A bear stopped by the Double Ditch Ranch for plums today

He was pretty good size. 

(click on pics to enlarge)

He ate a couple off the ground before deciding the best ones are still on the tree.

He broke off a branch

And took his time.

He ate some and then left. Probably thinking they'll be riper and better tomorrow.

We woke to a throttled scream on the Double Ditch Ranch

        The scream wasn't human, but close enough.  We startled up from our bed and ran to the back porch.  The villains strolled out from behind the cottonwoods wearing feathers.  Three sandhill cranes: Mom and Dad and the kid who was probably the one that was yelled at, following behind.



 Maybe they saw us, watching from the back porch.  Whatever, they took off to wake up some other ranch.

There were a lot of deer last night.  Bow and arrow season started last week but we're still more than a month away from gun season.  These fawns are still innocent of winter.

These young bucks are horny teenagers, showing off to the pretty young does in by the fence.

Something startled them and they were off in a flash of tails.



Raptor Rescue at the Double Ditch Ranch

Maybe the bird was dazzled by the rainbow. Or just missed a chickadee and dove down the chimney at its usual 40 MPH

. 

We heard it in the fireplace the next morning and called Raptor Rescue.  We expected a SWAT team with helmets, bullet proof vests and shields.  But it was mild mannered Cynthia who showed up, armed with a towel.

Cynthia dove headfirst into the fireplace

"It's OK," she beamed.  It was a Kestrel, the smallest falcon on the continent.  Only weighed around 4 ounces. Not much bigger than a sparrow.

Cynthia stretched one wing then the other and felt the raptor's legs and feet for broken bones.

It wasn't hurt just filthy from a night in the fireplace

Cynthia let it go.  "It won't do that again," she said.