Late afternoon

Late afternoon break…

Auggie is barely discernable in the upper left … at the end of the shaft of sunlight…

Bear near me…

Late afternoon: Tuesday.

*** New bait in all of the traps and by lunchtime they each (3 of them) had 6-8-10 captures. I went back to the hardware for some disposable traps. The reusables I have do not actually kill the yellow jackets. It seems a bit cruel to let them die of starvation or lack of oxygen or ??? The disposables have liquid, i.e. they drown. Gah. There are certainly more yellow jackets than needed and I’d like to not worry about any of us being stung…but I’d really like a humane method of dispatching them! And I hope these are queens so that I am preventing thousands of hatchlings…but even with the markings…I am not absolutely sure. It is a bit disconcerting to suddenly be seeing and trapping so many… bleah!

Hangin’ out

Spring and sunshine just feels so good.

I never get tired of watching Bear and Auggie be together!

It has been cool, but sunny and clear and rumored to get near 80 by the end of the week.

Everything is growing and green and lush.

And suddenly the buzzing has grown louder also…

Today…fresh bait in this trap and I think 6 captures. And I do think they are queens. I looked up photos and both size and marking match the queens.

Tomorrow, all of the traps get fresh bait!

Prime time

This time of year is prime time.

It is cool, then warm: almost hot, then cool

The transition to green from the white of Winter always happens with seeming suddenness.

During the cool, rainy days there is fresh mountain snow.

The road home is dressed in green, white and blue, blue sky.

The valley…

The mountains…

Prime Time.

11 pounds of Auggie vs the chair

This morning it was gray and rainy and Auggie had a touch of cabin fever.

He and Bear got a bit of chase you, chase me going.

Auggie launched on to the back of the chair.

T…I…M…B…E…R…R…R !!!

The chair tilted back…balanced precariously with Auggie hanging over the top…and then it fell.

Auggie lept off and landed on his feet.

Chair wins.