Hiking the State Park

               My last words would be "Here kitty, kitty, oh big kitty"

Harstine Island's Jarrell Cove State Park is one of my favorite hiking spots. It is close by, an easy trail and relatively safe. There are usually campers and boaters nearby. I wear jingle bells on this trail to alert any wildlife that I'm in the vicinity.  None of us wants to meet up face to face. This Cougar Caution sign was actually spotted at Harstine Island State Park which is a more remote area on the SW side of the island. I hiked it a few times, but it is a very steep trail to the beach and cars have been broken in to so unfortunately it is not on my current list of places to go.

Squirrel Update: Jack caught Bartholemew right away and transported him far enough away where he will never return. Jack said B. growled at him. 

Trapping Bartholemew 4.0

 Jack borrowed a small animal trap to capture the 4th grey squirrel that has been terrorizing the neighborhood.  To clarify: Bartholomew is a non-native grey squirrel, while Wally, is a Native Douglas Squirrel and I tolerate him.  Progress for me. Neighbor Brian, trap owner, has captured and released 3 other grey squirrels. Yesterday Jack placed a cracker with peanut butter inside the trap. Today he spotted Bartholomew sniffing around the trap but never entering inside for the treat. Today, a bowl of nuts has replaced the cracker. Note the strategically placed foil to keep B dry as he snacks.

A brief rain shower today refreshing and cool after yesterday's heat and 89-90 degrees.

Boat Ride

 

A beautiful day for a boat ride. Humpback Whale was spotted yesterday off the north end of Harstine Island but we didn't see any today.

Oregon Coast Road Trip

 We took a nice trip down Highway 101 along the Oregon Coast to Garibaldi and spent two nights at The Harborview Inn.  It was windy, but sunny. 

Windows 11

 Computer issues for a while. Windows 11 sucks, reset back to Windows 10 and we'll keep our fingers crossed.

 Headed down the Oregon Coast Tuesday for a little road trip.

Walking Louie

 Our neighbors Mike and Maryann had an old dog named Louie. Mike would walk him up the road every morning to do his business. Louie is gone now, but Mike still walks up the road for some exercise. Jack and I have taken to calling our walks up to the mailbox "walking Louie".  This morning I walked to the mailboxes for the first time since hurting my foot. It's a start. 

The print in the mud was taken next to the body of a tiny deer. Nothing left but bones. I posted the picture on the Harstine Is. page and people concluded it was either a large dog or coyote. I learned that Cougars, and cats in general, will retract their claws when walking so not a big cat. If this was a domestic dog it was very hungry.

Fishing

 We took the boat out onto Spencer Lake for the first cruise and fishing trip of the season. Jack caught a nice fat trout and we let it go. Neither of us are huge trout fans but it's always fun to catch them.