THE ANIMALS ON OUR JOURNEY

I have been telling you about tilly and our two cats Mimzy and Molly so thought I would add pix of them at the end of this blog

When we left Utah last May ..we came across all sorts of animals on our journey. I think the most outstanding one was at MacKay dam when we woke up on that snowy morning and found a moose outside our window munching on a bush .That was something very unusual in our lives even living in Utah had seen them in the distance but never had we seen them so close. The moose saw us looking but ignored us. We were told later never to make eye contact with them (if you meet one out walking) because that makes them very nervous and might charge.,,On seeing how big these guys are I do not think the human in question would come out on top.

MacKay dam was teaming with fish and at a flood stage and this area was filled with Bald eagles who preferred fish over other game. We would often see them dive bomb into the water and fly up with a fish. I am sure all of the fishermen and women up in this area wished they had such a talent but fish were easy to come by anyway. One person even used a dollar store fishing rod ..just in case the game warden happened by. That is one thing the eagles did not have to worry about..even if fishing was against the law without license..all the eagles would have to do is fly up into the air and away. One of the fisherman gave us a batch of fish and were they good can see why the eagles liked them so well.

A few times traveling out into the wide open land of Idaho...we came across large herds of pronghorn antelope. Mind you the only antelope in the Americas...have no idea how they got here...but look very similar to the antelope in Africa. We have actually seen bigger herds of them living in Utah...once hundreds of them out on the salt flats in Utah...but as always an amazing sight when seeing these shy and beautiful creatures.

The beautiful town of MacKay Idaho was home to hundreds of crows. All the crows that I have ever seen stayed pretty much away from the towns. These crows however lived everywhere in the town. Nests everywhere and constantly hear them cawing and crow laughing. I have to admit I like these mischievous varmints and always enjoyed my times at MacKay watching the crows.

On our way out of Idaho and into Utah we stopped over night in Nevada behind a deserted motel on the highway. So we got out and walked with our dog Tilly (a chihuahua) when we herd this horrible noise and really indescribable ...but looking up saw this huge black bird on a tree with the ugliest ,meanest looking face.....finally realized what I was looking at....a rare condor......which are like a big,

bad hawk with an attitude. I grabbed Tilly very quickly and put her into the trailer as he was eyeballing her.....I suspect for a snack. After a certain amount of angry screaming he flew away in search of a meal somewhere else.

While up in Oak city canyon in Utah we were visited all the time by mule deer...which is not really so uncommon but these creatures had no fear of us at all. So very beautiful especially this one doe and her twins and a yearling. I think these beautiful creatures know who they can trust and they seemed to trust us.

Down here in Coyote Howls we have seen may coyotes as well as hearing them at night...but they will walk through your yard in the middle of the day not caring if they are seen or not. These creatures are always on the verge of starvation and will eat just about anything such as your cat or dog. Even a person if the person is incapacitated or sick. They are cowards as they will not attack something stronger then them or who will fight back. Beautiful they are but takers they are...never to be trusted.

While I was sitting out in front of our place one day I heard this clip.clop clip.clop...coming my way. I did not know what was coming towards me but soon found this very large,dinosaurish bird looking at me. You could see the intelligence in this birds eyes and was certain that it was highly intelligent. It stood there five minutes just staring back at me as if it were studying me. No fear,,,just trying to decide if I were friend or foe. Finely he slowly made his way across the yard picking and pecking at the ground in a nonchalant way. Talk about arrogant...yup that is a road runner.

Here in coyote Howls crows are not present but there are plenty of their scarier cousin the raven. They fly over head and land near daring you to say or do anything to them. I just like watching them and will squawk at them in their own Raven language. This can sometimes infuriate them lol.. Which if you know me I like to imitate bird noises... great fun.

We have seen many Peewees,wood peckers and other birds that I have no idea of what they are yet (but will) we have heard the bray of wild donkeys (but have not seen one yet) we also know that they have lots of wild pigs around here called javalina.(have seen their prints in our yard but have not seen one yet). We also know of very tiny deer that live in the hills as well as huge Mountain lion. Whenever I see these animals I will let you know.

I have to say there are birds and animals that I miss that do not live here like robins for example..and it breaks my heart not to hear or see them.. Just one of the things I have to get used to living here. Lots of things I have to get used to..but I think worth the doing. Right now getting ready to make the move across the highway to be Hosts of coyote West....we need the money and well does not look to be such a real tough job..but changing out of here is a little painful..and we will not be so sheltered as we will have renters to face every day. But summer is coming and the heat gets up to 120 degrees so it will be good to have electricity to run our swamp cooler.

Everything changes constantly ..that is the truth.