Saturday, July 14, 2007

Stalking Rabbits

I was out in my front yard and saw a rabbit hopping across the driveway. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to practice fox walking and wide angle vision. So I slowed down, and fox walked around the garden until I was about 7 feet from her. At that point she noticed me, perhaps I was moving too fast. She hopped to the other side of my neighbors yard so I ran inside and grabbed my camera to get a few pictures of her for the blog.

And she's off under the fence. I've seen her around alot recently. Ashley said she saw her with a baby rabbit too.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Ancestral Knowledge Work

For the next 2 weeks I'll be working for Ancestral Knowledge. So there wont be many/any new posts or any new projects, while I dedicate my time to Ancestral Knowledge.

To find out more about Ancestral Knowledge and their mission, visit their site:
Ancestral Knowledge

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Berry Harvest

Ashley and I went into the woods to harvest berries today, and came back with a full bowl of them. There were a few patches around, and with ripened red raspberries they stood out against the green landscape. They taste much sweeter than just a few days ago. Here is a picture Ashley took of our gatherings.We could have gathered more but didn't, because I felt we had all we needed for the afternoon.

I noticed there was areas where the plants had been flattened slightly. I don't know of anyone else who gathers berries near here, so I'm guessing the deer have been eating them.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Berry Season


Berries are now almost fully in season. The raspberry patches near my house are almost fully ripe. I also found a blackberry bush near my old school that has a few berries that are close to being ripe enough to gather. The raspberries are ripening fast so I'll have to gather them tomorrow or sometime very soon before the birds and critters get to them.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Older beings and interesting finds


While traveling down a bike/walking trail through the woods, I stumbled upon a very old being. It's a very, very old Tulip Poplar tree. And being so old, it is also the largest Tulip Poplar I have ever seen. Its diameter is easily 10 foot, even with me and three friends we couldn't go completely around it. I'm not sure how long Tulip Poplars live, but I'd say it has been there for at least the last 50 years. There were no other trees nearby this large. Surprisingly it had no names or anything carved into the bark, or any visible serious damage, unlike some other old trees near here. The bark was actually looking rather decayed with age, but the upper branches looks alive and well, so I expect this tree to be around for many years to come.

Later on our way back home we stopped in a clearing near a creek. While exploring the creek a hawk (I'm not sure which species) flew in front of me and around to join up with its mate. I headed in their direction and found 2 feathers on the ground from them, in addition to a whitetail deer heading away from me. On the way back across the creek I found a large antler. Quite a rare find this late into summer, the squirrels usually get to them fairly early. This antler has no marks from squirrels or mice chewing on them.