Random Thoughts for a Tuesday

--If I didn't know better, the smells outside right now make it seem like spring. That's what rain will do.

--Fortunately, we have enough snow on the ground that it is holding up despite the rain. I had to shovel today to keep some entryways clear.

--Hopefully the weather forecast will come true, and we will have some fresh snow to mix in with the older snow.

--I'm not ready for spring!

--Robert left two weeks ago, and is currently in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. He is handling for a friend who is running the Yukon Quest Dogsled Race. He sent us a couple of links to keep up with the happenings of the race: http://www.yukonquest.com/ and http://www.bushalaskaexpeditions.com/ .

--Greg made more beer today. He's stocking up for summer.

--I sewed some shirts for prizes for the upcoming Winter Tracks Festival. Check out the website for more information.

The Mangy Wolf

Here is my attempt at a photograph of the local mangy wolf. Another area blogger, Sue at Voyageur Canoe Outfitters , wrote recently about this wolf. The wolf has set up housekeeping on the south shore of Gunflint Lake, as she has been seen widely throughout our area.

I say she, because Greg believes that it is a female wolf, based on observations of her and some of her habits. Another person, who saw her in pursuit of a deer, concurred. He was driving on the Mile of Pine road, when a deer came careening onto the road, with this wolf in pursuit. The wolf paused for a moment to urinate in the road, and didn't seem to be bothered by the car at all.

In late December, three wolves were in the yard of Sharlene, Greg's mom. She was watching them go about their business, and then she noticed the mangy wolf hanging around, too. She said that it was very evident that the lone wolf was not allowed to be anywhere near the other three. It was as though they were shunning her. It makes sense, as they need to protect themselves from the mange. That same trio was spotted a day later, right on the ice in front of our cabin called Birch. One of the three had a noticeable problem with its gait when it ran. We suspect that it had a dislocated shoulder.

Several folks in the last weeks had been telling me that they were seeing this mangy wolf, but it was a long time before I finally caught a glimpse of her. One of the first things I noticed was how large her head seemed in proportion to her body. Then I realized that it is because the body of a healthy wolf is fluffed up and filled out with a thick coat of hair at this time of the year. While she is definitely lacking in a decent coat, she does not look as sickly as a mangy wolf that we saw several years ago when we had chickens. At that point, I should say we had one rooster. That mangy wolf came in to the yard to try and get Blizzard, to give him the same fate as the two little hens we had lost the previous night. That wolf looked to be in much worse shape and it was summertime. This girl actually looks like she might pull through. We give her credit for making it through two cold snaps so far.

She also has the habit of dropping a large pile of scat at the bottom of the highline ski trail, out near our gravel pit. It is certainly a decent pile she leaves, noticeably full of fur. So it appears that she is able to still hunt and pursue in order to get protein into her diet.

Though I haven't been able to find out the possibility of this, we are hoping that she can survive the winter and somehow rid herself of the mange.

What a Great Winter

I love to see the thick covering on the rooftops. Of course, this means that some roofs have needed shoveling. Fortunately, we had kids around to help with that. I'm not very good with heights. In years past, I would get up on a roof if I really needed to, but tend to avoid it now if someone else is willing.

I'd rather be on the ground, seeing things at this level. Recently, I had the opportunity to go out with Greg when he was grooming the ski trails. The Pisten Bully groomer does an amazing job of smoothing out the trail and leaving new tracks.

Doesn't it just make you want to get out the skis and poles?

Looks like we are in for a cold night, but then a bit of a warm-up. We got a few inches of fresh snow a day or so ago, so the trails will be in terrific shape this weekend. Snowshoeing is prime right now, too. So much snow, so many options for fun!

So How's Moses?

On occasion, we get asked how our buddy Moses is doing. It's been five years since this donkey came to live at Heston's, and he has definitely become one of the family. The picture above was taken last week at our bonfire. Greg thought that he might want to come and enjoy it with us, but we weren't letting him help out. Without opposable thumbs, his "help" is a little..shall we say clumsier...than really helpful.

He watched as we got the fire started, but then retreated a short ways up the hill. We think that the fire bothered him a bit, although he did enjoy being around his people. He also had a sled full of hay to occupy him. That kept him out of the bratwurst, too.

The fall was a bit rough for Moses. We didn't expect it to happen, but he was really missing his donkey buddy Jethro. In early September, Jethro moved to Montana, after accepting a part-time position there. He left in a trailer, and now resides with two other donkeys in the western part of the state.

He had an interesting fall, as he had to learn how to be a pack animal. His job involves carrying camping equipment up in to the mountains for hunting trips. If the hunt is successful, he is asked to carry down fresh meat. It's not a job for the fainted hearted or the weak. We always knew that Jethro was a strong boy, but we didn't have those kinds of jobs for him. (Somehow, I can't see a donkey packing off to a cabin for me, carrying my clean linens and vacuum cleaner.)

When a donkey is carrying a load, if he stops and lays down, he is unable to get back up by himself. It means that the load has to be removed from his back before he can stand up again. Then he gets re-loaded, and the trek continues. Jethro tried this a couple of times--shall we call it a work stoppage? But he soon realized that he didn't like the feeling of not being able to get back up when he wanted. After that, he signed on to his fate and learned that packing is really quite enjoyable.

Like Moses, we miss Jethro, too. One of these days, we'll go out and visit him. Maybe Greg will even get a chance to go on a camping trip with him. That will be a fun reunion.