"Bears"

Drinking FocusAid at my apartment in Leavenworth and doing pushups. Not a ton of wildlife to talk about today, but I'll see what I can do. 

Updates:

1) "Bears" got into the trash cans at Hannah's place. Now, it's unclear whether these were bears or raccoons. Evidence in favor of bears: these trash cans are massive and heavy and would be tough to tip, and they were indeed tipped over. Evidence in favor of raccoons: Occam's razor, and also I wouldn't put it past raccoons to know how to put their body weights together and move back and forth till the garbage can tipped. They're clever bastards. Of course it's all moot if I tipped the garbage cans over in a prank. 

2) Marmots officially live at Hannah's apt complex (apparently Hannah's apt is a hotbed of wildlife activity). Her dog wants to kill them.

3) HOW COULD I FORGET. Hannah's dog and I got charged by a deer in the field by her house. This is not a euphemism. We literally got charged. We had to step off the path and run laterally to avoid getting hooves in our faces. There was a fawn nearby, and I suspect this deer was one of its parents. Deer in Leavy are cray.

Some other news: I played pickleball this morning without caffeine and played much better. Several data points now in favor of not playing with caffeine. I focused on minimizing unforced errors, and that revolutionized everything. 

Also in other news my finger is healing. Still can't climb but sometime soon. Yesterday I touched real rock and my fingers felt fragile. 

We Saw a Mouse in Canada

 You've probably been wondering: When's the next whereswetzler wildlife update coming??? Well, I shall make you wait no longer -- the next wildlife update is here. This one is going to be packed full of crazy wildlife encounters from all over the Wenatchee Valley and beyond. Just kidding. Mostly kidding. Completely kidding. 

As I write this I'm looking at the basil I transplanted from its "living basil" state at the grocery store to "resident basil" state at my house. Does that count as a wildlife encounter? 

A couple weeks ago Hannah and I were chilling at Mad Meadows here in Leavenworth when I spotted some white blobs on the hillside across the valley. And lo and behold: Our first mountain goat spotting! Add that to the list. Actually, that's basically the only thing on the list so far: mountain goats. Still no bear, still no cougar. I MIGHT'VE seen a coyote the other day in a field outside Chelan. Unconfirmed. And when Hannah and I were chilling near Nighthawk, WA the other day I said, "This feels like wolf country." But obviously there haven't been any wolf sightings yet, or you would've heard about it in a blog entry. I am nothing if not dutiful. 

In other news,  I still need to get binoculars. In other other news, when I went up to Ski Hill today there was a handmade sign that said, "Bear recently in area. Consider bringing bear deterrent." And I hiked on, undeterred. I soon fell in step with some chatty mountain bikers that were about the best bear deterrent possible. I considered telling them so. I feared they would be offended. 

My basil is still in front of me. It's still wild. 

I'm soon to have an encounter with Hannah's dog, who definitely has wild tendencies. 

Also we saw a mouse in Canada. 

OK that's it for now. Time to have some rice. 

Wetzler Wildlife Report #1 (Marmots)

 Dear readers,

My name is Mark Wetzler and on January 1st, 2024 I moved to a small town in the mountains of Central Washington. The following is a report of the wildlife I've seen since then. 

Deer -- Lots of deer. I see tons of deer in town. If you go on any walk of any length there's a good chance you'll see deer.

Marmots -- These ones are harder to spot. They're cute but pretty dumb with cars. Definitely slow down if they look like they're going to cross the road, because they might run straight in front of your tires. 

There was also a marmot living under the garage of my neighbors across the alley. Not sure if it's still there. Haven't seen it in a bit (wanted to say "him" but how the hell do I know if it's male or female). 

Turkey -- Saw lots of wild turkey in the winter, especially in the condo complex near Hannah's apt. Haven't seen them much since the weather has gotten warmer. Presume they've moved somewhere else. 

Redwing Blackbirds -- I'm not much of a birder but I love these birds because they remind me of my youth in Minnesota. Their call especially. You show me a cattail, and I'll show you a redwing blackbird sitting on said cattail (except there are no cattails here so they're mostly on reeds/branches). 

Haven't seen any of the bigger more exciting wildlife yet. Still no bears, cougars or mountain goats. APPARENTLY there are wolves in the area, but I still want to do more research into that. For example the Napeequa "Pack" which is just north of where I live was reported in 2022 but at that time was just two animals, a breeding pair. So, like, the minimum required to be a pack. Seeing a wolf in real life in the wild is one of my greatest dreams in real life. 

Oh also had an awesome coyote encounter back in February, but that was on Bainbridge Island. Though of course I will report on ANY encounters with wildlife here, regardless of where they take place.

In other news I got a job and have barely been playing GeoGuessr. I got paid for the first time today. I'm going sport climbing today. Right now I'm going to drink some tea and maybe go on a walk and do some yoga. 

I wish you all the best.

- Wetzler