2/01/10 DOGS, DEER, EAGLES AND WOLVES

INSTINCT IS STRONGER THAN REASON
THE RAPIDS ABOVE THE BIG ROCK ON THE SIOUX
THE BEACH AT SUNSET

Monday, 8:30 AM. 2 degrees, up from below zero earlier. Wind W, calm. The sky is overcast but clearing. The ferry is still running and the barometer predicts snow. The intrepid Roxy accompanied us this morning, bringing me unlikely sticks to throw. Instinct is stronger than reason.
Yesterday afternoon, looking for an excuse to get out of the ”cabin,” Lucky and I went to the beach. We detoured west up Friendly Valley Road, following the Sioux eventually to the Big Rock, where I took several photos of the still unfrozen rapids. As I was standing at the bridge, a local resident came hiking along. He pointed out a deer carcass upstream about 100 yards, and said his wife had seen eagles feeding on it earlier, but having eaten their fill they were gone. We talked a bit, and he noted that the deer had yarded up in the conifers along the river, and I had indeed seen a lot of tracks. He said the wolves had followed the deer, and he could hear them howling at night. I will try to get back there within a day or two to see if I can get some eagle photos, as they will certainly return. I doubt I would be lucky enough to see a wolf. The beach was cold and uneventful at sunset, and a lone fisherman said he had not caught anything.