Walk on the Wild Side

Well, not really the wild side, but a walk in the wild bush around Whitecourt for about three miles. Once again we had a beautiful, mild day just at the freezing mark,

 Some of the typical bush on the walk. I was hoping for some deer shots, or maybe a moose. It was not to be.

 The dogs had a blast. The trail was packed by some truck traffic and some snowmobile activity which made it easy on the dogs (and me). They took some excursions into the bush, but soon preferred the trail.

 The tributary flowing into the Athabasca River showed lots of deer and moose sign. Fortunately, the dogs ignored them.

 One going and one coming was the norm. Brooklyn kept slogging ahead, and Daphne kept running back to make sure I was tagging along.

Here is a snow shot of the Trestle Bridge across the Athabasca Flood Plain.

 Happy dog! Lots of snow to play in and things to smell, like deer poop, Moose poop and of course coyote scat.

 What can I say? Best friends forever?

 Poor Brooklyn is getting old, with arthritis developing in the front shoulders. She goes pretty well, enjoying a walk more than a run, but requires a day of rest to get over an outage like this. The grey face shows she is getting along in years.

 The end. (For now)

Dog Days of Early Winter

 Just a walk in the woods today. -4C for a temperature.

Serious Crime!

This beautiful and ripe Spaghetti Squash was found dead at this location October 1. Neighbours appear to have heard no screams or shots. Be on alert and report any suspicious activity!

The Crime Scene 08:00 Oct.1, 2015

 Two suspects were noted at the scene. Miss Innocent was checked, but no odour of squash was detected.

Suspect #1  Daphne aka "Miss Innocent"

 The Stomach was also checked, but again no incriminating evidence was  seen.

Suspect #2 Brooklyn aka "The Stomach"

Rumours at the coffee shop indicate that a suspect known as "Nibbles" aka "that pesky  rabbit" may be the culprit. However, no evidence was found at the scene. This remains a possibility, but "Nibbles" has not been seen in this area lately. 

The investigation continues with clues likely to be found shortly in stool samples when taken. Seeds are not digested.

We will keep you posted on any future findings!

Wordless Wednesday: Comfort

The Dog Days of Summer!

The summer is almost over and the crops are close to being harvested. 

 This  is our pumpkin etc. patch. It has produced far too many Zucchinis and now is getting close to Spaghetti Squash time. (see above) There are also many basketball size pumpkins in there. It is hard to see them due to the foliage. The benefits of well composed horse manure continue to amaze me.

 A trip to the dog park was in order today.Daphne chased the Kong until she dropped, then went for a swim, then back to the off leash section to dry off.

  When her tongue hits the ground, it's time for a rest!

 Brooklyn is, well, Brooklyn. She doesn't run much anymore but still loves to swim

 She has just lost the last of her winter hair. Go figure!

Prim and Proper

It was time to get Daphne to the groomers. Her hair was so thick and matted that the Furminator brush that I use on Brooklyn would not even touch her!  The following 2 pictures show the before treatment.

Before

Before

the next two show the after effect. They took about half the hair out which still left  her with lots!

After

 Right now she is like a big cotton ball, all soft and fluffy!

After

Another Outing

It was a cooler day today and after looking how comfortable Daphne was (she really likes her comfort), and looking at Brooklyn lying half under the bed, I figured a walk was in order.

All the Chickadee, Tree Swallow, and Wren babies are  now gone, and that says basically it was time to get an update on the park critters. The geese are all about the same now, and it's hard to tell the babies from the adults.

 Not much difference in size!

 The Osprey is still sitting and so far I have not seen any fuzzy heads poking up.

 When the dogs get too close, they head for open water.

I will have to start checking out a few more places.

On another hot, hot day we went to Rotary Park to give the dogs some exercise before the afternoon heat storm hit. Actually, it looks like ALL of Alberta is on a Tornado watch due to conditions.

 I was really surprised how much the baby geese have grown! 

 Our little town pond hatched out quite a few this year.

 Nothing to report on the Osprey nest. I can't tell if she is sitting on eggs, or keeping chicks cool. 

 It appears that Daphne is joining Brooklyn as a water dog. She loves it! Some dogs retrieve sticks. These two fetch logs.

 It is going to take Daphne a long time to dry off.

The Dog's Day Out

The dogs recovered from their river walk yesterday. I decided to try some higher ground at The Huestis Forest Interpretive area. It was still closed, but where there is a will to get around a gate, there is usually a way. I was hoping for some bear pictures, but didn't see any. That was fortunate since I left the bear spray at home.

 There was not much in way of wild life except for a couple of sparrows and a squirrel.

 The dogs started out real frisky and did lots of sniffing of coyote scat etc.

 Daphne spent most of her time running up to Brooklyn and then running back to make sure that I was still coming. Neither of them got out of sight and pretty much stayed on the roadway.

 There were lots of interpretive points that pointed out the changes (natural) the occur in the forest over time. Was that a squirrel? Did you see it? lets get it!

 About half way things started to slow down and time out was taken to have a drink.

 Daphne was interested in everything.

 Brooklyn really needed a drink. Can you guess what happened?

 Right on! She doesn't back up hills very well.
 Daphne kind of looked on.

 The dried out beaver pond was fun! They couldn't wait to go play in the mud!

 Now what to do?

 The beaver dam had to be eight feet high. It looks like the park folks dug it out. Why, I don't know. It used to be full of ducks, geese, etc.

 Now, it's even hard for a dog to swim.

 But swimming can be done if you slide in.

 When we started out, it was sunny with light clouds. By the time we finished, we were in a rain storm and then a snow storm. According to my pedometer (iphone app) I had taken 14,525 steps and covered 8.9 km. I think Daphne did at least twice that and Brooklyn about 1.5 times the distance. The tired dogs went to sleep as soon as we got home and they had their early dinner.
A good day!