sound strangely out of tune. That's because the extreme cold makes metal extra stiff and brittle. So the chimes de-tune.

Fortunately, we put in a few months stash of firewood. But, in this cold, the pile is getting smaller at an alarming rate.

That's when I learned about a sneeky trick for turning the morning's newspaper into tight, long burning logs for the evening fire.

Neat!

2 cords of hardwood for $400

2007-12-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

I had a dump truck show up with 2 cords of hardwood this morning.

The hardwood consists of the remmant ends of 6 by 8 inch untreated railroad ties. The remnants are between half an inch and 6 inches.

I think this is a awesome deal, and I almost hesitate to write about it because I don't want to drive up the price because more people want it.

If you are interested, and you live around Boulder, Colorado, give Rod of RC Construciont a call at 303-935-6231

Blogging course

2007-12-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a now, they're letting you get it for free if you write about it.

Ok, the simpleolgy folks bribed me into doing just that, but that's because I like the rest of their stuff.

The course is about:

The best blogging techniques (Let's find out if I'm trainable?)
How to get traffic to your blog (Ummm, writing about something more people are interested in would help, which exclude long diatribes about the content of my navel lint.)
How to turn your blog into money(I've made $4.49 with this blog so far - Guess I'm not in it for the money) .

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

Fences don't make good neighbors when the elk are around.

2007-12-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

The following is from a neighbor that has a little farm. During the summer months he has a farm stand where he offers truly locally grown produce.

I know what he means about the elk knocking down fences. It got so that I gave up having a fence.

hello everyone, just wanted let the list know that we found the
horses. they did a little tour of the twin sisters area and made
their way back home this morning. it turns out the elk herd had
knocked some of our fence down, so thanks to everyone who was keeping
an eye out.

peace, josh and family

The Elk came through

2007-11-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

Last night, the a herd of elk, probably the same ones that I saw in the last entry, came through the yard.

The moon was nearly full, and reflecting from the fresh, cold snow, so it was easy to see them.

It was about 7 degrees F, so we thought about inviting them in, but then we realized we couldn't fit all 30 of them. Besides, they looked hungry, and they don't eat turkey.

The Elk Are Back

2007-11-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for the elk to come down from the high country to these mid-altitudes. There is a herd of elk that prefers to spend as much of its winter around here as possible.

At this time of year the high country becomes snowed in and the plains are to populated and dangerous. So the elk pick the area around here as a suitable compromise between a rock and a hard place.

Anyway, I saw the Elk at the top of Lazy Z the day before yesterday.

Almost Cloud Nine

2007-10-13T08:34:00.000-06:00

One of the joys of living in the high country is that sometimes we get sun up here while the clouds settle below. In other words, we have a completely different climate up here.

This picture was taken today about an hour after sunrise. The view is toward the south east, which is toward Denver from here. The clouds are at about 7000 feet, and the picture was taken at 8400 feet. There is a cloud bank at the top edge that is hiding the sun.

Janet Bychek

2007-10-08T20:11:00.000-06:00

I've been slow to get these pictures up that I took while on a hike with my friend Janet Bychek up.

The first picture is of "Solstice Rocks." I call it that because the winter solstice sun appears to shine through a small arch at the very top of it.

The second picture is of Coal Creek canyon, about a mile downstream from Pinecliffe. The creek flows through a very rugged, remote gorge at that point on its way to Gross Reservoir. The picture was take from the north shore at a bend in the creek.

The two pictures where taken about a hundred yards apart.

The Rest of the Story about the Mountain Lion

2007-10-08T14:59:00.000-06:00

The following was published on the Daily Camera today. Of particular note is that the person that claims to have shot the mountain lion is from out of state, and that it is implied that he shot the lion in self defense.

This is a great angle if you're trying to minimize the consequences of shooting a mountain lion.

Man shoots, kills mountain lion near Gross Reservoir

Cougar had attacked a puppy chained on the property

By Vanessa Miller (Contact)
Originally published 12:27 p.m., October 8, 2007
Updated 12:27 p.m., October 8, 2007

A man shot and killed a mountain lion outside a home up Flagstaff Road near Gross Reservoir after catching it attacking his puppy, which was chained on the property, according to the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Wildlife officers are investigating the shooting Friday and are trying to determine whether the man was within his legal rights when he killed the adult cougar, division of wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said.

“We’re investigating what will happen to the person who shot the lion,” Churchill said. “We do have laws that allow people to protect their safety and the their livestock. But this is the tricky gray area of it being a dog.”

The shooting happened about 1:30 a.m. Friday in a neighborhood just east of Gross Reservoir, at the west end of Flagstaff Road near its intersection with Lakeshore Drive.

Churchill said the shooter, whose name, age and hometown haven’t been released, is from out of state and was visiting a person in the west Boulder neighborhood. Three dogs were chained up outside the home, and several people inside the home heard the mountain lion attacking the dog in the early-morning hours, Churchill said.

“The people went outside and started yelling at the lion,” she said. “It wouldn’t drop the dog, so he got a shot gun to scare it.”

But the lion approached the man with a gun, Churchill said.

“So he shot it,” she said.

The puppy that was in its mouth is going to survive, Churchill said.

“He had a couple lacerations on his belly, around his neck,” she said. “He was in the lion’s mouth for a few minutes, so he had to get stitches and antibiotics. But he’ll live.”

Wildlife officers confiscated the lion and sent it to a lab for testing, Churchill said. She expects results back in a day or two, but it’s unclear when officers will make a decision on possible charges against the man who killed the cougar.

“We are still looking into it to make sure it was done appropriately,” she said.

One area resident, who didn’t want to be named in this story, speculated that the slain lion was responsible for killing a man’s pet miniature horse in the Nederland area Sept. 2 and a couple’s 60-pound Australian shepherd in Nederland on Sept. 27.

Officers with the Division of Wildlife in September tried to capture and euthanize the lion after it killed the horse, named Bodacious, but traps weren’t successful in snagging the cat.

Comments

Correction - Mountain lion picture not the local lion

2007-10-08T12:53:00.000-06:00

It turns out that there is a miss-communication about the picture that was published in yesterday's blog entry. I now find out that this picture is an EXAMPLE of a mountain lion, not the actual lion that was shot.

Local Mountain Lion Shot Dead

2007-10-06T21:08:00.000-06:00

The mountain lion that was referred to in previous posts appears to have been shot yesterday because he attacked a puppy. This is likely the same mountain lion that ate a miniature horse a few weeks back.

[UPDATE: the picture at the right is NOT the mountain lion that was shot, lthough I initially had the impression that it was. I'm leaving the picture in as a EXAMPLE of a mountain lion]

As reported in a email on the PUMA email list:

"A neighbor to the east of here with 2 small children felt compelled to shoot a mtn lion dead yesterday morning about 1:30 am. This cat moved towards him when he went outside to rescue their puppy who was being attacked by the cat. This neighbor immediately reported his shooting to the DOW and is now facing possible consequences as a result of his decision to shoot the cat.

It is believed by other neighbors who saw the cat after it had been shot that this same cat had killed another large dog earlier in the week. In the same area east of the CR 68J deadhead and up the 4 x 4 trail past Fred & Betsy's property about 3/4 of a mile. There may be a DOW investigation report that provides an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions on this matter. "

More Fun With Bears

2007-09-22T18:16:00.000-06:00

A met a neighbor on Lazy Z today and he told me the latest on the local black bear.

As there was some chatter on the local PUMA email list, I posted the following to it:

There is a bear here at the end of Lazy Z that has repeatedly tried to break into his cars. I myself saw the bent frame of a passenger door from a minivan. The bear had tried to peal away the door the top edge with its claws. Eventually the door glass shattered as the fame was bent outwards.

Now my neighbor keeps the doors unlocked and the windows down. This seems to keep the bear from trying to peal away doors, destroying them in the process.

First Frost of the Fall

2007-09-11T20:53:00.001-06:00

This morning there was a coat of white frost on the ground. Also, yesterday's rain had frozen on blades of grass.

However, the Goji Plants and house plants seem to have survived it, so it was not a hard frost. Does that make a soft frost?

I suspect this frost will the trigger for the turning of the Aspens.

Livestock Puma will not be trapped and killed

2007-09-07T12:16:00.000-06:00

Thank you Sue (see below) for doing all this wonderful research and summarizing it in a email. I can picture the incident in great detail because I knew the horse and I've wandered through the pasture where it happened.

****

Hi Everyone,
An update about the lion situation: The trap has been pulled.

At this point they are not planning on taking any further action other than to keep a close eye on any further incidents that arise.

Here are the facts as shared by the DOW information officer, Jennifer Churchill who was very informative and nice. Most of you already know these but here it is for those who don't:

The pony was killed on Saturday night at the top of the lower meadow of the Kellogg's property. He was then dragged down near the corral which is near William Kellogg's house.
The lion did not kill the pony at Otsie's house, nor did it ever go to his house, it was seen only on the Kellogg's property.
The main concern was after Otsie had his farrier down to work with his remaining horses (I believe on Sunday or Monday). The lion stayed next to the pony's remains for the hour or so that Otsie and his farrier were working with the horses. Again-the lion was in the open meadow next to the pony's remains. The Camera reported that it was in an open meadow and neglected to mention that it was next to it's cache, very typical lion behavior.
We discussed lion behavior and she agreed that some lions do stick closer to their cache than others, but it always makes them more cautious when they see lions who stay near their prey in the presence of humans.
For what it's worth, I'd like to share my perspective on such behavior: I have done research on Open Space properties for the past decade and work in an area where road killed deer (and lion-killed deer who are taken too close to residential areas) are dropped off for lions to be able to eat in a safe location away from people. Many rangers have commented that they will often have to shoot lions with rubber bullets in order to get them away from their caches and I have pictures here, here, and here that show a lion in my study area in South Boulder doing just that, hunkering down on his cache, despite the rangers watching them and taking photographs from a truck.
The only other killings that she said concerned them were of a llama and a pony. One was on Flagstaff and she couldn't remember where the other one was (I believe the llama was Sugarloaf). She said there was no way to know if this was the same lion, but they were concerned that the lion had possibly shifted it's prey choice to livestock rather than deer/elk and they target lions who start focusing on livestock.
I asked if there was any regulation regarding responsible livestock or pet ownership and she said no. She agreed completely that the lion is the one who pays with his life when we choose to let our dogs run free or we don't keep our livestock in safe enclosures at night. Even if you don't report it to the DOW when your dog is killed, it's clear that word of mouth spreads the story and then, when an event happens as did with the pony, the stories fly such as "I know of 7 dogs in the Magnolia area that were killed by lions." Unverifiable information but quite powerful when rumors start to make it back to the DOW. When a decision about whether to kill a lion or not is unclear, those stories push the DOW into choosing a lethal option.
I asked if we could organize a neighborhood meeting with their district rangers and she said she would make some calls and see if they can pull that together. I offered to organize things from this end and will call her next week to see what kind of time constraints they have on their end.
If anyone has a venue that they know about or could volunteer to host such an event please let me know.
Please send me a private email stating if you would like to come to a meeting with Sinapu and the Division of Wildlife and I will start contacting everyone to see what dates are best.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback. I still would like to gather as many factual accounts of lion encounters so that we can have the right information available should there be any other lion predation event. I'd also like to hear from people who have had no encounters as those are valuable as well.

Thank you all for taking the time to read these updates,
Sue

Mountain Lion Causing Quite a Local Buzz

2007-09-04T19:38:00.000-06:00

We were repeatedly buzzed by two Helicopters this afternoon. The first was red, and the second was yellow with a blue tail.

I was not sure what it was about at first, but I'm guessing the following has something to do with it.

Mountain lion kills horse in Boulder County foothills
In case the Daily Camera link does not work, the articles says:
"Colorado Division of Wildlife officials are responding to property in the Boulder County foothills where a mountain lion attacked and killed a horse, sheriff's officials said this afternoon.

The property's owner reported that the cat was still in the area, located off Magnolia Road near Pineglade Road. "

Also See: http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=76716

***

I've seen the pony that was eaten any number of times. I'm sorry to hear it's turned into cat food. I assume this is the same mountain lion that's been sighted on our land here. The pony lived about a mile from here, on the other side of Winiger Ridge.

True Confessions: I was a unpaid scout for the power company

2007-08-30T16:04:00.000-06:00

We've had three lightning caused power outages in the last few weeks. It's fashionable to blame weather weirdnesses on global warming, so I'll jump on that band wagon to explain it.

Anyway...

A few hours after this latest lighting induced power outage, yesterday, a large Excel Energy Truck with a cherry picker shows up.

A "old fat man" (these were his words) jumped out and started asking directions to a pole so that he could replace the fuse.

It was twilight and I knew the moon would come up any minute because we'd had a lunar eclipse the day before. I'd not had my habitual walk either.

So I volunteered to show him the way. OK, I admit, I was curious too how this all worked.

The power pole he was looking for was in the narrow valley on the other side of Winiger Ridge. This meant going up 100 yards, then down 300 very steep yards. At night.

Fortunately, I knew most of the faint trail that would take us there pretty much by heart.

We set off and about 30 minutes later we where at the pole with the blown fuse. This is where it gets tricky. The fuse is nearly 40 feet up and the only way to get at it is with a 40 foot long telescoping fiberglass pole. Given the flex of the fiberglass pole, this is not easy.

Also, if the lightning had taken out more than just the fuse, it would have created a very loud explosion as the new fuse also blew.

After about 15 minutes of fussing, the utility line man was able to install the fuse. It held. No explosion.

My curiosity was also satisfied about how this all works.

On the way back up , I learned that the lineman would retire in 3.5 months, after 37 years. I wondered where the new talent would come from to replace him. Nobody in "the younger generation" seemed interested working in the wilds of Colorado in all kinds of weather conditions.

I had volunteered to carry the collapsed telescoping fiberglass pole back up after seeing how much of a strain it put on the lineman to manipulate the pole to get the fuse back in place. It got quite heavy by the time I was back on top of the ridge.

After we got back, I got to keep the old blown fuse as a souvenir.

Then, it was back to business as usual... at least until the next global warming induced lighting strike.

Scary!

2007-08-27T14:16:00.000-06:00

I just picked up some folding tables that I had loaned to the NEXT DOOR neighbor over the weekend.

While I was there they showed me the passenger side front door on their van. The window had broken and the top of the frame was pulled back about an inch from the body.

This was the latest episode in a nearly nightly harassment by a bear.

Lions and Coyotes and Bears, Oh My

2007-08-20T08:51:00.000-06:00

I just got word that neighbor saw a mountain lion in the woods below the house yesterday morning.

Other neighbors have seen the same cat at other times as well.

Also, the coyote infestation in the valley here seems to be particularly bad this year, judging from the nearly nightly yelping and howling. The deer have taken the hint and left.

And I read in the paper that bears will need to be spending 20 hours a day eating, so that they can pack on the weight for winter.

3 mile fox was hit by a car.

2007-08-17T12:29:00.000-06:00

I feel like I lost a friend. The fox mentioned below seemed to take a special delight in greeting cars on the way home.
***
If you drove down Magnolia today you probably saw the dead fox on the side of Magnolia, past Magnolia townsite. He (or she?) must've been hit last night by a car. This fox was very wily to cars and people. He would run to the side of the road and turn around and look as you passed by. I'm amazed he was hit knowing how fast he got out of the way for me in car or bike. The driver must've been going very fast.

I know I'm speaking to the choir on this list (I hope) but lower speeds mean you can slow down faster and not hit wildlife (or dogs, pedestrians, runners, and cyclists). Driving 30mph down Magnolia from Lazy Z takes about 18 minutes (yes, i did the math). Driving 35 gets you there only 2.5 minutes faster. Driving 40 gets you there 4.5 minutes faster. I have 5 minutes to spare...how about you?

Thanks for reading,
Whit

Now that's a big bug

2007-08-12T10:33:00.000-06:00

This bug landed on the living room window. The black circle next to it is a quarter that I taped to the window. The body of the bug was about 2.5 inches long.

Pine Beetles in the Colorado Rockies

2007-07-21T09:56:00.000-06:00

Thanks Jenifer for some great research on Pine Beetles:

Dear Friends,
We are all aware of the beetle epidemic on the Western Slope. Anyone
who has driven I-70 westward has seen it.
In our own area, we need to be aware of the condition of our trees.
Over-crowded, stressed, or damaged trees are vulnerable.

Living pines should not be trimmed or cut between approximately
beginning of June to approximately September, as beetles are attracted
to the scent of sap.
Wood (and probably anything else) should not be stacked against living
trees.
Beetles don't acknowledge property lines. We must work together as
residents of Magnolia to protect our forest. Stay alert, communicate
with your neighbors. Know the signs of beetle presence. Know how to
determine whether beetle presence in a tree has been repulsed by the
tree, or is killing it. Not all attacked trees succumb! Healthy trees
can expel beetles in a flood of sap.

If you have concerns, call the Colorado State Forest Service
(303-823-5774), and/or a neighbor who has experience with beetle
management. Dan Metzger is one such person.

Here are some websites with info on Pine Beetles.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05528.html
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/we_pine_beetle/wpb.htm
http://www.barkbeetles.org/mountain/fidl2.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_pine_beetle

Best,
Jennifer

Large, Shaggy Dog or Black Bear?

2007-07-07T21:01:00.000-06:00

A black bear that looked like a large dog walked across our long deck a few minutes ago at twilight.

My New Friend, A Lonely Dove

2007-06-17T13:06:00.000-06:00

This is the kind of self-indulgent entries that blogs are famous for.

As I was walking up my very long and steep driveway this morning, a dove flew in front of me. I live high up in the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by national forest. Doves are not native around here. A couple of hours later, I'd made a new friend, who you can see sitting on my shoulder.

I called over to my neighbor, who once had brough up some doves from Denver. He told me that this last, lonely dove had been hanging around there, but he was afraid that it would soon become Red tailed Hawk food.

Perhaps my new friend figures that if its friends with me, then the hawk won't get it. I hope she's right, because after getting a expert ear cleaning from her, I'm starting to like this bird.

The Grand Yellow Green Pollen Cloud Finali

2007-06-16T17:46:00.000-06:00

There are some hazards to living high up in the Rockies that you don't find out about until you're actually living here.

In the winter, there are the large stinging clouds of swirling snow.

Right now, we are just coming to the end to the large gritty clouds of yellow green pine pollen. ON warm days (>80 F) like today the pine pollen gets ready in the calm morning air.

Then, as the first gust of afternoon wind blow across the hillside, the pollen takes flight, and forms huge yellow green clouds.

These clouds coat everything with a thick, gritty, yellow-green coat. This pollen keeps blowing around until it is finally washed down by a afternoon thunderstorm, like we just had.

We had similar situation last weekend. The whole process was interrupted by a cold snap that we had right after the weekend.

Hopefully, this is the end of pollen season. It takes weeks for the pollen coat to disappear from surfaces.

Finally back online

2007-06-08T13:34:00.000-06:00

In my previous post I mentioned a bad wind storm. It knocked out our internet connection shortly after the post until this morning.

It's been stange weather. We had a hard frost last night, and I had to bring in all the house plants that did not have the good sense to come in on their own.