Wednesday, August 29, 2012

What a day this has been

Little did I know that last night’s post about health issues on the road would garner such a response.  Between the comments posted and several emails, I have even more things to think about.  Of course, finding a medical facility and doctor that I’m comfortable with is number one, and I thank those of you who reminded me of that fact. 

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Guess who I saw on my way to the dumpster this morning.  (I was going to the dumpster, not the bears)  The whole family was in the same spot where I watched the two cubs playing the other night.  Some of you may be getting tired of seeing bear photos, but as long as I’m seeing them I’ll be taking pictures of them and posting what I capture.  Which may mean six more weeks of bear photos.  Open-mouthed smile

One commenter mentioned that he thought the CARE program required people to have a live-in care taker with them.  I tried to check that out today, but the Escapees website appears to be down for a couple of days.  That little requirement would certainly put a monkey wrench in that idea.

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                                                          Okay kids, lets get out of the road!

I also got an email from my brother, Kurt, who recently moved to Casa Grande, AZ.  He offered to be my nurse and chauffeur, and take care of Emma, were I to have surgery in Arizona.  That opens up another possibility.

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                                                                  Single file now, and march!

A couple of other friends offered help if I were in Texas this winter.  I appreciate all the offers and advice, and truly thank you all.  Traveling solo doesn’t always mean you are alone.

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                                          Okay, it looks like that person has stopped… we’re good.

After taking care of the garbage and getting another jug of water, I stopped at Gateway to check for mail.  When I’m at a refuge for a while, I do the Netflix thing and I’ve been enjoying some older movies in the evenings.  While at the office, I also wanted to check with Cindi about changing up my schedule a little bit this week.  I was thrilled when she agreed, so on Friday I’ll be helping to feed the captive red wolf pack that is housed in the middle of the Alligator River NWR.  Sweet!!  This is probably the only way I’ll ever get to see a red wolf except maybe in a zoo.

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                                     Oops!  Hop off the road again.  I think she might drive closer.

It was obvious that this mama bear and her cubs had been coming from the woods on the east side of the road when I approached.  In order to get to the road, they had to go through the water ditch on that side, and all of them were pretty wet on the bottom half of their bodies. 

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I’m also thinking this is a different family of bears than the ones I saw a couple of weeks ago.  This mother isn’t as skittish.  She kept her eye on me, but she didn’t disappear with the cubs as soon as she saw me like the other one did.  She’s also had some experience with humans before as that is a hard to see collar around her neck.  That collar has a radio transmitter so the biologists can track her movements.  I’ll have to ask around about her.  My guess is that she’s an old hand in this cub rearing business.

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                                                                           THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy