Need Help In Central Texas.........

[Bigtex]

That's a good idea.......seams to be a piece from some type of door, with the half-moon end it must have been a moving piece. Your idea that this might be some type of stove piece sounds pretty good since I found this in the area of old homestead sites. There were probably several dozen 12 X 12ish simple log cabins in this area along a main creek, which are long gone, except for faint traces of foundations and walkways. There must have been quite an elaborate community out here once upon a time......I REALLY need to get a metal detector out here. Here's an old Jug top that I found in the same area.

 

I tell ya HWM, it was hard to feel lucky seeing the Jaguar, and was one of the scarier experiences I've had in the wilds......I felt so slow & helpless.  

Running some searches now......it's Part #WM 4 1/2, that's 4 and a half with the fraction given, all in raised letters/numbers.

[WSA]

Yep, not much you can find with that # that makes sense to me. Worth a stab though. I'm thinking what you describe sounds like a company town, mining perhaps? How old do you expect it is? Oh yeah, for sure...metal detectors are the closest you can come to time travel, if the site is untouched.. Get you one, but be aware of legal restrictions on some public lands. I'm sure TX also has some state regs to protect native sites too, and you DON'T ever want to run afoul of those.

[Bigtex]

I took a sub trail the other day near the area where I found the fresh Deer kill that disappeared........here's what's left, and was carried about a quarter mile away, almost sure it's the same one, Wolfy says it taste the same too:)

 

I was hiking back the same day......pic of the dogs enjoy one of the few remaining creeks with spring water, then they took off after something. I wasn't sure what it was until Duncan the Ridgeback came to me whimpering with a face and neck full of Porcupine quills.........great.

[Guest]

Ouch!  Need a pair of pliers for that....was watching an episode of Alaska: The Last Frontier...the other day and one of the fellas had to remove a bunch of quills from a horse's leg...which was quite a job....just holding him still!.    I hope Duncan keeps this in his memory bank for future reference!

[Bigtex]

Poor fellow......I pulled about 30+ out with needle nose pliers, and he was a manly brave dog on those, but the ones on his nose, in & around his mouth were too much for him. He's just a dog, but one of my very best buddies, and didn't want him to suffer......so off to the Vet to have him sedated and the rest pulled. Wasn't too bad at the 24 hour Vet, and they did the job for $180, which I thought was reasonable. He's back to normal, and ready to go!

 

Yeah, let's hope he's learned his lesson, he sure hasn't regarding Skunks though, the big dummy:)

 

FYI.......the Wolf found the Porcupine, but she knew better than to mess with it.

[SWWASAS]

I am sure in that case he appreciated the trip to the vet.   That had to have really been painful for him to have that many quills in him.  

[Bigtex]

Here's an interesting Deer kill.......now dried out Mummy Deer, notice the broken leg. Rarely do I find an old kill like this that's still basically intact.

 

I have often wondered if the Coyotes & Bigfoot help each other? It has happened to me for years, and I see the same thing on BF shows - why do the Coyotes respond so well the BF yells? It doesn't appear to me at all that they are mistaking these sounds as other Coyotes, yet they almost seem happy and eager to reply. I can see where one would follow the other for food........what other reasons might they have? 

[SWWASAS]

I think coyotes or most dogs for that matter will respond to a howl.   It is pretty easy to get a dog howling if you do it first.     I would think that since a BF seems to be pretty selective at times what it eats from a deer, coyotes would be very interesting in finding what is left.     Perhaps that is the relationship between the two.   Coyotes know that BF might leave them leftovers.     BF may know that if a coyote scatters a deer carcass then they are not leaving evidence they have been around.    

 

I have noticed some correlation between ravens and a BF encounter.     I have had ravens in the area crowing off in the distance,   hear them flying around and they seem to find me, do a couple of circles overhead, caw a couple of times, then fly off.    Followed in a few minutes by some evidence of BF moving or a vocalization nearby.   Thinking about it there are birds that have a relationship with elephants and hypos.     Ride around on them and pick off parasites etc.   Seagulls follow fishing boats.     Perhaps ravens have a thing going where they find out about a new comer in the area, locate it by circling around for a watching BF, then fly away hoping the BF makes a kill and they get leftovers.      Anyone else notice anything like that happening?     Such a symbiotic relationship seems entirely possible to me. 

[Bigtex]

Yes......great observations, it would seem many species rely on each other for food treats. IMO, when a BF makes a kill, he/she is selective with the parts they eat. Then the Coyotes (or other nibblers) get to eat 'n tear the rest up, and as you stated, thus hiding the evidence of a BF kill. It's real hard for me to determine what killed these animals out here, critters get after them pretty quick.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Bigtex

[Guest]

I recall reading about other "coincidental" appearances of birds and BF.....the observations implying that....it seemed that the birds (in one case, a group of blue jays....crows in another) seemed to "arrive" and observe the observers,....then fly away.....and shortly thereafter,...a different interaction occurred between the observers and a much larger creature(s).

 

I've been able to find and observe snakes, at times,.....because of Blue Jays raucous cries of alarm...because they spied the snake and gave the alarm,...seen Cardinals do the same thing....and remarkably,....the birds allow me to get up close to them...while I'm searching for the snake ...usually immediately below them.

 

There are so many things about the interaction of animals....that we don't know..........I find it all fascinating!

[Bigtex]

Amen HWM........and the big lug is part of this too. I've seen enough shark footage over the years, and is easy to spot a shark kill close to the surface by the swarm of birds, mainly Seagulls overhead.

[Guest]

Hey Tex,....seeing the photo of the broken pottery jug above, and your comment about getting a metal detector on that location,.....reminded me of younger days when I would find and dig in old dry wells, cisterns, out-houses and garbage dumps (old homestead types - usually a ravine or sink hole area where they could get rid of the glass and cans, etc)...searching for bottles & whatever artifacts left behind.  I often think about getting a good metal detector and doing some of that again!  I usually had a blast doing all of that.  You know how "priority changes" lead us here and there in life.....I still have the interest about our ancestors lives and their tools, lifestyles, etc.....as well as the fauna & flora that they encountered or utilized in the past.

 

Wondering if a BF will follow a honeybee back to its home....or if they can smell them.....if they rob their hive for a grand treat (and some protein from the larvae).....the settlers of old would do the "bee hunting".....seems reasonable that the HWM-BF would do the same.....if the hive was too high up a tree to suit them....perhaps they might just push the tree over....if it's not too big.....maybe send junior up the tree and let him get stung!

Edited July 31, 2014 by HairyWildMan

[Guest]

 Hairywildman you touch on something there that I have put a little thought into, based on some loose association of reading over the years. Different interactions in nature, to the right observer could be potentially obvious to someone, or something that knows what they are seeing. As human beings we have put most of our evolutionary energy into developing societies, building, social structures, etc. We prefer to exploit our environment, and shape it to fit our means, to "advance" our existence by manipulating the world we live in. Living in co-operative groups, using tools, building things, contributing to a society, and on and on. But if something "intelligent" took an entirely different evolutionary track, and put that same level of development into developing a more harmonious, "natural" approach, they could have an understanding of nature, and what it is saying on a day to day basis beyond our understanding. I read somewhere that when a human enters a forest, the first tree's it encounters give off a chemical reaction, that tells all the other trees there is a stranger in the woods. I have not pursued that enough to know how true it is, but if it is, and if something where in tune enough to sense the reactions in nature at that level, it would make it pretty hard to sneak up on them, or even conceal something like a game camera from them. I know, whimsical stuff, but every now and again my mind wanders down that path. Some one like Big Tex who spends a lot of time working his "stompin grounds", might have some interesting thoughts along those lines.

[LeafTalker]

According to a new (ish?) book called "What a Plant Knows", plants can smell, and I guess see colors. I heard an interview with the author, Daniel Chamovitz (a biologist with a PhD in genetics), who said that when a bug attacks a tree, say, by chewing at the bark, the bark releases an odor that the tree next to it can smell, and that second tree can then go into defense mode in its circulatory system (or something like that). 

 

So JohnC, that makes sense, that the trees can alert each other to our presence. I hadn't heard that before, but it sure seems to jive with what Chamovits says in his book: http://www.whataplantknows.com

[Guest]

JohnC -  I choose to believe that... "whimsical stuff".... is a symptom of creative thinking....which sometimes gets outside the box....(to me,..a desirable thing).

 

I echo your thoughts about how humans, through the years of our "evolution",... have focused most energies on development of societies, economies, conformities,...etc.

 

  Now,..... I believe that there was/is "enough" intelligence within that tide of humanity,...( during those  same years of "evolution")...to have been/be able to have developed,...worldwide,..."a more harmonious 'natural' approach "...(as you described) ,...to shaping this world.  Such an approach required being focused on what connected us to our primal relationship with this planet. It required development conducted in such a manner that would maintain that "connection" to those things so elemental....essential to our well-being.......  natural  water,  air  and  earth.   We humans make choices....oft times contrary to our own well being. 

 

I believe -  As we were gradually guided into choosing the acquirement of wealth/stuff,...prestige/status,.... as being our main focus.....

   we were gradually drifting away from that awareness,....that familiarity with the earth which would naturally keep us connected to its "natural order" and, I believe,...tuned in "enough to sense the reactions in nature at that level"....which you referred to.    I believe that we as humans,...are capable of regaining that awareness...if we choose to.

 

 I just wonder if the trees can "smell" the proverbial skunk ape/BF through its bark...or do a certain number of leaves wilt in response?  (smile)

 

 

Leaf - thanks for the link.....very interesting and right in line with the concept that there's so much we don't know.....and just think how smart we really are!   

Edited August 1, 2014 by HairyWildMan