An Office With A View & More

I’ve been spending a tremendous amout of time in the mountains. A couple of days ago while setting up a game camera, I was standing there waiting for my laptop to boot up when I thought to myself, now this is an office with a view.

I’ve moved the game cameras a couple of times since the last post. One of them I had moved to Martins Creek for a few days. I captured a number of bear pictures but every one of them was with the bear right at the camera. Basically all you can see is fur like in the photo below. I wanted to show this photo because of the unique appearance of this bear.

I found the strip of fur down the middle of its back a little odd.

I haved moved that camera away from there for the time being because of a lot of people out ginsenging. Best not to tempt people, it helps to keep an honest man honest. Anyway, I’ll put the camera back later in the year so hopefully I can capture an entire photo of this bear.

Along those lines - I used to love to hunt, being in the mountains at the break of daylight anxiously waiting for whatever game was in season. I love the entire ritual of hunting because it brings man back to nature. Tracking game, knowing the signs and habits - matching wits with mother nature. More often that not, mother nature prevails.

This year I’m going to start hunting again. The only fifference is that I will be shooting my game with a digital camera. I want to do the entire hunting experience, with a twist, right down to an early morning deer stand. Hunting is 99% for the experience and 1% for the moment. Instead of pulling the trigger I’ll be pushing a shutter release. Every other aspect will be the same. Should make for some interesting posts in the future.

Moving on - I have been telling friends, even sometimes total strangers, about the benefits of having black snakes around. I know a lot of people hate snakes. When most people encounter snakes their train of thought runs along one of two lines, kill it or run like hell. They do this without really thinking about the snake itself. I call it the serpent reaction.

Imagine the man who killed the harmless black snake only to be bitten by the deadly rattlesnake.

Thanks to Judy for these photos.

There you have it. One last time, some snakes are handy to have around. Case in point, the Eastern Rat Snake.

I’m going to finish this post with another photo from the game cameras. The brand of camera is Remington Ghost. In IR photo taking mode, it sure made this deer look like a ghost.

Until next time.