The Picture You Get...

...is not always the picture you thought you were taking! Here's an excellent case in point. When we were out with Fanny and Rally earlier last week, I spotted a hawk coasting just above the ground at a little bit of distance; the typical behavior of the Harrier. So I snapped a series of images to see if that's what it was.

It was. But what I couldn't see through the viewfinder were the smaller birds... fleeing for their lives! When I got home and cropped in to the subject I realized this hawk was hunting.

You can't always plan the great shot. Luck has a lot to do with it.

Hunting With Dutch, Take II

It's a big desert out there.
Dutch and his pack can get far away in a hurry when you stop to pee.

Rally (Blue blanket) in the early lead, followed by Phyllis and Mona. Check out the clods of mud flying! All life forms present had a hard time moving with the mud on feet and boots.

Mona, "running cunning". Dutch says she does this a lot... sometimes it works in her favor, sometimes not. This chase went all the way into the brush at the base of the mountains at the 3 minute mark, so we don't know if it worked this time or not.

It was a beautiful day.. the best we've had since we got into New Mexico (the mud notwithstanding!)

More coursing images in album form will follow soon.

PETA Piper Picked A Peck Of Dead Kittens

If you're regular readers here, this is just more "preaching to the choir", but occasionally strangers drop in, so this is for them.

There is no doubt that the nazis at PETA are just bad, bad people. And this news item from the United States Sportsmen's Alliance does nothing to dispell that notion.

Two PETA employees went on trial last week for taking dogs and cats from shelters, promising that they would have no problems finding great homes for them. That home would seem to be in heaven.

"The Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) has issued reports from the trial this week. The reports detail how Ms. Tonya Northcott, an employee at the Ahoskie Animal Hospital, on June 15 sent a mother cat and her two kittens with the defendants who claimed that they would have no problem finding homes for the cats. Northcott explained that the cats had been socialized, played with, and had their shots.

Those cats ended up in a trash dumpster less than an hour later."

Nice folks.

Steve Bodio has had a number of recent posts about this and other AR nonsense. Very good reading... will raise your blood pressure.

A note about the US Sportsmen Association. If you do serious work with your dog, it would be in your best interest to support their efforts by joining. These are the folks who played a major role in the defeat of AB2110 in California. Check them out.

Illustration courtesy: http://www.xoverboard.com/deadkittensurvey/

Mountain Album

From Mountains of ...

Here's a few more shots from my adventure the other day, including a slightly different view of the hawk in front of the mountain.. Full Disclosure Notice: I actually took the mountain hawk picture out the passenger window, one-handed, while driving 45 miles per hour. Light traffic on the highway, fortunately.

I may add more as I take more.

Remember that all these images are protected by copyright, so try and leave them on the website. We are working on a new website for nature and landscape and other art images. They will be available for sale, mounted, framed, matted, etc. and in a variety of sizes. Watch this space for updates

Geezer Dog? Not So Fast My Friend!

Yes. That's Randir. As in ten-and-a-half-year-old Scottish Deerhound, Randir. And yes, that's a blacktailed jackrabbit, who is in no peril whatsoever. But who cares?

I was hoping for a shot like this. Now I'll have to do what I stupidly shot off my mouth to too many people and promised... the unthinkable: I will take him into a show ring in April at the Deerhound National Specialty. I'd say his chances are good in the Veteran classes.

Aesthetics?

A concept utterly foreign to Buffy.

John Crean, 1925 - 2007

Surprisingly, I actually knew who John Crean was before I saw the news on the Fleetwood website this morning. He was probably the most important, influential person in the history of the recreational vehicle industry. Because we love our Bounder home, I thought I'd post the link to the eulogy by Eldon Smith, the current President and CEO of Fleetwood Industries.

Here's an excerpt:

As an inventor and innovator John was unparalleled: a Venetian blind mechanism in the 1940s, an innovative manufactured home in the 1970s and the Bounder motor home in the 1980s.
The Bounder motor home revolutionized the design of motor homes throughout the industry. Put very simply, what John did was raise the floor of the motor home. This provided bus-like storage below the floor, and allowed for more functional floor plans and operational features. John developed this motor home with the help of a drafter, and one of our prototype assemblers, in his workshop at home. Within a few years the Bounder motor home was the best selling motor home in the country . . . 90% of the motor homes sold in the country today contain most of the unique features John put in that first Bounder unit.

I feel like I should put a black stripe around the Express. RTWT