He is either getting comfortable with my presence or he didn’t know I was nearby. I would imagine he was unaware of me because shortly after eating the leaves on that small branch he moved about fifty yards uphill and bedded down for the day.

This photo is poor because he was at least a hundred yards away when he lay down.

There was one new participant in my photo taking adventure today. I don’t know where this house cat came from but he/she was on a mission, passed right by and just kept going.

I’ve been taking most of my recent photos in the Glen Daniel area. This one little button-buck just keeps showing up. Probably out of all the wildlife photos I have taken in the past, except for maybe the gray fox, this little buck has given me the most photo opportunities and I think a few of them have resulted in some of my best photos to date.

After basically a whole day of seeing this young buck he even made an appearance on my game camera that night.

I saw an area right by the game camera where a deer had bedded down for the night so I have high hopes of getting some more photos with that camera.

I was out taking photos today in the snow. I have told folks around here that it will be March before we see our grass again. Since returning to West Virginia this is the worst winter so far.

I just wanted to share some pretty cool photos, I think so at least.

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One may look at the title to this post and wonder what in the world could Quiznos possibly have to do with mountaintop removal coal mining? My answer to that would be nothing but, in my opinion, their latest commercial has everything to do with the battle to stop this destructive form of coal mining.

I firmly believe the battle to save our homes is made tougher by folks perception of what it means to be a hillbilly. Quiznos has a commercial airing right now that leaves no doubt to what that perception is.

If you will notice at the bottom of the screen it states Dramatization: Do Not Attempt. Only hillbillies would do something this ignorant… right Quiznos?

It is things like this, in the 21st century, that leaves me wondering what in the hell is wrong with people today? Do you really think hillbillies are that ignorant and that we make hot tubs in our yards over an open flame… seriously?

I believe this is one of the main reasons the battle to save our mountains is all about the environment and nothing about our home. Unless we can get past true ignorance such as the Quiznos commercial we may never stop mountaintop removal coal mining.

For the record, this is a photo of a hillbilly hot tub. Does it look familiar to you?

Up until about ten years ago hunting was something I loved to do. I’m still undecided whether it was the actual hunting I enjoyed or being in the woods on a quiet misty morning or right at the edge of dark when some critters are going to the den while others are emerging. There are a few reasons I stopped hunting. I no longer squirrel hunt because most of the old timers I would give them to in exchange for mouth watering squirrel gravy have moved on to more peaceful groves. After literally years of hunting deer and not killing one, for whatever reason, I just quit hunting them. My heart had never really been in deer hunting. With the amount of deer I see in the mountains now, I would have to say I wasn’t trying very hard.

Deer season, with a bow, came in here in West Virginia about a week ago. I’ve noticed since moving to Bolt that at least some of the deer have apparently learned when not to be in the woods.

Sorry the photo is so bad but it was right at the edge of dark and I was about forty feet away. These deer were bedded down about forty feet from my back porch or they are right now as a matter of fact. All three were bedded down but the camera flash startled them, obviously. I only took two photos so I wouldn’t scare them too much. I think these deer have learned the best place to be during deer season because this is not the first year I have noticed an influx to the nearby fields right around deer season.

Just a couple of years ago I had about ten of them bedded down for the night right behind my house. If I had tossed a glass of water out of the kitchen window I could have gotten at least four of them wet.

I have nothing at all against hunting. If it came down to survival I would have no problem hunting what I needed to survive. I do still hunt only now it is with a camera. These deer may be dodging arrows but I got all three of them in one shot with my camera. Not very filling but to me, equally satisfying.

FYI – Basically this post was all over the place just so I could show you my trophies.

I have been able to do very little hiking or four wheeling this Fall but was finally able to get out in the mountains for a while yesterday. I have been wanting to go pretty bad because the foliage is at peak in the color change and if I had waited too much longer it would have been too late. I still didn’t get the photos I want to get and hopefully I can do that in the next day or so.

During my trips in the summer one thing I noticed different and was curious about was the lack of ground squirrel (chipmunk) activity. Usually if you go into any area in the woods and just sit or be quiet for a very short period of time the ground squirrels will make their presence known and are usually scampering about everywhere. This year the woods were strangely quiet and catching a glimpse of the ground squirrel was a rare occurrence. I’m not sure why that is but it was noticeable enough to pique my curiosity.

With the onset of the Fall season the ground squirrels have come out of hiding for nut gathering although their numbers still seem to be a lot lower than previous years.

It could be the fact that coyote are present in larger numbers now than ever before. I have yet to get a clear photo of the coyote as they are quite smart and very elusive. If you are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one in the mountains chances are it will not hang around long enough for a photo.

I don’t usually take photos of the ground squirrel but since their numbers seem to be dwindling I thought I would before they are all gone. The chipmunk in the photo was on the ground when I first saw it and I would say it went up this tree to get a better look at me.

At any rate I do plan to get some landscape photos with the peak colors hopefully very soon.

I do like to talk about the mountains but I also like to talk about other stuff. I think that is what hurt my blog last winter. It just sat forever with no updates basically because I don’t spend too much time in the woods when the temps are below freezing. I like to be where it is warm. Since I don’t go to the mountains much in the winter I didn’t really have anything to write about concerning the outdoors.

I do plan on spending some time this winter in the mountains taking photos but I don’t want to have to try and carry two blogs through the winter on what could be a small amount of content, depending on Mother Nature and my tolerance for the cold.

With that being said I’m going to start blogging again about other things that interest me or just catch my attention. In other words, I’m going to have fun with it again or at least try to.

Now getting to the subject related to the title of this post.

I’m not really a horoscope or astrology kinda guy but I do look at my horoscope from time to time just to see if it relates to anything going on in my life. I do that probably more out of curiosity than anything else and more times that not my horoscope has nothing to do with the current state of my life. But every once in a while it is a little too close to the mark.

One thing I have never in my life done was to make any kind of decision or be influenced in any way based on anything I’ve read in my horoscope.

Fair warning, I’m going to talk about mountaintop removal just a little. Recently I have been thinking about quitting my writing about the subject on the Stop MTR blog. I have even written a post there which is currently in draft to announce my plans to stop blogging about it. I haven’t posted it yet because for me that is a big decision. I am passionate about the mountains and somewhat driven to do what I feel is the right thing.

I had pretty much made up my mind though but after reading my horoscope yesterday I’ve had second thoughts. That in itself is strange because it’s just not like me.

This was yesterday’s horoscope from my homepage on MSN.

A large assembly of forces is gathering at this time to make a bold statement and an important pledge, dear Sagittarius. This is the kind of movement that brings together entire generations and unites people to form a revolution of some sort. Put away the petty issues, and think on a global scale. Educate yourself about what is going on in the world, and take a more aggressive stand in fighting for what you believe. A small group of intelligent individuals can make a tremendous impact.

I hope you can see what it is about it that pretty much just threw me for a loop and made me want to talk about it. If you are at all familiar with the battle against mountaintop removal coal mining I know you will see the relationship. As a matter of fact, it relates so well to the fight that it has me reconsidering my decision to quit writing about the subject.

This is so out of character for me I felt compelled to talk about it. I kind of feel silly letting my horoscope influence me but in this case I just really can’t help it. If there were ever a sign to help guide the heart, this would be it. That is, of course, if you believe in that kind of thing.

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Update -

I didn’t let the horoscope influence my final decision. I’ll still be in the battle, I just won’t be writing about it. The timing for a horoscope worded like the one in this post was just uncanny.

I don’t know if I can say enough how much I love this time of year in the mountains. On my trip yesterday the ATV put me in the area I wanted to be but hiking was the main order for the day.

I followed a deer trail and about fifty yards into the woods I began to notice the subtle but distinct work underway by the wildlife. Standing still for about ten minutes first revealed a multitude of squirrels foraging for winter stock. The first thing to draw my attention was the cuttings falling from a tall oak. What are cuttings? When a squirrel harvests a nut such as an acorn the first thing they will do is cut the shell from around the nut with their teeth. The pieces that are discarded and allowed to fall to the ground below are called cuttings. On a windless day, such as yesterday, it is those cuttings landing in the dry leaves that draw ones attention to the forests canopy.

With 90% of the leaves still on the trees and without actually seeing the animal its presence is easily verified with patience. When the squirrel finishes cutting the nut out of the shell you can very easily see the branches shaking as it makes it way out to the ends of the small branches to retrieve another. Back when I would hunt the squirrel that is one sign that I would watch for especially on a windless day.

I ended up actually really going no further than those fifty yards. I didn’t need to because with just a few minutes of being quiet it was evident  I was surrounded by wildlife prepping for winter.

This squirrel came real close to me and seemed to be less concerned with me than finding acorns. Instead of foraging the treetops it was gathering from nuts that had already fallen to the ground. It would take the nut into nearby trees and cut it in the relative safety of the lower branches.

In a very short period of time I saw maybe six squirrels and definitely two deer. I say maybe six squirrels because with their constant disappearing and reappearing I may have seen the same one more than once. In the spring or summer if one were to encounter that many squirrels in the same area you can almost bet the atmosphere would be much more playful with them chasing each other through the trees. In the fall they are all business and critters on a mission gathering nuts for the coming winter.

Neither of the deer revealed themselves enough to photograph. The first one was about thirty yards away at first moving parallel to me and then away. The very slight breeze that was present was at my face as I faced the deer. With her casualness, I’m pretty sure she never knew I was there. If that one had turned and came towards me I would have been able to get a shot at it with the camera almost immediately. The second one saw me first as I made my way back to the ATV. It was probably seventy five yards away and had I not been near the ATV it may have come on out into the clearing I was parked in. I believe the sight of myself combined with an ATV was just too ominous for her. Both deer were does.

I went to the woods yesterday to not only enjoy a beautiful day but also to get a close look at the color change progression. As you can see from the foliage in the background of the photo, it’s still pretty green in my neck of the woods.

This weekend is forecast to be decent weather so you can bet I’ll be back on the trails.

I absolutely love hiking when the leaves are at or near peak colors. When the sun hits some of the trees one could easily imagine the tree was on fire. The orange, red, yellow, and multi-colored leaves putting on a fabulous display.

I’ve been watching the ridge behind my house for the optimum time to go on a hiking and photo taking adventure. In this area the green really seems to be hanging on till the last minute before starting the change. To look at the maple in my front yard you would think peak had come and gone. The mountains are still green but my little maple lost the majority of its leaves over a week ago.

With the temps now at night in the mid to low 40’s I would imagine once the leaves do start changing, they will go to and through peak fairly quickly. This will be my first season with a decent camera and you can believe when the change enters peak I’ll be right in the middle of it. Hopefully I’ll have some cool photos to show you.