Monday, November 15, 2004
Adventure! Triumph!
This weekend was a doozie. Saturday, we got up and went out to this area where Rob’s family goes camping - it's about 45 minutes North of where I live. So we go out there, park the car, and wander around looking at the place. It's nice - mostly woods, some poplar and spruce, hills and fences. So we're walking along, up to this cut line to walk along some more, and the dogs run up ahead barking like crazy at something, and I see a shape cross the path we're walking, only I can't see it well, so I say "Oh! The dogs are chasing... another... big? Brown? Dog?" And Rob totally makes up this story that there are people that live nearby and it might be their dog. And unbeknownst to me, he takes the bear scare flare out of his pocket.
So we keep on wandering. We walk all around the property in this big loop, and come around the opposite side, and down a fence line, and again, the dogs go nuts, run up ahead and start barking their little heads off. It's over this rise, so we can't see what they're after, so I run up the hill, and I see a big brown shape as I crest the hill, and immediately scream and start to turn around. See, I figured it was a bear. And Rob keeps going and stops at the top of the hill, calling the dogs, and by then, I've turned around to see if this bear is going to chase him, only it's not so much a bear as it is a big mama moose. How can I tell the gender of a moose standing about 50 feet from me? Because her baby moose, the poor little guy, was all caught up in the barbed-wire fence. And the dogs were going crazy, barking and barking, and Rob was yelling, and I was yelling for the dogs to COME HERE RIGHT NOW!! I MEAN IT, DON'T YOU MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE!!!
Eventually, the dogs came back over, and that was good. I clamped down on the NoodleDog’s collar, and Rob did the same to Cooter, and we looked at the scene. The poor baby moose had caught his front feet on the top wire of the fence, but his back legs had cleared the bottom wires, and he'd managed to flip around, and, as Rob put it, the fence had WWF-ed his legs. So he was good and trapped. The mama moose had just been hanging around, trying her best to be supportive, I'm sure, but was completely unable to help.
I hung onto the dogs, and Rob went in for a closer look, but Mama wasn't having any of that, so she kind of came towards him, and he had to back off. She went over the fence, and back around, so he was able to check it out a bit better, but then the baby started to wail, so she came right back, and he had to back off again. He suggested we go for help, and I said I wasn't going to leave the little guy like that, so he could go if he wanted, but I'd just stay there making sure nothing ate the baby moose. I asked if we could cut the wires, and he happened to have his leatherman on him, so he approached, but Mama ran him off again. There was no real way of getting close enough without having her freak out and charge, although for the life of me, I can't figure out how she didn't totally kill our dogs when they first came on the scene, because they were RIGHT near the baby moose, and although she was defending him, she didn't trample them or anything.
So Rob shot the bear scare flare at her. Well, above her. It went off above her, kind of, and she looked up as it exploded, and then kind of shook her head, as if to say "what the fuck else am I going to have to contend with today?" and then kind of sauntered off into the forest, giving Rob enough time to clip the wires that were pinning the baby's legs. Once he was free, he managed to get up, and then try half-heartedly to charge Rob. Heh.
So as the baby was getting up, wailing the entire time because he was freaked, the mama was coming back around, and I was yelling "She's coming back around, Rob!!", and he made it back up the hill as the two moose took off into the forest. Yay! He's my hero.
So there was that. Afterwards, he admitted to me that he thought the first thing I had seen was a bear, and that even though he'd never seen a bear at that property, it probably would have been one, just because I was there, and the self-fulfilling prophecy of me and bears would have held up. But it wasn't - it was the moose, most likely, and they had probably been wandering the property the entire time we were there. We looked at the area where the baby was caught up afterwards, and he had been cut up a little by the fence, and had probably been trapped for about 20-30 minutes or so. He would have died for sure - if we hadn't come by, then coyotes would have eventually come upon them, and the mama wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. So we really did save the baby moose's life. When he was crying, though, it was a very sad sound. Poor guy. I'll never eat a moose as long as I live. Well, unless I'm totally starving, and I happen upon an already-dead one.
And Sunday, we were working on my car - we were going to replace the O2 sensor, and it seemed to be alright, except when we tried to put the new one in, it wouldn't go. And so for about three hours, Rob fought with it, and I fought with it, and it totally wouldn't go in, and we were getting VERY discouraged, and it looked like I wouldn't be able to drive my car home. But we went to Canadian Tire to see if they had a tap, which they didn't, or a healy-coil, which they didn't, but they did have this "thread repair" kit which was some sort of compound that you mix, put in the hole, have it set with the bolt in it, and then leave it for 30 minutes until it cures, and it's supposed to be very solid. And Rob got an extra bit for his dremel so we could grind out the hole. We went home, and I started dinner, and Rob ground out the hole a little, and as soon as he did that, the new sensor went right in. We didn't need the thread repair stuff at all. Stupid sensor. My car is fixed now, which is good.
What a weekend! That’s more activity than I’ve seen in a while. And it didn’t stop there, either, because after dinner on Sunday, Rob checked out a Jeep he may possibly buy. It’s older, but in reasonable shape, and is actually probably a pretty good deal. He spent a good hour and a half checking it over last night. It needs some work, but the guy is offering it for a good price. It’s nice that Rob is handy – he can do most of these things himself. Well, it looked kind of grim yesterday with that sensor not going back where it should, but eventually, he fixed it alright.
The NoodleDog isn’t feeling well today. In fact, he hasn’t really been feeling all that great since maybe Friday. He was well enough to run through the woods at top speed and bark at a moose on Saturday, but yesterday he just slept pretty much all day, and even when I took him for a walk this morning, he didn’t seem very into it. As soon as we got home, he crashed right out on the bed, and didn’t really seem to care that I was leaving. Usually, when I go to work, he hangs around in the kitchen waiting for me to get him a “goodbye biscuit” (I give him a biscuit when I leave so he’s not too depressed and I’m not too depressed, and everyone wins). I got him one anyway, and took it to him, but he didn’t seem thrilled about it. Usually, that dog is thrilled about any sort of food. The cats were more excited about me being there than he was. Little Smudge ran all over the place, pouncing on invisible things and running away from other invisible things. It’s a good thing the NoodleDog goes in to the vet tomorrow for his checkup – hopefully if there’s anything wrong with him, they’ll know all about it and will be able to help.
At least it is nice out today, relatively, thanks to the Chinooks we keep getting. November has turned out to be nicer than October so far – with less rain and snow all around. It could turn, of course, but we’ll have to see about that.
So we keep on wandering. We walk all around the property in this big loop, and come around the opposite side, and down a fence line, and again, the dogs go nuts, run up ahead and start barking their little heads off. It's over this rise, so we can't see what they're after, so I run up the hill, and I see a big brown shape as I crest the hill, and immediately scream and start to turn around. See, I figured it was a bear. And Rob keeps going and stops at the top of the hill, calling the dogs, and by then, I've turned around to see if this bear is going to chase him, only it's not so much a bear as it is a big mama moose. How can I tell the gender of a moose standing about 50 feet from me? Because her baby moose, the poor little guy, was all caught up in the barbed-wire fence. And the dogs were going crazy, barking and barking, and Rob was yelling, and I was yelling for the dogs to COME HERE RIGHT NOW!! I MEAN IT, DON'T YOU MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE!!!
Eventually, the dogs came back over, and that was good. I clamped down on the NoodleDog’s collar, and Rob did the same to Cooter, and we looked at the scene. The poor baby moose had caught his front feet on the top wire of the fence, but his back legs had cleared the bottom wires, and he'd managed to flip around, and, as Rob put it, the fence had WWF-ed his legs. So he was good and trapped. The mama moose had just been hanging around, trying her best to be supportive, I'm sure, but was completely unable to help.
I hung onto the dogs, and Rob went in for a closer look, but Mama wasn't having any of that, so she kind of came towards him, and he had to back off. She went over the fence, and back around, so he was able to check it out a bit better, but then the baby started to wail, so she came right back, and he had to back off again. He suggested we go for help, and I said I wasn't going to leave the little guy like that, so he could go if he wanted, but I'd just stay there making sure nothing ate the baby moose. I asked if we could cut the wires, and he happened to have his leatherman on him, so he approached, but Mama ran him off again. There was no real way of getting close enough without having her freak out and charge, although for the life of me, I can't figure out how she didn't totally kill our dogs when they first came on the scene, because they were RIGHT near the baby moose, and although she was defending him, she didn't trample them or anything.
So Rob shot the bear scare flare at her. Well, above her. It went off above her, kind of, and she looked up as it exploded, and then kind of shook her head, as if to say "what the fuck else am I going to have to contend with today?" and then kind of sauntered off into the forest, giving Rob enough time to clip the wires that were pinning the baby's legs. Once he was free, he managed to get up, and then try half-heartedly to charge Rob. Heh.
So as the baby was getting up, wailing the entire time because he was freaked, the mama was coming back around, and I was yelling "She's coming back around, Rob!!", and he made it back up the hill as the two moose took off into the forest. Yay! He's my hero.
So there was that. Afterwards, he admitted to me that he thought the first thing I had seen was a bear, and that even though he'd never seen a bear at that property, it probably would have been one, just because I was there, and the self-fulfilling prophecy of me and bears would have held up. But it wasn't - it was the moose, most likely, and they had probably been wandering the property the entire time we were there. We looked at the area where the baby was caught up afterwards, and he had been cut up a little by the fence, and had probably been trapped for about 20-30 minutes or so. He would have died for sure - if we hadn't come by, then coyotes would have eventually come upon them, and the mama wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. So we really did save the baby moose's life. When he was crying, though, it was a very sad sound. Poor guy. I'll never eat a moose as long as I live. Well, unless I'm totally starving, and I happen upon an already-dead one.
And Sunday, we were working on my car - we were going to replace the O2 sensor, and it seemed to be alright, except when we tried to put the new one in, it wouldn't go. And so for about three hours, Rob fought with it, and I fought with it, and it totally wouldn't go in, and we were getting VERY discouraged, and it looked like I wouldn't be able to drive my car home. But we went to Canadian Tire to see if they had a tap, which they didn't, or a healy-coil, which they didn't, but they did have this "thread repair" kit which was some sort of compound that you mix, put in the hole, have it set with the bolt in it, and then leave it for 30 minutes until it cures, and it's supposed to be very solid. And Rob got an extra bit for his dremel so we could grind out the hole. We went home, and I started dinner, and Rob ground out the hole a little, and as soon as he did that, the new sensor went right in. We didn't need the thread repair stuff at all. Stupid sensor. My car is fixed now, which is good.
What a weekend! That’s more activity than I’ve seen in a while. And it didn’t stop there, either, because after dinner on Sunday, Rob checked out a Jeep he may possibly buy. It’s older, but in reasonable shape, and is actually probably a pretty good deal. He spent a good hour and a half checking it over last night. It needs some work, but the guy is offering it for a good price. It’s nice that Rob is handy – he can do most of these things himself. Well, it looked kind of grim yesterday with that sensor not going back where it should, but eventually, he fixed it alright.
The NoodleDog isn’t feeling well today. In fact, he hasn’t really been feeling all that great since maybe Friday. He was well enough to run through the woods at top speed and bark at a moose on Saturday, but yesterday he just slept pretty much all day, and even when I took him for a walk this morning, he didn’t seem very into it. As soon as we got home, he crashed right out on the bed, and didn’t really seem to care that I was leaving. Usually, when I go to work, he hangs around in the kitchen waiting for me to get him a “goodbye biscuit” (I give him a biscuit when I leave so he’s not too depressed and I’m not too depressed, and everyone wins). I got him one anyway, and took it to him, but he didn’t seem thrilled about it. Usually, that dog is thrilled about any sort of food. The cats were more excited about me being there than he was. Little Smudge ran all over the place, pouncing on invisible things and running away from other invisible things. It’s a good thing the NoodleDog goes in to the vet tomorrow for his checkup – hopefully if there’s anything wrong with him, they’ll know all about it and will be able to help.
At least it is nice out today, relatively, thanks to the Chinooks we keep getting. November has turned out to be nicer than October so far – with less rain and snow all around. It could turn, of course, but we’ll have to see about that.
