Merganser Ducklings

I love it when Mama Merganser parades her little ones past our house on the Alsea River!  One or two always seem to hitch a ride on her back.

Mama merganser with 7 chicks hitching ride

At least until she dives.  If they’re going to get stronger, they’ve got to do it on their own!

Chicken-chasing bear

We had a report of a bear that chased some feral chickens in a nearby yard.  He was not deterred by the home-owners attempts to scare him away.  A bear that is not afraid of humans can be dangerous.  Fortunately, no human or property was hurt and the feral chicken issue is diminishing.

I enjoy wildlife from a distance – from the safety of my home.  We do not leave out garbage cans but they do like the natural food source along the Alsea River on the Oregon Coast.

Elk Fog Horn

The fog was so thick this morning that I could hardly see across the Alsea River near the Oregon Coast.  Then I heard an elk call from a calf.  They sound like a weaker version of the adult cow.  So I looked and saw one or two elk making their way across the field making calls to each other like a sonar tracking system.  Then the rest of the herd appeared as the fog lightened a little.

Elk in Fog Video

Elk on foggy morning

Oregon Coast Elk

The elk keep their newborns hidden for a month or so but we finally saw this herd’s 2 calves today.  To see the video, click or tap on the photo or this link:  https://youtu.be/AvWTXqUX4dA

Fences are not as easy for calves to cross as their parents

This herd has a wide variety of ages.

Only 2 new calves so far this summer (far left)

Here is a yearling bull just starting to grow his antlers.  They are just nubs this summer.  Next summer he’ll have a set of spikes.

Yearling bull (left) with antler nubs showing

This one looks pretty sickly.  You can see her ribs and she doesn’t have much hair.

Sickly-looking cow elk

The rancher’s cows want to chat with the elk but she’s having none of it.

They are so stupid…they think I sat in white paint and dipped my head in black paint

This bull has some interesting antlers.

Crooked antler

This is a nice looking bull.  Looks like 9 points to me; unless I don’t know which ones count.

9 points?

Little one asks mom for dinner.

Elk calf with mama

Mink vs Mallard – Act II

How lucky are we to see this again!!

I saw 2 groups of Mallard ducks across the river.  They stopped to look at something on the riverbank of the Alsea River.  I saw a very small mink running along the bank so I started recording.  Mama-Mallard kept her 5 babies safe again!

If you watch where the duck is looking you’ll see movement under the brush.  That’s the mink.  He dives in after them and Mama scatters her ducklings.  This is a larger mink than I saw at first so I’m wondering about a mink family living nearby???  How cool is THAT!

Click/tap the link to watch the YouTube video:  https://youtu.be/9T_Nh9kePiA

Mink waits for opportunity to snatch a mallard duckling

Bear Gets Low-Hanging Fruit

This black bear is big enough to reach the low-hanging apples.  Well, relatively low.  I picked what I could with a 5′ ladder.

Black Bear looking for apples

Watch this video to see him stand.  Maybe I’ll give him a sign to wear that says, “Will dance for apples.”

[youtube https://youtu.be/FawkfPsv3iY]

There is another pile of scat in our driveway that looks way different from the others.  See the two kinds below:

Bear scat indicates a high-fruit diet – mainly apples and berries

Bear scat – not so much fruit

Can a bear’s diet change that fast?  These were left 2 days apart.  Maybe there’s another bear around who is eating something different?

Black Bear Eating Apples

Apple and berry-filled poop piles let us know the bear was hanging around.  He checked out our apple trees 3 weeks ago but didn’t stay long.  Based on where he pooped he spent a couple nights in the neighbors tree.

Bear scat and size 12 shoe for perspective

But last night was our turn.