Filed under: Daily life in the Wild West | Tags: Arctic, Bald Eagle, birds, Chicken McNugget, dogs, Eagles, Foothills, Golden Eagle, Migrate, moles, Montana, Mountains, Neighbors, Puppy, snow, Weather, Whitetail deer, Wild Turkey
After a recent Arctic blast which brought temperatures of -23 F. to Montana, we’re now having amazingly mild weather for January. We’ve got temps in the 40’s by day and 20’s by night. On the downside, we’re not seeing many eagles near our house in the foothills. We’re assuming that, since there’s so little snow in the mountains, they have no need to migrate to lower ground to find food. We do see the occasional bald eagle fly up and down the river, and every so often, a golden eagle appears (then it’s time to bring in our little dogs…they would be a Chicken McNugget to a big eagle).
I have 22 whitetail deer who come by every afternoon for a snack, along with 7 wild turkeys and an assortment of birds….they’re my favorite neighbors. The dogs are having a blast, digging holes in search of moles. The ‘girls’ are going on 10 years old, and they still have the energy of a puppy.
Our firewood is almost gone, and more is on the way. Gotta’ be ready for the next big blast, right? All in all, we love a Montana winter!
Filed under: What the heck is going on? | Tags: accountability, Government, HB1804, illegal, immigration, Oklahoma, pet over-population, tough love, undocumented worker
Oklahoma has passed a law (HB 1804) which I hope that many other states, including mine, will adopt. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-09-immigcover_N.htm
IT is a tough love kind of approach, and I like it. It brings accountability into the illegal alien situation…something that’s been missing for oh so long. Frankly, accountability is missing in so many areas these days.
I am not against legal immigration, however, I AM in the camp that is tired of the illegal alien situation. I don’t feel pressured to be politically-correct by sugar-coating the term into something like “undocumented worker.” Call it what it is: ILLEGAL. If I do something that is illegal, breaking a law, will I be pitied and coddled by the government, with no accountability?? I’m sure I will not.
And, yes, I do realize that many of these illegals may be coming to the U.S. because of poor conditions in their countries. While I am sympathetic, I do not believe that providing endless resources for them should be the taxpayers’ burden. I also don’t believe that poor conditions should be an excuse for their breaking our laws….it is NOT okay to sneak across our borders…it is illegal.
Consider this: I am an animal lover and am very sympathetic to the plight of pet over-population and homelessness….however, I have enough sense to know that I simply cannot afford to adopt EVERY homeless animal. Yes, it breaks my heart, but I must consider that I cannot deplete all of my finances and send my household (and my family & pets) into ruin, in order to adopt every homeless animal who shows up on my doorstep. It is a tragic situation, but it can only be fixed using logic and proper planning (a whole other topic altogether), not by applying a band-aid. Just as I cannot afford to adopt every homeless pet, the U.S. cannot afford to do something very similar.
Amnesty? NO. It didn’t work before, so why should we think it would work if done again. Don’t repeat the same mistake and expect a different outcome. Let’s fix the problem.
Filed under: Daily life in the Wild West
Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled.
Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life.. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t bothering you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance. (I love that one!)
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’.
Always drink upstream from the herd..
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment. Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.
If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around..
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Filed under: Daily life in the Wild West
Animal miracles
This video tells a great story about Shag-Ra the horse and his owner. I think she’s right…he is a gift!
Filed under: Daily life in the Wild West
Surprised Kitty (Original)
This might be the cutest little kitten ya’ ever saw!!!
Filed under: Daily life in the Wild West | Tags: baby turkey, blowing, cat, critter, neck, rumbling, tree, Wild Turkey, wind, windows, wings
We’ve had a family of wild turkeys around the house, for a month or so. The mom and 4 turkettes took up residence and sleep high in one of our trees. The babies follow their mom up the tree and onto a top branch. Then mom gathers the four turkettes under her wings, and they sleep there all night. We’ve watched the turkettes grow from little babies, and we were sad to wake up this morning and find one of the babies had died during the night.
The winds were blowing so hard last night that our windows and were rumbling. I’m guessing that one of the babies was blown out of the tree. The thing is, his neck had been chewed on…I wonder if our cat just couldn’t resist? Or was it some other critter who got hold of him?
So it’s a sad day here at our house. May the little guy rest in peace..
Filed under: Daily life in the Wild West
The Tar Sands Blow
“The Canadian Tar Sands is the world’s largest, and dirtiest, energy project. Dirty oil sands crude generates as much as five times greenhouse gas as conventional oil. Yet, unless steps are taken by the U.S. and Canada, both countries will become irrevocably addicted to the dirtiest oil on earth. Totally lame. “
Filed under: What the heck is going on? | Tags: Chimpanzee, Congress, Experiments, Grace Slick, Great Ape Protection Act, Invasive procedures, Legislation, Military, PCRM
More than 1,000 chimpanzees still live in research and testing laboratories in the United States. These laboratories are permitted to keep chimpanzees in metal cages about the size of a kitchen table, deprive them of normal social interaction, and repeatedly subject them to invasive procedures.
The United States is the only nation that still makes large-scale use of chimpanzees in invasive research. But legislation recently introduced in Congress could help chimpanzees held in U.S. laboratories. The Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA) would phase out all invasive research on chimpanzees and release federally owned chimpanzees to permanent sanctuaries.
Many other countries have already banned or severely restricted experiments on chimpanzees and other great apes because of a growing awareness of the serious scientific problems with these experiments. But the movement to end chimpanzee experiments is also based on our expanding knowledge of their rich social and emotional lives—and the suffering caused by life in a laboratory. READ MORE…
PCRM Good Medicine Magazine Ready for Retirement: Will Congress Release Chimpanzees Used in Experiments? Summer 2009.
