A couple of legacy photographs of deer at Tulsa’s Oxley Nature Center.
A lone deer on one of the water pipeline rights of way that run through the park. Oxley is my go to place for finding deer.
Another legacy photo that I had on the default setting of private that indicates that I have never published this photo before. A group of three deer including one looking at me right in the eye.
I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters
I follow the Turkey Mountain social media pretty closely and had been reading with interest the news that they have been using goats to manage the invasive plant species on Turkey Mountain. They are provided by a third party who monitors them and they are guarded by a special guard dog. I knew roughly where the sheep were supposed to be but I had never run into them.
On of my recent hikes I started smelling what I would call a barn smell or a ranch smell The smell of animals and their manure and a little ways later I ran into them on a legacy trail.
They were totally chill, some were eating, some were resting. None of them looked stressed in any way. I thought this is cool. I have volunteered at Turkey Mountain and other places and sometimes we work on invasive special removal. It is hard work!! Other methods such as controlled fires are great but require the right weather and the availability of a crew to manage it. Mechanical mulching works well but is expensive and it really tears the forest up temporarily.
These goats were happily munching away. I found a source, goat foraging dot org, and they discuss that the manure that goats poop out also builds up the soil, their hooves help break up the soil and mix the manure in. The goat’s digestive systems also destroy the seeds as they pass through the digestive system.
It’s all pretty low cost and sustainable and provides another tool in land managers’ tool box to help manage the land.
I didn’t see a guard dog, nor a shepherd and no fencing but I’m assuming they maintain control over the herd somehow. I’m all about stuff like this.
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Here’s Lizzy doing her favorite activity. She is a world champion sleeper.
Here she is reluctantly posing for a Christmas photo.
Nothing cuter than a newborn calf on a ranch in western Oklahoma.
And I fired up my jigsaw app on my elderly Ipad. Google tells me that it is either a green sea turtle or a ridley sea turtle. I suspect the photo is AI. I was amused because you can buy the same exact image from various places on the web.
I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.
A post for our pets.
Our female terrier mix, Sadie, in a rare moment of hanging out with her older, but littler brown brother Kodi the Pomeranian. Kodi is kind of a pill to have around and our vet suggested a female terrier mix who was bigger than he was. That is why we got Sadie and it was worked out wonderfully. Sadie is a little sweetheart and not aggressive at all until Kodi lunges at her and then she flips on his back and puts a paw on his chest to hold him. That has done wonders for his attitude. After all these months he is starting to try and play with her. So progress is being made.
One even recently when my wife was at an event at night, Kodi was all morose, walking around with his tail hanging down. I took my favorite throw and just put it on the floor by my chair. He quit whining and went over, laid down on it and went to sleep. He likes me okay but after he bit me early last spring and I had to go to urgent care and get four stitches I am very leery of him. I got a new knee in February and got strict instructions that if I get a dog bite to get an antibiotic right away. They said the bacteria will go the metal in my new knee and there could be complications.
Little Sadie is having a tough time this winter. Kodi has a thick enough coat it doesn’t bother him. Sadie loves playing outside but she gets cold and heads for a throw to snuggle up in.
And Lizzy, the sweetest of the three. It is hard to get a sleep photo of her because she always wakes up. She was fast asleep on the couch and woke up when I got close.
Our animals are such a blessing to us.
A variety of critters for this week.
This is our sweet cat Lizzy.
This is our sweet terrier mix, Sadie in a rare moment of napping. She is always on the go. No photos of the Pomeranian Kodi this week.
We play fetch several times a day. She never gets tired of it. I quit before she ever does. She’s our cheerful dog. This is how we started out Thanksgiving morning. Over and over again. (only a ten second video)
My wife’s cousin sent me a couple of photos of the cows on their ranch in Western Oklahoma.
Another photo of the cows at the ranch.
This is my own photo of a cow, I went hiking on a rails to trails trail in Osage County. It cuts through ranchland on an old railroad bed. I know nothing about cows but they always act curious when people show up.
I went hiking on Tulsa’s Turkey Mountain Wilderness Area early Friday morning. My friend and I saw this deer checking us out.
I attended a geocaching event at Tulsa’s Mohawk Park and encountered these people horseback riding through the park.
That’s it for this week. I am linking with Saturday’s Critters.
During a hike at Oxley Nature Center last Sunday I saw a few deer out and about. They were not in the open they were in brush and trees. So I got to practice simultaneously manual focusing, and aperture. Not that good at it but I got a few decent photos.
I love seeing deer out in the wild.
It is always so unexpected.
Nobody naps as hard or as peacefully as our Lizzy the cat. She loves taking naps on the back of our sofa. Sometimes she’ll use one of the dog beds.
I walked into our family room the other day and all three critters were staring at me. What were they up to? I never figured it out. From left to right is Kodi the Pomeranian, Lizzy the Cat, and Sadie the terrier.
I’m a bad efeeder owner. I let the feeder run out of food and just plain forgot about it. I decided to take it down, clean it out and store it for a little while. While checking the app, the only bird that showed up the last several weeks was this lonely, hungry male cardinal. Boy did I feel bad. It’s only an 11 second video.
I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out, lots of animal lovers and great photobloggers link up with her.
Here is out Lizzie the cat chilling out.
Sculpture on Tulsa RiverParks Trails of mule deer.
Some Canadian Geese in another sculpture on the RiverParks Trails
And also seen from the trail, a great blue heron fishing for its lunch in the Arkansas River.
I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.
Our Pomeranian, Kodi. A tiny little dog with big feelings!
Lizzy the cat, the matriarch of our pets. We have another dog, Sadie who never sits still. Lizzy is Sadie’s favorite squeaky toy.
A pig chef on Route 66 in Tulsa. I love the silliness of route 66 attractions.
And a retired carousel horse getting new life on Route 66. It’s ready to ride. I also love the metal cactus to the left. The 100th anniversary of Route 66 is next year I think. It’s going to be epic in Tulsa.
I’m linking with Eileen’s Saturday’s Critters. Check it out. All sorts of talented photobloggers participate.
A robin I captured on Turkey Mountain Friday afternoon.
Another robin in the same area on a different pass yesterday.
Ducks on the fishing pond at Lafortune Park earlier in the week.
Two separate sculptures working together at the Scheel’s Store at the mall.
Lizzie the cat, grooming Sadie to dog in a tender moment.
Kodie and Sadie wanting in!!
Sadie on my lap while I was watching television the other night.
Finally a 21 second video of other critter moments during the week. Featuring the bird cam, a sparrow, a dove, an angry squirrel, and me and Sadie playing fetch. Yep, all that fits in 21 seconds so pay attention!!
I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters.