Carl Wolf, The Outdoors Section
Boss Jonathan took me out to the wood shed other day. Quite a talk. Long discussion about outdoors versus politics, freedom of speech, prejudice and fear that comes with speaking out. I came away chastened and thoughtful. Still not clear why folks want to support a man who obviously does not deserve it. Find it confusing to be denigrated for pointing out the truth and getting whipsawed for it, but people still support a guy who constantly skips using it. I sincerely hope we can get past this period of megalomania and back to the respect our country deserves.
Speaking of claws check out this photo a reader sent showing the difference between a human hand and the talons of an eagle. I still have the scar where a golden eagle clamped down on my left hand completely going through it. The eagle had been injured and the wildlife department asked me to try and help it recover which meant getting up close and personal while feeding it bits of road kill and expensive steak. Bird was pretty tolerant, but instinct made it tighten it’s grip on my hand when feeding even though I had on a thick, leather glove. Real problem came when I tried to get the eagle to release its hold which is not something they like to do.
Same reader (she sends really unusual stuff) included picture of bear claws next to a human hand. Again, having had the pleasure of placing my hand next to a bear (fortunately bear had been knocked out by a game biologist) I could appreciate the size difference. The incredible sharpness of both talons and claws always amazing me. Most every morning Jeanette and I sit in our Sun Room and watch the fox squirrels run up and down limbs and tree trunks some very thick and others the size of a pencil as they hang on with their tiny clawed feet. Then watch as they pull out a sunflower seed and hold it in those tiny claws while biting off the outer rind to get at the meat underneath.
The political, ethical and practical legal problems of reestablishing brown bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem has run all the way from practically wiped out to coming back to too many. Hunters are now getting a chance to legally hunt them for the first time in a lot of years. I recall in the Voyage of Discovery about the Lewis and Clark expedition how they kept running into grizzly bears and what they had to do just to get by them. Having worked in the mountains and woods most of my life I am no stranger to bears, black, brown (grizzly) or sun and had occasions to provide odoriferous voiding when attacked which leaves one with a lot of respect. Shot one in northern California long time ago and like usual hung it up for skinning then threw up. A skinned bear has a startling appearance that looks just like a human body when its hide comes off.
What a great Christmas! Weather not bad, family get-together and lots of well-wishing friends, neighbors, relatives and even some really nice folks that do not always agree with what I write. It was one of the best Christmas’s I can recall. Special and Prairie even chimed in with howls at the full moon and wiggling under our blankets in the cold of night. As a former federal employee, I felt bad for those who had their lives unnecessarily disrupted by the squabble over the federal budget. Imagine, a wall over the happiness of people! Is this a great country, or what? Thanks Helen, it was great. Sandy, you and your family will always be special. And Larry, we do it because you are friends which is something we really appreciate.
Carl Wolf – Carl Wolf provides a weekly column in the Yellowstone County News entitled “The Outdoors”. His consistent column talks about the outdoors and almost anything in it, including people, places, seasons, and any other jabs he can include for the editor.
