As Usual Sadie Wins

They proved once again they know what to do before the rains come and delay their harvest by a week or more until the fields dry out. I had started my 'thorough' detailed house cleaning Saturday morning to burn off some nervous energy I had for the football game kicking off at noon. The farmers had moved their equipment into position sometime Friday night. With a chance of rain today they were going to finish picking the back half of the cornfield that they replanted in May after the flooded area dried.


Depending on the direction of the winds, there is always a chance of dust from the corn picked and loaded into truck trailers might blow my direction. That's never good when I have all the windows open. Luckily as I glanced at the first load of corn being loaded I could see the wind was blowing north, parallel to the house ... all the windows stayed open while I cleaned.

By the time I was finished and was ready for 14 hours of football on tv, they had completed their job. The field that I can see from the house is only the far end of the field. It curves right behind the trees and goes for almost a 1/4 mile behind the houses of my neighbors.

So after a bright sunny day on Saturday ... this morning had other plans with gray skies, rain off and on and those temps in the upper 70's yesterday had dropped to the low 60's for a high today.

All of that doesn't matter to Sadie. She doesn't want a lot in her daily schedule but food, sleep and a few walks. So after the strongest storms blew through around 8am, with little rain for us, Sadie sat in the doorway of my computer room giving me the stare down to let me know it was time for the fist walk of the day.

It was raining lightly outside by the sound of it hitting the leaves. I waited a little longer while she didn't move and kept her eyes locked in on me in front of my computer. I'm not sure she even blinked the whole time she stared at me.

She won ... just like she always does. Those eyes of hers and persistence are pretty convincing. The map of the weather radar had our location pinned right in the middle of greens, yellows and some oranges showing us it was rainy or could rain. I slipped on my snow boots that double up as rain boots, a light rain jacket ... hearing Stella howl and see Sadie hopping up and down when they saw me put my ball cap on. That's cap is confirmation their walk was going to happen.

As with any time after a rain there is a lot more exploring by both hounds. Heidi had already cancelled her day with the mention of the word rain or the sound of rain outside the open window. She was stretched out as far as a basset hound can stretch, on 'her' leather couch sleeping. With a look at me that I was to wake her when lunch is served, but in the meantime she was sleeping.

Stella didn't feel like wandering this morning and stayed either close behind me or with Sadie.

With the raindrops getting larger and more frequent but no more than a light rain ... I cut our turn short in back of the field and took the recent path created by the ATV traffic from the neighbor. There really isn't a lot of difference in distance of our walk by doing this but always feels like a shorter walk.

Stella was almost positive with decision to take this path meant she and us were going straight ahead ... where she ran off to last Thursday, back into those woods up ahead. She is hoping for that anyway.

When I said "no, over here" she immediately walked in front of me pouting like she does when she doesn't get her way.

My camera was barely able to catch the high speed ATV on Friday afternoon but this gives you an idea of who and what has made the new worn paths that may be a thing of the future next spring and summer. We cut our walk short when we heard the sound as I can't afford an accident to happen with the hounds and a speeding ATV. Especially since Stella and Sadie show an interest in chasing that new unidentified vehicle.

This morning though as the rain increased they were just happy to jog to the house with a few stops in between.

I wouldn't have taken a picture of my boot and this leaf until I saw how bright and colorful the leaf was. It might have the most color we see this fall unless we get a string of days with bright sunshine.

As the sound of the rain hit my jacket, Stella walked slower toward me in no hurry. Then looks at me as if to question why am I trying to get her to walk faster.

It's because these clouds are west of us, coming our way and the rain drops are now starting to fall faster.

Sadie was also walking slow not wanting her walk to end. Yet, within minutes of returning inside, she was sound asleep protecting her water bowl from Stella sneaking in and drinking 'her' water. Stella and Heidi share their own water bowl in a different room.

It's very very rare when both hounds lead me back to the yard at the end of the walk so I had to take a picture of this historic event.

It's feeling like a quiet Sunday is ahead of us with a few NFL games scattered around a siesta later this afternoon, a couple more hounds walks and food. I might even read my owners manual on the Tamron 18mm-200mm lens I use to see what I have forgot or to find something I have missed with hopes of better quality photos in the future.

Hard to believe it's the middle of October here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Stella Is Not A Hunter

The bloodhound breed is used for different kinds of tracking. Some are trained to track missing people, criminals attempting to get away or finding deer that have been shot and need to be retrieved. In Stella's case she would never be able to walk with deer hunters and help them find their deer ... because she fears the sound of gunshots.



It was another morning with cool temps, no mosquitoes and  zero humidity. I was undecided how much freedom to give Stella. I didn't want to put her on a leash but I didn't want to leave her behind, giving her a chance to escape again.

Then for a short time I changed my mind and let her hang back. It was at this point that old  definition of insanity whispered in my ear ... "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" ... I decided to walk back to Stella and 'herd' her in our direction.

As I called her name, walking toward her, she did not move nor did she acknowledge my calling. That was a sure sign she was feeling like her old self today.

With a gentle tug of her collar she broke into  trot leaving me behind and ran right past Sadie. I glanced to my left to see if Sadie was looking at the large yellow field cat but I saw nothing on the horizon. Then I remember it's the ears that makes her look at invisible things ... it's what she hears, not what she sees.

It sure did look like the field had been mashed down again my ATV traffic. This field may look green but I classify it as a fire hazard because the weeds and grass "crunch" under each step I take. Speaking of ATV's, I met one of the riders yesterday afternoon on our late walk. He was the responsible rider and not those I saw racing a few weeks ago. I'll talk more about him at the end of this post because he has some valuable information about the field area and deer.

In the past these two hounds would have been running toward the "far right corner", the entry way for deer to come out of the gully into the field. Recently they are not interested in the "far right corner" but a certain spot that has fresh deer scat. They know I am coming up behind them so they don't have a lot of time to get some of their favorite 'natural protein' before I move them along.

There is enough that both hounds are willing to share. There has never been a hound fight over scat, kibble, pizza, chips or bones.

With only a verbal command of "come on" both hounds moved along the path. I scanned the horizon as I walk but did not see any deer this morning.

Stella thought she might lag back and sniff the area ... that is until she heard a gun shot off in the distance. Based on my estimate the shooter was nowhere close to us and not even in the next field over. Yet, Stella didn't hesitate to run away from that sound and walk next to my left side.

Since she has reacted like this in the past whenever she hears a gun shot, I am pretty sure, as the blog post title states ... "Stella Is Not A Hunter".

As we continued walking, she thought it might be safe enough to wander a little bit.

That lasted only until the next sound of gun shots. This time she was running a little faster and zipped right by me and headed along the path home.

Of course there are more spots of scat to check out so they don't have a lot of time before I catch up to them and get them to stop.

Even mentioning "milk bone" barely made them move.

We are going to try to cut hound toenails again today. Saturday, Heidi and Stella were very cooperative and let me cut theirs. They each had a treat after I was finished. Sadie had other ideas and decided sprinting around the yard so I could not catch her was the best option. Consequently she was passed by for the milk bone I had in my pocket.

Based on the sounds I hear at night with my bedroom windows open and usually after 1am ... I'd love to have a field camera mounted somewhere. What I cannot see, the hounds can smell the next day.

Not much is planned today outside the normal Monday. We will get some walks in, lunch will be served and we will keep an eye out for that possible afternoon thunderstorm. It will not be anything like what has taken place in SE Texas. I cannot even imagine what those people are going through.

While writing this post, both bloodhounds lay by my desk chair in a deep sleep ... Sadie snoring. Heidi is out in the living room sleeping until lunch is served around noon. They can fall asleep so quick after they are fed or after they have had a walk.

Usually I am at the corner of the house looking back at them in the field calling them to come inside. Today was different, they were standing at the door while I walked into the carport. Different week ... different routine.

This top layer of my burn pile are the tree limbs the local utility company cut earlier in the month. Below those dead leaves and Sycamore limbs are the small saplings I but from the driveway bank last April. That ragweed will dry out by November and all of that should combine for a large bonfire. I'll be standing with a garden hose that is turned on to prevent any fire moving into the woods.

Yesterday afternoon as the hounds and I approached the first turn of the walk , the rider of an ATV waved from a distance. Heidi was way back in the field with no plans to catch up to us. Stella was on the 25' retractable leash ... and Sadie sprinted as fast as she could toward the ATV. The young rider had stopped and turned off the ATV before Sadie arrived.

He was NOT one of the past ATVer's from a few weeks ago that was tearing up the field and going too fast for being helmetless. He was an 8th grader and a neighbor, 7 or 8 houses down the highway from mine towards town. He was very knowledgeable not only about the field, but the local deer traffic, buzzards, the lack of rabbits and that large yellow field cat.

He has some field cameras mounted in hidden spots in the back corner of the field, the path behind the woods to the north. He said a few times those cameras have picked up Sadie and Stella running either after deer or toward those woods that I blog about. We compared noted on deer traffic and came up with the same answers.

The mysterious large yellow cat belongs to their family ... it ran off a few years ago once the Australian Shepard arrived at their house as a puppy. They have never been able to catch it since but leave food out for it. He confirmed that most of the time the large cat lives in the woods behind my next door neighbor's house.

What was very interesting was what he said about those 'strange' animal sounds I hear at night. His camera photo'd what he thought was a mountain lion or cougar. A farmer behind my house in a couple of fields over told him it was a mountain lion that not only he but the sheriffs are trying to catch. I guess I'll have to flash that flashlight a little sooner at night before Sadie takes her last trip of the night outside before going to bed.

He also said he knows there are at least 3 cats that 'control' this field and are the reason for the lack of rabbits in the field.

So a lot of good information during our long conversation. I didn't plan being away from Heidi that long but by the time I got back to the house, I saw she was sitting in the shaded part of the yard .... wagging her tail as I got closer to the house.

It's hard to believe that August is almost over here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Walk #2 Was Diverted

In a short period of time this afternoon we had a lot of things going on. Nothing extraordinary by any means but a lot of different pictures and a surprise I remembered I had bought myself only on Monday. We tried to take our walk but plans changed midstream. There is still time for walk #3 a few hours from now.

While I was out spraying water on these brown spots in the front lawn, I figured the hounds had broken free as they walked outside after their lunch. When I didn't see any of them out front watching me I had a vision of all three hounds sprinting through the field to the 'no fly zone'. If's it's not going to rain I guess I'll have to water this area.

To my surprise as I walked from the front yard and stepped around the corner of the house, I saw Stella and Heidi immediately doing what they normally do on a day where the sunshine is just right, with no mosquitoes nor humidity.

Sadie also did her normal thing if I am not around, by hitting her 2nd most favorite spot not too far from the yard. So they had not taken off for the 'no fly zone' like my wild imagination had me believing.

Once Sadie saw that I knew where she was, she went back to doing what she does ... eating.

I slowly walked around Stella and saw her stomach moving very little with each breath so I knew she still had a pulse. There was no eye movement ... she was out cold.

Heidi had already figured out she sleeps better inside with the AC on ... she demanded to go back inside.

Sadie wasn't sure but she thought food might be involved so she came sprinting toward the house. How did she know I was going to fix myself a snack?

Stella may have looked as if she was in that deep sleep but with Sadie making noise as she approached the house and with me talking to Heidi ... I noticed just ... barely ... some eyelid movement.

Still she did not get up to follow us into the house. That was fine, I was going to fix some a snack anyway.

Look who has woken up and is standing at the screen door looking inside ... wanting inside ... She was acting like she was asleep just two minutes ago. They say a Bloodhound can hear 4x better than a human. Add the factor of food or the smell of food with their 200x better nose and this is what you get ... A bloodhound wanting to come inside.

I took my small bowl of fresh pineapple with cottage cheese and proceeded to add a couple of new things to the blog. If you notice along the border under Stella's picture I have added two pages "Bloodhound Property Laws" and "Favorite Photos". I also added some links to the sidebar under the heading "Other Stuff".

By 3pm I was ready for an early walk, our 2nd of the day. This was going to be more of a picture exploration for me rather than a hound walk. They would be happy just wandering along our path as I looked for things to take photos of.

Once again there were 4-6 butterflies on the Butterfly Milkweed.

With my new reference on my other monitor, called the 42 butterflies of North America ... I am pretty sure this is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

Sadie was also not into chasing butterflies for the 2nd afternoon in a row. Not one flew off the Milkweed as Sadie walked by them.

Not pictured but hidden in this group is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail as it flew away when I walked by. My first guess of the three black ones are Polydamas Swallowtail with a maybe a Monarch on the far right. Any corrections are welcomed.

Every time I walk out in this field it looks like it has grown since the last walk only hours before. Stella's in deep in thought.

Sadie letting me know she is not eating what I think she is eating. Her left ear gave it away that her head at just moved up from the ground.

Stella made the slow trek around the flowers, around any butterflies and off the path at times to catch up with me.

I'm glad I was wearing shoes because I almost stepped on this bee.

It looked like more ATV activity than I remembered this morning. A sound nearby confirmed the kids were out enjoying the great weather. I didn't know yet if we would finished our walk or have to move in a different direction. Most likely nothing bad would happen but two possibilities could affect them and me wishing I had made another decision.

That's a dad doing the driving. I hope they ladies to the left holding those smartphones are using them as cameras or shooting video and not texting.

I decided I would prevent the bad possibilities from happening. Sadie was showing a lot of interest as she looked at them. She has never seen a 'live' ATV. Luckily Stella was way behind me doing her own thing. I decided it was time to take a different direction.

We slowly walked by a Ornython Swallowtail and another Eastern Tiger Swallowtail heading for the north corner of our yard. There was something I wanted to take a picture of in the field to show you and remind me what it would look like if they had not cut the field in June.

Could this be a Viceroy?

The hounds were confused when I told them to turn around. They finally caught on that we were going to be walking a different way. It took some coaxing to get them headed in this direction.

I'm guessing here ... the Emperor Swallowtail

As we neared the post that is the north corner property line, I saw more Milkweed that were full of butterflies. It's no wonder they call those orange flowers the Butterfly Milkweed. Sadie left them alone as we walked just past our yard to get our picture.

Normally they will cut down over this hill and even bale what they cut but this time they left the side of the hill uncut. So this is what the field would look like if they had not cut it in June. Not bad really. I could live with it if they decide not to cut it in the future.

A different view of my little used north side yard ... I had put my high pressure washer away after washing the fence along the driveway last spring and then remembered I forgot to wash this one. IF I don't pressure wash it within the next three weeks, the task will be moved to my 2018 To-Do List.

I had to use the flash on this picture because even in the middle of the afternoon it was almost pitch black when you looked into the woods. I always tell people, if you come out to see me after dark and drive up my driveway, don't hit that mysterious man standing in front of the woods.

I get little to no visitors after dark ... LOL ... I wonder why.

For weeks I have been fighting off urges for junk food, ice cream and candy. I eat and like fresh fruit but sometimes that is not good enough to kill a craving for sweets. Monday while grocery shopping I walked by something that brought up a memory and it could work for killing a sweet tooth ... Stauffer's Original Animal Crackers.

Low fat, no trans fat, no cholesterol and if I stopped at 13 crackers it would only be 100 calories. I found them in my cabinet today, up high and forgotten about only 48 hours after buying them. They worked for killing the craving for sweets.

Even the hounds will get one or two ... but it makes Stella drool too much so I have to stop giving them at 2 each.

Stella watch me walk to the mailbox and back sitting like this.

This week is 'flying' in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.