Friday, April 06, 2007

Fox and Fungi

I never thought I'd say this, but I guess even I’m ready for spring. I groaned at the sight of snow squalls this morning and am starting to be jealous when other nature bloggers around the country wax poetic about spring flowers and butterflies—none of which have appeared here at Roundtop yet. This is just what a 40° drop in temperature in 24 hours will do to me.

The suddenly cooler weather does not seem to matter to the dogs. I made the mistake this morning of not putting on a jacket when I took Baby Dog outside, figuring a sweatshirt would be good enough. So the wind kicks up, and I’m suddenly cold. Baby Dog was taking forever to find the proper spot to complete her assignment so we can go back inside. Just when I thought she was going to oblige, some smell distracted her, and she forgot why she was out there in the first place. The spot needed to be smelled, extensively, and this was far more important than any bodily function.

Dog and I heard a fox calling last night. It was close enough to the cabin to pique Dog’s interest and make me wonder what the wild little canine was up to. The fox call is a single bark that is repeated over and over. When Baby Dog heard it her hackles went up, and she started to bark too. Here's a link to a site with fox calls on it. Check out the one called call.wav. That's what we heard last night. It's kind of a spooky sound when it's 10:30 p.m. and no more than 50-75 yards away. At least Baby Dog thought so. Dog was interested enough for his ears to perk up, but he wasn't about to start barking back at it.

My photo today is simply a downed tree with a lot of neat fungus on it. I love the bright red fungus in the middle. It is the most colorful thing in the woods right now.

3 comments:

Dr. Know said...

Beautiful country in western PA. Too bad it's so darned cold, or I would move there. I'm more of a Florida (sans the developers) kind of guy...
Nice photos! I've posted a few spring photos on my blog, amidst the political screeds.

Anonymous said...

Oh yes, the snow showers were real wonderful today. At one point had a nice coating of the stupid white stuff laid on the ground. Grr.

Carolyn H said...

Cathy,

Somehow, I knew it was you who was complaining about the snow before I even read the full comment. Spring really can't seem to get a grip on the weather just yet. Maybe next week.

Carolyn H.