Trail Camera

This photo is from the front gate where the scent post is scratched and marked each morning.

We have published this one before. Just looking at it again as we have another similar one closer to the house. The first time several people thought this was a small deer, but it is too small for even a fawn. In some views it appears to have a longer tail than a deer. Maybe a fox, a cat... both scratch scent posts, so could be either. The dogs love to roll in its scent, whatever it is.

Trail Camera

We had some photos developed from the trail camera. This one is difficult to i.d. Is it a deer facing the camera or another furred animal with its back to the camera? In the actual print photo it looks more like the second, but on the computer it appears that there are eyes in the front... unsure.

Yesterday there was a deep scent post, newly dug , scratched and marked with scat. There are two locations for obvious scent posts right now... one is down near the front gate where we've photographed most of the wildlife and the other is at a crossing of trails nearer to the cabin, just below an apple tree. We had i.d.'d a fox and deer at the one nearer the house.

Buddy

Buddy came to us as a rescue a few years ago, and, as I've recounted before, he was a bit hard to handle, he had mange, some serious shoulder problems, had to have some bad teeth extracted and he had allergy problems. Today his shoulder is all but recovered, his coat is good, his appetite is great and most importantly, he can free run without running off. He is a veteran of Alaska and the UP 200, but came to us locally. He still bites the gangline in a hookup and we've thought about solving that by trying him in lead, instead of wheel.

Yesterday with six other dogs he led the way on a trail walk. There is a fox den in the tall grass he is exploring, (in the photo), but he did come out when I called him. Now I can let him out and he will sit on the front porch, peacefully, getting along with all dogs.

Wildlife

As I'm writing this, the dogs are wild about something. It's still dark, but the full moon is over their pens. Something is driving them crazy, but I can't see it with my light... something in the hillside just down from them. The full moon makes all the wildlife wander more.

These deer in the photo come up on the other side of the house, where Skinny is tethered out before bedtime. They don't seem to bother him much and they are not fazed by him. He does ask to come in if they hang around too much.

Photo: fawn twins, one little spikehorn and one doe fawn with Mama. Hope they stick around here as refuge during hunting season.

Autumn at Summer Place

This is one of my favorite times of day... walking with the dogs. We go out after the kennel breakfast, five or six dogs and me... they check every scent post from the night before and I amble along, enjoying them, and the every day changes that occur on the trails.

We have some new trail camera photos to identify, but it will take a zoom to do it.

Photo: Frita, Skinny, Chena, Sulatna, Liller

Frank Hall

Frank Hall, sled builder and musher, died last week. This is a link to the article:
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1190124379196990.xml&coll=3

There is also a wonderful movie tribute link on www.sleddogcentral.com

We purchased Frank's and Nettie's dog truck a few years ago and had a chance to visit Frank's and Nettie's dog yard and sled shop. We also have a Frank Hall sled which is beautifully built.

Our sincere condolences to Nettie and family.

Skinny's Team

PHOTO: Skinny and Ruthie, Lead; Buffy and Medio, Swing; Rosie and Matilda, Team; Quattro and Herman, Wheel.

Skinny has some health problems, but we give him the nod for the first run , in lead, as he is SO excited to do it. He would be heartbroken if we overlooked him. He's not ready to hang it up yet. His co leader today, in the photo, was Ruthie, his daughter.

4 teams, two 8 dogs, two five dogs

PHOTO: Lead, Matilda, left in photo, LilleN right lead; Buffy , left swing, Ruthie , right); Zoom with pulled harness, left team, Medio, right team; Kiddo , wheel left; Sherpa, wheel right.

Our purpose today was to get dogs running, to look at each dog individually and to give Matilda some leader training.

We ran two eight dog teams and two five dog teams. Matilda ran in lead with Lillen and with Ruthie. She more than pulled her weight, running fullout with a taut tug line. Ruthie, on the other hand , was not 'with it' today, unusual for her. LilleN is an excellent leader trainer as are Skinny and LilleR.

We did a rating just for kennel purposes and this is how they ranked:

l. Matilda (for all out effort and meeting expectations) (Lead, twice, team once)

2. Skinny (for being great,giving it his all) (Lead)

3. Medio (for being ready/steady every time/willing to run anywhere with any dog (four times in team)

4. Herman ( steady , ready, sturdy) (Wheel, once)

5. Kiddo ( good, ready/steady as always) (Wheel, once, pulled hard)

6. LilleN (for being great) (Lead, once)

7. LilleR (for coming back from surgery and being willing, eager and great) (Lead, once)

8. Sherpa (for great effort and focus and enthusiasm) (Wheel, once)

9 .Buffy ( not in lead as usual, but steady, eager, tough) (Swing, twice)

10. Zoom (running with a pulled harness, but steady) (Team)

11. Quattro (tangling a bit, but she finishes happy, she gets there) (Wheel, once)

12. Ruthie (good, but off her stride) (Lead,three times; swing, once)

13. Rosie (she'd rank higher but too many dogs did well; she was remarkable in being unremarkable) (Team)

14. Tsunami, (hard to hook up, but good once on his way, just needs more time) (Team , paired with Medio)

15. Josie ( for ONCE she did not pull out of harness, go Josie!) (Paired with Medio)

16. Buddy (steady and good, nothing wrong, just steady/unremarkable, he did bite my pants and the gangline))

17. Yeti ( ate one good harness; tried to eat a 2nd harness; ran completely without a harness,

solo, in wheel, just neckline, but he finished!)

Those who say mushers force dogs to run should have been around today... everyone wanted to go, everyone gave it great effort and didn't want to quit.

Cooler weather

It's cooler this a.m. and great for running dogs. Our sunflowers survived the winds the other night and are like bright beacons around the sandy dog pens.

Photos later if we get some on our runs.

David Monson runs to fight Leukemia

This is a link to a site regarding David Monson's return to running to raise awareness and to gain financial support for research into finding a cure for Leukemia and Lymphoma.

It is just a year since Susan Butcher (David's wife) lost her valiant fight to overcome leukemia.
I am passing along the website received in a letter from David asking for support.

http://www.active.comm/donate/tntwaak/godave

David and his daughters, Tekla and Chisana, will be Race Marshals this year for the Yukon Quest.

Citizen Scientist and Climate Change

This is the title of an article in BACKPACKER magazine, September , 2007 issue, "I, Citizen Scientist". It is an issue dedicated mostly to the future of wilderness, it examines global warming, talks about looking at gear in a more planet friendly way, etc. Alaska is one of the oft studied and reported on areas, of course, regarding glacier meltdown and there is quite of bit of information in this issue.

I particularly liked this article as it is much of what we do in our daily walks here in Wisconsin. We walk the trails, check for foot prints, scat, etc... take a daily inventory of happenings within our 80 acres.

The opening sentence is: (p.115), "At the front lines of climate change research, regular hikers are starting to pull their weight. For our correspondent, that means getting very, very excited about fox droppings, road kill and the world's most expensive mousetraps." (sounds like mornings around here, although our only mouse trap is a very protective cat).

The Editorial Notes for this issue go on to say: (p.13) "The eyewitness testimony in this issue is damning in its uniformity, but it's just a start. You and I need to do more. As backpackers, we are the advance scouts of global warming. the ones who will see its effect first and can report its progress. Get out there, take notes and testify about what you see... and back up every word with meaningful changes in your daily life."

It certainly is true for the sled dog drivers as well ... we see later training times , changes in terrain, plants (trees are growing faster in our area, warmer soil?). Of course some of this is cyclical/ aging, but some is also what seems to be a noticeable increase in temperatures and precipitation.

Today is September 5, 2007. It was 90 degrees this afternoon. This morning on the trails we found fox scat, some unidentifiable scat which intrigued the dogs, diggings of skunks in the dry mosses, some more overturned logs (possibly the bears are still around). There was a slight rain early in the a.m., just enough to tamp down some of the dust. Our trail camera did not catch anything last night but two dogs were so excited about something outside their pen that they broke through the chain link. We spent much of the day repairing that so I won't find them on the front porch again tomorrow morning (hopefully).

Coyote? Fox?

All 3 of these images were taken in the same place on the trail. This looks like a well fed coyote or fox to me, more like a

coyote , I think. Anyone guessing?

Cat in field

Field Camera

With the full moon, the ripe berries and cherries, the wildlife is abundant. The field camera has

caught some photos. It looks like one is a domestic cat, another a coyote?, but this one I can't identify. Is it a cat? Some say a deer, but the cat in the photo is the same size. Will include the cat photo on another post. Anyone's eyes know what this is?