Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

May all the readers, both old and new, have a great and happy Christmas! I would also like to express my thanks to the many readers who have contributed to Koyote Hill over the past year. I know I have made many new friends and have received a lot of support from old friends.
The picture is an old wren's nest, I think. It was discovered during the just past Pennsylvania deer season (rifle). Some little creature, a chipmunk or maybe a squirrel, stored several acorns in the abandoned nest. We'll be watching to see if they hatch! That be a real Christmas miracle!

On the Subject of Miracles:

A nice whitetail from this past season shot by a good friend and neighbor. Some people have all the luck! Thanks for sharing Al and have a great Christmas. I know there'll be some good meals.

Christmas Storm Approaches:

Be careful driving over the upcoming weekend. Already some readers are living through a pretty good winter storm. The Christmas is expected in northwestern Pennsylvania over the next several days. It is Christmas Eve night and already the winds are starting to howl here.
In case your snowed in,and the weather is ugly outside, here is some reading you might want to do. I write for Associated Content here and also write a blog for our local newspaper at GoCrawford. I have been following the bankruptcy story of Penn Traffic which operates Quality Market stores found in many small towns in western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.

I also appreciate your comments, suggestions and insights, feel free to get in touch or comment.

Pumpkin Shortage

For weeks now, people have commented about how hard it is to find pumpkin pie filling for holiday pies. It seems that Morton, Ill., the proclaimed pumpkin capital of the world, suffered through a real rainy season and most of the pumpkin crop was destroyed. Learn more, here.
Pumpkins are relatively easy to grow and worth considering in next year's garden if you have the space. They do like to sprawl.
We'll pick back up on tomatoes and the blight next post.

Wildlife Photos These photos are from a very good friend who lives in Calgary and I thought I would share them with all. They were taken within the last several months about an hour away from that great city.
Thanks to Saskatoon Phil!




Gifts
There has been a lot of writing about last minute Christmas shopping ideas. Even I wrote one, here. But then I got to thinking, we buy gifts all the time regardless of the season and these ideas can be used throughout the year. Check it out.

The Blogs

I wanted to thank the folks who also write blogs which I recommend on this site. A special Christmas wish to Vincent, Kathleen, Linda, and Dan. Scroll down to the next post for their links.

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Again, Merry Christmas!

Moon Mammoth and Whitetails

Deer Season:

Rifle white tail deer season is now open in many regions. Pennsylvania opened on November 30th; New York a week earlier. It is something of a major two week holiday for many, especially in this region. In Pennsylvania, upwards of 950,000 hunters will be out; I suspect the same numbers are true for New York and surrounding states.

Good hunters have been scouting for weeks and watching the signs, but it is important even during the season to pay attention to details in woods. For a link, read this article on buck rubs here.


Pictured above are Dan and Adam with a buck they helped their younger sister get in a swamp area near Corry, PA called Tamarac. All three were pretty happy. It was the young teenager's first buck.


It is always important for hunters to get permission from property owners about using their land for hunting. Often people post property because of disputes with unethical hunters, but sometimes I think, it is more because of family or neighborhood disputes. While there are some great public game lands, at least in Pennsylvania, open for hunting, about eighty percent of the land is owned privately.
Check with the landowners; many great friendships have resulted from getting acquainted. I don't like looking at the increasing numbers of no trespassing signs lately.

I also write a blog for GoErie at the GoCrawford section and recently wrote about some of the local hunting issues and other news items Here's the link.


Tye has been a friend for a good many years, though he grew up here he now lives near MN. He went hunting up there at Chippewa National Forest, not far from Remer, MN. There he, and Alicia, some other buddies, and his dog, Haze (hi, Haze), had some good times hunting grouse and snowshoe rabbits. Seems like they were luckier at the snowshoes.


No snowshoes around here except the kind you wear on your feet in deep snow. Not too sure I want to see another rabbit family around; it's getting costly and time consuming re-planting some things in a garden.
But thanks, for sending the photos and information.

Keep Up to Date on the Flu - not a virus to fool with



The Ice Age



Winter brings thoughts of the Ice Age every year and visions of woolly mammoths, plodding through the tundra. Not far from here, at a glacial lake, Lake Pleasant, the remains of a woolly mammoth were discovered.

Further to the south, at Conneaut Lake, upwards of five woolly mammoth remains have been discovered along with evidence of mastodons and primitive elks called wapiti. Conneaut Lake is perhaps 30 miles or thereabouts from Lake Pleasant.

Both of these lake, along with five others in northwestern Pennsylvania, are glacial lakes. They were formed as the last last glaciers, a mere 16,000 melted. Sometimes they are called kettle lakes.

Woolly mammoths can weigh a lot, up to an estimated 4 tons. The one discovered at lake Pleasant was determined to be 20 years old and a fully grown, adult male by researchers at the University of Michigan where the remains where shipped for study.

One of the theories about the Lake Pleasant mammoth is that it was sunk in the lake by early inhabitants to help preserve the meat, sort of like a giant cold storage refrigerator. There is evidence that large rocks were used to weigh the mammoth 20 feet down below the surface and there are hack marks on the bones which may indicate that it was hauled to the surface and the meat periodically chopped off.

Now even if this animal weighed two tons and was 20 feet under the water, it would require a whole lot of power (hungry people?) to get it back up to the surface. And I'd be fairly certain chains weren't around 16,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Read more about the “Moon” Mammoth and what science is learning at a short article I wrote last week. The link is here.

Read a Book
Learn more about woolly mammoths Check out your local independent book store.

Shop Indie Bookstores
Blogs to Read:
Urban Veggie Blog – Dan is getting awards and seed saving cucumbers.

On Your Way to the Top - Kathleen has some good thoughts in this blog after a short break from writing and a great article on Christmas presents, here. Guys, this is a good one to read.

Simply Snickers - A great poetry blog with links to a mouth watering pumpkin bread recipe and some hints for cooking the turkey.

Vincent di Fondi– Vincent is living in Costa Rica and has recently published his first novel, Blessed Abuduction. Vincent will be featured in the December issue of International Living Magazine; more on this next post if available. Read Vincent's insights into Coast Rica and click the ad below to purchase his book.
Shop Indie Bookstores

New York's Southern Tier - Kathleen has a great blog on New York's Southern Tier. So, if you are traveling that region for the holidays, be sure to check out what to see and do.

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