Wildlife around the pond

We've had the game camera recording the action around the pond this weekend. The pond is a popular place with all of the local wildlife anytime day or night. I've uploaded four short videos taken from the camera.

Another Bear visit

You know, it is hard to tell one bear from another. They don't have spots or any distinguishing marks. The guy below visited the camp site on October 19. It is the only capture from that day. I don't know if this is one of the twins that visited earlier. Or momma to the triplets. Or a different bear.

The next night these two were back. One is behind the table and a bit hard to see. It had been a month since these two were last captured by the camera.


One thing we noticed was the water jug on the table was not disturbed during either visit. Last month the same jug was on the table, but it was covered by a black trash bag. Both sets of bears investigated the jug and knocked the jug off of the table. We wondered if it was the black bag that attracted them. Since the jug did not have a bag over it and they did not bother it, it seems the bears associate the black trash bag with goodies.

Osceola, the Hang Gliding Eagle

I love this video and story of Osceola, a bald eagle who lost a wing as an immature eagle and was able to return to the skies 13 years later. John Stokes tells the whole store here. Enjoy the video and visit the site to learn how this all came about.

Oh My--back for another visit

This past week there was an opportunity to retrieve the SD card from the game camera on the WNC property. And guess who had paid a visit.

But, doesn't this one look a bit smaller than the other two? The game camera was moved because the bears were able to get to it and knock it. It is in a different tree and higher up. So this could be the one of the two bears that visited before. Wonder where the other one is?


There's the second one.

Uh...three? So these probably are different bears. Are they old enough to be away from their moma? Where is moma? Do I really want to know?


We have never had the bears visit while we are staying on the property. I'm not sure I want to be there when they visit, but it looks like it will now be a possibility.

No Lions or Tigers, but---Oh my!

We keep game cameras up on our property in Western North Carolina. It's fun to see the various wildlife that live in the area and visit the property. We have captured pictures of turkey, deer, and raccoons. I know there are coyotes in the area, but they stayed away from the camera lenses.

Black bears live on the mountain. Our neighbors have reported seeing a 'baby' black bear, so we knew we had a chance to capture one on the game camera. This does not look like a baby to me! The camera uses an infrared flash to take pictures in the dark so the animals do not see a white flash. That also means the picture is black and white.





They visited 3 nights in a row.

Our neighbors feed the raccoons which is why there are now bears in the area. They are not happy about the bears visiting. We pointed out if they stop feeding the raccoons, the bears might stop coming. They said they would continue to feed the raccoons.

Of Honey and Bees

My hair seemed to be a bit dry, so I thought a SMT might be the ticket to add some moisture and shine. What is a SMT? Snowymoon's Moisture treatment--named by the creator on a long hair forum that I visit. The treatment involves taking 4 parts of a hair conditioner, preferably without silicone or protein, 1 part honey, 1 part clear aloe gel. Heat in the microwave about 30 seconds and mix well. Make sure it is just warm, not hot enough to burn. Put on dry or wet hair, cover with a plastic cap. Leave on for about an hour. Rinse well. I have to lightly shampoo or my hair seems coated. But the treatment seems to work.

The honey is a humectant and will draw in moisture. Everyone's hair is different and has different requirements. The great thing about the treatment is that it is easy to tweak to individual needs. It is also cheap as I use Suave brand Naturals conditioner.

I mix my SMT, glop it on my hair, cover with a plastic bag, and a bandanna. Now--what to do for an hour or so while the ingredients work their magic. The yard needs mowing---why not.

I head out to the back yard, pull out the mower, fill it up with gas and then look for my work gloves. Found them---sitting on the edge of the screened porch.

I grab a glove and it buzzes! I carefully look inside to find that a carpenter bee has turned my glove into a cozy bee-bungalow. Not cool. Carefully putting a stick into the glove thinking the bee will climb on the stick and I can pull him out. Nope. The bee retreats farther into the glove.

See the yellow speck far in the glove. It's the bee.

A little closer look...

And a bit closer. He is really hiding in there.


Here is a picture of a carpenter bee on some blossoms. Carpenter bees are huge--about 3/4 to 1 inch in length.


Want a closer look?


The bee was not leaving the glove. Perhaps the bee was hungry. I place the glove the bush with the blooms and wait for him to crawl out. Not going to happen. Admitting defeat, I mow the yard without gloves. The honey and conditioner mixture start dripping out from under the plastic and bandanna wrap. At one point I wondered if I should see if the bee would climb out of the glove for the honey in my hair. But the loudness of the buzz coming from my glove convinced me to leave the critter alone.

Carpenter bees are neat critters. They do not live in hives like other bees. They will drill into wood and make little tunnels where they lay their eggs. Here is a neat site explaining all about carpenter bees.