In The Wild, Photo Share (If Possible To Capture).... Keep Your OneWheel In The Shot If You Can.

OneDanGTS

@s-leon Almost ran into this young buck yesterday as he darted out of the brush not 5 feet in front of me . . . glanced at me and galloped off forward down the path.

Same guy I took a pic of a few days back on the same path, so I was not going full speed as I had a feeling I'd "run into him" again, and I did! I take this path most days, but when the brush gets higher, I definitely slow down just in case.

Young buck.jpg

S. Leon

Ruth Anne witnessed the whole close encounter. As I Onewheeled up the grassy avenue of young black walnut trees I saw Ruth Anne waving her arms at me and pointing emphatically. Looking around I had just passed by — not one, not two, but three fresh young skunks playing in the yard. The distance between me-on-the-Onewheel and the three back and white young ones had not been more than a meter or two.

Earlier this evening, before that, while watering a young grove of spruce trees, I had watched two very nearly all-white skunks working the edge of the hayfield — walking/waddling in the short grass, nosing into the tall hay, again and again, coming closer and closer.

But the three black and white skunks I nearly ran over or through did not include those two mostly white skunks I had seen near the hayfield. Listening to my description, Ruth Anne’s eyebrows went up, “So, we have FIVE skunks here and now?”

@lia We all love cats. These are irresistible creatures. It's like they have magic on us. :) Of course, there are moments when the cat won't let you pet it. Or the cat runs away, you have to accept. In any case, a great impression.

Lia

@electric-nici Me 'n' the boys on our way to stroke random cats
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@S-Leon I've never seen a skunk before, are they big?
And is the smell as bad as people make it out to be?

S. Leon

@lia -- Baby skunks are so cute and adorable! Kitten-like. There are videos online if you are unfamiliar. Adult skunks are cat-sized. To be sprayed by a skunk is violent trauma to the olfactory senses!

@lia OMG, what a powerful impression delivered by the skunk. :) The cat did the right thing, i mean the sense of smell is also strong in cats. After all, the olfactory cells are more pronounced than in humans. :) EDIT; Oops, are they ducks?

NotSure

@electric-nici said in In The Wild, Photo Share (If Possible To Capture).... Keep Your OneWheel In The Shot If You Can.:

EDIT; Oops, are they ducks?

lol

Samuraipunch

KITTY!!!

S. Leon

Riding my V1 up the grassy black walnut tree avenue this summer evening, a newly fledged bluebird attempted to land on my helmet. Very likely in its first flight, tired, flapping tender baby bird muscles, and wanting something above ground level to land on -- my faux wood-grain helmet looked right. But I was a moving target and the baby bluebird narrowly missed its mark. Of course, the bluebird parents were right there swooping and diving through the air, scolding me, and looking out for their young one, now perched in the grass.

All down the that quarter-mile lane I had put five nest boxes -- there for some years now -- and this year two or three had tree swallows nesting, with their iridescent green backs and white undersides, and two have bluebirds.

On a Onewheel ride last week, the four tree swallow fledglings were all perched together on the roof of their nest box -- one on each corner facing in, like sitting at a family dinner table.

And yes, this evening near the end of the black walnut avenue a young skunk looking for grubs was digging little holes in my smooth grassy lane. I rode four miles in about a half hour, back and forth, up and down the grass, and the skunk had only moved a few meters here or there each time.

NotSure

@s-leon said in In The Wild, Photo Share (If Possible To Capture).... Keep Your OneWheel In The Shot If You Can.:

All down the that quarter-mile lane I had put five nest boxes

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S. Leon

Onewheeling in the grassy lane today I found the fresh remains of a skunk atop one of the big round mulch hay bales next to a sapling black walnut tree. Many tufts of black and white fur, a skunk head, and pitifully few skunk guts, all fairly neatly arranged like a science exhibit at a natural history museum -- that's all that was left of the skunk.

The predator? A Great Horned Owl in all probability. It is one of the select few predators that eat skunks.

Edit: A not-very-gruesome-photo under the Spoiler.

OneDanGTS

Border Collies used to herd the goats around that they use to mow down the brush along the Sacramento River Parkway bike path. They do seem to enjoy their job!

BC Herders.jpg

HanahsDax

I’ve watched these ducklings grow up this summer and finally snagged a photo of them this morning. Hard to see them but they are after the deck/ bridge. One of their parents are standing guard. I was respectful of the brood and let them cross before proceeding.