Help! They need somebody

I think I saved a life today. The life of a furry, dark brown field mouse, which technically is a meadow vole. Despite temps of 18 degrees, the critters were tunneling through the snow on a sweeping alfalfa field near here.

Wiley, my dog, sniffed one out and was using her snout to toss into the air. I hope I intervened in time. I called her to my side. The mouse raced away. Whew. That was a close one.

On a little larger scale, yesterday I donated a pint of blood. It's a common type, B+, and there's rarely a shortage. Yet, a recent news story reminded me it can still be of use as plasma, sometimes used to treat burn victims.

Just think: Scientists have successfully cloned pigs and sheep. But they still haven't found a substitute for the sticky, red life pulsating through our veins.

Photos: Vole.com; http://www.voles.com/

The Franklin Institute; http://www.fi.edu/learn/heart/index.html

Bird calls

Finally. I've filled a bird feeder with black oil sunflower seeds and set it out for fliers-by. I hope they spot it.

Don't see anywhere near the numbers of backyard birds as I did at my country house in Southern Illinois.

I miss the energetic little things. Flitting around. Testing the pecking order.

But developments like the one we're in tend to be woefully short on tall trees. Sure, there are saplings along the curbs. But they don't provide cover or roosting spots.

Today begin's my vigil. I'm going to try to lure some life to the tundra that is our backyard.

Photo: Backyard Bird Centre

Head in the clouds

Four inches of fresh snow coated the pines (and everthing else) today. And after watching a big bird land atop a powdery pine, I think I finally may have figured out why male bald eagles have white heads: To blend into the snow-steeped landscapes, especially trees.

From tree-top perches, their dark bodies are indistinguishable from the shadows while their white feather headresses look just like poufs of snow.

Just a theory.

Photos, left to right: fantom-xp.com; members.aol.com

The neighbors

Thanks to forensic evidence (O.K., scat), I now know two more species that frequent or live on the nearest hill.

The black-tailed deer, a smaller sub-species of Rocky Mountain mule deer, are so named for the black fur that runs the length of their tails.

I suspect mostly females are feeding there at present. Fully grown, they weigh about 120 pounds and can clear eight-foot jumps.

Meanwhile, numerous burrows are home to hibernating yellow-bellied marmots, a type of large ground squirrel.

Social creatures, they live in colonies that may cover up to 6 acres of rocky outcroppings. Locals call them rock chucks.

But they're also known as whistle pigs. When they sense predators in the area, they warn one another with short, shrill chirps.

And to think, for the longest time, I could have sworn I was hearing bird calls.

Photos, left to right: scieincenews.com; virtual dirt time

Blue spruce

The Eskimo people, I've read, have 100 different names for snow.

Now I know why.

Here, it may fall as tiny, white pellets. Or giant wet flakes. And of course there's fine dry powder that's great for skiing.

Most surprising to me, though, is ice fog.

Yep. Fog freezes, dusting everything in crystal frost. Like this colorized take on icy pine needles.

That leaves about 96 varieties of white stuff still to come.

Photo: Paula Davenport, cell phone

Sun break

For the second day in a row, the sun has brightened skies and spirits here in Spokane.
Even with temps well below freezing, the outdoors beckoned.
Wiley, my rescue dog, and I trekked up a little ridge surrounded by new houses in our subdivision.
Saw plenty of evidence that deer, marmots and birds are finding food and cover here.
A tennis court, groomed and irrigated lawnand playground equipment will soon appear at the base of this little hill.
I prefer it "au naturel."
With luck -- even after improvements -- nobody will venture up on frigid days like this -- and Wiley and I can keep it all to ourselves.

Photos: Paula Davenport

Moose rescue

Sometimes, people really go out of their way to help a guy.

See more photos of this daring moose rescue in N. Idaho at:

http://www.krem.com/perl/common/slideshow/sspop.pl?recid=7419&nextimage=31

Source: KREM.com

The lookout

Portion of Spirit Lake, Idaho's town mural