The White Coyote

He won’t swim after a duck or fetch a stick or come when you call him. He likes to sleep on the porch and will only play when he is ready. He will meet you at the door with a mean purr and a long hard nudge with his head, all humped up like a Halloween cat while rubbing against your leg. Being an outdoor animal, Mother Nature wasn't kind to him. His marking was that of a cup of coffee that had been barely stirred, white and light brown. Mice and chipmunks were safe around this cat. In the woods he stuck out like a white paper plate. I never found evidence that he had caught a rodent, but it wasn't for trying. 

His name was Creamy and was named by my 15 year old. Creamy was born in 2006 to a feral cat that was hanging around our house. With much pressure from the family, I went along with their desire to take them in as our cats. I have never been much of a cat person and always preferred dogs, but Creamy helped me warm up to cats. 

We haven’t seen any sign of Creamy in about six days. Lately, our other outdoor cat has been very skittish and cautious, almost ghost like. Occasionally I see Coyotes in the area. Yesterday I spoke with our neighbors and they reported seeing a very light, almost white Coyote the size of a Husky hanging around near their house. Also they have spotted two other smaller Coyotes. 

Hmmmm…… a large white Coyote caught on my critter cam near our house? I walked in the woods this morning. I am looking for something. To Be Continued……………….

Trout and Such!

Yesterday, I went to the Land & Wildlife Expo at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tn. Boy were there a lot of Good OL’ Boys, Good OL’ Girls, and general southern folk just like me roaming around, even Jeff Foxworthy. 

You know you’re a Redneck when you see Jeff Foxworthy at a hunting show. That must make me a redneck! Anyway, the show was fine except I overheard a few folks comment on there being too much plot planting focus and not enough hunting/wildlife focus.

I did talk to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency about the scheduled trout restocking in Tennessee lake/rivers this winter. Fortunately, this year there are no major budget cuts to speak of and the re-stocking program will be normal. However, the agent indicated that next year the two federal hatcheries in Tennessee may be closed or reduced in output due to budget constraints. This could severely impact trout fishing in Tennessee. This winter I plan on being at a lake when they restock so I can take some photos, may be my last chance.

I just had to draw a comic about Trout as you will see. I almost didn’t post it, but what the heck. Please forgive me.

In addition, as some may know, a few weeks ago me and Buttermilk (fishing buddy) tried to push my yak through Bubba (Bubba’s my SUV). We found out that a windshield will stop a kayak every time, CRACK. The crack started out about 2” in diameter and has grown to about 12”. The wifey was kind of getting up-set looking through glass in the sunshine that would out sparkle her diamond. So it was time. You know how much a good bug shield cost? Well, I will tell you, $217.00 but they do come to your home. Oh yea, what's the last thing that goes through a bugs mind right before he hits your windshield? His Butt!! HEE!  HEE! Hope you enjoyed.

What’s in your woods, river, lake or bay? Get away from the big screen and get on a big stream!

Baitrageous

A LITTLE OF MY BAIT HUMOR!  Enjoy, Hee Heee!!

What's in your woods, river, lake or bay? Get off your butt and find out!

Fish Texting!

Here I am on a Saturday night with thunderstorms passing through and trying to finish this post: “Georgia on my mind” which would have been better named “A rainy night in Georgia” except I’m now in Tennessee.


BUZZ BUZZ
8:28 pm--I get a FISH TEXT, a picture of a fish with no text. This text is of a nice catfish. It’s from Buttermilk (Buttermilk is my fishing buddy).  

I figure Buttermilk has been fishing while I was in Atlanta and he must have caught this catfish yesterday. I texted back this message at 8:30 pm:
“Nice, 3 lb Blue Cat? Where did you catch him?”


BUZZ BUZZ 
8:32 pm--“Shutes branch. No light. Forgot lantern gas. It’s raining, a lot.”


Hmmm, Buttermilk is fishing at nearly 9:00 pm, on a Saturday night, in thunderstorms without lights! For most folks this would be a predicament, but not Buttermilk. I thought for a minute-- A lot of folks fish at night, a few folk’s fish in the rain, a couple of folk’s fish without lights, but I don’t know anyone that would do all three at the same time for very long. That’s Buttermilk! Now, what to text back? Need Gas or You are a fool, fishing or You are a Fishing Fool, I finally decided on this message. 


8:34 pm “Buttermilk, you are a true fisherman”


What’s in your woods, river, lake or bay? Get away from the little screen and get on a big stream!!!!! 

Georgia on my mind! Part 2

This is part 2 of the last post, Georgia on my mind, where the family and I  traveled to Atlanta for an action packed trip. Not a trip fishing, but a trip to a fishing store!

I have been wanting to visit an Orvis store (it's a premier outdoor store for you indoor types) for a while. This will be my first visit and I can't wait.  As we pulled in, you won’t believe it! In the parking lot they have parking spaces labeled “For ODS Customers Only”. Have you ever heard of ODS? At first, I thought it must be for an Orvis Designated Shopper, but that doesn't make any sense? I asked my wife if she had seen anything like that at the shoes, jewelry, dress, etc…stores and she hadn’t. 

I went in and just had to ask about the sign. I was told that ODS stands for Outdoor Deficit Syndrome and the parking spaces are for those who suffer from this syndrome. A syndrome in which an individual prefers to spend all their time indoors in front of a screen rather than being in the Great Outdoors on an adventure. Yes, it is sad. The spaces are located near the door to help the ODS folks get inside so we can help them. Metaphorically speaking, sometimes you must go inside to get outside! After I heard this I quickly ran out of the store--To move my car. Hopefully, you have figured out that this was a joke and Orvis doesn’t have such parking spaces. Just a little humor! 

For real, the Orvis store was very nice. A river stone fireplace was the main focus. The shop had lots of top quality gear that included a fly shop, dog supplies, outdoor clothing and gear . I did see the wife eyeing a nice, big dog bed. Hmmm, not sure why because we don't have a dog? Anyway, the sales folks were friendly and knowledgeable. In fact, I spoke to an associate named Drew about kayaking for a while and yes, I did make a purchase. I bought an Orvis cap. It’s nice to see an outdoor store successfully competing against indoor companies. I learned that there's 50 stores around the country and hope that Nashville will have one soon.

After finishing everyone's agenda, the Mall, the Container store, Ikea, and the American girl doll shop, etc...we headed back to Nashville and to the ten acre woods. 


Is it good luck when a moth is at the door? When we arrived home we were greeted by this little feller on our door step. It is an Imperial Moth. I have seen only a few and it's always around the summer time. They feed on broad leaf foliage and are only East of the Rockies. 

Unfortunately, they are becoming rare because they hang around artificial lights too long and are eaten by birds. 


The trip was over and I opened the door to go indoors, hope you enjoyed. Remember: What’s in Your woods, river, lake or bay? Don’t get ODS so get outside! 

Georgia on my mind!

Hey, I just returned from an action packed trip to Atlanta with the family (wife and the two teens). I had two destinations on my agenda, the Georgia Aquarium to see fish and the Orvis Store. On a side note, our eighteen year old will be headed to college soon (The University of the South: Sewanee) so this may be our truly last family trip. The good news, Sewanee owns 13,000 acres of nature so she won’t miss The Ten Acre Woods.


We drove down from Nashville and it was a nice drive, except that my new GPS turned out to be a dumb dumb if you know what I mean. Luckily, I have multiple GPS’s and I switched over to the old faithful Garmin. I like using a GPS on trips. Do you know how husbands and wives argue about directions in a car, well that all stopped when we purchased our first GPS.  Now we both argue with the GPS, its teamwork! I must admit, it’s really funny when she argues with it and it quietly tells her where to go--- Take the next right to Hale Street, Hee Hee, I’m in trouble now!

First on the agenda was the Georgia Aquarium. I know, for the outdoor enthusiasts seeing fish in a tank is not an adventure, but this was big fish in a big tank. Heck, I once fished in an aquarium and caught a goldfish when I was six. It turned out to be my aquarium’s record catch for goldfish. The Georgia Aquarium is no kid aquarium, its gimongus. In this aquarium there were thousands of fish and the best thing is the clear tube that you walk through under the largest tank. We saw sharks, grouper, and two whale sharks that were as big as a school bus. I couldn’t believe it, but we didn’t see a Georgia Bass, dang! 

The Georgia Aquarium was great! Also, I have been to the Chattanooga Aquarium and it’s also a must see.


Next up, was the Orvis store (a premier outdoor store for you indoor types). This is my first visit to Orvis and you won’t believe it! In the parking lot they have parking spaces labeled.........? Stay tuned for part 2 of this post in the future. Remember: What’s in Your woods, river, lake or bay? Get outside! 

River Bream

As you may know, in my last post I discussed a recent fishing trip in which I ended up with chiggers. I must report that all is well again and chiggers are no longer partying in my pants. 


I have caught so many bream lately I decided to paint a few. In this painting, I placed the bream on top of a river and gave them a shadow to provide depth. The river snakes through the painting in order to provide interest and encourage the viewer to look around. I have caught many bream in this river so I thought it fitting to combine the two elements together. I considered naming the painting "Filled to the Bream" but more inappropriately decided on "River Bream."

I hope you enjoyed these fun little fish and remember: What's in your woods, river, lake or bay? Get up and find out!

The fish stopped biting but the Chiggers didn’t!

Saturday morning at 5:00 am the alarm sounded and I sprang out of bed for a fishing adventure on a small lake near my home. It’s going to be a hot one; current outside temperature was already 75 degrees. I loaded up and headed out to meet Buttermilk at the lake (Buttermilk is my fishing buddy). 


We arrived at the lake, unloaded, and were in our kayaks by 6:00 am. The sun was well below the trees and the water was very calm, no wind except for Buttermilk (hee hee). I love the lake in the early morning when the fog is dancing on top of the water and you hear the occasional slap of a tail fin. 

Early morning fishing was good, I caught a few brim and a smallmouth on a white grub. As the morning progressed and the temperature went up the fish stopped biting. I tried other lures and even worms, but no luck. I decided to get out of my kayak to walk around and fish from the bank. Bad, bad idea! I believe this is where I picked up a few hitchhikers. As you will find out later, this fishing trip has staying power!

Later I met back up with Buttermilk and he had caught a nice 2lb catfish on oats earlier. Around 1:00 pm the heat of the day had settled in and the fish had stopped biting. At this point, we decided to paddle back to the dock and head to the house. 

The next day, I went to my father-in-law 84th birthday party at a Mexican restaurant. Happy Birthday Pop! May you catch many fish!

GUESS WHAT, this was NOT the only party going on. I had a party in my pants, CHIGGERS! I found myself squirming in my seat hoping the Chiggers would take a siesta. I certainly didn’t want to act like I was at a Chiggers Anonymous meeting and announce to everyone -“Hi I’m Larry and I have Chiggers.” I chose to suffer in silence. It amazes me that these little devils can crawl all the way up your leg and dig in to your private parts when it’s nearly a hundred degrees. The wife said I should put fingernail polish on the bites to kill them. Hmmm, No! I’m not putting women polish on; well I think you men understand. 
One could say - “The fish stopped biting but the chiggers didn’t.” I guess the effects of this fishing trip will last few more days! 


Now I’m headed to Atlanta with the family. I’m feeling lucky and who knows, I might get a shot at a trophy BASS in the near future. Remember: What's in your woods, river, lake or bay? Mine has Chiggers!