Not Amused

Had the day off on Friday, so, I took my girl Daisy to get her nails cut. From the looks on her face, I'd say she had a great time!

Daisy is not amused.

Got 'em

The rabbit was playing it smart and avoiding the box trap ever since it worked the first time. Who would have thought that would have worked to begin with. Hahaha

MONDAY

I brought 2 of my trout/kayak fishing nets. I wasn't able to join the guys in the lower level to attempt to capture the trapped rabbit, but I was able to watch from above, and help as the "eye in the sky." Unfortunately, my buddy Arik was not sneaky enough to bag this furball.

TUESDAY

We set the box trap up again with hopes the bunny has forgotten about how it works. No luck.

That little rabbit was wise.

We tried coaxing the bunny into the area, but it would simply avoid the box. Heck it seemed it felt safer closer to one of us. Our trapping time was almost up for the day, so, I gave the nets a shot, and came up empty.

After taking down the trap and calling it a day, we were just about to walk away, and the rabbit came out of the bushes again, sort of putting itself in a corner. I quickly grabbed my nets and raced on over, and quickly tried to fool it into running into one of my nets. The rabbit quickly juked left, right, left, right. It began to look a lot like Barry Sanders with it's swift moves, but eventually I became the victor. One wrong move, and I had it.

The rabbit won some parting gifts.

The rabbit was released in a courtyard on the ground level. It's an area I walk past daily on my way to the fitness center at 5 AM. I often see bigger rabbits out eating and hopping around. Hopefully, one of those bigger rabbits is one of it's parents, and it can now teach it the ways of surviving. I just hope we didn't spoil the little bunny, too much, when it was trapped. (Thinking about it, it ate like a king - carrots and apples galore.) As the bunny left my net, it quickly started eating some of the plants in the open areas, and seemed like it was in a familiar area. Which is a good sign.

Hope to see you around little buddy.

The last thing I told the bunny was, "Don't get eaten by a hawk." ..."Keep your eyes on the skies little man." (Don't know if it was a male or female.)

Shhh, we're huntin' wabbits

So, this week I learned that there was a rabbit stuck in the lower level area of one of the buildings at work. I told the guys I would bring one of my fishing nets, so, we could try and catch it, and release it back on the ground level, so, it can be free.

Well, I kept forgetting to bring my net, and one of the other guys had the same forgetfulness issues I was experiencing.

Today one of the guys at work had a grand idea to make an old school box & stick trap. After he set it up, he placed some carrots underneath the box, and waited in the distance holding some fishing line he wrapped around the stick to act as a trigger for the box to drop. Well wouldn't you know it, the rabbit came out, started to eat the carrots, and sat under the box. Well, after he pulled the line and the box fell perfectly over the adolescent/baby rabbit, the box would not contain it, a few hops and it popped it up enough to escape before my buddy was able to get to the box. 

After learning of that story, I became excited, because, I love this sort of thing, and I'm usually the guy they call when there are animal issues, because, of my love for the outdoors. I told the guys I would get some more carrots from the cafeteria, and meet them down there in the afternoon.

When I got there, they were all set up with a heavier plastic recycling box. I placed the carrots underneath, and the 3 of us waited patiently.

After about 15 minutes the rabbit came out from the bushes, and scampered around. The rabbit was going everywhere but near the box. A wise rabbit. Eventually, our time ran out, and the rabbit is still stranded down there. We pushed all of the food under the bush for it to munch on over the weekend.

I'm bringing my net on Monday. I really want to help this little guy out, and get him back to the main level, so, he can go off and survive and thrive. He's a sitting duck down there for hawks and owls.

Found some models

I still have my friends camera, and I thought I would continue to utilize it while I can. So, I found myself some models.

I WISH.

These are my and my girlfriends dogs. Daisy (pitbull), and Bo (shit-poo). I hired them for cheap. A few pieces of chicken was all that was needed, and pretty much all I had to offer. I don't believe the above models would have accepted chicken as payment, but I'll never know, because, I never asked.

Frick and Frack

Bo knows serious.

Bo knows clowning for chicken.

Daisy looking like a lioness waiting for chicken.

Daisy showcasing her talents...for chicken.

Possible hat for next years Kentucky Derby.

I am going to try to get Daisy use to water, so, maybe someday she can accompany me on an outing. She goes fishing with me now, and I just tie her leash to my pants/belt, but it would be cool if she could just follow me around, but I know that takes a lot of training.

Took A Walk

I left the fishing rods at home, and opted to take a walk around the forest preserve down the street from my home. I recently borrowed my friends DSLR Nikon and decided that it should come to.

Poor little guy had an injured back leg. I wonder what he escaped from...hawk..owl...coyote...

Cool silhouette shot of a bird in flight.

Who doesn't like a sunset shot. Very happy with the lighting on this one.

Sunset on the Soob.

Way better than watching TV. You'll never know what's around the bend, unless you get out there....or use Google maps. 

Skunked.

Not the fishing type of skunk, either.

Like every morning before I let my dogs out in the yard at 3:30 AM, I turn the light on and make sure there are no critters in the yard. The coast was clear, and I let the dogs out. Daisy usually runs to her spot and does her business and she's back right away. Bo usually wanders around a bit. Well, Bo wandered around, but Daisy, did not do her usual, instead, she kept sniffing all of the bushes very closely. This sort of alarmed me. While I was paying close attention to my dogs through the window on the storm door, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, I looked down, and I'll be damned....it was a baby skunk standing on the step on the opposite side of the door. The skunk was watching Daisy sniff all of the bushes.

Even knowing that the baby skunks don't have the glads to spray, I knew that momma or pops, couldn't be far. I began to panic. I opened the door and tried "shooing" the baby skunk away with my foot, but that only drew the attention of my dogs, who now noticed that there was another animal in the yard. Thankfully, the little skunk jumped off the step, and under my porch.

....then I got a nose full of that god awful skunk smell...

I called the dogs in and smelled them the best I could. Daisy was perfectly fine. Bo on the other hand, caught a little bit of the spray. My guess is that Momma or Poppa skunk sprayed from under the porch hitting mostly the porch, and a little bit of Bo.

Bo received a quick tomato bath. I only had a can of diced tomatoes, but I think it did the trick...my girlfriend thinks otherwise.

They are living in a hole they dug out underneath my cement step, under the porch.

I've been researching ways to get the skunks removed without having to contact someone to trap them. (and pay them.). I taped a flashlight to my GoPro camera, and used the app on my phone to view the underside of my deck. I found where the skunks have made a home/hole. I soaked some rags with ammonia and used a pole to stuff the hole best I could.

My GoPro light set up.

Screen shot from my GoPro camera - Before I placed the ammonia soaked rags inside.

Screen shot #2 - I did the best I could with the rags. It was an awkward angle.

Hopefully, that will force them to relocate to someone elses backyard or the field nearby.

Musky Show

Show season begins here in Chicagoland...

First up was the Chicago Musky Show, at Harper College in Palatine, IL.

I've gone to this show the past 3 years, and the it is clear that they have lost some vendors. Cortland was the only booth there this year that had fly fishing stuff, but only for showcase. I really just attend this show to see all of the beautifully handcrafted lures, ice cream, and to hang out with my friends that enjoy chucking 2x4s for musky.

Highlights of the show (for me)...

1. There were these handcrafted beautiful wood boats there, that I did dare to ask how much one would cost. One thing that really stood out was the bada$$ hood ornament....which was a musky.

2. The ice cream is always a highlight of this show. Unfortunately, the vendor does not have a store, and only does fairs, fests, and craft show.

3. Snakes! I am not a fan of snakes, but I was feeling saucy and decided that I wanted to hold one. A custom rod builder had some live snakes at his booth as a way to draw people in, to see the rods he builds. He incorporates snake skin into some of his builds for some extra fanciness.

Next show is the Chicagoland outdoor show...which is our big show, and I am very much looking forward to this one.

Beautiful

Another shot.

Fish-Dank with the Yum Yum Ice Cream lady. Such nice people and outstanding ice cream!

Not a huge fan of snakes. I believe this is the first snake I've ever held.

7" musky tubes I bought for a friend.

GoPro Hero 3

I finally got around to playing with some video I took to test out my GoPro Hero 3 camera. Here is just a test video I made with some video, and still shots. I edited this on my iPad 2 using iMovie. (I need a new laptop/desktop...they're outdated, and not capable of playing the videos from this camera.)

(Mind you - I threw this video together in 20 minutes.)

Let me know what you think.....

Also, has anyone else had a problem with their GoPro and 64gb class 10 micro SD card????

I just sent an email to ScanDisk about the GoPro possibly frying my card. I've read numerous forums about this subject, and there seems to be quite a bit of people out there experiencing this. I am hopeful that they will send me a new one. (I've read they will replace it....I should start looking for a different brand if it continues.)