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September Weekend Brings
Wildlife Sightings
Earlier this month, Donna Rai and I took advantage of
some great sunny weather and spent a long weekend at
Camp F-Troop. We enjoyed two evening campfires, two
four-mile hikes, an 11-mile kayaking adventure on the
Allegheny River, and an hour of nighttime
deer-spotlighting. But most of all we enjoyed viewing a
great variety of wildlife all weekend.
During our Saturday morning hike, a large doe stepped
out in front of us on the trail, placing one careful
hoof after the other, and two fawns followed. Later that
day on the river, we spotted two great blue herons near
the shoreline fishing in the shallows, a troupe of
purple-crested common mergansers swimming upstream past
our kayaks, and two redtail hawks sailing overhead. That
night while deer-spotlighting, we counted 30 deer in one
hour, including two sub-legal and three legal bucks. We
also spotted a raccoon, a porcupine, and a skunk, each a
mile apart during our drive, crossing the road in the
dark.
And Sunday afternoon, during a drive to Chapman State
Park in the Allegheny National Forest, we saw a pair of
ruffed grouse strolling just off the roadside and later
two young gray foxes crossing the dusty dirt road. We
stopped and hooted out the Jeep window at them, and one
fox paused and stood broadside for a moment, displaying
his fine orange and gray fur and the dark fire in his
eyes. You can always count on good wildlife sightings at
camp.
Good luck out there. And have a great week outdoors..
~ Don Feigert, 9-20-09
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