River Cam

 My trail cam on the river right below the house has captured the following in the past few days:

Nutria

We apparently have a family of nutria on out property.

Nutria were brought to Oregon from Argentina to be bred for their fur. The market for pelts became saturated and many breeders just turned the nutria loose.  Now they are in waterways eroding banks, eating native plants, and raiding crops.  Their bodies are about 2 feet long, and their round, hairy tails add another 1-1.5 feet.  There is a good, short video that includes historical photos of Oregonians raising their nutria.  Here is the link:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v5DuP_XBsI

American Black Bear

Southern Utah

 Yesterday, we were in Southern Utah, marveling at the land forms sculpted by eons of tectonic movement and erosion.

We had a restful lunch in the deep shade of a mesa.  The coarse sandstone had taken a toll on our boots and backpacks.

If you look closely, you can see the fossilized tracks of an enormous dinosaur, thought to be from the extinct Three-toed Buffoonasaurus.

This towering mesa has been a sacred site for Native Americans over the millennia.  In the 70's, a Chevrolet was placed on top for an advertisement.  The outrage continues to this day.

Helping the Environment

 Ever since I have known her, Gail has had a passion for cleaning up the environment.  Unlike most of us who complain about trash and litter, Gail actually is out there cleaning it up.  I help her at times, especially when it involves going into secluded areas, where Daisy and I have her back.  Keeping the 8 mile stretch of Yachats River Road leading into town clean is almost a daily mission.  Her dedication has been noticed and appreciated by many who live here.  She even received a medal of recognition from the Adlers that she proudly wears when harvesting litter.  The following are some pics of recent endeavors.  There are often "surprises" and patterns of behavior litterbugs have that make one curious about who they are, where they live, and why they do what they do.  Who is it that tosses out a Pendleton Whiskey bottle along the road seemingly everyday?  Is he or she trying to hide a drinking issue from a partner?  What about the container that held a massive sex toy?  What's the story behind deserted underwear and other clothes?  So many questions!  Sometimes we find tools like knives and machetes.  Another bonus is all the money Gail has earned from cans.

A recent chore was cleaning up a pile of garbage that someone dumped at a road pullout.  After a couple days someone tried burning the pile.  There was enough to fill a small pickup truck!  

It turned out that this property was privately owned by someone living in the Willamette Valley and word got back to him that we had done a big cleanup.  He called to thank us and said he would make a donation to SWIFTY.  It will take us a few weeks to channel this debris through our trash can pickup service.

"The Happy Warrior"  

There are a number of unofficial campsites between the road and the river.  We joke that we are campground hosts getting spots cleaned up for the next arrivals.  Sometimes moldy tents, furniture, and sleeping bags are left for us.

The last people to camp here apparently had a lot of free time to decorate the environment with "art", some of which we did leave.

Fungi Man

Tree Altar

Jerry and Wanda Come to Yachats

 Our good friends and past neighbors from Carlsbad came to Yachats for a week, leaving yesterday.  They stayed in a beautiful Airbnb home overlooking Yachats and its little bay.  We enjoyed walks, meals, happy hours, and conversation almost daily.

We loved hanging out at their place and enjoying the view.

Wanda and Gail on the beach north of the 804 Trail.

The 804 Trail follows the shore along rocky shelves.  In the foreground is a monument to two young men who drowned in less than eight minutes after being swept off the rocks by a sneaker wave.  

Pileated Woodpecker

 Yesterday, we had a Pileated Woodpecker spending a long time chiseling away at a dying alder tree.  This woodpecker was cooperative and didn't fly away, but interfering leaves and facing the sun made it impossible to get great pictures.

North America's largest woodpecker, about the size of a crow.  This one is a male as evidenced by the red patch behind the base of its bill.

Pileated Woodpeckers dig for carpenter ants, grubs, and other insects.  

They are monogamous and the pair will defend its territory.  Since they use a nest hole only once, the holes left behind are used by other birds such owls and ducks, and also animals like martins.

I should have had a tripod.  Hand holding a telephoto lens aiming up, looking at a screen rather than being able to press a viewfinder against your head, while standing on a soft slope is a challenge (not to mention my less than steady hands).

Mountain Beaver

 Not far from our home, across the road, along an unused logging road we call "Bear Scratch", we noticed fresh burrows big enough to place a football in.  We suspected the two holes to be the work of Mountain Beavers, which are not beavers at all.  I placed a trail cam near the entrances and left it there for about 5 days.  I recommend enlarging the video to fully appreciate this unique animal.

Mountain Beavers are also called "boomers".  They are not beavers, but are more closely related to squirrels.  They are the only living members of their genus, Aplodontia.  Their primitive renal system requires them to have a constant supply of water or moisture as they cannot concentrate urine.  They are known as "living fossils".

Mountain Beavers are mostly solitary, and their burrow can have many entrances.  They are mostly nocturnal and crepuscular, and eat ferns and seedling trees.  They are seldom seen.

It's possible that this rabbit is using the Mountain Beaver's burrow, as it was recorded on the camera near this entrance on several occasions.  Mountain Beavers have tiny ears and a little stub of a tail.  They can climb trees to nibble on branches and leaves.  The forrest industry considers them pests.

Great Blue Heron

 This Great Blue Heron posed right in front of my trail cam late Saturday afternoon.