Grizzly 399, Queen of the Grand Teton National Park

 Grizzly 399 is a very famous female bear from the Grand Teton National Park located in Wyoming, south of Yellowstone. She was well known in the area but came to international attention by NOT killing a high school science teacher who accidentally spooked her and her three cubs back on 2007. She charged him, he tripped, and she planted one front foot on his back and bit him in the butt twice as a warning. He was rescued before she did any more damage but he said it was his fault not hers.

Because of this encounter, millions of people stated coming to the park. 399 is comfortable in the developed area and so is easier to sight along the highway. She carefully teaches her cubs to navigate traffic as the highway to date has no animal overpass as does Banff. This has created many a traffic jam requiring Park Ranger assistance to sort out as people stop their cars and jump out to get pictures. 

This article: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1129/Saga-of-the-world-s-most-famous-grizzly tells how she became famous and describes the tenuous situation of the Grizzly bears in Montana and Wyoming. 399's travels have also been recorded by noted wildlife photographer Thomas Mangelsen who has published his best in a book called "Grizzlies of Pilgrim Creek". The trailer for the book can be seen here: https://youtu.be/fJ-bOdhyPZo. 

In the spring of 2020, at the age of 24 years, she emerged from her winter den with quadruplets a very rare occurrence with Grizzlies. And then took them down south of the Park to Jackson Hole, a deep mountain valley and noted ski resort, for the summer. There was a great sigh of relief when the five of them showed up in late December back in the Park and headed for their winter den. Sometime this fall she will abandon them to their own devices having raised them and taught them as much as she can. She will den up for the winter and if a miracle happens, become pregnant again next season and have a new litter in January 2023.

This article: https://www.grizzlytimes.org/single-post/2020/06/04/grizzly-miracle-grand-teton-s-399-emerges-with-quadruplets. provides more information about her and her four cubs as well as the dangers bears face both in the Park and especially outside the Park where they are viewed by Wyoming Game and Fish (WGF) as a nuisance. of the Grizzlies which die every year, 80% are shot by hunters or officials. 399 has had six litters of which three were triplets and this last one quads. But only one of her daughters, 610, has successfully raised a litter. 

A new children's book about 399 has recently been published. Grizzly 399, by Sylvia Medina and illustrated by Morgan Spicer, with photos by Tom Mangelsen. https://www.amazon.ca/Grizzly-399-Paperback-Environmental-Heroes/dp/193987162X

Coming home in the fall of 2020

399 and yearlings 2018

610 and yearlings 2020

Volk - January 2008 - January 2021

 We had to put Volk down today. He had congestive heart failure and was not going to recover. He was 13 years old and until the last week was still going strong. Maybe a bit slower but on our 4 km walks he sniffed and peed as good as any young dog. Then he quit eating and because the weather was so cold, we brought him inside. His breathing was fast and shallow. I'd take him out to do his business and he was mad we were not going for a walk. Then three days ago he collapsed and I had to carry him home.

After that I would carry him out and back. Last evening he couldn't do that. We'd had the vet out to look at him and put him on antibiotics, diuretics and heart pills but it was too late. So today we said it is time. Never an easy call. Volk was one tough bird; he fought to stand and walk to the bitter end.

Volk and Bobik at 2 months of age

Volk was born of purebred Fox Terrier parents which belonged to Tanya's friends in P'yatikhatki. They had two males left, so in March of 2008, we bought them for the princely sum of 1 Hrivna each (to make it "legal"). I named the dark one Volk (wolf) and Tanya named the lighter one Bobik (mutt). They were outdoor dogs from day one and had lots of fun as puppies, play fighting with each other and hunting in the grass and reeds as we went for walks. I loved walking the two dogs on or off leash. We had fun.

Age 6 years

They were hunters and had no interest in toys. Throw a stick and they look at you like you are missing marbles. Chickens and cats were fun to chase when they were pups and couldn't catch them. It wasn't fun anymore when they started catching them and Volk was the terror of neighbourhood cats all his life.

Play fighting got serious when they matured. They were evenly matched so there was no top dog. They should have been neutered but were not. Not my idea. They were jealous of each other and fought to kill at the drop of a pat on the other dog. Once they were separated and cooled off they licked each other's wounds. 

In spring and fall we tried to keep them locked up but they were escape artists. They would disappear three days at a time and one or the other would eventually come home beaten to a bloody pulp. They would tag team other males in the neighbourhood but then would turn on each other. Bobik was a climber and it cost him. In 2014 while I was in Canada, he was climbing over a 1.8 meter fence to meet his girl friend. Once too often. He slipped and caught his collar. I still miss him. 

Kashtanka

To prevent Volk from getting lonely we adopted a stray red female which we named Kashtanka (little chestnut) and had her neutered. The three of us went on many walks. I had to keep her on a leash as she chased people on bicycles. Kashtanka died in February 2020 from a tick borne blood parasite Which is particular to Europe. The winter was so warm  that the ticks never died off.  We had no idea. By the time we realized how sick she was it was too late. We have since been treating our dogs for ticks every month. Volk sat by the gate and cried for a month after she died. Today I let Lucky see and sniff Volk's body so he would know that Volk was gone and not go looking for him or cry waiting for him to come back.

A couple months after we lost Kashtanka, Volk was diagnosed with heart-worm. So we treated him for that all summer and he recovered totally. Like I said, he is one tough bird. He was getting cataracts but could still spot a cat crossing the road at 100 meters. We think he was getting deaf but he always listened like a two-year old kid so it was hard to tell. 

Lucky, about 1 year

Lucky joined us in October 2019 as a starving 6 week old puppy in very poor health. We nursed him back to health and after Kashtanka died we put him in the dog yard with Volk. Lucky wanted to play and Volk was old and cranky. They got on fine. I would walk them five km per day five days a week. Tanya would feed them and play with Lucky to make sure he ate as Volk would try to keep Lucky away from both food dishes. Lucky loves to play with toys. He will come when he is called (Volk NEVER did) and will sit when Tanya tells him to. She feeds him, he obeys her. Me too.

Volk would occasionally tune Lucky in, even though Lucky was twice his size. And Lucky would not eat unless Tanya was there to keep Volk away. Then Lucky got jealous of Volk and would attack him savagely. Volk never backed down and every fight looked like one for the ages but...they NEVER drew blood. No serious biting, just serious sounds. Regardless, it was still not something we encouraged, I can tell you.

Tanya made winter coats for the dogs out of people vests. Much cheaper than buying doggy coats in the pets stores. We took them off on warm days and put them on when the nights were below freezing. They had a dog house, inside a room in our outbuilding but she worried. And we were never sure if Volk let Lucky sleep in the doghouse. So when the weather got really cold last week, we brought Lucky into the back porch. A few days later was when we brought Volk inside and when his heart gave out. The three of us had our last 4 km walk together about a week ago. I did not ever think it would be our last. 

Goodbye my friend and companion. I hope you meet up with Bobik and Kashtanka in Heaven where all good dogs go. and may there be lots of cats and chickens to chase but never catch.

Bobik and Volk at 5 months

Bobik about 3 or 4 years

Lucky and Volk this past summer

Just a low level subordinate who brought us coffee.

 Some things strike me funny. Actually most things but I shouldn't admit that. 

After Wednesday's Bay of  Pigs, people are resigning and running as fast as they can. The rats are leaving the ship they helped to sink. "Trump? I hardly knew him. I think I met him once. Just a low level subordinate who brought us coffee sometimes".

And people like Cruz and Hawley and of course, Trump, saying, "We had nothing to do with the invasion of the US Capitol Building". 

Yeah, right. It reminds me of a story. Actually everything reminds me of a story but anyhow...yes, I've told it before. I can do that. I am old.

Business was so good in Madame Lucretia's Bordello that she decided to build on and double it in size and uh, seating capacity. Construction was proceeding rapidly and the Church across the street was mortified. They prayed long, loudly, and publicly that God would prevent the construction and indeed destroy the building.

Wouldn't you know it, during a hot summer's night, lightning struck the Bordello and burned the place to the ground. Madame Lucretia sued the Church for destroying her business. The congregation defended itself by saying that in no way were they responsible. 

The judge found himself in an awkward position. As he said, "On one hand we have the owner of a brothel fervently believing in the power of prayer and on the other hand we have a Church claiming it is all bullshit".

Happy New Year!, З Новим роком!, С Новым Годом

 

And so 2020 comes to an end, not with a bang but a whimper, as the poet wrote. There has not been a year like this since the Spanish flu (more rightly called the Kansas flu, as that is where it originated) over 100 years ago. And this pandemic is not done yet. 

Modern medicine and safety precautions such as have been observed have prevented a large death loss from becoming overwhelming. Experience and new technology permitted the development of several vaccines in a miraculously short time but it will take at least this year and a gigantic logistical effort before billions of people receive it and the virus disappears. If it does. I am curious how the people who don't believe in evolution can explain the mutation of viruses (or bacteria, for that matter).

Governments that can, are or ought to be, economically supporting individuals and small businesses affected by the pandemic, while they do everything in their power to bring the disease under control. There is no choice between controlling the pandemic and saving the economy. People ARE the economy.

So Tanya and I are alone this New Year's Eve. Lina was here briefly yesterday afternoon, picking up food and dropping off my Christmas gift from Tanya, a lovely painting done by a local professional artist whose husband does the engraving on granite tombstones for Xaron company where Lina works. I grabbed a very quick hug. Tania stopped in last evening to pick up food and drop off empties. First we had seen either of them for weeks.

I hung it over my office desk

There are people all over the Earth for whom this will not be a happy new year and those of us whose lives even approach some sort of stability need to remember them and help those you can.

So I wish all of my readers a safe and healthy New Year. 

Merry Christmas, One and All

Today is the 24th. The sky is grey, and the world is grey. It snowed a skiff last night. Not enough to cover but it is at least snow. Though it is only -1C, the wind is bitter cold. The dogs are warm in their jackets. The cats stick their noses outside, then turn around and sit on the window and just look. If they do go out they lie on the registers when they come in until they are thawed. 

It will be a different Christmas for many people this year. Most can look forward to a normal next year but a few having lost loved ones will be pretty sad. If you know someone, call them to let them know they are loved. And so many people have lost jobs and income that it will be simply survival for them.

Our home has been decorated since late November. Tanya and I will have Christmas alone but she is preparing dinner for our family in town and will deliver it by taxi. We will Zoom with my kids sometime during the day. She has been cooking and baking all week. Sugar cookies, Haystacks aka Muskrat Houses aka Feedlot Specials, Banana bread, Chocolate cookies. Today she made Kholodetz which is like head cheese and is a tradition this time of year. I like it.

The three turkey thighs will go in the oven tomorrow. They are cheap and whole turkeys are hard come by for some reason. We like the dark meat anyhow. I will miss cranberries and stuffing. I have not mastered stovetop stuffing from scratch but I may try tomorrow out of desperation.

Masha will be home from University tomorrow and we may risk a quick visit around New Years with Andrey's family and Lina, which is when we will exchange gifts. Masked and distanced, though perhaps a quick hug is safe enough?

I do wish all my readers Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. And a safe and healthy New Year.

T'was the week before Christmas

 I wrote this about 30 years ago when my kids were young and we lived on Sunset Street. It was typical of Christmas at our house, slow start and a good finish.

 

T'was the week before Christmas and down at our Hovel

Nothing was ready; the confusion was awful.

No Holiday spirit; it just wasn't right.

Not one civil word, just fight after fight.

 

The dust and the dishes and all unmade beds,

No lights on the eaves, no home-made bread.

"Marley was dead?" Somewhere under the sink,

For over three weeks, from the garbage pail stink.

 

The food in the freezer was cold to the touch

No mince pie or turkey, just broccoli and such.

The gifts that were bought lay unwrapped in the closet

"No payments till June, just make a deposit".

 

A Charlie Brown Tree, in the corner it stood

Wishin’ it were back buried deep in the wood.

Then came the Spirit of Christmas at last:

A Rita MacNeil song on Bron's ghetto blast!

 

Scrooge took time off from RPC Inc,

To deal with the dishes piled high in the sink.

Cratchet came home from his office at work.

With roses for Scrooge cause he'd been a jerk.

 

And the weather got cold as a mom-in-law's kiss.

It snowed like the Dickens, so Ky got her wish.

Lyn got out the box with the tree decorations.

We sent out some letters to friends and relations.

 

Son felt quite Grinchly, coming home lame

From spraining his ankle at a basketball game,

But "Tiny Tim" was nice to his sisters for free;

He let them watch "NC Double A" on TV.

 

We spruced up the place, hung wreaths in the halls,

Holly and mistletoe, bright coloured balls.

We took out the garbage and dusted and baked,

And had friends come in for hot chocolate and cake.

 

We watched Christmas Specials and read Christmas books

And sang Christmas songs and praised Christmas cooks...

What a wonderful Christmas, sheer joy and delight.

May you too hear Rita when she sings "Silent Night".

 

  Rita MacNeil (1944-2013) is a Canadian song writer and folk singer from Cape Breton Island, with a life story as amazing as her voice.  Her Working Man, sung with the Men of the Deeps, is the anthem of what is left of the coal mining industry in Nova Scotia.  Her first Christmas Album Let the Bells Ring 1988, which we owned as a cassette, has been re-released as JoyfulSounds.  Her rendition of Silent Night is one of the most moving versions I know of.  

Since I could not find a video of Rita singing Silent Night on YouTube, I got my friend Walt Dunn to make one for me from my MP3

HOW THE ANGEL GOT ON TOP OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE

This is recycled from 8 years ago. Seems fitting for 2020.

With many thanks to Baxter Black for my favourite Christmas story ever.  This fairy tale answers that age old question, “How did the angel get on top of the Christmas tree?"

Santy wuz lyin’ there in front of the fireplace, laid out in his Lazy Boy with his feet up. Suddenly he looked up and glanced at his watch.  It was ‘leven thirty.  It wuz Christmas Eve and he had to be outta there by twelve or he wouldn't get all the toys delivered on time.

He jumped up and run to the back room. He tore through the closet lookin’ for his red suit. He shook the moth balls outta the sleeve and slipped into the britches. He heard a great big RIP. He backed up to the mirror and he had tore the seat right out of them britches.  He glanced at his watch and it was 25 to twelve. So he skinned off the britches and run 'em down to the little tailor elves and said, "Boys, sew this back up!" And they did.

Santy come in and throwed on his coat and hunted around in the closet fer his boots. He couldn't find ‘em 'n holler’d, "Maw! Where's my boots at?" She said. "They're out on the back porch where you left ‘em when ya came in last Christmas.  An' shurnuff, he run out on the back porch they’d built on the trailer house ‘n’ there they were. He’d pulled ‘em off wet last year and they’d dried and curled up. He stuffed his feet down in ‘em an’ dadgum, if the heel didn't fall of the left boot.  Santy glanced at his watch and it were 20 to twelve.  He ripped them boots off and took 'em down to the little cobbler elves and said. "Boys, hammer this back on!" And they did.

Santy slipped on his boots and run into the house, grabbed his coat and took out across the yard to hook up the sleigh. The yard light had burnt out and somebody'd left the fresno parked in the driveway.  He hit that sucker at a high lope an' went head over heels an’ lit with a great big war whoop, spooked the reindeer an’ they went over the top rail into the beet tops! Santy glanced at his watch an' it wuz a quarter 'til twelve!

The little cowboy elves saddled up and brought the reindeer into the barn, put 'em in the hitch and hooked 'em up to the sleigh. Santy jumped up in the buckboard seat, cracked the whip ‘n’ the reindeer took off and Santy just sat there! The tugs had broke on the harness! Santy glanced at his watch. It was 10 till twelve.

Santy said "Boys, gather up them reindeer and I'll fix the harness." Then he hooked the team back up leaped in the sleigh and slid on down in front of the house.  Just as they pulled up to the house, one of the runners fell off the sleigh.  Santy looked at his watch. It was 5 till twelve

They welded the runner back on and Santy run in the house. He grabbed that big bag o' toys, slung ‘em over shoulder…Yup, you guessed it. The bottom fell out of that bag and toys went everywhere!

Santy wuz down on his hands and knees, scramblin’ around stuffin’ them toys in a Safeway bag when a little angel come flyin' in the door with a Christmas tree over his shoulder.

He said "Santy. Where do you want me to put this tree?"