Shyla Saturday

Shyla and I have been playing games like this one for close to ten years. At the beginning, I had to be so careful not to scare her. She was afraid of almost everything - and I didn't want to be included on the list of scary things. By steadfastly being her trustworthy human, I eventually earned her trust. Now, she loves games like this one, knowing that there's no "wrong" way to behave. We're just a pair of girls having fun together.

I didn't bring a remote trigger for my camera so I'd set it to take a photo 10 seconds later, and I'd sprint around to Shyla to see what she did. This one was a "high ten". We both laughed after the camera took our photo.

Happy Shyla Saturday!

The Return of Mountain Lions

 After getting a great start in tracking mountain lions and videoing them near our new place, they disappeared late last winter. I stayed the course, keeping my trail cams in the same spots where I'd gotten video of them previously. Finally, last month, my cams picked up footage of two or three lions.

This video is from one spot where they returned. You have no idea how glad I was to see the long graceful form of a lion!

During the lions' hiatus, a human spotted my cam and messed with it. That's why it's set up oddly - to keep it out of sight. I may try moving it back into the open this winter.

Thankful Thursday

The autumn colors in the desert were amazing this year. Most of the colorful leaves were in the washes, areas that are dry between rains but fill with torrents of water in storms. The trees and shrubs love these areas.

 

This was a wash that still had some water in it. The animals certainly appreciated it - I saw many tracks heading for this pool. And the reflections of the golden leaves shimmered on the water.

 

I was so thankful that we could travel to autumn by visiting the desert. It inspired my photography - because the colors made me want to figure out how to capture the desert beauty. I had so much fun exploring the desert washes to find good views of the colors.

Wordless Wednesday - Autumn in the Desert

 

A bobcat's trail

In the summer, I found a very steep path in the forest. I spotted an area where I thought that a bobcat had marked but I wasn't sure. So, I put a camera near that spot to see what happened.

It did turn out to be a favorite trail of a bobcat. He's such a cute little guy. A young bear also liked the trail and seemed fascinated by the area that the bobcat had been marking. I suspect that this cub had run away from his mom to check it out.

Here's a short video from that spot. Enjoy!

The Hachi Chronicle

Hachi is doing really well. Over our three years with him, we've learned that camping in our LabMobile stresses him out. Due to his anxiety, he tends to get a short temper with his sister. He explodes into a snark right at her face when he goes over threshold.

Not on our recent trip! We could feel that he was less tense than usual, and his behavior backed that up. He snoozed in the sun next to Shyla, and then he played with her on our evening hikes. I know that his face looks crazed in the next photo but it's due to pure and happy play.

I'm sure that part of his huge improvement is that we have learned to "manage" his triggers much better. We know what parts of camping life can make him lose his cool, and we are careful to avoid them. As an example from the past, he likes to block the LabMobile door when Shyla is about to come out. If we proceed with bringing her out, he'll get in her face in a noisy way and perhaps give her a soft muzzle bite. Now, we know not to let that happen - so he's not practicing that behavior anymore. If it's like other behaviors, it may fade with time if he has no chances to rehearse it.

We also were able to practice some of his formal training, like the Bucket Game, in our campsites. He could focus, relax, and do a good job with them. That seemed impossible as recently as a few months ago. Yay for Hachi!

We feel as if he's ready to work on more of his fears. We have plans to work on them steadily. I'll write more about that soon.

I like this next photo because it shows a very relaxed dog. His eyes were soft as he looked up at the Runner. His tongue was hanging out. He looks happy to me!

It is a Happy Hachi Chronicle this week!

Black Dog Joy

We visited a place in the desert where we had many joyful times with our Black Dog. He and Shyla used to chase each other across a mesa with a dramatic desert backdrop. They ran with wild abandon. Our Black Dog sometimes burst out into wild barking because he was having such fun. Then, his barks would echo off the canyon's cliffs. He'd hear the echoes, and he'd have to answer that other dog who sounded just like him. His wild joy was infectious.

His joy engendered adoration from all of us. You can see that in Shyla's eyes as they raced side-by-side. This is our calendar photo for this month.

His spirit will always be with me when we visit this spot. Last year, I moped a bit, wishing for more wild races between him and Shyla. I had trouble figuring out how to have fun without him. This year, I tried to make new games that we could play with Shyla and Hachi. We had fun but I still missed our Black Dog's joyful barks. I always will.

 

Shyla Saturday

Shyla loves to howl in the desert. Her voice echos off the cliffs, and she thinks that someone is answering her.

That leads to more howls and gives me time to make fun images of her howling! Believe me, I made lots of them during our recent getaway.

She is doing well. I did notice that she'd slowed a bit in the desert. I think that the rocky surfaces are tougher on a dog's joints than soft grassy surfaces like we have in the mountains. She'll be turning ten soon so I am grateful that she can still run with me!

Cats, bears, elk, and moose all share a forest path

Our break is over. It certainly gave us a good breather to gain perspective on all that we've done in the past year. We are both really liking our new house - it feels like home now, and that's a great feeling.

For a blog restart, I'd like to share a video from a forest path near our new place that is used by a lot of wildlife. Cats of all sorts tend to strut along the path. However, since late last winter, mountain lions have been rare in this spot. My cams used to pick up a lion every two weeks or so.

When I checked this cam, I was overjoyed to see that a mountain lion had used the path. As he walked down the path, it became clear that he had a big limp in a hind limb. I hope that he can recover quickly. He needs full use of his hind limbs to capture prey.

You'll also see a Mama bear with her two cubs. My cams have seen this family all over the area, moving from one chokecherry hot spot to the next. The cubs are almost always incredibly well behaved, trotting along behind their mom. I'll share some highlights of this family's summer sometime soon.

Enjoy the video.

Shyla Saturday

On one of the last days when the aspen leaves were on the trees, Shyla and I had lots of fun doing photography. I cannot imagine a more cooperative model.

She happily galloped through the aspens, and I happily tried to photograph her. We laughed and had fun! These times with Shyla make me so happy.

Within another 48 hours, the temperature plummeted and the wind blew so hard that many people, including us, lost our power. The leaves all came down from the trees. Then, it snowed enough to stick for more than 24 hours. That marked the end of autumn and the start of winter.

Most years, I am super sad at the end of autumn. This year, I am surprised to find myself looking forward to the darkness and cold - because I need a rest.

We are going to take a short break. Hopefully, this break will give us a chance to catch our breath.

Teeny Tiny plays with his mom in a water hole

Teeny Tiny's mom is a bear who I've followed since she was a cub. It's been cool to see her go from a silly little cub to a caring mother. 

I don't know how she ended up with only one cub this year. It's not ideal because a solo cub has no other cubs to play with. As I've watched the clips of his mother in a water hole with him, I've been so impressed with how she plays with him.

In this video, watch mama bear and her cub interact. It's really fun!

Thankful Thursday

Autumn is ending, although I still have lots of photos of it to share. I am so thankful that I have a little greenhouse. It is filled with plants that would not thrive in our high altitude weather without the warmth of a greenhouse. My absolute favorites are tomatoes. We've been eating greenhouse tomatoes all summer and fall. 

We've also discovered that home grown cucumbers are sweet and amazing! My huge crop (ha ha) has included two cucumbers so far. Growing them was an experiment. I am hoping to improve my yield next year!

Thank goodness, after a full day without power, it just came back on. Otherwise, the 15°F temperature predicted for tonight would have killed everything in the greenhouse. I have a small heater in there to help keep the plants from freezing on the cold nights of autumn.

 

I am also thankful for the valley that we call "Lone Ponderosa Valley". The Lone Ponderosa is in the upper right of the photo. It is where the ashes of our departed pups are buried. During the spring, summer, and fall, Shyla and I rode there daily. We'd bring a bottle of water to help the Columbine seeds that I planted over the graves last fall. The great news is that the plants are doing beautifully. We'll have blossoms there within a couple of years.

Last, I am thankful for our generous neighbors. This photo is from their land. We truly lucked out when we moved in next to them.

Wordless Wednesday

The leaves are falling fast and so is the snow! I'm glad that I visited this spot before winter arrived!

 

Mountain Lion in Broad Daylight!

Mountain lions took an extended hiatus from my camera sites for the spring and about half of the summer. This was true both at my new and old places. Finally, around mid-summer, a female lion graced two scrape sites quite close to where we used to live.

She came out in daylight on a couple of occasions, showing us her fur and shape in glorious detail. Enjoy the video!