Keeping Q-topia Utopian

More than just a good idea, it is a Trust.

Bee Wear

Apparently the swarm has moved up in the world.

Tag

This morning, the FRC Intro to Wildlife class captured a deer and outfitted her with a GPS/VHF collar. (She now has other pretty jewelry too – two ear tags). They are working with the California Department of Fish and Game to learn how to capture, handle, and collar deer in order to investigate how far our campus deer stray from the hay barn. :-J

It was a great experience for students who set up drive nets, waited until a deer wandered into the area, then chased her into the nets where she became temporarily entangled. They ‘mugged’ her (wrestled her down, blindfolded and hobbled her), then took blood samples, body measurements, vital signs, sampled the insects on her body (mostly ticks), collected hair samples, ear-tagged, and collared her. If you see a deer with a big fancy necklace, you’ll know why! Another capture attempt is planned in a couple of weeks.

Credit:

Darla S. DeRuiter, Ph.D.
Environmental Studies & Outdoor Recreation Leadership
Feather River College
570 Golden Eagle Drive
Quincy, CA 95971

Rafters

A rafter of turkeys outside my classroom window early Friday morning.

Taking advantage of the recent good weather, the windows are in and shingles are being put on the rafters of the Learning Resource Center.

See previous LRC posts for more of the story.

Dog Days of Winter

Ursa Major

Last night ursa left a major dump in the yard (actually three). So if you are asked whether a bear shits in the woods, the answer is: not always.

The local ursae (bears) have been coming into town for several months to fatten up on fruit (and un-secured garbage). Now about all that's available is the remainder of a good apple season. A week ago one ambled through our backyard late in the evening on the way to our neighbor's apple tree passing silently just six or eight feet from my wife. Both were surprised and hastily departed in opposite directions without incident.

Road Trip (inbound)

Coast, castles, elephants, lions, cathedrals, and ships.

Equine

Snapshots of the annual production horse sale by the Equine Studies Program at Feather River College.

Pictures by Bill Peters, Amberley Eck, and Daniella Revers.

Deer students

Spring break on campus.

Pound Puppies

Beanie Baby puppies riding shotgun on the dash.

Robins

It's January 30, why are there robins all around?

Dozens of them!

I do recall hearing a news story some weeks ago saying some study had shown that robins do not actually migrate very far. Instead it said that they seclude themselves in sheltered wooded areas where they can find food, stay undercover, and try to remain aloof from predators etc. Maybe bogus, maybe not; but their sudden emergence would seem to support it.

All the precip we have had followed by a few days of warmish (40°) weather caused a couple of foolish bulbs to pop, and a bleeding-heart in the backyard to send up some tentative shoots. (I put a shovel-full of snow on it.) Maybe all that water forced the earthworms to the surface, and the reclusive robins couldn't resist a mid-winter feast.

(Sorry about the photo quality, but the camera on my Moto Droid sucks, imho.)

Night Tracks

They're back (or more likely, still here).

Bear Fruit

An apple a day does not keep the bears (or deer) away.
It has quite the opposite effect.

Before and after processing.

Not to be confused with bare fruit.

Night visitors

One, two, three and more.

County Fair Parade

Celebrating the sesquicentennial of the Plumas County Fair.

Photo album link.

Hummings