This gallery contains 16 photos.
The subject of this week’s Forestry Friday is Ponderosa pine. It is a tree that I deal with in my job everyday. I been involved in the harvesting and planting of millions of these trees. Ponderosa pine is one of … Continue reading
We have a new young visitor in our home. Mary tells all about him!
Meet Saturday Night Kintaro of Akiyama. We call him Kinta. He will be a guest at our home for several months before he is able to join his family in Japan.
Japan is a rabies free country. Kinta was born in Montana, USA. The US is not a rabies free country. He comes from Saturday Night Golden Retrievers.
The procedure goes something like this, Kinta will receive a rabies vaccination as soon as he is old enough. Then he will receive a booster a month later. A month after that, his blood will be tested for rabies titers. If his titer level is high enough, he then must wait for six months before going home. Once in Japan, he will be observed for several hours prior to being released to his family. He will also undergo many other health certifications prior to getting a green light to breed…
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This gallery contains 8 photos.
We affectionately call them “Nature Nooks”, but the official name is “Habitat Retention Areas” or HRAs. Simply put, they are groups of trees left unharvested inside a logging unit. The purpose is to leave mature tree thickets that provide hiding … Continue reading
Gopher Snake
We just returned from a visit to family in Arkansas and Louisiana. I took my sketch book with me as I usually do. I don’t get as much art time as I like so I grab it when I can. I had the brilliant idea that I could draw on the plane. I worked on one pen and ink, that has been a WIP, on the way there. The ride was pretty smooth and I will post that picture in the future.
The return trip was a little different. We had a four-hour leg from Houston to Sacramento. I decided to challenge myself to complete this snake picture during the flight. After subtracting the takeoff and landing and a couple visits from the drink cart, no adult beverages were involved, I really had less than three hours. I had no help from the pilots, whom I am sure sought out as much extra turbulence as they could. The line work is a bit spastic, but I hope it communicates snake. Despite the turbulence and sitting in the middle of a three seat row in economy between Mary, small, and some 7’5″ guy on my right, yes I’m right-handed, I managed to finish it. It is a good thing for me that snakes don’t have any straight lines!
My model!
I photographed this little gopher snake late this Summer. It was my “Snake On The Plane.” Mary thought I should have titled this post “Snake, Rattle and Roll!” Great title, if it had been a rattlesnake I would have used it.
This gallery contains 12 photos.
Fall has hit its peak in the high country. We were in the mountains for the weekend. The leaves have turned and were dropping enthusiastically, but Sunday was the day. Sunday was the day that Mother Nature performed her striptease … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
Without a doubt squirrels are the most visible mammals in the forest. Now is their most active time. With acorns dropping from the oaks like big hailstones, the squirrels are in high gear. When I stopped to get a picture … Continue reading
Why a blue bird on a fence? I say “why not!”
This gallery contains 5 photos.
If you’re out in the woods and you find a big W painted on a tree, just remember W is for wildlife. When planning and laying out a timber harvest, foresters have to protect the other resources in the forest, … Continue reading
This gallery contains 20 photos.
Summer ended and with it the wildflowers, or so it seemed. So I’ve watched and found many wildflowers here are still trying to squeeze out the last bit of warmth from the season. Most have lost the luster of Spring. … Continue reading
The Gray Fox
When I was a young child my mother had the record album Jimmie Rodgers Sings Folk Songs. I loved this record. One of the songs on it was The Fox And The Goose.
I came upon this little gray fox not long ago, and this song played in my head all day. I think the fox was a vixen, because she posed like a Parisian runway model.
The Fox And The Goose
by Jimmie Rodgers
Well, the fox went out upon a windy night,
Prayed to the moon, a gonna give him light,
He had many long miles to go that night,
Before he’d reach-a that town-o, town-o, town-o,
He had many long miles to go that night,
Before he’d reach-a that town-o.
Well the fox, he came to a great big pen,
Where the ducks and the geese, they were kept therein,
He said, “One of you’s a-gonna grease my chin,
Before I leave this town-o, town-o, town-o,
One, one of you’s a-gonna grease my chin,
Before I leave-a this town-o.”
Well, he grabbed the grey goose by the neck,
Throwed a duck up across his back,
And he did not mind their quack, quack, quack,
And their legs all a-dangling down-o, down-o, down-o,
No, he did not mind their quack, quack, quack,
And their legs all a-dangling down-o.
Well old Mother Flipper-Flopper jumped out of bed,
Threw back the shutter and stuck out her head,
And yelled, “John, John, John! Well, the grey goose is gone,
And the fox runs away from the town-o, town-o, town-o!”
“John, John, John! The grey goose, he’s gone,
And the fox runs away from the town-o!”
Well old John went up to the top of the hill,
He blew his horn both loud and shrill,
And the fox said, “I better hurry up with my kill,
They’re gonna soon be on my trail-o, trail-o, trail-o!”
Yes the fox said, “I better hurry up with my kill,
They’re gonna soon be on my trail-o!”
Well the fox, he came to his cozy den,
There sat the little ones, eight, nine, ten,
Said, “Pop, Pop, Pop, you better go back again,
‘Cause it must be a mighty fine town-o, town-o, town-o!”
“Pop, Pop, Pop, you better go back again,
‘Cause it must be a mighty fine town-o!
Well the fox and his wife, without any strife,
Cut up the goose with a fork and a knife,
And they never never had such a feast in their life,
And the little ones chewed on a bone-o, bone-o, bone-o,
No, they never never had such a feast in their life,
And the little ones chewed on a bone-o.
The End
THE FORESTER ARTIST 