Stella's Condition Update

It's been about 6 months since Stella started losing a lot of weight, getting down to 65 pounds in April. Since that time she has gained some weight but could gain more. Kelly commented on the public blog a few weeks ago that she thought Stella looked good. Stella's energy is normal. Her water intake and appetite have never changed ... they are normal.

All of her coat is course and has very little black hair mixed in like her tail. When I got her in August 2015 her coat looked like Sadie's in color and a soft texture. You can barely see that inside her lower legs there is a loss of hair. It's not mangey or raw but looks dark like some sort of skin infection.

She loves eating deer scat and spends more time doing that than anything else. I hate that habit. Recently I have had to tug her at the collar to pull her away from the scat. She does not resist me like she has in the past.

She doesn't run like she use to. She will trot but no full speed running.

I have thought of buying a different kind of high protein dog food just for her. It is sad to see how much she has changed since August 2015 or even this time last year, a year ago.

I will keep monitoring her health for any improvements and document them here.

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.

A Deer The Hounds Never Saw

After Saturday's 'excitement' with Stella it would be hard to imagine something out of the ordinary happening on the Sunday morning walk. I was still going to let Stella run free but if needed, I would be 'herding' her in our direction and not letting her stay behind on her own.


It's hard to imagine how nice those woods looked yesterday after we stepped inside to look for Stella based on our point of entry.

Today Stella was not interested in hanging behind during the walk. In fact she was not even interested in staying at my slow pace ... she and Sadie took off trotting around the corner and out of sight. By the time I made that first slight turn on the path Sadie was out of view and Stella continued her trot.

They stopped at their normal point of interest while I approached them. I was sure they were starting a deer chase by the way they took off running as we approached the first turn ... but they wanted to eat as much deer scat as they could before I got there to stop them.

Without any coaxing, verbal commands or herding ... Stella stayed out in front with Sadie. Fresh deer scent filled their noses and that kept them busy for most of the walk.

Sadie became a little more excited as she tracked the edge of the field, more than normal, so I started scanning the horizon along the north woods. I was almost certain the hounds were about to take off running on me by they way they were acting. Deer scent was obviously strong this morning.

Stella stopped immediately just as we made our final turn home, where I almost walked into her because I was already seeing a surprise on the horizon. With her standing right in front of me I couldn't get a good picture of her head cocked, her ears upright like a 'normal dog's ear' and her nostrils moving .... what I saw on the horizon I had no doubt that the hounds were just seconds away from sprinting after the only deer I could see.

It was shocking to see Stella not move. With each beep from my camera autofocus, the deer's ears perked up. I am sure she could smell predators in the area ... but she was just as curious about me as we were of here. Sadie never moved from my left side.

I was in shock that both hounds did not take off based on what their noses picked up.

It was also surprising that the lone deer didn't take off into the woods. She stood looking in my direction, then would look at the woods. When  my camera beeped, she would turn her head and look back at us again.

At this time Sadie and Stella are walking toward the house on the path, showing no interest in chasing the only deer in the field. One final check to see what that sound was, looking right into the camera.

I didn't make a sound. The hounds didn't make a sound and she still had not moved since the time we saw her. I only wished I had a 300mm or more zoom lens because the 200mm I was using was not getting me close enough to this curious deer.

Finally she takes off to hop into the woods. I took picture after picture of her running and hopping and still did not catch a good shot of her airborne. You can barely see her running down the slight incline into the wooded area.

After Stella relieved herself she came trotting our direction and showed no signs of taking off in the direction of the deer.

She passed me and caught up with Sadie for the walk home.

Whenever she cocks her head like this I always think there is deer up ahead or if it is in the direction of the woods behind the neighbor's house I add the possibility of the large field cat.

Sadie may have smelled the deer and might have known it was standing within distance of a chase but she was more interested in exploring last nights field traffic all the way into the yard.

I am not sure what those sounds are I hear at night with the windows open, in the hours past 1am but different animals are definitely talking to each other.

Looking back at pictures from one year ago, I have noticed the field is nowhere near as tall as it was in 2016. This leads me to believe they will NOT be cutting the field before the winter. The kid that cuts the field was also working for the local electric company that trimmed my tree away from the power lines a few weeks ago. He told me then they cut this field as a favor for the owner. It didn't sound like they would be back this fall since they had only half the normal amount of rolls of hay in July.

With September and the fall season approaching tree leaves are starting to turn colors and there are less flowers in bloom. It's nice to have zero mosquitoes but I wish the butterflies were still around. Here are a few flowers that are still surviving in the month of August.

I am not sure what these are. It looks like they would spread and cover a lot of my flowerbeds if I were to replant a few. I am not sure that is what I want in front of the house so I'll leave them there.

This is on a stem about 4' tall. It's a nice color of purple but I'm not interested in having that in my yard anywhere.

With everything green it's always nice to see some bright colors scattered throughout the field. There are not many yellow daisys left.

I am not sure if any kind of weather kills this off.

With great weather continuing we have been getting in 3 walks per day. I am not sure why but in the afternoon walks I rarely take my camera and usually have Stella on the retractable leash. Sadie enjoys all 3 walks with the same excitement, where Stella acts tired during the 3rd walk.

I was surprised Saturday night with college football on tv. I thought the season did not start until this Thursday. While I was trying to watch two NFL preseason games at the same time, plus check in on the Reds baseball game ... I found three different college games on different channels. They say this year, college football will be on tv every day of the week including Sunday, which is normally reserved for the NFL.

It's all money driven for the "Power 5" conferences and more exposure for the smaller schools.

As much of a fan as I am for college football I feel it is wrong to be playing on Friday nights, which is normally a night nationwide for High School football. The BigTen conference has become so greedy this year in making even more millions of dollars, that they will be playing college basketball this winter on Friday nights, which is also a night for High School basketball, at least in the state of Indiana.

I don't agree with colleges playing either sport on Friday nights.

After not quite a week of using the 'beta' version of Apple's new macOS on my desktop and laptop computers, I have had zero problems and enjoy the new features in Photos editing along with the faster loading Safari browser.

Yet with Google Chrome's Data Saver ... I use a lot more data when I use Safari. With my 20Gb of data per month, the Google Data Saver is saving me between 7%-10% which over a month's time is 1400Mb or roughly two days worth of data at a minimum.

With great weather and less time spent on the computer these past few days, I have been motivated enough to cross off a couple of things on my 'to do' list. By the end of the week I'll have most everything finished I think for 2017's list. So it will not matter that I screwed off most of the summer ... LOL

Heidi is alive ... but totally refuses to have pictures taken of her. She has spent time outside enjoying the sunshine until she sees me with camera in hand. She is doing well though.

Will there be anymore excitement here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana after having some two days in a row?