March 5, 2024
The Wolf Slayer
We welcomed some hot coffee as my wife and I were up throughout the night tending to Mr. Bodhi and his restless fits. After my wife left, I threw on some warm clothes and disappeared into the woods. The ground was wet with evening dew, which silenced my footsteps as I made my way toward a western trail. When I arrived at the creek, I noticed it had swollen and was running faster than usual. I stopped to record a video of the water and its serene sounds. After, I made my way to Beaver Tooth Rock and sat down to take it all in.
The morning felt energetic and the rushing sound of the creek added to its vibrance. These were the perfect conditions for spotting a beaver, as the sounds of flowing water attracted the small mammals. I sat and waited, but saw nothing. After an hour, it was time for me to head back to the house and get ready for work. Reluctantly, I packed up my things and headed through the woods toward my house.
On the way home, I saw a bright green leaf lying on the ground upturned, with large beads of water on its back. The light hit the water droplets, making them sparkle like diamonds. The bright green color, along with the shining beads, made for a good composition, set against the background of the dark leaves and pine needles. I snapped a few photographs and continued along the trail. I walked through these woods daily, but, surprisingly, the place always looked so different. People might not think of a forest as something that moved, but I knew the truth. It flowed like a river, never the same from moment to moment.
When I arrived home, I jumped in the shower and got busy with work. While taking a short ten-minute break, I walked outside to sit on the front porch with a fresh cup of coffee. Axel accompanied me. I loved to see his enthusiasm for the outdoors. I walked in the front yard for a bit while he sprinted from tree line to tree line at breakneck speeds. Then, we both went back inside the house, me to work and Axel to resume his nap. Ah, the life of a dog.
After work, I strapped on my safety harness, grabbed my camera, and headed to a tree stand on the property. The tree stand was a tall ladder that lead to a metal frame with a grated floor and bench that was precariously affixed to a large tree with metal chains and nylon straps. With this device, you can climb up into a tree and have a place to sit about thirty feet above the ground. People used them for hunting, but I liked to sit in the stand with my camera to shoot wildlife pictures.
When I arrived at the tree stand, I connected my safety harness to a thick rope that dangles from above the stand. This rope has a smaller rope tied in a Prusik knot with a metal carabiner that attaches to the harness. This special knot allows you to slide the clip up the rope as you climb, but if you slip, then the knot would cinch down on the main rope to stop your fall.
The tree stand was full of moss and cobwebs, but offered a magnificent view of the forest in every direction. From this strategic location, I saw an eastern gray squirrel gathering food and two male cardinals in a quarrel. I had recently seen deer in this area, so I was hopeful I would get lucky and maybe a herd would pass underneath me.
I was used to the ambient noise of the woods, but this evening, it was terribly quiet. The sheer silence required me to control my breathing, so I didn’t give away my location. I waited, but it was not my evening to shoot any remarkable photos. Such is the life of the wildlife photographer. If you go out, you occasionally find something interesting, but if you don’t head out into the wild, then you won’t ever see or capture it.
I lowered myself carefully, step by step, down the rickety ladder, until my feet touched the earth. It was getting dark, but since I had my headlamp, I opted to head to Beaver Tooth Rock for a while. Dusk had already fallen and it the area was mostly silent, with only a few birds chirping in the area. Then, out of nowhere, I heard the long single trill of a frog. When it finished its sustained note, another frog copied it, then another and another. Within five minutes, the loud noise of long trills overcame the entire area, sounding like a loose fan belt on an old car.
Since it was dark, I put on my headlamp and headed along the creek to a trail that lead home. When I made the last turn away from the creek, I noticed the area was loud with frogs of a different species. Instead of long trills, they sang in a one-two rhythm. The level of noise impressed me. On the way home, I saw a couple of hundred glowing spider eyes shining back at me. The temperature must have dropped because I could see the white translucent vapor from my breath floating in my light. Just before heading inside, I peered out into the pasture and saw a half dozen glowing eyes staring back at me. These were no spiders. They were deer.
When I got home, I heard my wife shriek, so I ran to see what was going on. She told me there was a gigantic spider in the house, and she wasn’t lying. A wolf spider that grew way past the cute phase was sitting precariously in the corner. Luckily, I had a special set of skills, and I knew I would find it and kill it. IYKYK. After dispatching the hairy beast, I was invited to the kitchen for a cold beer and ceremonial feast. It was my Tuesday evening, but my wife would be off for the next few days, so it was her Friday. Whatever the day, it was a festive ending to another remarkable day in the woods.