if one is a moose, is two called meece?

because if so, all i can say is...

i love meeces to pieces.

tuesday, may 25

it has definitely been a moose day today.

it started when we got to work and found a moose in the parking lot.

we were able to snap off a couple of pictures

but later when i had to go across the street to the visitor center, i took my camera in case he was still there.

i was lucky i did.

he had moved from the parking lot to across the street at the visitor center.

  i spent some time taking quite a few pictures of him.  i won't bore you with all of them.

i dig his goatee. 

do moose have goatees?

or moosetees?

i think he thought if he hid from me, i would go away.

to bad for him his big butt couldn't fit behind the tree

the sign needs to be changed to "moose crossing"

i think he would have walked right up to me if i hadn't moved back out of the way

i thought i was lucky to have been able to spend the time with this moose at work.

i was absolutely thrilled when we pulled up at home and saw this guy hanging out across the street.

he was just sitting there eating the bushes around him.  i don't know how long he had been there before we got there, but he was there while i cooked dinner and we ate.  i got another one of him when i walked by to go check the owls. 

i wasn't able to get any good pictures of the baby owls, but i will post these anyway. 

you have to look close, but you can see them peeking out.

as i walked back to the trailer, i was not paying much attention to my surroundings, which i know is not the smartest thing to do.

imagine my surprise when i looked up and was just about staring this guy in the eye.  i had to backtrack a bit to get out of his way, and then i stalked him through the campground to get a few more pictures. 

 he was pretty patient with me. 

again, i won't post everything, just a few.

love his furry antlers.  would love to see this guy in the fall when they are full grown

it was like he was saying good bye to me before he turned around and walked away.

yeah, it was a moose day

definitely a very good day.

enough already

monday, may 24

once more, we woke up to snow.

again!

it was only an inch or so

but still, it is getting really old.

we understand that the weather changes hour to hour throughout the day in this area.

but we are ready for it to change from warm to warmer.

when i opened the door this is what i saw

we are pretty sure they are bird prints.  whatever it was, it had been under the trailer, probably keeping warm and must have left when we got up and started moving around.

there was a big herd of bison just outside the fence to the campground.  we were running late, so these pictures were taken as we drove by.  it was a beautiful sight to see all the brown bison against the white snow.

i was able to get a baby by itself.  usually there is an adult or two guarding them and standing between the baby and the vehicle.  this one looks like he was crying for his mom.

i wasn't able to get pictures, but i also saw -

- a moose running thru the snow

- a small herd (@6) of pronghorn antelope standing in the snow looking at us as we drove by. 

- a coyote pouncing on some kind of small animal.  it was something out of a national geographic movie.

he was staring down at the ground and then jumping on it.

- hundreds of birds on the road.  as we drove down the road they would fly out of the way in all directions.

we were told they were after the worms that crawl up out of the soggy ground to the road. it went on for a few miles.

so i guess i can't complain about the cold and snow.  we would not have seen the beautiful animals and scenery otherwise.

i am still tired of it anyway.

elk fest 2010

saturday, may 22

we attended elk fest in jackson on saturday

it's held once a year in the park and on 2 of the streets next to the park.

every year the boy scouts are allowed to go to the elk reserve and collect all the antlers dropped by the elk.

the boy scouts then auction them at the elk fest and all the proceeds go to the scouts.

we weren't quite sure what to expect, but thought it would be fun to go check it out.

of course, as usual, the morning started out snowy and cold.

it was pretty crowded, so we had to park a couple of blocks away.

we just happened to park across the street from this motel

i thought it was appropriate for the day.

the one street was for the public to sell their own products. 

it was a mix of antlers, horns, pelts, skulls and even buffalo or coyote teeth.

there were alot of guys standing around in camoflage jackets and john deere hats.

on the other street was the boy scouts and their antlers that were to be auctioned.

the antlers were being sold in lots and had already been weighed and tagged.

the young scouts would bring up the lot that was being auctioned

 and hold it until it was SOLD!!!

there were quite a few people there bidding

the word was that this was a very bad year for antlers.

because the winter had been so mild the elk stayed up in the high country, so there were not as many elk in the reserve when the time came to lose their antlers.

after we had been there for awhile, i realized there was a weird odor in the air. 

the only thing i could think it could be, was the antlers that still had the heads and skulls attached.  it wasn't a really strong smell, but it was a smell none the less.

overall, it was pretty interesting.

we were glad we went and experienced it.

however,

i kinda think the elk and assorted other animal heads would have preferred to have been some where else.

preferably back on their bodies

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

we are very lucky to have some wonderful neighbors in the campground.

i have been to their home a few times now and everytime i go unannounced and uninvited.

the first time i went to visit i was the only one there and stayed only a few minutes as i did not want to overstay my welcome and wanted to come back again.

the last two times i showed up, they already had quite a few visitors hanging around and were pretty much just staring at each other but not saying awhole lot of anything.

they are very patient with us all, but i really don't think they are very understanding of why we all keep showing up everyday at dinner time and why we don't just leave them alone.

it is a couple with 2 small babies they are trying to raise in a small but very cosy home.

she is a beautiful devoted stay at home mom and he is handsome & protective and goes out everyday to bring home the bacon (or i should say rodent)

i want to introduce you to mr & mrs great horned owl and their home, with just a small peek at their babies.

this is mr owl, he doesn't get into the nest much, but you will generally find him sitting in a nearby tree watching the nest and is pretty much the sole provider of the food.  i was lucky enough to see him fly away from the tree the first time i visited so i saw where he went and was able to get some good shots of him.  his head looks like it totally swivels completely around and a couple of times he just looked at me like he was wishing i would just go away.  tonight he was in a tree watching over the nest as there were quite a few people with their big fancy cameras aimed right at the mom and babies.

you really have to look at this one, but down in the left bottom of the hole is a small white furry head sticking up.  that is one of the babies!!

this is mom.  she pretty much sits with the babies all the time.  eventually in the next couple of weeks as the babies get bigger and really start moving around, both parents will sit on opposite sides of the nest in nearby trees and watch the babies walk around the nest and out on the limbs and venture out learning how to fly.

i got these tonight.  the sun was setting and was at just the right angle.  as i was walking up, i could see her feeding the babies, but couldn't get close enough in time to get pictures.  you can see how she has her back to the opening and is turned toward one of the babies who is peeking out from behind her.

this is a shot of the tree they are in and how far away i actually am.  the park services or wildlife agents have put yellow tape around the area to give the owls as much privacy and room as possible.   you can see the tape on the other side of the tree.  this is the 2nd year this pair has nested in this tree and the goal is to hopefully  not have too many people bother them so that they will continue to return every year.

i hope to get over to the nest on a daily basis and watch these little guys grow and get some great pictures of it all.

which way do we go george, which way do we go?

the last 2 weeks have been pretty easy.

the weather has improved dramatically.

we even had a couple of 70 degree days

and a few nights we didn't have to run the heaters.

on saturday, may 15 we decided to head over the teton pass to idaho falls.

we didn't think we needed a map to get there as we always hear how it is 1 1/2 hours from jackson straight over the pass.

well, we popped up and over the pass which is as steep as everyone says it is and

cruised along the highway thru miles and miles of idaho potatoe farm land. 

we started to get the feeling that we missed a turnoff somewhere about 1 3/4 hours into the ride.

somewhere along the way, we missed the turnoff to idaho falls and were about 40 miles north of where we needed to be.

no problem, we finally got to a highway and found our way to idaho falls.

after some shopping, we headed back the right way and found ourselves driving thru some beautiful land.

the highway runs for miles along an awesome lake/reservoir created by a dam. 

we didn't get any pictures because we were running late, but next time we will definitely be stopping alot during the drive.

work is getting much easier for both of us. 

we work with a bunch of really nice people and

our neighbors are all nice as well.

yesterday we had a rainy thundery kind of day and on the way home we got some great shots of the clouds
up against the tetons.

these are just as i took them with no adjustments

enjoy

these were taken with out the truck window as we were driving down the road

these were taken out the door of the trailer looking over the tree tops