August 13, 2021

Update on my rescued Eurasian collared dove.

Lots of you know I rescued a dove that fell out of a tree during a thunderstorm the last week of June. This little dude tumbled to the ground with a sibling…we left them overnight in the hope that parents would come back but they never did. The sibling died overnight so the remaining baby came home with me. I hand fed him/her for almost a month before graduating him to a homemade seed mixture and diced apples with he loves. FYI, I tend to use the male pronoun because other than my chickens, I’m surrounded by male family members and critters. We’ve named this little one Ragamuffin. RG for short.

RG flies free all day every day. I leave food and water out for him and I see him here and there during the day. RG’s will visit with other doves but not always. He will feed on the ground with my chickens sometimes. He loves to sit in a potted bell pepper plant on my patio and lands on my head randomly when I walk around the yard which has taken some getting used to. He keeps me company in the garden. I leave the patio door open at dusk and he flies into the family room and perches on a light fixture for the night.

I don’t know what will happen with this guy going forward but I’ve sure learned a lot. I didn’t mean to get attached but that ship has sailed. I love RG.

August 11, 2021

Vaccines. Kids. Divorces. Crazy parents.

So I took my 16 year old son into the health department today to get the booster for the 4 way meningitis vaccine and the first shot of the meningitis B vaccine. While we were waiting for the nurse, my kiddo was on his phone making plans with his dad to go fishing tomorrow and getting permission to invite his best friend along for the trip. Thus far, his friend hasn’t been vaccinated for Covid…that’s been a concern for our family for a while.

My kiddo’s friend, “Oscar” lives with his dad most of the time but stays with his mother sometimes. His folks are divorced and the mom is a full fledged tRump humping nightmare and would not consent to Oscar getting the Covid vaccine.

Today, after my son got off the phone with his dad, he said “Mama, btw, Oscar’s dad got him vaccinated. His mom doesn’t know. So if you see her, don’t say anything.” I was so freaking relieved. I love Oscar. He’s such a great kid and I’ve worried that he wouldn’t ever be vaccinated and worried even more that I’d have to tell my son he couldn’t see Oscar until he was vaxxed. I’ve been biding my time because it’s summer and the boys are outside biking, hiking and fishing most of the time….and our Covid numbers are still low (for now) here in town.

WTH is wrong with these parents who won’t protect their kids? I could weep for the kids who won’t be protected and I kid you not, I had real tears of relief that my son’s friend is now protected.

August 6, 2021

In memory of my beloved dog, Tag.

I can hardly breathe. In two hours, we'll be at the vet for the last time. Tag is 14 years old...he's tired, painful and he has let me know that things aren't fun for him any more.

Tag was born in 2007 on a working sheep ranch at the base of the Mission Mountains. He was a ball of black and white fuzz that was hell on wheels for his first two years of life. I named him Tag because nobody could catch him when he didn't want to be caught. He was head strong and I loved that about him. Even when he chewed the legs off of an antique chair, or ate a new pair of Birkenstocks, I just couldn't be mad at him.

Tag loved to catch anything thrown through the air...and he could indeed catch anything! It was years before we could take him fishing because he would try to catch your fly out of the air before it hit the water. Tag would try to catch snow flakes falling in the winter and rain drops in the summer.

Tag wasn't just an average border collie, Tag epitomized the breed...he loved herding his backyard chickens and anything else that needed to be organized in a group. Tag herded me and the lawnmower, me and the laundry basket, me and the shopping bags. He herded my son and his friends when they were small...he had a collection of balls that he would herd together when he got bored. He would herd minnows at the creek. If it moved, Tag would herd it.

When Tag came into my life, I had a toddler underfoot, a grandma, parents and a brother. My son is now 16 and all the family I had are gone. Tag got me through a lot of loss...whenever I was sad, he would nudge to take him for a walk or throw the Frisbee so that I would feel better and he was right....every. single. time.

I will miss Tag's endless cheer and his enthusiasm for life. I will miss his wet nose nudges and watching him snooze on the lawn on sunny summer afternoons...always with his head upright, of course, so I would know he was working.

I know all dogs are angels...but this boy truly is. He's the dog of my life. I will miss him terribly.

July 29, 2021

The dove hatchling I rescued a month ago...

He spends his days outside in the trees. I came home early from work to mow the lawn and he popped down from above to say hello. I still put food out for him…apples and a homemade seed mixture…and of course, water. He flies further out each day but comes back several times a day when I call for him. He sleeps in the house at night…I’ll let him do that as long as he wants to.

July 27, 2021

Update on the dove hatchling I rescued.

A month ago, I posted about a dove hatchling that was blown out of its nest during a thunderstorm. It’s sibling died and the parents didn’t come back to care for the remaining baby.

I’ve spent the last month feeding this little one baby bird food with a syringe and he’s now weaned and flying pretty well. For a week he’s spent his days in an enclosure in my backyard with food and water so that he can get used to outside sights and sounds. Yesterday I let him test his wings and he took a few hot laps around the yard before settling on a structure on my patio…coming down several times to eat and drink. I’m not going to lie…I cried in and off all day worrying about this little one. He returned into the neighbor’s maple tree several times but would come back to the patio. I was able to call him down last night and brought him in to sleep.

We ventured outside today and started the whole process again. This time, he ate and drank and went straight up to the maple tree. I called him down twice before I went to work to eat/drink before he flew off again. I came home from work after three hours to find the neighbor out in his back yard with a freaking jackhammer and my little dove (we’ve named him The Ragamuffin) was nowhere to be found.

I walked all around my yard calling for him and after a half hour or so he flew into the maple tree above my patio. A little while later he came down to eat. I scooped him up and took him inside and he’s been resting. Now that the jackhammer guy has stopped, I’ll take the ragamuffin back out to see how he does.

This is so stressful and clearly I’ve become attached. We will continue to let him outside during the day and I am sure he will venture further each day. Maybe he will come and go for a while…I hope so. One of these days he just might decide to go. I don’t know what to expect. He did more today than yesterday.

Some pics of my little dude below.

July 2, 2021

Baby bird whose nest blew out of a tree in last night's thunderstorm.

We left this one and its sibling at the base of the tree last night hoping the parents would come back. This morning they were still there...one was dead and this little one was still alert and breathing. I was afraid a magpie would eat it because they are just hell on baby birds around here and it is 100 degrees again today and I knew he had to be dehydrated. So, I picked him (her?) and warmed him....even in our heat, he didn't feel warm.

I held him until he perked up and gave him a little water. I put him in my pocket at drove to Petsmart to get a container of crop milk replacement and he's already had two meals today. The internets say that he will eat 4 times per day and graduate to seeds and berries when he fledges. I believe this chick (the babies are called squabs) is a Eurasian Collared Dove. Non native and invasive in some areas. However, I just couldn't leave him to die by that tree.

I have a pet Conure and am keeping him well away from this dove in case there are any diseases to worry about.

He won't win a beauty contest but he is quite a fighter!! Wish him luck. I have a video of him eating his first meal...but I don't know how to post videos here on DU.

June 23, 2021

My 16 year old son got his first real job today!!

I wanted him to wait to apply for jobs until he was fully vaccinated...and he is now. We built a resume which was a challenge since he doesn't have much of a work history. We noted he was a 4.0 student and an academic letter award winner...he's played piano since he was 7 years old and he received an award of excellence from the Royal Conservatory of Music in 2019 and he played travel baseball for a decade...none of which applied to the job he was going for but these experiences and commitments help build the young man he is today.

Anyway, he was hired as a cashier at the local Ace Hardware and get this...the manager who hired him also hired me as a cashier at another small hardware store back in 1983. I worked there through college. He didn't know that Owen was my kiddo until after the interview. Can you even believe that? Small world indeed.

I'm in tears, I'm so thrilled. Thanks for reading.

June 22, 2021

Red Alert: Montana Governor proposes open season for trappers on wolves, otters etc.

You might not live in Montana, but wildlife and wild places belong to all of us. The link below describes the horrific proposed changes. Email addresses and phone numbers are in the article. If you have a moment, please email, call or reach out to these commissioners. Threaten to not come to Montana...or patronize Montana businesses. I'm a small business owner and I might be slitting my own throat but these changes cannot stand. Wolves and river otters belong in our mountains and rivers.

Trappers have too much power and influence. I can't even take my dog out for a hike without the worry and risk that she will get caught in a trap.

Targeting these animals puts other species at significant risk. I'm sick about this. I don't know what else to do.

The link below is from Footloose Montana, an anti-trapping organization so please know that it is biased but they're not wrong about what is being proposed.

https://mailchi.mp/51e42489888a/mr-potato-head-6783254?e=cca76a12e6

ETA: If you can afford to donate to Footloose Montana, here’s the link to their site: https://www.footloosemontana.org/
Footloose fighting hard to end trapping on public lands in Montana. They are well coordinated with similar organizations in other states.

June 15, 2021

My planned group hike on Sunday didn't go as planned.

I was supposed to hike into an alpine lake in the Rattlesnake Wilderness with my husband, son and one of our employees. There’s no trail to the lake and 10 minutes into the hike, I knew I couldn’t make in. It was raining, there were downed trees by the hundreds that I could not scale for even the short two miles as the crow flies. I sent the guys in without me and I went back to the trail head feeling really dejected. I walked up the hill overlooking the trailhead to take in the view and saw a trail that was behind a Forest Service locked gate. I grabbed my backpack and started in. What the hell? It’s better than feeling sad in the truck all day.

It was 7 miles to where the trail ended because of downed trees...I ate my lunch at that spot before I hiked the 7 miles back. I saw western tanagers, blue birds, red tails and a big black bear. I’m not gonna lie...I was really happy that bear was black and not a grizzly. I’m in decent shape but couldn’t outrun a griz. I posted the pic below of a log that the black bear crossed just before I did. Crazy!

It ended up being a glorious day. I made it back to the truck just 10 minutes before the guys did. They said their hike was hell. Mine was amazing and I’m grateful for the day.



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June 6, 2021

My little garden buddy today.

Pine Siskins have settled in to my feeders this past week. I stopped putting out oil seed in an effort to keep out the house sparrows and BAM! In came the Pine Siskins, nuthatches, chickadees and Evening Grosbeaks. It's been really fun. The Pine Siskins will let me get really close to them...they don't seem fearful at all.

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