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Vineyard Safari
December 20, 2009 Filed in: Vineyard
Alright, so I’m a little late in getting the next blog post up.The holidays are going well though!
I may have been distracted a bit lately, but the critter cam that nabbed the bear photo in the previous post has it’s never blinking eye scanning the trees for us.
Here are the additional shots that were nabbed recently. (all of these shots are at the same location noted in the map of the previous post.
Here we have a very nice buck that has come along for a visit. Pretty sure he is the one who has been eating the grapes and nibbling off the new growth this past season!
This boar must have hiked over on the OT from Wild Boar Ridge where the Council Bluff campground is located.
Notice his traveling partner, Mr. Raccoon, slinking around in the background.
Have a look at this big fella! Of course, I was like “Mountain Lion!” with my jaw on the floor, but I suppose it is a bobcat. A big bobcat!
So, who is ready for that hike?
I may have been distracted a bit lately, but the critter cam that nabbed the bear photo in the previous post has it’s never blinking eye scanning the trees for us.
Here are the additional shots that were nabbed recently. (all of these shots are at the same location noted in the map of the previous post.
Here we have a very nice buck that has come along for a visit. Pretty sure he is the one who has been eating the grapes and nibbling off the new growth this past season!
This boar must have hiked over on the OT from Wild Boar Ridge where the Council Bluff campground is located.
Notice his traveling partner, Mr. Raccoon, slinking around in the background.
Have a look at this big fella! Of course, I was like “Mountain Lion!” with my jaw on the floor, but I suppose it is a bobcat. A big bobcat!
So, who is ready for that hike?
Where The Wild Things Are
October 17, 2009 Filed in: Vineyard
The movie has released! I need to dig around and find the book and give the little one a few reads of it before we go. However, there appear to be wild things creeping about off-screen as well! During the camp from the previous post there was some talk about what might be attracted to the persimmon tree tucked in a corner of the northeast field.
[The above map of the grounds should give a little bit of reference. As for scale, each marked spot is around 300 - 400 yards away.]
My best guess as to what kind of critters might be congregating around the persimmon tree would be raccoons and the like. Maybe even a wild boar! There are definitely wild boar in the area. The nearby Council Bluff Recreation Area campground is on “Wild Boar Ridge”. But what was discovered as the potential culprit of the scat lying about was a surprise indeed! Have a look:
The ol’ American Black Bear! How about that!? For a slew of interesting info visit The American Bear Association. Based on the maps I have looked at, the Ozarks (Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas) are the only place to find black bears in the central U.S. From those I have talked to, finding a bear up by the vineyard is a good bit farther north than most expected. Most expect to find them a few hours closer to the Missouri/Arkansas border.
At first glance, this fella seems all cute and cuddly, but when using some of the references, this bear is sitting at around 4 ft tall. (those corn feeders are around 6 feet i’d guess. That’s a full grown bear by my reckoning!
Now, the date stamp is September 24th as you can see. The “Camp in the Clouds” outing was five days previous. Perhaps now I can feel more comfortable with my skittishness at setting up camp at 0100 am in the pitch black. Especially when you look at the above map and notice that the “camera”, where the bear pic was taken, and the persimmon tree require that the bear cross directly between where we were camping and the farm house. Perhaps the bear nabbed a few grapes on the way...
...which highlights a large reason for having the corn feeders. We’ve already had issue with wildlife eating the leaves from the vines that are inching their way up the trellis’. Hopefully the corn feeders can keep them in the woods and satisfied instead of eating up all of our hard work!
More pictures from that critter cam are to come. Seems to be a high traffic area with a large variety of wildlife. Watch for them in the next post where I’ll also talk about some of the other deterrents we are looking into to keep them off the vines. That should bring forth wide viewpoints from across the environmental spectrum.
Till then...\o
Matt
[The above map of the grounds should give a little bit of reference. As for scale, each marked spot is around 300 - 400 yards away.]
My best guess as to what kind of critters might be congregating around the persimmon tree would be raccoons and the like. Maybe even a wild boar! There are definitely wild boar in the area. The nearby Council Bluff Recreation Area campground is on “Wild Boar Ridge”. But what was discovered as the potential culprit of the scat lying about was a surprise indeed! Have a look:
The ol’ American Black Bear! How about that!? For a slew of interesting info visit The American Bear Association. Based on the maps I have looked at, the Ozarks (Southern Missouri/Northern Arkansas) are the only place to find black bears in the central U.S. From those I have talked to, finding a bear up by the vineyard is a good bit farther north than most expected. Most expect to find them a few hours closer to the Missouri/Arkansas border.
At first glance, this fella seems all cute and cuddly, but when using some of the references, this bear is sitting at around 4 ft tall. (those corn feeders are around 6 feet i’d guess. That’s a full grown bear by my reckoning!
Now, the date stamp is September 24th as you can see. The “Camp in the Clouds” outing was five days previous. Perhaps now I can feel more comfortable with my skittishness at setting up camp at 0100 am in the pitch black. Especially when you look at the above map and notice that the “camera”, where the bear pic was taken, and the persimmon tree require that the bear cross directly between where we were camping and the farm house. Perhaps the bear nabbed a few grapes on the way...
...which highlights a large reason for having the corn feeders. We’ve already had issue with wildlife eating the leaves from the vines that are inching their way up the trellis’. Hopefully the corn feeders can keep them in the woods and satisfied instead of eating up all of our hard work!
More pictures from that critter cam are to come. Seems to be a high traffic area with a large variety of wildlife. Watch for them in the next post where I’ll also talk about some of the other deterrents we are looking into to keep them off the vines. That should bring forth wide viewpoints from across the environmental spectrum.
Till then...\o
Matt
Fall Camp in the Clouds
Greetings all and welcome to our maiden post!
Last weekend was our annual Fall Camp at the vineyard. Years past, this is an event not to be missed! Camping, wine, hiking, clay pigeon tournament, midnight trips to the swimming hole, etc, all amongst friends and family. This year though, things were a bit more low-key with the majority of the partiers...erm...campers off to Vegas. Those who were able upheld the tradition and made it up for the weekend.
My goals were stripped down to the essentials. Do some hiking along the Ozark Trail, get some early morning/late evening photographs of the vineyard, and enjoy good times and drinks with the family. Things started out well, at least.
We arrived Friday night at around midnight, [this was planned...], and set up camp in the middle of the night. Successfully too! Amber and I were woken the next morning with Renee blowing the bull-horn to call us down for breakfast.
After breakfast, I went for a little hike/trail-run around the vineyard to warm up a bit. After an hour or two of recovery and a few rounds at refilling the corn feeders, we settled in to wait for Amber’s parents to arrive. This is the point where the clouds enter the scene. Literally. Right into the valley.
[That’s Amber resting after some hard work... ;)]
Quite a pretty site! The clouds, however, pretty much nixed all hopes of getting those sunny late-evening photos I’d been hoping for.
It wasn’t long before the rain showed up. Which decided not to leave until around 9 o’clock Sunday morning. So, I packed up the camera and hiking boots, and we hung about enjoying the atmosphere. Dad had a good time keeping Madie out of our dinner:
I am pretty sure that at the point this picture was taken, we had discovered the baby copperhead that was curled up right next to that bundle of stakes. We certainly didn’t notice it until after we were all huddle around the fire getting things set up! I’ll be keeping a little closer watch from now on.
All-in-all it was a great weekend at the vineyard. Even in the rain, you just can’t beat a weekend away with family, a nice view, and a good dog.
Till next time! \o
Matt
Last weekend was our annual Fall Camp at the vineyard. Years past, this is an event not to be missed! Camping, wine, hiking, clay pigeon tournament, midnight trips to the swimming hole, etc, all amongst friends and family. This year though, things were a bit more low-key with the majority of the partiers...erm...campers off to Vegas. Those who were able upheld the tradition and made it up for the weekend.
My goals were stripped down to the essentials. Do some hiking along the Ozark Trail, get some early morning/late evening photographs of the vineyard, and enjoy good times and drinks with the family. Things started out well, at least.
We arrived Friday night at around midnight, [this was planned...], and set up camp in the middle of the night. Successfully too! Amber and I were woken the next morning with Renee blowing the bull-horn to call us down for breakfast.
After breakfast, I went for a little hike/trail-run around the vineyard to warm up a bit. After an hour or two of recovery and a few rounds at refilling the corn feeders, we settled in to wait for Amber’s parents to arrive. This is the point where the clouds enter the scene. Literally. Right into the valley.
[That’s Amber resting after some hard work... ;)]
Quite a pretty site! The clouds, however, pretty much nixed all hopes of getting those sunny late-evening photos I’d been hoping for.
It wasn’t long before the rain showed up. Which decided not to leave until around 9 o’clock Sunday morning. So, I packed up the camera and hiking boots, and we hung about enjoying the atmosphere. Dad had a good time keeping Madie out of our dinner:
I am pretty sure that at the point this picture was taken, we had discovered the baby copperhead that was curled up right next to that bundle of stakes. We certainly didn’t notice it until after we were all huddle around the fire getting things set up! I’ll be keeping a little closer watch from now on.
All-in-all it was a great weekend at the vineyard. Even in the rain, you just can’t beat a weekend away with family, a nice view, and a good dog.
Till next time! \o
Matt