Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

If it were up to Miska, her choice for dinner would be wild turkey or squirrel on the Canadian Thanksgiving (Monday, October 8).
 

Miska's wild turkey - caught live!

How about squirrel pie?

You can take the dog out of the hunt, but you can't take the hunt out of the dog!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! 

Early Thanksgiving?

Well, yesterday evening I got a BIG HUGE and unexpected surprise.  Miska came running out of the bush on our property (actually way too close to the road for comfort) carrying a WILD TURKEY!  I was absolutely stunned.  I called her to me and she ran with it in her mouth.  All I could think to do was run to the house to grab my camera. It was still alive and she carried it all the way from the road to our house - over 400 feet.  Wild turkeys are not small birds by any means and they can be difficult to hunt, so for Miska to 'bag' this one was quite a feat!  By the time she got to the house and paraded it around a bit, she dropped it; she was tired.

Wildlife at Lake Seneca, NY

I really enjoy going to the Finger Lakes, NY dog show circuit in September for many reasons: the show takes place in beautiful Sampson State park on Seneca Lake; it's a HUGE show with well over 2000 conformation entries plus there is agility, obedience, rally-o, lure coursing, eye and heart clinics; there are usually lots of vendors at the show; plus there are scores of wineries close by; exhibitors are very friendly and there is lots of socializing. And, there is also interesting wildlife. Just across from the state park is the former Seneca army depot, now home to the Seneca White Deer where they are protected. Instead of camping inside the park, I usually stay in a hotel in Geneve, north of the park so when I am driving to and from the show grounds, I usually spot the white deer in the early morning or at dusk (and some brown ones) plus lots of wild turkeys. Sighting the white deer is supposed to bring luck but that didn't work for me in conformation this weekend. :-(

The flock of turkeys I photographed were outside the army depot but I spotted lots inside the depot too. These turkeys, which numbered around 20, were considerably smaller than the two that ventured into our yard several weeks ago (they looked like turkeys on steroids and were huge in comparison!). Turkeys are very skittish but I used my new camera with a long zoom lens to take these pictures. I sure get a kick out of seeing wildlife.

I also explored other places around Lake Seneca and found a small hamlet with an intriguing sign on a railway crossing post on the outskirts of the village. I just had to photograph it!

Wild turkeys

At about 6 pm tonite, I glanced out of our kitchen window & spotted a wild turkey on our lawn by the house where I have my agility equipment set up. Then I saw a second one! I ran to the other side of the house & tried to quietly 'shout' to Michael to come see them. Then I ran to get my mother-in-law. At that point, they probably heard some commotion in the house (turkeys have very good hearing) and were starting to turn and head into the woods. Then the dogs barked and they disappeared into the woods. My mother-in-law missed seeing them. But they were absolutely huge! I'd estimate about 3 feet tall while walking fairly upright. We are getting more of them around here now, after the Ministry of Natural Resources started releasing them into the wild many years ago. I see lots of tracks in our woods in winter but it's been many years since I've seen them so close to our house. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera handy. But it was very exciting to see them so close up. Turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce, anyone?