CouesWhitetail Report post Posted May 1, 2011 I recently received a contract to do owl surveys in the Chiricahuas and Mt Graham. It's physically challenging work, but beautiful terrain. My husband and I just got back from a few days down toward Rucker canyon. We were able to take the dogs with us and they had a BALL!! My husband called me a "japanese tourist" because I took so many photos of the dogs (Julie and Sunshine), but they were so cute having fun and getting all exhausted on our hikes. One night we were out doing surveys and Julie started running around madly in the forest. I could tell she was dragging something and at first I thought she found a deer skin or something like that. Turns out it was a piece of what I assume was some illegal Mexican's blanket (there was other illegal trash in the area as well, but not a lot). I don't know how Julie managed to fly full speed through the bushes and forest with this 4-6 foot piece of blanket without getting caught, but she seemed to have no trouble with it. She thought it was the greatest toy ever!! Leave it to Julie to find something good about all the illegal immigrant trash in the forest! Julie loved the water holes! Although Sunshine doesn't like to swim, she did have a ball hiking around chasing lizards and spooking an occasional deer. She likes to look up in the trees for squirrels. the happy team: Here are some scenery pics: We encountered three different lion scrapes in our hikes. One was much larger than the others. The photos kind of flattened things out, so it's harder to tell they are scrapes...it was real obvious in the field. We only encountered one blacktailed rattlesnake... and luckily it rattled before we got too close. One morning after a predawn and early morning survey, we came back to our tent to find an exhausted female hummingbird stuck inside. When we got her out, all she could do was flop onto the ground. I tried to get sugar water into her for quite awhile but she didn't even have the strength to open her bill. I finally pried it open as gently as I could and force fed her drops of a sugary apple cider mix we had. That seemed to really help although she eventually got coated on her head and throat with sugary mess. She finally started to be able to drink on her own and we rinsed her in clean water to try and get the sugary coating off her before we let her go. She flew up into a tall pine, but she just barely had enough lift...it was like watching a heavily loaded helicopter trying to get elevation. Hopefully she made it ok. here are some not-so-flattering photos of a beautiful bird she is in here flopped on the ground: Both dogs completely exhausted themselves with all the fun and excercise! crashed-out Sunshine during a break in our hike: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billrquimby Report post Posted May 1, 2011 Hi Amanda. Seems like everyone except the hummingbird had fun. You should be seeing lots of bear sign, too. The Chiricahuas and Penalenos used to be loaded with bear, and I would bet that not much has changed over the years I've been away. Bill Quimby Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted May 1, 2011 Hi Amanda. Seems like everyone except the hummingbird had fun. You should be seeing lots of bear sign, too. The Chiricahuas and Penalenos used to be loaded with bear, and I would bet that not much has changed over the years I've been away. Bill Quimby We saw a lot of bear trails (in fact most of the time we were so thankful to the bears for making good trails that we could use), but no fresh bear sign. I was surprised. Not sure where the bears were... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted May 1, 2011 Cool photos, Looks like the dogs had a blast. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gr8 White Jr Report post Posted May 1, 2011 Great write up and pics! Hope the hummingbird made it! -Tracy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted May 1, 2011 Sunshine almost looks like a male lion zonked out like that. Lol! Nice write up of your adventure Amanda. Before you said "blanket", I was Picturing your dog playing with a human femur or arm or something! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted May 1, 2011 I hope the hummingbird made it too. I didn't get any photos of when we released her, but she looked 1000% better by then, so I was encouraged by that. I spent two hours reviving that bird! At first I thought maybe some rest in the shade would help, but she didn't seem to get any better, so then after unsuccessfully trying to get her to voluntarily drink something, I pretty much thought it was over. But then I decided I should just get aggressive and force her bill open, which was difficult to do without injuring her tongue or bill. But that made all the difference because she was able to take the fluids in and I could literally feel her heart rate speed up in my hand. Then I could feel her grip getting stronger and she started keeping her eyes open and moving her head. Then she could perch on my finger sitting upright and drink on her own. We let her stay on my finger until she decided she could fly away. I know we gave her a fighting chance and there was no way she would have survived without being force fed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Xman2000 Report post Posted May 1, 2011 Amanda thanks for sharing a little nugget of your family life.Any time outdoors = good times for all Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azslim Report post Posted May 1, 2011 and they pay you for that...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted May 1, 2011 and they pay you for that...... LOL!! sometimes I think the same thing!! I can tell you we earned it this time though! Lots of hard hiking. Right now I am working on how we will get into some of the remote territories. Definitely will be a backpack trip for a couple days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Kid Report post Posted May 2, 2011 great story and pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
standman Report post Posted May 2, 2011 Great story and pics (except for the snake. Pics of them even freak me out)! Looks like a lot of fun by all. I was just north of there, Pinery Canyon, hunting turkeys Friday. Chiricahuas are one of my favorite places in Arizona to visit and hunt. They need a little moisture down there or it just might blow away in a cloud of dust. Oh, did you find any turkeys? (My E-scouting moment ) Brian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted May 2, 2011 Actually we didn't see any turkeys, and not much sign. The game warden said they are in there, but we never heard or saw one and only saw one or two bits of turkey scat. I was surprised at the lack of sign. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ehunt Report post Posted May 2, 2011 Great story and pics Amanda!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.270 Report post Posted May 2, 2011 looks like you guys had some real fun there. but you gotta get your nomenclature straight. lions leave scratches, not scrapes. i never seen a tuckered out humminbird before. poor little feller. the sky islands are wonderful places. Lark. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
