Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Things you see....

i live on a creek off of the ICW came home one afternoon in the boat and seal was laying up on the bank sunning it's self. i was like what the fugg had to be at least 5/ 6 hundred miles south of were it should be

After growing up in West Texas, living in NM for years, and generally being away from the coast, I remember seeing a dolphin was a pretty big deal.

Still pretty neat.

Alligator about 12 miles off coast of Fourchon, LA.

Looking off the rig, thought it was a driftwood log... got close enough i could make out a gator.

He prolly didn’t make it back.

Today, sandhill crane, blue heron, osprey, three bald eagles. Cussed at three out of four.... .

Seen, and trapped quite a few otters over the years. Occupational hazard. Had a mink last year, the dogs got that one. It’s good to be reminded how “abnormal” our lives really are.

Your partridge dogs get that stinky minky?

Some are pretty good sized, I think all three of our whippets could take one, but in a 1 on 1 situation I'd bet on the mustelid.

One lab, one partridge dog..... the lab being young and dumb and full of...... got it first and there was a yip or two. The second dog shortened the game considerably. I was surprised how big it was, but we have a couple of mink farms around, so we get all manner of colors and sizes come by.

I always thought otters were cute...............until I started buying fish to stock our pond. They will clean out a pond in no time. There is a 160 acre lake about 2 miles from me and a couple of weeks ago one of the care takers told me they killed 4 in one day. Havent seen any since. Smart little fuggers..........if your lucky you can get one shot at them.

Didnt know an otter was a mustelid.

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Yep, they run all humpty up when on land like that wolverine you saw.

Otters used to be the bane of may existence, back when I ran a trout farm. Dogs actually cornered a yearling (on dry ground), and it was fascinating to see how they would feign, alternatively, and wear that big weasel out in a matter of minutes. Without intervention, it would not have ended well for the otter.

Otters typically travel in family groups on a 2 to 3 week circuit. So if you chase them off, they'll be back, like clockwork around two weeks or so later. If they get any kind of pressure, they go nocturnal, and then you never get another crack at them.

When I was at the farm, I had a native trapper (because of restrictions on take for round eyes), and the biggest one she pulled out of the farm was a 6'3" female. She was a trout fed mama that lived to her full potential!

But to just be able to watch them fooling around in the river was a joy. They are amazing animals.

Yeah Dutch, they can be a pain.

Boss at one place I worked was worried they were working their way upriver. Some trapper he knew had caught a few downstream. Figured it was only a matter of time before they got to our place. He was seriously worried about the 7-10 year old lake trout broodstock, in the prime of their egg production. A 6' otter could easily manage one of them, and likely more for the family.

Not as exotic as otters and bears, but this little character has been hanging around the farm the last several days. We have an island on our pond, and he walks across the bridge to the island. Once on the island he will lay down, and snooze for a good part of the day.

Fiesty little ___________

That prairie dog will make a few tasty meals for it!

Its been a while since I have seen a mink here, but in the spring they are everywhere. See at least one or two every day. Only seen one otter lately, had to chase it out of our raceway. He has a few more months until I'll take care of him, unless we get our nuisance permit renewed. Lots of bears around.

A doe, and her fawn just north of the road yesterday.

Saw the first bunny on the place on Saturday! Apparently rooming with the skunk under the tool shed..... first one I’ve seen since I started the farm in ‘99.

Needed some diesel for the tractor, so I took the wifey along, so she could get an ice cream sandwich. On the way back, we took the back roads and saw 3 deer in 3 different places. All this about 12:30 in the afternoon. Deer were out in the middle of the day.

Did not see it, but from the sounds of it we had a bobcat in the yard the other night.
Sure did have the house cat looking for a better place to hide!

Today we had the trifecta. Elk, deer and turkeys in the meadow/orchard, all accompanied by this year's youngsters. We laugh when they get in the irrigation ditch (elk and deer) and splash around. They seem to have accepted our presence most of the time, then at others they quietly blend into the brush and are gone.

It's a wonderful life.