Please don't feed the animals!

"Please Don't Feed the Animals"

Now there is a sign that we've all seen many times and although it is usually seen at the Zoo it's quite applicable in the wild also and just as important if not more.  Last weekend we stumbled onto a small bear with a broken left front paw.  We had seen this same bear a  month earlier a couple miles from this location so in spite of the injury he seems to get around okay.  Sadly he isn't able to put any weight on that paw. We just felt good to see he is doing okay.

This particular evening we were heading home and decided to take a back road to see if we could locate a couple of bulls that we had been looking for.  As we drove by a small settlement of camps my wife spotted a small bear fairly close to the road but very close to a camp.  We stopped the Jeep and began taking pictures from a safe distance.  As we did this we observed why this bear was so close to the dwelling and actually at a couple times on his hind legs looking in the window. An inhabitant of the dwelling was continually throwing scraps of food out the door but yet was trying to chase it away as it got within inches of the screen door.  I just don't think it occurred to her that the bear isn't going to leave if you are feeding it.  The sad part is that this bear due to the stupidity of humans could try to tear his way into this camp or summer home and be declared a dangerous nuisance and could be trapped and transferred or even destroyed.  Now this is a pity!  So Whoda' Thunk feeding a wild animal could have such a tragic conclusion!

We realize it's very tempting to try to bait a bear or any other animal because it's so cool to watch them up close.  We definitely took advantage of the opportunity but as we observed this young bear it became so apparent to us that this could have a bad outcome.  Consider the fact that the only thing separating the bear from the food he knows is in there, is a thin screen.  Also consider the people stepping outside at night and cornering this bruin.  Hopefully the bear will run but it's still a scary thought and in the end the bear is made out to be the bad guy or bad bear in this case. Look at the pictures and reach your own conclusions.  Please forgive my temptation to add captions!

Broken left front paw.  He didn't stop at the stop sign.  He only Paw'sd and bearly looked both ways.

I'm a big mean bear!

Sometimes I just feel like dancing.

Excuse me but my car broke down and I was wondering if I could use your phone.

I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!

 If you could spare a couple burgers I would not be opposed to grilling them myself!

 Maybe if I climb this tree I can see into the kitchen!

Perhaps we can work out a deal.  I'll finish stacking this firewood and you bake me a pie!  You know me, I'm not picky, any kind of fresh Beary Pie would be wonderful.

Bears, bears, they're everywhere!

After hearing that the 2011 Bear Season had harvested near record numbers my wife was a bit distraught over the large number of bruins bagged in Penna.  Our area alone produced high kill numbers.  Unofficially the harvest for 2011 was nearing 4000 bears.  The record year was 2005 when 4,164  bears were bagged.  That's a lot of bear!

While most people wouldn't be all that concerned about a possible shortage of bears we surely feared the thought of less encounters with these powerful creatures.  We find it rather odd when we talk to people that have actually never seen a bear other than in a zoo.  We even find it unusual when we talk to those that have maybe only seen one or two in the wild in their lifetime.  We find this so amazing because we have so many encounters with them every year.  Encounters with bears linger in your memory far longer than other critters and sometimes the memories are quite vivid.

My wife Jeanne recently had a face to face encounter that she won't soon forget.  We were traveling rte 555 just below Dents Run enroute to Lyman Lake. As we traveled toward Driftwood, we passed a small opening in the trees with a clear view of Bennetts Branch.  I caught a glimpse of something on the edge of the water that sure looked like a bear.  We were pulling a camper so we had to wait for a wide spot to pull over.  Luckily we found a spot real close to where the bear should have been.  I grabbed the Canon and we headed down through the woods and toward the creek.  When we approached the water I signaled my wife to head back toward the camper because she wasn't wearing rugged enough shoes to walk the creek banks.  I walked upstream but never got a look at the bear so I headed back to the road and down to where she would be.  Moments later I spotted her coming out of the woods and she was yapping something about seeing this bear up close and personal.

Whoda' Thunk that while I was trekking up along the stream I apparently kicked the bear and sent him right toward her.  As luck would have it she didn't have a camera but she did have a stare down for a few minutes with this black bear when they came face to face to each other.  Let's just say that she was a tad bit excited and she gave me a pretty hard time for putting her in the path of this big fella.  I felt badly but got over it right away. Geez, I thought she would be thanking me for the close look at this black bear, I guess I was mistaken.  So far this year we've had 7 encounters with black bears and some of the encounters were just a bit too close for comfort. Hey, it's just another great day outdoors!

 After the face to face encounter he did stick around for a few pics.

 Okay, take a few more shots and then I'm outta here!

This is just a bit uncomfortable with all these burrs on my butt!

Easter Morning eye opener in the marsh

It was early Easter morning and the morning sun had yet to show itself.  I had every intention of sleeping in this morning but the thought of the Wood Ducks and the lure of the swamp was just too much to overcome.  I crawled out of bed, slipped into my sexiest camo and slithered out of the house.  My wife never even knew I was missing.  I didn’t look at my watch but I would guess that I made it to the swamp at approximately Dark Thirty.  The picture below shows what I was hoping to photograph but things don't always work as planned.

 I typically park up the road and around the corner a bit so the noise of the Jeep doesn’t scare the Wood Ducks or whatever else that could be lurking in the swamp.  I gathered all my gear and headed down the road in the darkness.  Just as I was about to leave the road and go down over the bank and into the marsh a car was approaching me quickly from the east.  Knowing that it would be difficult to see me I moved quickly and disappeared over the bank just as his headlights hit me.  I can only imagine what was going through this fellas  mind as I looked like a cross between Rambo and a photo journalist from Desert Storm.  I was in full camo, with a Doghouse blind strapped to my back, a folding chair over one shoulder and an extended tripod on the other shoulder.  I had my backpack strapped to my chest which looked oddly like a parachute and my Canon with the 100-400 awkwardly hanging around my neck.  Maybe he was coming home from a late night of partying and won’t dare tell anyone what he saw.

Okay, so I set my blind up at a different spot with the hopes that I’ll outsmart the ducks.  With the blind set up right on the very fringe of the water I crawl in and get my gear set up.  I know it will take a bit for things to calm down after the racket I made but patience is a virtue.  After sitting there for maybe 15 minutes it began to get light and I began to realize that it was freakin’ cold.  Maybe I should have dressed warmer.  This is what happens when my wife isn’t there to dress me in the morning.  No big deal, I’ll tough it out even though seeing my breath on each exhale was a constant reminder.  I bundled up tighter and pulled my hood tightly around my head.  For the time being, I killed some time by watching a big beaver at the far end of the swamp going back and forth carrying fresh greens in his mouth.

A couple hours had gone by and I had lost most of the feeling in all my fingers but I was having a great time.  So far no movement in the swamp other than me shivering violently.  A half hour later things began to look up.  The sun was now heating up the east side of my blind and by pressing my hand against that side of the blind I could actually sense some feeling coming back into my fingertips.  At this same point I realized I could no longer see my breath on each exhale.  At this point I also realized I was absolutely surrounded by the calls of a dozen different birds that frequent this marsh.  Off to my left there was the most brilliantly colored Blue Jay perched on a nearby branch.  Moments later a Common Flicker landed within range of the 400mm and was more than eager to show off his beautiful yellow tail feathers and yellow lined wings.  The swamp was coming to life!

As I watched and listened I was serenaded by the sounds of nature.  My trance was quickly broken by some movement directly in front of the blind.  Sure enough a Muskrat was heading directly toward me.  I watched him for a while and snapped some pictures until he dove under the water and out of sight.  Once again the swamp went silent.  I tipped my head down for a few moments and gave my eyes a rest.  Sometimes I do this in hopes that the next time I look up the swamp will be alive with activity.  Well, that was the case this time for sure!

As I opened my eyes I realized instantly that the one corner of the blind which didn’t completely contact the ground was now looking a bit different.  I opened my eyes the rest of the way and realized I was having a face off with a Muskrat.  Holy moley, what’s this crazy rodent doing in my blind!  Apparently he had thought it was a hut.  Everything happened real quick from here on.  Apparently this Muskrat didn’t have a reverse gear because he charged into the blind.  Chaos ensued!  This muskrat made 3 or 4 quick loops inside my blind and he wasn’t happy.  I wasn’t happy either!  In a split second I snapped to my feet but couldn’t flee.  Now I know what you’re thinking, I’m 6 foot and 250 pounds and he’s maybe 10 inches high and a couple pounds.  Yeah, I know if it come down to an all out hand to hand combat I’d probably  come out on top, but when that crazy rodent yelped and hissed you can believe he had my attention. 

If you ever watched “COPS” on TV you’ve seen the scrawny little guys that are on crack or coke or booze or whatever and it takes 3 or 4 cops to control them.  Well that’s kinda’ how it was with this crazed rodent in my 5 X 5 blind.  At one point he looked at me and raised one paw as if to say, let’s rumble!  At this point he made one more hot lap around the blind and hid behind my chair that had been hurled against one corner of the blind.  Now bear in mind this all went down in seconds and it’s hard to begin to explain the chaos inside that small blind that I can’t even stand straight up in.  I think I asked him nicely if we could just get along and he said he was going to bite me in the ankles.  I told him I had a pocket knife and he said he would pounce on me like a chicken on a June bug.  This was one crazed critter I’m here to tell you!  I think he and his buddies had been muchin’ on some bad mushrooms and he was on some kind of trip. 

As I was thinking of my next move he darted out from behind the chair.  I was spinning around so quickly that my hood had caught on my glasses and I was only seeing out of one eye.  While holding the tripod with on hand I swung my other hand like a wild man to get the hood away from my one eye but only managed to knock my glasses off my face and onto the ground.  The Muskrat took advantage of this mistake and ran to the other corner.  After getting focus enough to find my glasses I quickly snatched them up and slid them onto my face but I still couldn’t see well because that damn rodent had a muddy footprint on one lens.  He is one evil Muskrat and smart too but not quite as smart as me.  I suddenly got the brainstorm to simply lift up the whole blind.  Smart move on my behalf, wish I had thought of that earlier.  Okay, with my heart pounding I watch the Muskrat swim away but after swimming out to a nearby log he turns around and looks back at me and shakes his head as if to say “what just happened there”! 

So please, I need to have someone tell me that these thing happen to everybody!  Come on people, tell me it’s not just me!!  After all this went down I figured it best to crawl out of my blind and pack it up for the day.  As I walked back to the Jeep reflecting on what had just happened I caught glimpse of something perched on a wire.  The brightly colored Blue and White Swallow was just begging to have his picture taken.  I was glad to oblige but it was then that I was made aware that my steadiness was hampered by what just went down in the blind.  It took several shots until I was able to capture some decent images of  my feathered friend.  On a brighter note he seemed to calm my nerves and instantly all was right with the world.  Nature can do that you know!  Here are a couple images of this little fella.  Whoda' Thunk a quiet Easter morning could have turned out this way, I sure didn't.

Standing Tall and Marking the Line

How many times have you driven Rte 62 between Warren Pa. and Jamestown NY?  If you're like us I would bet several times.  I'm certain from time to time you take note as you pass the big colored sign that tells you that you are leaving Pa and entering NY.  Next time you pass that big colorful state line sign look on the opposite side of the road and you'll see a lone carved upright stone that has marked this state line for over 140 years.  This upright border stone is ornately carved all along the edges and is beveled along the top.  Check out the pictures but better yet stop and take a look next time you are passing through.  Whoda' thunk it took us this long to see this unique stone standing tall and marking the line.

It wiggles, it jiggles and there's always room for it. What is it??

I know what you're thinking, "he's really lost it now".  Or you may be thinking that I'm so desperate to add an entry to my Blog that I've resorted to this.  You may be correct on both counts or possibly there was a legitimate reason for this post.  So humor me and assume there is a legitimate reason. 

Here is my lame attempt at explaining why I decided to include this in my "Whoda Thunk" Blog.  Now if you haven't already figured out what the subject of this entry is, I will tell you.  It's J-E-L-L-O!  So just how did this subject pop into my mind you are probably wondering.  Well my wife got into a conversation today with a good friend of hers and it was concerning a Jello eating contest.  My wife proceeded to tell her friend why Jello doesn't have the same appeal that it once had.  Others were listening in and there seemed to be a mixture of chuckling and disbelief when my wife explained how Jello was made.  In addition to that they also quizzed her as to how she knew these things.  My wife explained that she gained this knowledge when she visited the Jello Museum.  Once again there was more chuckling and more disbelief.  To her surprise she seemed to be the only person present that had been to the Jello Museum.  Geez, we figured everyone had been to the Jello Museum!  I guess we are just a bit more cultural than others.  And yes, I do take my wife to some of the finer places and the Jello Museum is a prime example.

So how did we come to visit the Jello Museum and just where the heck is it?  The museum is in Leroy New York.  Where else would a Jello Museum be other than in a town named "Leroy".  We were on one of our spontaneous weekend trips on the motorcycle where we wander around with no destination and no itinerary when we spotted the Jello Museum.  Naturally we jumped at the chance to broaden our knowledge so we pulled right into the parking lot.  While it's true that we left there with gobs of information about Jello, there were a few tidbits of info that we would have been happier not knowing.  And we will share that with you.

By now your probably bursting at the seams with curiosity as to how this delicious dessert is made.  This would also be your chance to hit the Back tab and you will be able to go through life looking at this jiggly colorful concoction with continued delight. Okay, you had your chance so here goes nothing.

Jello is made of 4 main ingredients, gelatin, water, sugar or artificial sweetener or flavoring and food coloring.  Doesn't sound all that bad does it?  But lets dissect the first ingredient gelatin.  What exactly is gelatin and how is it made?  It sure doesn't sound bad does it?  Well here's how it's made.  Gelatin is actually a processed version of a structural protein called collagen.  Collagen is a fibrous protein that strengthens the bodies connective tissues giving them elasticity and movement.  It's in the human body as well as cows, pigs and other animals.  Gelatin can come from the bones of pigs or cows or from their hides or connective tissues.  Today, the gelatin in Jell-O is most likely to come from pigskin.  Now I'll tell you how this all comes together.

Collagen doesn't naturally dissolve in water so it must be modified to make gelatin.  To do this the pigskins are ground up and treated with either a strong acid or strong base to dissolve the collagen.  This treated solution of dissolved pigskin is then boiled producing a jelled scum which is skimmed off the top.  This solution is dried and then ground into a fine powder.  After that a bit of coloring, artificial flavoring and sweetener is added and we have Jello.  Probably not what you wanted to hear, but that's the scoop.

Jello actually had a really rough beginning.  In 1845 a man by the name of Peter Cooper patented a product made  with gelatin.  Although he did patent it, the concept never did catch on with the public.   In 1897, Pearle Wait, a carpenter in LeRoy, developed a cough remedy and a laxative tea using the gelatin. He stumbled onto a flavored dessert using the gelatin that appealed to his wife and she called it Jello.  He tried to market his product but his lack of capital and experience resulted in a complete flop.  In 1899 he sold his formula to another local fella for the amount of $450.  This gentleman was most noted for proprietary medicines.  It's unclear whether this gentleman simply lost focus in the Jello product or possibly got sidetracked with other interests but in 1899 possibly in a bad mood he sold the Jello name to a fella by the name of Sam Nico for $35.00.  Sam experienced amazing success with his new venture.  By 1902, after a successful sales campaign his sales soared to $250,000.00.  A year or two later and he had topped the $1,000,000.00 mark and from there the sales simply soared to the corporation it is today.

Did you know that radio personality Jack Benny coined the little tune that was sung with the 5 letters J-E-L-L-O.  Did you also realize starting in 1974, Bill Cosby became the spokesman for Jello and held that title for nearly 30 years.  Did you realize there are over 20 different flavors of Jello?  And did you realize there are roughly 36 flavors that were discontinued including celery, turnip and purple?  Pretty interesting stuff, huh?  You might also be happy to hear that although some people claim that Jello is made out of horse knee caps, that really isn't true.

Whoda Thunk there would be so much that you didn't know about that colorful wiggly and jiggly dessert!

The Jello Museum, of course!

Just had to pose at the Jello Museum

Bill Cosby loves Jello!

Here's an added attraction near Leroy.  It's a bridge that raises and lowers to allow boats to pass on the Erie Canal.  The little elevated booth is manned 24 hours a day.

Another view of the control booth and a shot of our Goldwing in the nearby parking lot.