SUMMER 2003.
I had just moved into my "dream" log cabin at the end of June. I thought that if I left any of the wild animals alone, I'd just watch them from my windows, and be okay. I had no fear of being around cattle, as we were always separated by a fast moving car window or a video screen. I know that they are the source of milk and meat, and for this I was always thankful.
Then one day I was driving back home from the city, and when I turned down the dirt road to my cabin, there they were....a herd of the largest cows I had ever seen. They were standing across the road, and gasp all around the front of my property.
I was terrified.
I turned into my half-block long gravel driveway, and was suddenly faced by a huge bull who was turned sideways, completely blocking my drive and standing between me and the safety of my garage.
It raised its huge head, and just looked at me. Was it going to charge??? I was terror-struck.....
That was all I needed to throw the car in reverse and get out of there. I lurched back onto the road and sped towards anywhere but here....."Wait a minute.....that is MY property!" I felt my anger rise within a block, screechingly throwing gravel I spun the car around again, and headed back onto MY property.
The bull and his buds were still there.
Having no pepperspray I slightly cracked my window and began singing an operatic aria as loud as I could.
The bull gave me a strange look and I could see the curiosity in its face. It hesitated a moment and then swung its massive behind to the side, letting me pass.
As I had not had a garage door installed yet, I had no idea if this was going to work.
Piles of boxes blocked my way to enter the cabin from within the wide open garage. I had to park, exit the garage the same route I entered, run to the front porch fumbling keys then enter the cabin...with the herd just yards away.
Much later, Pat and Felix, my mountain neighbors (and also educators in the at of being a MW) chuckled as they told me that these cows were tame farm animals, who would not harm me. They said that some farmers ouside our cow-free mountain community would "encourage" their cows to enter at a break in the fencing, to graze. The farmers felt that this was a good trade-off; their cows got fed, and we got our wilderness yards mowed for free.
The only trouble was....the cows always managed to leave a few 'pies' around for us to step into to show their gratitude......
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Diamond Dust
JANUARY 2010
Winter "officially" is here, although to us mountain folk, our first heavy snow-day was also the first day of fall!
This morning the sun was up early, and prepared a glorious blue sky, sparkling with large snowflakes. As the rays bathed the frosted mountains, the crisp wind gently whipped the flakes into what looked like diamond dust. Upon landing atop older drifts, the shimmery spectacular scene reminded me of the treasure chest deep in Disneyland's "Pirates of The Caribbean."
Winter "officially" is here, although to us mountain folk, our first heavy snow-day was also the first day of fall!
This morning the sun was up early, and prepared a glorious blue sky, sparkling with large snowflakes. As the rays bathed the frosted mountains, the crisp wind gently whipped the flakes into what looked like diamond dust. Upon landing atop older drifts, the shimmery spectacular scene reminded me of the treasure chest deep in Disneyland's "Pirates of The Caribbean."
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Tragedy
Living in the Colorado Rocky Mountains is the next best thing to living in the Swiss Alps.
When I decided to leave smoggy crime-filled Southern California, the Alps were going to be my next home.
I had lived on both American coasts and had traveled to every state in the union. Then on April 6, 2001, around noon, my husband and I were in an horrific accident on the California 15 Freeway in the Mojave Desert. We were the innocent victims of 2 beat-up old trucks playing a sick game of road-tag-rage, and forced off the road. My husband fought valiantly in our forced swerve to keep us on the road and upright at the speed of 70+ mph, going downhill. The truck drivers had pulled alongside each other -blocking the 2 lane highway -and put on their brakes. My husband was a gentle man who would never hurt anyone on purpose; and if by accident, would suffer with guilt until he could put things straight. He died before we could be life-flighted to the closest medical center. I awoke almost a week later hooked up to IVs in an intensive care unit. My right wrist was crushed and held stable by a large metal external fixator swathed in bandages.
To my dismay and then sudden horror, I opened my eyes and looked into the concerned eyes of my older brother. The family member who would never take an airplane trip if he could drive somewhere. I realized that things -whatever those "things" were - had to be pret-ty bad to pry my brother out of Cleveland Ohio.
My husband and I owned a home in a beautiful neighborhood in CA, within a gated community. After his violent death, I no longer felt safe on the roads in Southern CA, even with a house alarm for added security measures.
Every screeching brake... every quiet 'thump' on the outside walls of my home at night set off my panic attacks.
When I decided to leave smoggy crime-filled Southern California, the Alps were going to be my next home.
I had lived on both American coasts and had traveled to every state in the union. Then on April 6, 2001, around noon, my husband and I were in an horrific accident on the California 15 Freeway in the Mojave Desert. We were the innocent victims of 2 beat-up old trucks playing a sick game of road-tag-rage, and forced off the road. My husband fought valiantly in our forced swerve to keep us on the road and upright at the speed of 70+ mph, going downhill. The truck drivers had pulled alongside each other -blocking the 2 lane highway -and put on their brakes. My husband was a gentle man who would never hurt anyone on purpose; and if by accident, would suffer with guilt until he could put things straight. He died before we could be life-flighted to the closest medical center. I awoke almost a week later hooked up to IVs in an intensive care unit. My right wrist was crushed and held stable by a large metal external fixator swathed in bandages.
To my dismay and then sudden horror, I opened my eyes and looked into the concerned eyes of my older brother. The family member who would never take an airplane trip if he could drive somewhere. I realized that things -whatever those "things" were - had to be pret-ty bad to pry my brother out of Cleveland Ohio.
My husband and I owned a home in a beautiful neighborhood in CA, within a gated community. After his violent death, I no longer felt safe on the roads in Southern CA, even with a house alarm for added security measures.
Every screeching brake... every quiet 'thump' on the outside walls of my home at night set off my panic attacks.
I had always wanted to return to Switzerland after performing there years before.
After the tragedy, I decided to do just that.
"It took us a couple of days to get to you after the accident.....it would take us a week to get to you if you were in an accident in Europe. "
My siblings talked me out of it.
I began searching America for a substitute...with the best of both worlds.
That is how I came to live in the Colorado Rocky mountains.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Alice in Wilderness-Land
LATE SPRING '09
Well, yesterday my bear came back, although the only thing 'edible' had been put out to poison the pesky pack-rats.
The bear left several tracks that showed his pigeon-toed strut down the walkway and onto the front porch, where he had shoved one of 2 large plastic storage containers apart, looking for food. Finding none, he left without a fuss. I took pictures of his paw prints.
The little vermin pack rats dig holes around the perimeter of a cabin for tunnels that can collapse and break an ankle. They love to chew rubber-coated wire and things coated with rubber under the hood of any vehicle. They have been known to keep a truck or car dead in its tracks during winter if left outside the garage. Expensive. They will climb up inside the hood and claim the territory 'home.' Then they feast on the electric cables. They have even been known to hitch an under-the-hood ride, much to a neighbors surprise! In warmer weather they prefer rubber-coated things outdoors like extension cords and exposed lighting cords....YUM!
So I did what every other serious Mountain Woman does; I put out Bar-Bait poison.
Only thing is that I don't know if the 'packers' ever got into it, before the chipmunks did!
These little guys are every bit as mischievous as Disney showed them to be. The Bar Bait, thankfully, didn't effect them!
They are about as tall as a normal-sized hand when standing on their hind legs.... but they love to get into things, big or small, whether nailed-down or not. If confronted they indignantly march upright, strutting toward you loudly selling "wolf tickets" before scampering back into the forest.....Once time I surprised one, as he busily jumped from log-end to roofline trying to get into my hanging plants. Startled that I had gotten so close without him spotting me he leaped to the deck, ran right into the end of one of the lower logs on my cabin, and knocked himself out. After a moment, he jumped up, shook off the shock, then marched right up to me arms swinging. He chattered angrily as if cursing me out. I ran inside the cabin, and he ran back into the woods.
They are cute, mischievious and feisty.
They love to sneak onto the deck and crawl up inside my large covered gas grill, when I am inside the cabin. Then they boldly peek out from one of the vents. I make a lot of noise and stamp out onto the deck, and they scamper away until I go back inside. They are not put-off by the crushed red pepper water mix I use to keep the bears away from the grill....and will even harvest the pepper seeds from the ashes for their winter stash.
One afternoon as I casually glanced out at the deck, one of the little chippers was just climbing onto the deck. However, nstead of climbing into the grill, he decided to stop and take a bite out of one of my patio-potted tomato plants. The middle of the 3 pots had only 2 small green marble-like balls.
These are precious, because our tomato growing season is so short.
I had put plastic bird netting around the plants to keep the animals out.....but this little guy decided he was going for it anyway. He got himself hung-up in a loop of the netting and the more he squirmed to get free, the more tangled he became.
I thought -like the skilled behaviorist I have become- that this was a time to put a real scare into him, and then when he got free he would go tell the others to stay offa my deck.....
I got a spray bottle of water and loudly opened the door. He froze for a second then went into overdrive trying to get free. I stamped outside fussed loudly and squirted him as he became a round ball of wiggly fur. He was so scared that he began to drop poop pellets.
"WELL DONE" I said smugly to myself, and waited for him to wriggle free.......but he only got himself more tightly tangled. By now he had gotten his limbs free, but was dangling by his head and neck looking very much like a hanging man..and I realized," damn, now I gotta cut him free!"
I ran and got the longest scissors I could find, and crept back outside....but when he saw me coming he had a fit, and I thought he was gonna hang himself for sure. I was scared too.....I was afraid he was gonna get free and bit my ankle or something!
I began talking softly and calmly and tried to reassure him that I was not gonna hurt him...and I'd appreciate it if he would return the favor....
He stopped squirming and just stared at me with his huge dark brown almond-shaped eyes......I slowly held out the scissors and he didn't move again until I touched the netting, then wriggled himself till he was tail-up.......I pulled away....after several more tense moments of this, I was able to cut the last piece of net, and he was free.
He flew off my porch like a bat out of hell, but left my tomatoes and ankles intact!
AHHHH life in the wilderness.
Well, yesterday my bear came back, although the only thing 'edible' had been put out to poison the pesky pack-rats.
The bear left several tracks that showed his pigeon-toed strut down the walkway and onto the front porch, where he had shoved one of 2 large plastic storage containers apart, looking for food. Finding none, he left without a fuss. I took pictures of his paw prints.
The little vermin pack rats dig holes around the perimeter of a cabin for tunnels that can collapse and break an ankle. They love to chew rubber-coated wire and things coated with rubber under the hood of any vehicle. They have been known to keep a truck or car dead in its tracks during winter if left outside the garage. Expensive. They will climb up inside the hood and claim the territory 'home.' Then they feast on the electric cables. They have even been known to hitch an under-the-hood ride, much to a neighbors surprise! In warmer weather they prefer rubber-coated things outdoors like extension cords and exposed lighting cords....YUM!
So I did what every other serious Mountain Woman does; I put out Bar-Bait poison.
Only thing is that I don't know if the 'packers' ever got into it, before the chipmunks did!
These little guys are every bit as mischievous as Disney showed them to be. The Bar Bait, thankfully, didn't effect them!
They are about as tall as a normal-sized hand when standing on their hind legs.... but they love to get into things, big or small, whether nailed-down or not. If confronted they indignantly march upright, strutting toward you loudly selling "wolf tickets" before scampering back into the forest.....Once time I surprised one, as he busily jumped from log-end to roofline trying to get into my hanging plants. Startled that I had gotten so close without him spotting me he leaped to the deck, ran right into the end of one of the lower logs on my cabin, and knocked himself out. After a moment, he jumped up, shook off the shock, then marched right up to me arms swinging. He chattered angrily as if cursing me out. I ran inside the cabin, and he ran back into the woods.
They are cute, mischievious and feisty.
They love to sneak onto the deck and crawl up inside my large covered gas grill, when I am inside the cabin. Then they boldly peek out from one of the vents. I make a lot of noise and stamp out onto the deck, and they scamper away until I go back inside. They are not put-off by the crushed red pepper water mix I use to keep the bears away from the grill....and will even harvest the pepper seeds from the ashes for their winter stash.
One afternoon as I casually glanced out at the deck, one of the little chippers was just climbing onto the deck. However, nstead of climbing into the grill, he decided to stop and take a bite out of one of my patio-potted tomato plants. The middle of the 3 pots had only 2 small green marble-like balls.
These are precious, because our tomato growing season is so short.
I had put plastic bird netting around the plants to keep the animals out.....but this little guy decided he was going for it anyway. He got himself hung-up in a loop of the netting and the more he squirmed to get free, the more tangled he became.
I thought -like the skilled behaviorist I have become- that this was a time to put a real scare into him, and then when he got free he would go tell the others to stay offa my deck.....
I got a spray bottle of water and loudly opened the door. He froze for a second then went into overdrive trying to get free. I stamped outside fussed loudly and squirted him as he became a round ball of wiggly fur. He was so scared that he began to drop poop pellets.
"WELL DONE" I said smugly to myself, and waited for him to wriggle free.......but he only got himself more tightly tangled. By now he had gotten his limbs free, but was dangling by his head and neck looking very much like a hanging man..and I realized," damn, now I gotta cut him free!"
I ran and got the longest scissors I could find, and crept back outside....but when he saw me coming he had a fit, and I thought he was gonna hang himself for sure. I was scared too.....I was afraid he was gonna get free and bit my ankle or something!
I began talking softly and calmly and tried to reassure him that I was not gonna hurt him...and I'd appreciate it if he would return the favor....
He stopped squirming and just stared at me with his huge dark brown almond-shaped eyes......I slowly held out the scissors and he didn't move again until I touched the netting, then wriggled himself till he was tail-up.......I pulled away....after several more tense moments of this, I was able to cut the last piece of net, and he was free.
He flew off my porch like a bat out of hell, but left my tomatoes and ankles intact!
AHHHH life in the wilderness.
Bear Scare
TODAY (June) I was in my kitchen around 1 this afternoon, happily cooking a roast beef dinner; when I felt the cabin shudder and heard what I thought was a thunder clap or sonic boom.
I turned to look outside and saw what looked like the backside of a large reddish- tan dog. I thought to myself "Now who's dog is on my deck!
The 'dog' turned around and I realized that the "cinnamon" neighborhood bear had stopped by for a visit. He had leaped up on the end of the deck from the ground below.... and was just on the other side of my wooden porch swing....4 feet away from me at the kitchen window.
Terrified, I grabbed a large pan and a cutting board, and began banging and screeching.....it panicked and turned a circle trying to decide which way was the fastest outta here.
It decided to leave by the stairway at the other end of the deck (go figure?)....it dashed between my outdoor grill and the porch rail and went THROUGH my center potted tomato......leaving the other 2 standing, and a huge mess of plant and dirt on the steps.
When it hit the ground on the other side of the deck, it decided to stop and graze(????) Heart nearly beating out of my chest, I prayed, grabbed my 'weaponry' and stomped out onto the deck, banging and screeching. I guess a bear's sensitive hearing can't stand high pitched sounds...and believe me I hit notes in the stratosphere that are not on a piano!
It stood on it's hind legs, gave me a "lady PLEASE" glance, and bolted into the forest ... in the direction of my neighbor Judy's cabin! It resembled a large sloppy teenager in low-rider pants as it's loose flesh wiggled in the run.
"Oh no," I thought, "I've killed Judy!"
Judy, a retired Texan, is a true Mountain Woman who likes to work ouside around her property. She had perfected the "screech-bang technique" long before I moved to the mountains. Fortunately Judy was down the mountain and in town, and had missed the excitement.
After I stopped shaking, I remembered Aunt Ora's crushed-red-pepper animal deterrent. I mixed a gallon of the choking stuff and went around the outside of my cabin, singing loudly, gagging, dousing the windows, front porch and back deck.
My Mountain Woman education goes on. Neighbors further up the mountain informed me that
the bear had smelled the roast beef through the windows, and was drawn to join me for lunch.
I turned to look outside and saw what looked like the backside of a large reddish- tan dog. I thought to myself "Now who's dog is on my deck!
The 'dog' turned around and I realized that the "cinnamon" neighborhood bear had stopped by for a visit. He had leaped up on the end of the deck from the ground below.... and was just on the other side of my wooden porch swing....4 feet away from me at the kitchen window.
Terrified, I grabbed a large pan and a cutting board, and began banging and screeching.....it panicked and turned a circle trying to decide which way was the fastest outta here.
It decided to leave by the stairway at the other end of the deck (go figure?)....it dashed between my outdoor grill and the porch rail and went THROUGH my center potted tomato......leaving the other 2 standing, and a huge mess of plant and dirt on the steps.
When it hit the ground on the other side of the deck, it decided to stop and graze(????) Heart nearly beating out of my chest, I prayed, grabbed my 'weaponry' and stomped out onto the deck, banging and screeching. I guess a bear's sensitive hearing can't stand high pitched sounds...and believe me I hit notes in the stratosphere that are not on a piano!
It stood on it's hind legs, gave me a "lady PLEASE" glance, and bolted into the forest ... in the direction of my neighbor Judy's cabin! It resembled a large sloppy teenager in low-rider pants as it's loose flesh wiggled in the run.
"Oh no," I thought, "I've killed Judy!"
Judy, a retired Texan, is a true Mountain Woman who likes to work ouside around her property. She had perfected the "screech-bang technique" long before I moved to the mountains. Fortunately Judy was down the mountain and in town, and had missed the excitement.
After I stopped shaking, I remembered Aunt Ora's crushed-red-pepper animal deterrent. I mixed a gallon of the choking stuff and went around the outside of my cabin, singing loudly, gagging, dousing the windows, front porch and back deck.
My Mountain Woman education goes on. Neighbors further up the mountain informed me that
the bear had smelled the roast beef through the windows, and was drawn to join me for lunch.
Bear Cub
I found and photographed bear cub prints on my back deck cabin window today. He has been making noise out there for the past 2 nights. Today when I got home from Alamosa, I went out on the deck to check my hanging plants for water. Then I saw them. The dusty paw prints were very clear because I had cleaned the deck windows recently. I measured them, 5" by 5" spread out on the bottom of the window pane. I know it was a cub (about 2 years old) , because of the size of the print, and a small snot smear from his little nose. Of course I triple check every window every night before I close up the log house - because an open window is an engraved invitation to "come on in!"
It is said up here in the Rockies that the best place to hang a bird feeder is anyplace you want the bear to go! They have even climbed clotheslines -hanging and crawling upside down like circus performers- to get at high-hung bird feeders.
err.....I stopped using bird feeders.
It is said up here in the Rockies that the best place to hang a bird feeder is anyplace you want the bear to go! They have even climbed clotheslines -hanging and crawling upside down like circus performers- to get at high-hung bird feeders.
err.....I stopped using bird feeders.
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