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.