The Demise of My Geraniums

Two nights ago I did not put my geraniums under the RV in time. Our BIG bull elk had me trapped inside the RV for more than 30 minutes while he enjoyed munching on my geraniums and kicking the containers over & scattering the contents to make sure he had every morsel! A young cow elk tried to sneak in to get a nibble but big bull(y) kept running her off. His antics were the primary entertainment in the campground that night. I got to talk on the radio to our Chief of Law Enforcement, too! He wanted to know if I was inside the RV and if I was okay. Here at RoMo we don't talk on the radio unless it is an emergency so it was really nice that he checked up on me.

For a while I was worried because the elk was within 8 feet of the front screen door and there was no way for me to get out to close the hard door. The elk was extremely interested in Zuni who was in the doorway watching. She is fascinated by the cow birdies who snap up the bugs scattered by the elk grazing. I later cooked dinner for Jordan, one of the 8 NPS biologists who covers ALL the national parks. He said that even if the bull had stuck his head through the screen door he probably would have backed off because their antlers in velvet are extremely sensitive and pain would have driven him back. Good to know for next time, huh!

Jordan is my hero! He has actually listened to the radio ping of the only known wolverine in Colorado. AND he has met Doug Chadwick and one of his coworkers who has done a ton of wolverine research and wrote "The Wolverine Way". He met them while doing radio collar surveys here in RoMo and up in the alpine area listening to the Colorado wolverine. How cool is that?

Just a few pictures follow. I did not take any "bull eating geranium" photos because I did not want to scare him away and I was prepared to flee with Zuni!

Boney moose across the river from the amphitheater

They have lovely eyelashes despite the scruffy between-seasons fur

These campers across from me were trapped in their car while eating dinner. He is within 3 feet of their front door and is the second largest bull hanging around for more than a week now.

Does Zuni need a caption?

Licking the table at the dishwashing sink area. . . . then moving on to enjoy fire pit grills, the ash in the fire pits, vehicles and vehicle windows with salt on them - you name it! They lick it clean!

This is my geranium eating giant the day before he got the geraniums.

Moose Twins, Elk Parade & Visitors!

It has been a busy week and very exhausting because of all the big animals in the campground. Part of a camp host's job is to try to watch people to make sure they don't put themselves in harm's way from the animals. On workdays with so many elk and moose around it is a constant challenge to be "everywhere" and tell folks to please step back from the elk!

It was also an awesome week with John and Delona visiting as well as Jane (my co-camp host from Big Bend). John and Delona stayed for a night on their way home to Massachusets via Chicago and Michigan (Sleeping Bear Dunes to see our now retired from Big Bend river guides, John and Elaine). Jane and her aging doggie, Spanky, surprised me with a wonderful overnight visit, too, on their way to Glacier National Park where Jane is now camphosting for her 4th season. The only times Zuni has escaped from the RV was when Jane and Spanky came over to my place to make shift relief in the evening. It was so GREAT seeing all my friends and getting to show them some of the highlights of Rocky Mountain.

This morning I baked some banana muffins for one of our camping families from Holland (as well as other friends who received some) and did a lot of research at the interp library on moose, elk, and other RoMo animals. Gotta at least try to know a little about the critters so the visitors can't stump me every time! I'm sort of sorry I won't be around during the fall rutting season - one of the interesting facts I learned is that both bull moose and elk create urine and mud "wallows". Then, naturally, they "wallow" in the muck to make themselves attractive smelling to the females.

On bull moose the hangy-downy thingie under their chin is called the bell and rope. It does a fine job of collecting the urine-mud goo. On bull elk the hair around their neck and head is the urine-mud goo repository. I also learned that moose also call for mates, but not nearly as loud and far-reaching as the elk bugling. The bull moose calls softly at the water's edge since the sound travels further that way. Another "aha!" is that the female moose wades out into the lake or pond and urinates. The sound of the urine splashing into the water tells the bulls that she desires them. Now YOU know!

Twins less than a week old. Moose and elk are calving all over the park and two visitors were chased by a mama moose who had just given birth up on the Colorado Trail yesterday afternoon.

Me, Delona and John :-)

While the owner is away who knows who visits the campsite!

Birds seem to love perching at the top of one of the few nearby trees. By my description a birder this morning told me this is probably a Wilson's Snipe. Very odd that he or she would be up in the tree.

Okay - just tell me when you've seen enough elk! I love the cowbirds that pick up insects that the elk stir up while they graze. Sometimes the elk bite at the cowbirds when they've had enough of their presence.

Jane and Zuni's friend, Spanky. Jane has had Spanky for 13 years and she was an adult dog when she got her all those years ago. Very sweet friends all!

North Inlet Hike & FREEZE!

I am sitting at The Hub coffee shop in Grand Lake de-stressing right now. I just found out that Healthcare.gov cancelled my insurance last Wednesday when I called in to change my mailing address. Forty-five minutes and a dropped call may have reinstated it but time will tell. I also found out that all my out-of-state medical services through Avera are only for emergencies. . . . therefore I should have my foot surgery & other check-ups in SD. Hmmm. . . my travel plans may need to be amended a little. (Insert primal scream here. LOL)

Yes, the RV water hoses froze last night. Yesterday mid-afternoon a very rainy, cold front blew in but I honestly had no idea the temperatures would drop to 26! Yikes! The good part was that the cold woke me up at 5:00 a.m. and I got to see lots of moose and elk go through the campground. Zuni was hilarious, too! The cold weather seemed to bring out the playful side of Zuni. She was all wound up and chasing scraps of cardboard, fluffing up her tail, arching her back and dancing around like a crazy girl. She makes me laugh all the time! Last night Jep & Renae and Dave from interp came over for dinner. Jep had bought a new pair of boots and brought Zuni a new shoebox to destroy - hence the new scraps of cardboard to chase.

One of this morning's moose - he was quickly followed by 2 of his buddies but my camera battery gave out.

John and Delona (friends from Big Bend and the Gila are driving in tonight!!! Yippee! I laughed when I woke up this morning with frozen water lines because they were planning on sleeping in their tent. Little do they know I'll have things ready for them with me and Zuni in the RV. We'll have a great time regardless. :-)

We actually got up to about 40 campsites filled the night before last! The big surprise was the smell or campfire smoke that night - I had a major headache and everything smelled of smoke. The only "downside" I've found to camphosting here. For the most part our campers are happy (yeah, I know - "happy campers"!) - all on vacation and enjoying life away from whatever grind they came from.

Because of wind, intense sunshine and the freeze last night I'm sure my geraniums don't look so healthy today, but here they are last week being visited by a hummingbird.

This is the bull elk King who presided over his harem last week. He always looks so serious.

Lake Irene where I snowshoed last week. I saw a beautiful fox cross the path in front of me. . .

The back of the ranger cabin at Lake Irene.

All the rest of these photos are from my hike of the "North Inlet" to Grand Lake and Cascade Falls. It was a great hiking day, but the skies were gloomy preceding the freezing rain.

First glimpse of Cascade Falls. What a roar!

Columbine in bloom. We call them shooting stars in Illinois.

When I stopped to take this photo of moss I just about got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Ouch!

Lady slippers (aka fairy slippers) in bloom.

Oh, no! The site of the demise of a Stellar's Jay. :-(

This little guy scampered to hide in the open end of a fallen tree. In the next photo he gets braver. . .