Alvin!

Throughout the late summer and fall chipmunks (aka ground squirrels) can be seen collecting pine cones.  Those cones are collected so that the pine nuts can be consumed throughout the winter months.

Chipmunks do not hibernate through the whole winter but they interrupt long periods of sleep and slowed metabolism with bouts of feasting and, eventually, cleaning out the burrows.

By the time you get to late January, the garbage starts to pile up and they bring it out onto the snow.

Scouting bedding areas

It was neither inconceivable nor likely that we would find any shed antlers, but we took a walk to scout out some areas where deer have bed down in the past and see if I might get a little lucky and find a dropped antler.

No antlers were found and bedding areas where more sparse less used than previous winters.  There has been some logging nearby, that might have disrupted the flow of deer.  Still, I think we'll check out a couple other spots in the days to come.

Another kind of hunting

Logging at the far side of our permission.

Stoic never ventured far.  About half-way through the walk Musket started to tire.

Sparta got caught in a bit of barbed wire.  She was jumping, twisting and puling when I first saw her but a strong "stay" settled her down until I arrived.

A lot of animals have started to eat sumac seeds.

A Walk in the Woods

I took two terriers for a long walk in the woods.  Sparta will track better if I keep her tired.  I was checking out some ideas for post-rut deer hunting, despite the fact that I really hope my tags are filled by then.  It also seems like good terrain for deer to over-winter, and that means shed antlers in the spring.

But will deer overwinter if coyotes are whelped nearby?

Creative destruction.

Stoic checking out a den.  Too big for a fox; too small for a bear.

Another den about 50 feet from the first

Fall, and love is in the air.

The grasshopper and the bee.

Practicing Prudence

Anytime someone dies, it is a tragedy.  Not so much for the dead person, they're dead and beyond comedy, tragedy, joy, or despair.

Prudence: Preparation, foresight, and judgment

For the people left behind, however, there is tragedy.

When people die in the wilderness, that tragedy is often brought on through the taking of risks.

Sometimes those risks are understood and considered acceptable.  More times than not, they arise from plain dumb luck, ignorance, or lack of discipline.

The hiker killed by a Yellowstone Grizzly, though there were no witnesses, would suggest an example of dumb luck.  The hiker had lived in Yellowstone multiple seasons and there are no indications that he had made any obvious mistake.

Living entails the possibility of dying.  Sometimes you get hit by the bus despite following all the safety regulations.  Sometimes you meet the grizzly with your number.

In hindsight one could say that he should have been carrying a .45 caliber handgun, but few hikers do and the decision is not an irrational one given the gun's weight, whether or not he feels the need to own one in his normal life, and the general safety of hiking in Yellowstone.

More times than not, however, wilderness deaths arise from ignorance or lack of discipline.

Consider a French couple, who heroically gave their lives to save their own son from the desert of the American southwest.  Unfortunately, it was they who put his life at risk in the first place, beginning their hike in the heat of the day and with less than 1/3 of the recommended amount of water.

Prepare twice, respect the wild, don't die.

Then there is just plain old lack of discipline or poor judgment.  The accident was avoidable.  The human involved knew better but the thing is looks like just too much fun and acts stupidly.

"Hey honey, hold my beer for a second..." or "It won't happen to me."

Prudence if you will, is comprised of all these things: preparation, foresight, and judgment.  It is a virtue, a character trait if you will, and it is learned.

I may be going out on a limb assuming the hillbillies who filmed this video knew better but it is only dumb luck that keeps them from returning to the Manitou.  I would suspect they exhibit imprudence in other areas of their lives.

Bear
That is the moment when you realize you messed up...
Posted by Ghetto fights & Crazy videos on Wednesday, July 16, 2014

If their families experience the tragedy of their loss, it was just as likely to happen in an urban center as in the wild, except maybe that the wild has fewer safety railings.  People raised in a world of safety railings are ill prepared to spend time unsupervised in the wild.