When Dreams Come True

For those of you thinking this will be a happy, romantic post based on the title, think again. During the past 3 weeks, April had a couple of dreams (or perhaps nightmares?) where the hawk we are helping rehabilitate escaped.

Well..."Squawker" (as we referred to him even though we weren't supposed to name him) decided to take his freedom before we thought he was quite ready. We still wanted to introduce him to more prey (i.e. small snakes and live birds--he did very well with dead birds and domestic mice) and take him out to a field to practice flying. However, Monday morning Kevin threw in a meatball and was bending over to adjust one of the perching sticks that had fallen, when suddenly Squawker flew out over Kevin's head. We had a shade cloth enclosing the area around the mew, so even though the hawk had flown over the gate it was trapped on the ground. Or so Kevin thought as he quickly went to get the gloves (welding gloves ARE needed to handle this bird) and sent Ian to get April.

When Kevin got through the gate Squawker had hopped into the large hedge and was quickly making his way through the tight branches to the top, where he found himself outside the shade cloth squawking triumphantly. In a desperate attempt to try to catch him we got our big insect net, but he was too high. We were thinking of how to scare him down to the ground where Kevin could pounce on him when he instead tested his wings and flew above the house into a tall tree. We then watched helplessly as Squawker gazed over the neighborhood from his new perch. Several sparrows and squirrels noticed him and started quite a racket, which added to our own screams.

The children ran upstairs and were looking at Squawker through the window but after a few minutes he got ambitious and flew out of our yard to some even taller trees a few houses away. That was the last we saw of him, though we knew he was still in our neighbor's trees due to the cacophony of squirrels and small birds.

Megan was in tears over the situation, Ian was determined to build a live-catch throw net to catch him again, Erin kept asking, "Where did the hawk go?" April thought, "so much for getting to rehab any more hawks ever again," and Kevin thought that there was a good chance the hawk might return to the yard once he got hungry enough. We called the vet to report the mishap, and she laughed and said, "So he decided to self release? It's not the first time that has happened. By the way, we have another one that is really emaciated. Call next week and we'll talk more about whether or not you want to take it." It was a relief to know we might get another chance. We uncovered the mew and have been leaving food on top, but he hasn't taken any of it.

Even though the release was not the poetic sunrise moment we had envisioned, we hope Squawker will find his way to a more hawk-friendly environment. A USU student who works with hawks assessed him over the weekend and said that he was healthy and strong and looked very good. So that is some comfort. We just hope instinct will take over and help him learn to hunt better. Perhaps he will stick around the neighborhood for a while and help control the abundant squirrel population.

Even though this was traumatic for us we hope it truly is a "dream come true" for the hawk. Here is a photo of an adult red-tailed hawk in flight so you can imagine Squawker enjoying his freedom:

Partying With the Relatives

We had a great 24th of July celebration with Kevin's family. Janell and cousin Scotty came to town for a few weeks all the way from Burlington, VT. Then Matt and Karrie flew in from Boston, MA, for 4 days. We drove all the way from Logan to SLC to join in the fun over the weekend.

The Inflatable Swimming Pool

When we finally made it to Grandma's house Thursday afternoon, the children were delighted to find a giant inflatable swimming pool and slide that Grandma's friend had let her borrow for the day. They quickly changed into their swimsuits and played for a couple of hours while the rest of us watched. Uncle Matt really wanted to go down the slide too, but he was too big. Only children were allowed.

Day 2

Matt spent Friday morning trying to make everyone the perfect blueberry pancakes. Not satisfied with his first attempt (which were only near perfect), he made a second batch. In the end, all the pancakes got eaten. Yuki got spoiled daily, especially by Karrie. Sadly, we have no photos of Karrie and Yuki together.

Friday evening we drove out to Tyler's and Andrea's lovely house for a pizza dinner and games. Here is a great photo of the Young siblings. Aren't they cute? (Should Matt grow some facial hair to fit in with his brothers?)

Ian loved practicing his "urban ninja techniques" off the rocks in the back yard. Scotty of course also wanted to try, thus giving Janell much stress. Erin further corrupted her cousin by showing him how to pick and throw grass. How many months will it take for Scotty to recover from the influence of our children?

More Swimming and Randy's Band

Saturday was Grandpa Young's birthday, and he celebrated by playing with his band at the Mountain Spirit Heritage Festival held in Wanship. We first went swimming with Matt and Karrie at the Zermatt Resort in Heber, then we joined the "Reunion '65 Band" for an outdoor evening concert.

We would have taken more video, but the wind was so strong we worried that the sound quality would be poor (it actually recorded better than we thought). CDs are available upon request.

The Final Party, Sunday Evening

Andrea is the party planner queen and hostess extraordinaire, so Barbara put her in charge of this one which celebrated all the summer birthdays of family members. She made two cakes (chocolate and lemon), table decorations, party favors and a lemonade bar with lavender, mango, regular, mint, and blueberry. Who knew you could mix such flavors with lemonade? Mint and lavender were actually the most popular (though April's favorite was mango lemonade). Of course we don't want to forget Tyler's part too, in assisting his wife and helping deal with any small crises along the way.

We ate a bbq dinner with baked beans, salads, fruit, chips, etc. (One never goes hungry at the Young family parties.) Afterwards, we visited, played party games, ate cake, broke a pinata, played more games, ate more, visited more....you get the idea.

April Goes to Camp?

This year, our ward Young Women Camp was held at Camp Zarahemla near Liberty, Utah. Due to a bulging uterus and inability to move around too comfortably, I only attended for one afternoon and evening. The girls--Kendra, Ashley, Cath, and Emily--spent a couple of days "camping" in a luxury cabin, complete with electricity, a kitchen, women's and men's bathrooms (including showers), 2 refrigerators, 1 large deep freeze, a piano, and a TV. (I must say that camp sure isn't what it used to be 20+ years ago when I attended as a YW--we slept in tents, cooked over fires, and used outhouses.)

The group enjoyed roughing it with pedicures, discussions about body waxing, making cute pillowcases, playing Guitar Hero (sorry, but I didn't think to take a video of the girls doing that one), playing Gospel Feud and other games, and just having a great time hanging out with each other. The pedicures and waxing discussion occurred before I visited, so I missed my opportunity to claim the prize for the hairy legs contest!

Tuesday evening the Bishopric and Relief Society Presidency came up for dinner and a program. There was a plethora of great food--lasagna, salad, fruit, garlic bread, apple crisp and ice cream.

After dinner, Brother Morrill gave an inspirational devotional based on Sheri Dew's advice to Young Women. This was followed by a testimony meeting and more socializing (or rather YW harassing the Bishop or visa versa).

Judy (our camp director) and husband Dave

See how much fun the Bishopric has when they support the Young Women?
(Actually, we spiked the juice with hallucinogenic mushrooms Amanda found in the forest.)

Everyone seemed to have a good time. Since about half of the leaders are new, this was an opportunity for us to get to know each other better. Even though I teased the girls about their style of camping, it was a fun and relaxing outing. And ultimately, the most important part of the experience was about building friendship and unity among the girls and leaders.

Cat Eating a Doughnut

April gave in to discounted doughnuts on the day-old rack at the grocery store. Upon being greeted by such a cute sight when she arrived home, she also gave in to the pleadings of the cat who wanted to eat one.

11:47 PM Convergence

The other day, Erin took a late afternoon nap which resulted in her refusing to go to sleep at the regular time. She got out of bed, sat on the stairs, sang cute little songs, made up dialogue for her stuffed animal toys, and chatted away to herself for quite some time. Eventually, April (who was working on the desktop computer) didn't hear her anymore and went to check on her. This is what she found in front of the bathroom door:

Meanwhile, Kevin had been trying to catch up on some work. Just after taking Erin's photo, April took this picture:

Not quite as cute, but maybe he needs a stuffed animal instead of a laptop.

The Wedding We Missed

We were invited to the wedding of our friends Gaya and Prasad. Unfortunately, the fact that it took place in Sri Lanka made it somewhat difficult to attend. After seeing the photos they sent today, we had some regrets. It looks like it would have been quite a cultural experience.

The wedding attire was some of the most beautiful we have ever seen:

We're looking forward to hearing the details and seeing more photos when they return for school in the fall.

Domino Distractions

The past couple of days, Ian has exhibited much concentration and patience as he has set up domino chains in various patterns on our entryway floor. We admire his persistence as he will have a design nearly completed, accidentally bump it, set the whole thing off prematurely, and then start over again. His current motto is, "If you don't succeed at first, try, try again!"

Here is a movie Ian wanted to make to post on the blog:

And for further amusement with a domino professional, check out these videos:

How to Use Up Surplus Mice

Last week a friend asked if we would be interested in helping out with raptor rehabilitation (twist our arms if you must!). One of the reasons we were considered (besides the fact that we are both biologists) is that we have easy access to mice, which are a favorite prey item of hawks.

Kevin and Ian spent last Saturday assembling a mew that the aforementioned friend is loaning us for the duration of this project. Last Monday we picked up a gorgeous red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) fledgling from the local vet clinic who participates in raptor rehab. This bird does not have any injuries--it was found at the base of a tree and had apparently fallen from its nest. So...that makes our job a lot easier. Our goals are to transition the hawk from eating meatballs to catching and eating live prey (rodents, birds, snakes, even large grasshoppers), and also to help it strengthen its flight muscles in preparation for the winter migration. We also need to weigh it once a week to make sure it's getting enough food. The vet anticipated it taking about 3-6 weeks before we can release the hawk back into the wild.

This is the outside of the mew:

This is the inside of the mew with the hawk:

This is a close-up of the gorgeous creature:

Monday evening we fed it a meatball. Tuesday morning we decided to go ahead and try out a pinkie (baby mouse with no fur) and a hopper (small mouse with fur whose eyes are open). The hawk seemed confused for awhile and kept staring at the mice from its perch. Eventually it flew down, grabbed them, and ate them. Tuesday evening was an entirely different scenario--we had barely thrown a pinkie inside the mew when the bird immediately pounced on it, grabbed it, and swallowed it down whole. It did the same with 3 hoppers, although it tore a couple of them apart and ate them in pieces (it's beak is amazingly sharp, just like the books say!). Currently we are feeding it approximately 2 oz. of food at each morning and evening feeding, but we plan to gradually increase the amount since it still appears rather hungry after feedings.

Here is video footage of this morning's feeding--1 hopper and 1 meatball:

The hawk wouldn't eat the meatball until we closed the door. We are supposed to minimize human interaction with it, so don't expect too many more videos. We also find it difficult not to give it a name and not to talk to it (the vet emphasized, "It is NOT to be treated as a pet!").

Since the food transition seems to be going just fine, our next step is to construct a covered area extending from the mew door where it can practice flying a longer distance for its food. Kevin also has plans to go out and catch wild rodents, garter snakes, starlings, and/or pigeons to feed it. We definitely do not have enough mice for 3-6 weeks--we learned today from a falconer (one of our mouse customers who stopped to purchase mice for his snakes and instantly recognized the squawking coming from our back yard) that red-tails can eat 6 adult mice a day.

For the record, this is a trial run for us to see how things go. If we are successful, then the vet said we could be put on an official permit to be raptor rehabilitators. And then Ian can build us our own mew as a scout project!

BANG!

We were awakened this morning by a deafening BANG! at 7:30 a.m. and it wasn't related to fireworks. . . Kevin was sleeping in after spending the past couple of days assisting with the annual Scout Pancake Breakfast which serves as a fundraiser for two wards in the stake.

The all-you-can-eat breakfast is a long-time tradition for the neighborhood, and this year attracted around 1,000 hungry supporters. Ian was extremely excited that, as a Cub Scout, he also got to help out. He filled drinks, refilled syrup, made sure there was enough ketchup and butter on the tables, and dumped the garbage multiple times.

Here he is taking a break to eat some of the food:

The girls arrived around 8:00 a.m. to eat, and for some reason Kevin forgot to take photographic evidence of our attendance. Needless to say, Erin looked very patriotic in her red, white, and blue dress. After eating most of one pancake and all the strawberries out of her fruit cup, she decided it was more fun to run around on the grass with other little children and play. She returned to the table periodically to drink her chocolate milk.

Ian came home around 3:00 to rehydrate and rest, and Erin crashed shortly after while doing some intense work on the computer.

Kevin finally arrived home utterly exhausted last night around 7:00 p.m. and became unconscious shortly after eating some dinner and taking a shower. (Note for future years: find more volunteers to help with clean up so that the Crooks, Gibsons, and Kevin are not left with the bulk of it the remainder of the day and night).

Now, back to the subject of this blog entry:

We were discussing the possible cause of the BANG! when Kevin noticed the power had gone out. Then things began to make sense. He said, "I bet there's a fried squirrel outside." Sure enough, a fuse protecting the transformer was broken on the power line outside our house (the orange part should be upright and connected), and an electrocuted young rodent was lying on the grass below (note the whiskers!).

















Two nice men from Logan City Light and Power arrived within a half hour of our call, and they had the transformer fixed within five minutes. They were friendly and answered all of Ian's questions concerning the process.




Ironically enough, four years ago, the exact same thing happened. It was the 4th of July, and April and the children were in the car backing out of the driveway to go to church when we heard a loud BANG! that sounded like a car backfiring. When we arrived home three hours later, our power was out. We called neighbors around the block to see if they had power, and those who were home all did. Our breakers were not tripped and we were a bit confused. An electrician friend suggested looking at the utility pole to see if the fuse was blown by the transformer. Sure enough, we had a blown fuse and an electrocuted rodent on the grass (and we took pictures then too, but you probably don't need a second fried squirrel picture in one blog entry).