Monday, April 17, 2006

Wild Things


Yesterday I sawed dead jack pines with my hand saw ... easy to saw as they were fried by last summer's heat (I had never seen that before, sap ran freely as they fried and the trees turned black) and then they were broken by an ice storm in November. They're just a danger around my propane tank and an eyesore in the driveway. At first I thought I'd haul them with my truck, but then rigged up my bedspring to the ATV that I use for trail dragging and it was the perfect 'trailer' for hauling them away. Then I went out to drag trails as long as I was hooked up. It was a beautiful day and one doe leaped in front of me on the trail.

On a walk later, I saw a snake slithering through the grasses, and tried to catch a photo, but it was too fast (blurry). We have grass snakes and pine snakes... I don't think they're the same... grass are small and pines are fairly large. That prompts me to move more quickly on getting the straw out of pens and houses as in the past the snakes(pines) have taken up residence in the 'comfy' straw... I don't particularly like finding them in a dog house. Surprises, I'm not too keen on that kind of surprise. One dog, Power, is a snake catcher... very quickly grabs them and runs around with his trophies.

The wood ticks are also out... have found a few on me, another not too enjoyable surprise. The house dogs have already had their first treatment.

No wildflowers yet, but the mosses are really greening up, trees are budding more each day.
Saw more wild turkeys yesterday. Started my seeds of Alaskan wildflowers yesterday... fireweed,blue flax, Alaskan poppy, etc.

The birches are always beautiful, any season, so am including a photo of my view from my house. One of the many reasons I love living here.

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