Did you know Tennessee Has GATORS?

Did you say, GATORS? Yep, they've been here for years. These gators are more common than you think and I bet you've seen them too. This photo is not a Tennessee gator but a Florida gator. 

Tennessee Gators are a bit smaller and different than the Florida Gator. Most of the time, you see two or more in the same area and they are near highways or interstates. For some reason you see them more often in warm or hot weather and they lie in wait on the side of roads. You must be careful not to run over them because they can wreak a vehicle. In the picture below, you can see them on the right side of the road. 

They come in all sizes and tread. Did I say tread? Here's a close up photo of two gators along the road. Truck drivers call them ROAD GATORS. 

These road gators are the tire treads that come off 18 wheeler s. So now, every time you see those tire treads on the side of the road you will think Road Gators! You be careful out there and watch out for Road Gators in your state.

Not a Gator, but check-out my beautiful lake, river and bay decor maps. I hid a tiny mermaid in the waters of every map and might even put in a gator if you ask. They make great gifts for the lake lovers, lake house, or fisherman. Big and small maps are available. LeoLakes.com

"May you have fair winds and following seas"

  

Lake Art! Percy Priest Lake!

New art! I just finished painting this old style map of Percy Priest Lake. I have been to this lake many times. When I was a child, my father and I fished the Stones River before the lake was impounded. I remember taking our 14' aluminium, flat bottom, Sears boat up the river with our dog Lucy and camping on the bank. We had a 3.5 hp, Western Auto Wizard outboard that I now have. Along the shore there were very large mussels laying on the gravel bars and lots of fish to catch. These were some great outdoor memories! 

The blue waters of Percy Priest Lake is located on the Stones River near Nashville, Tennessee. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the dam in 1967. Click on the map to enlarge. Remember:"Get Up and Get Outdoors!"

Being in the right place at the right time!

Here's a great photo of a hawk bearing down on a quick meal. I was in the right place at the right time with a camera. You can see the hawk in the background. The birds are sitting contently not realizing what's about to happen. Will the hawk catch his prey or will the birds make a fast get away? Only I know.

HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED! Actually the birds just fly off without any problems, because I Photo Shopped the hawk into the photo. I'm bad, he he he, but it could have happened. 
"What's in your woods." Get out and find out!

What kind of animal is this?

Critter cam, my motion detection camera that I place in the woods to capture whatever walks by, photographed this picture at 10:41 pm at night in the Tennessee woods. 

It appears to have a long tail, white under belly and dark legs. It’s not a cat, but more K-9 looking. No doubt, it’s moving quickly and didn't stop for a sniff. 
The camera has been out for a while in this location, and the animals are always traveling the same way, down the hill. Why? I think I know. This is obviously a one way trail.  

Any way, I looked at approximately 100 pictures on the net to help me identify the critter, and I think I have a good idea. What wild animal do you think it is? Leave me a comment! Remember: "What's in your woods". Get out and find out.

A CAMERA, FOX PEE & A GOAL!

At 6:30 this morning, I awoke and took off to the woods to check Critter Cam, my motion detection camera. I have it placed on a tree near an animal trail, which I have sprayed Fox urine around with the goal of photographing a Red Fox. For EIGHT day’s I have checked critter cam. Each day nothing, except for a squirrel coming near. But today, I think, I believe, it appears, I have a photo of the critter. It does look like a fox? 

I call this goal accomplished. Now for a photo of a Bobcat, do they make Bobcat pee? Also, as in earlier posts about this subject, I have learned a bunch. One, I found Fox urine to be difficult to get off, I spilled a little on me, which Ajax and Bounty wouldn't even get off. Two, it attracts cats. Our cats Gray, Smokey, Creamy and Kibble smell this stuff out no matter where I put it and go after it. Here is Creamy out in the woods smelling fox pee and interfering in my Operation Fox Photo.

Mmmm, feels good to accomplish a goal! Do you know "What's in your woods".

Two Buzzards Celebrating?

What do you think these Black Buzzards are celebrating?

100 years of God's amazing grace, of course. 

Operation Fox Photo- Update

Early this morning, I walked eagerly into the woods in hopes of finding that a fox had come across critter cam, my motion detection camera. Hmmmm, looks like something has been walking around near the camera, but it’s too hard to tell what. I quickly took the digital card out of the camera and headed to the house. At home, I loaded the card into the computer and there it was. Can you see it? If you can’t, then you may have Animal Dyslexia (Go to post called "Do You Have Animal Dyslexia? to find out). Look closely!  

It’s a dang Squirrel, a Squirrel. No Red Fox! The $5.99 Fox pee I sprayed around isn’t working. Can you believe I paid money for pee. Who does that. Anyway, I will leave it out a few more days because I want to get my money's worth for this pee. (The Squirrel is in the left, lower part of the photo near the big tree for those who have Animal Dyslexia.)

What do you call a small Turkey chasing a Big Turkey?

"Chubby Chaser" That's what I call it. A few weeks ago I got a great photo of these two Turkeys and couldn't resist putting it on the blog.  I wasn’t sure what to title this picture, but I think I nailed it. Wow, what a Butter Ball. This Turkey could feed a village.

Can you tell which Turkey is the chubby chaser? If you look closely enough you can see Tom's beard, which is a clump of hair sticking out of its chest. This indicates male, which chubby does not have, indicating female. Hope you laughed and Remember: "What's in your woods"

Critter Cam Up-date: Operation Fox Photo

Critter Cam (for those who don't know, is a digital camera with a motion detector and night night vision that I put out to capture animal pictures) has been out for a few days, and no fox, no animal, no squirrel, nothing has come around critter cam, not even a bird. So, the Fox pee is not working. Maybe it is the weather or the fox pee scares away everything, not sure. I will keep it out a few more days and maybe I will have better luck on Valentine’s Day.

Thinking Like a Fox

Yesterday, I took my bottle of Fox urine and Critter Cam to the woods with the goal of photographing a Red Fox. I found an ideal spot with tracks in the snow about 20ft from a tree that would be a great place to attach Critter Cam. I placed Critter Cam on the tree, pointing to the trail. 

Thinking like a Fox, I found a small shrub that's a perfect spot for a Red Fox to hike or squat. My thinking is that Mr. fox will be sniffing out the fake trespasser and will zero in to the shrub while Critter Cam takes the perfect photo. I very carefully took out my bottle of Fox urine also known as Fox valentine perfume, which has a handy dandy spray nozzle on top. I sprayed the small shrub like you would if you had a can of bathroom deodorizer and just finished letting off a stink bomb in your first dates, bathroom.  

Unfortunately for me, I had gloves on and some of the spray ran down the bottle. I guess you could say I Fox Peed on myself, Dang it! Well anyway, all is set, so I hiked back home. Arriving home, I open the door and was attacked by Cremey, Gray, Stormy, and Kibble the cats. Dang Fox urine! In the next few days I will check back to see if I met my goal, Red Fox photo. Cross your fingers! 


About Critter Cam: Critter cam is a 6.0 mega pixel, digital camera with a motion detector and infrared flash for night pictures. It can take either still or motion pictures without the animal even knowing it's there. 

Today, a walk in the Winter Woods!

After the two inches of snow that we received last night, I awoke this morning, took my camera and walked in the woods and fields around the 10 acre woods. It was a wonderful snow fall that collected on every branch, twig or crevice. A few animals were out as noted by the tracks in the snow and they appeared to be predators.  

    These Robins were grouped together perched on snowy limbs. They were so interested in the clumps of small seeds. 

  I'm not sure of the type of plant (Sumac?), but the Robins were munching hardily. I wonder why this food is still available at such a late time of year. It could be that food is so scarce; the Robins must eat the less desirable food. It seems nature provides, even in adverse conditions. I did a little research and found sumac seeds are an important source of food for Robins and others. They stay on the plant for a long time. This makes them an excellent emergency food for birds throughout the winter and beyond.

A snow covered cedar tree doing an impression of a beautiful Christmas tree.

The road to nowhere. This is an old logging road that just ends. If you're going to end, make it a pretty end.

Animal tracks, too small to be Coyote and too large to be Cat, maybe Fox? If the weather is clear tonight, I will place my motion detector camera here tonight and see what's in these woods. 

The beauty of nature, remember "What's in your woods!"

Government study: Deer in the headlights! What do they see?

The results are in for a Government study to determine what deer really see when they are "Deer in the head lights." A government spokesman stated that we know what we see when we see deer in the head lights, but what do the deer see? This has been a perplexing question every since the invention of the head light. The study was over a five year period and took place in many parts of the country. It took several universities, and a team of scientist, technicians and professional photographers to gather all the results. The most sophisticated cameras were used to film the actual events. The best way to explain the results is to just look at the official photos.

Exhibit 1- Deer in head lights

Exhibit 2- What the deer see.

The study finally pays off. This is what deer see. 

THE BEST VALENTINES PERFUME

I just bought a bottle of perfume and on the back of the bottle it says: "DANGER, Do not apply to your body or clothing, you may be attacked”. Boy I can't wait. This stuff is only suppose to attract the prettiest Foxes. I opened the bottle and took a whiff. “WOW, smells like a hot summer day, in the men’s restroom, at a tractor pull, that serves cheap beer, Pee-u”. Did I say Foxes!  You see, I plan to have a photo shoot to capture a picture of the prettiest Fox. The perfume came in a nice dark brown bottle and is 100% money-back guaranteed to attract foxes!  Anyway, I think Fox perfume (which is really Fox urine also known as pee) will help me capture that perfect Fox picture in the woods. I know one thing; this stuff is hard to get off. I spilled a little on me, in which Ajax and Bounty wouldn't even get off. Our cats Gray, Smokey, Creamy and Kibble smell this stuff out no matter where I put it. Why are they so interested? Dang, for all I know they put cat urine in this little brown bottle. I did spray a little on Creamy the cat and he went in to the woods. You know I haven’t seen Creamy in a day……I wonder what happened to him, just kidding.

I plan on using my motion detector camera with the Fox urine to attract Foxes and get a good photo. However, I’m not sure if it’s male or female Fox pee? I bet its female pee because I think this would attract more foxes because of the hike or squat thing. There’s usually more hiking than squatting, so squatting is done less often which would make it more interesting to the foxes, I think, or it could be as simple as male Foxes just like to be around female foxes for some reason. Anyhow, I think I have a 100% chance of getting a Fox picture by Valentines. Stay tuned and PEE-UUUUU……….

The Alien’s Are Back!

If you remember an earlier post called, “An alien encounter in the forest”, where I found large imprints in the woods after the snow storm. I think the mystery is solved.  

I set critter cam (My infrared, motion detector, camera) out a few days ago to photo what may be going on in this part of the woods. Finally, I have proof of the deer in the area where I discovered the large imprints in the snow. 

Four deer, two young and two older, are unknowingly captured roaming around near critter cam. These deer match the size and shape of the imprints in the snow pictured in the earlier post. It appears they just took a nap during the snow. Mystery Solved! Remember: “What’s In Your Woods”