Sleepless in Midland

Drag race: Electric car vs Cheetah

The other day we talked about electric vehicles and government subsidies. Now here's something new about EVs I learned. It's widely known that electric cars have remarkable acceleration, as long as they've got power. And now there's a Formula-E racing circuit featuring electric race cars. The obvious question is how they kept the EV powered. Well, the pit stops involve either a vehicle swap or battery change.

They put out an interesting video of a Cheetah racing one of those electric race cars. Here's a link to the two minute Youtube video. Spoiler alert: the distance decided the winner.

The enterprise is an effort to promote electric vehicles. So of course there's plenty of wordage in the related documentary video about global warming.

Addendum: This stunt was possibly inspired by Kenneth Cecil Gandar-Dower's efforts to promote the sport of racing cheetahs and greyhounds in the 1930s.

------

3:19 PM 4/21/2019

Wolf in coyote clothing -- extinct wolf DNA found in coyotes

I've got a coyote skull that I found in the wild. For a long time I believed it was a wolf skull until some know-it-all kindly informed me that wolves have been extinct in Texas for a long time. Sure enough, internet skull research revealed the skull I found once belonged to a coyote, not a wolf.

As for wolves being extinct, that's not quite true either. Turns out something was going on under the sheets because red wolf DNA showed up in other wild canines.

DNA of wolf declared extinct in wild lives on in Texas pack:

DALLAS (AP) — Researchers say a pack of wild canines found frolicking near the beaches of the Texas Gulf Coast carries a substantial amount of red wolf genes, a surprising discovery because the animal was declared extinct in the wild nearly 40 years ago.

The finding has led wildlife biologists and others to develop a new understanding that the red wolf DNA is remarkably resilient after decades of human hunting, loss of habitat and other factors had led the animal to near decimation.

'Incredibly Rare': Extinct Wolf DNA Turns Up in Texas:

(Newser) – The red wolf was declared effectively extinct in the American wild almost 40 years ago, but, like the Neanderthal, it lives on in descendants still thriving today. That's the welcome discovery revealed in a study in Genes, which found a substantial amount of red wolf DNA in two road-kill canines from a wild pack on Galveston Island in Texas. A genetic analysis of the "ambiguous-looking" animals suggests a hybrid of red wolf and coyote, says Princeton biologist Elizabeth Heppenheimer. "It's incredibly rare to rediscover animals in a region where they were thought to be extinct, and it's even more exciting to show that a piece of an endangered genome has been preserved in the wild," she tells the AP, which reports the discovery "coincides with similar DNA findings in wild canines in southwestern Louisiana." The last wild red wolves were spotted in Texas and Louisiana before extinction in 1980.

Tracking the wily coyote on the Gulf Coast:

The red wolf that commonly roamed the Gulf Coast in the 19th and early 20th centuries was declared extinct in 1980. Before its demise, though, it apparently mated with the coyote, whose progeny may now carry red-wolf genes; their gray-brown fur is burnished with red, like the Blood Moon.

Rediscovery of Red Wolf Ghost Alleles in a Canid Population Along the American Gulf Coast:

Abstract -- Rediscovering species once thought to be extinct or on the edge of extinction is rare. Red wolves have been extinct along the American Gulf Coast since 1980, with their last populations found in coastal Louisiana and Texas. We report the rediscovery of red wolf ghost alleles in a canid population on Galveston Island, Texas. We analyzed over 7000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 60 canid representatives from all legally recognized North American Canis species and two phenotypically ambiguous canids from Galveston Island. We found notably high Bayesian cluster assignments of the Galveston canids to captive red wolves with extensive sharing of red wolf private alleles. Today, the only known extant wild red wolves persist in a reintroduced population in North Carolina, which is dwindling amongst political and taxonomic controversy. Our rediscovery of red wolf ancestry after almost 40 years introduces both positive opportunities for additional conservation action and difficult policy challenges.

Wolf in coyote clothing. Now that's a stealthy animal.

------

3:50 PM 2/5/2019

Fox Friday 11-30-18 -- White Winged Doves gobble up dry dog food

This first pair of photos shows Mama calling for Junior.

Mama calling out, "Dinner time!" Then Junior shows up for chow.

The cats and canines didn't care that much for the dry dog food that was on the buffet a few days later.

But the White-Winged Doves sure did!

------

2:34 PM 11/29/2018

Comedy Wildlife Photo contest displays 2018 winning photos

As an amateur wildlife photographer with my backyard trail cam, the fox photos I get look very tame compared to the photos on display at comedywildlifephoto.com. Here's a link to the page displaying the 2018 winners.

This snow diving bear photo was a finalist but otherwise not a winner. Check out all the photos at the hyperlink above. If you've ever admired wildlife photos, you'll want to see them.

------

2:26 PM 11/25/2018

Fox Friday 8-10-2018 - Momma and pup?

Welcome to Fox Friday. This series is a collection of photos of urban foxes in the city of Midland, Texas.

This being late summer, any offspring produced this year will be young but almost grown. So take a look at these:

 
Notice the bumps on the underside of the one on the left. Could this be a post pregnant female? The other one could be an offspring. But all this is speculation.

Anyway, it ain't National Geographic. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy the fox photos as much as I do.

------

5:08 AM 8/10/2018

Fox Friday 8-3-18 -- they came back

It's been quite a long spell since the foxes left for wherever they went. But lo and behold, they came back. I heard rumors of their return and started putting food out about a week ago. Soon it became obvious that foxes, not cats, were eating the food. (Foxes tend to grab it and skedaddle. Cats sit down and eat the food right where it is.)

So here we see one fox with his mouth open, calling up his friends, I guess. The other one shows three foxes allowing for a one-time head count.

Welcome back, foxes!

------

1:44 PM 8/2/2018

Reindeer over Llano

In December I blogged about the beautiful lighted Christmas display in front of the courthouse in Llano, Texas. Unfortunately, at the time I couldn't find my camera.

The other day I had the opportunity to drive by there again, and the only part of the display still there was the deer you see in the photo.

It's quite striking. Although, it may be on display this long after Christmas because it isn't necessarily a Christmas decoration. It could be a tribute to the many deer in the countryside in that region.

Whatever the purpose, that big buck makes an impression.

------

2:47 PM 2/1/2018

Fox Friday 9-8-2017

Fox Friday was a regular feature at this blog a few years ago, but it got boring -- same thing over and over again each night, foxes eating.

Just so you know the foxes are still around, here are a few snaps from the past few days.

The first one, from left to right, demonstrates how they get in and out of the yard -- over the fence. Look close enough and you can see a pair of eyeballs and a tail atop the fence. The second one is an old favorite in these parts, Old Crooked Tail. Finally, one fox eats while the other looks for the moon -- he's looking in the wrong direction.

------

12:26 PM 9/7/2017

Four foxes -- a first

A few years ago "Fox Friday" was a regular feature at this blog. But it got tiresome for both me and blog visitors as the photos began to look so much alike. But the idea of displaying photos of urban nocturnal creatures is still alive here at the Sleepless compound. And here's a first!

Count 'em. Four foxes!

------

4:31 PM 7/31/2017

Not what you want to see in the toilet

I installed a new toilet the other day, and after removing the old one there was this black hole in the floor inviting me to look down into it. It's impossible to resist, like not looking at a train wreck.

It looked pretty nasty. And I don't feel any better now after reading this -- there's no way to sugar coat it: Python in toilet bites Thai man on penis. Click for pics.

The desert snakes we have in West Texas don't go in for swimming. Thanks goodness!

Government kills bison calf -- blames tourists who took it for ride and provides a big government metaphor

Everyone has heard the story by now -- a father and son touring a national park saw a bison calf cold and alone. So they loaded it into their SUV and took it to the ranger station. What happened next is revealing. See Yellowstone Bison Calf Euthanized After Tourists' Attempt to 'Rescue' It.

We were told that mama bison rejected the calf because it was touched by humans. So the rangers killed it. Are they're telling us that no one would have taken this calf to raise as a ranch pet? I don't believe it. So much effort goes into saving animals in the U.S. that's it's not realistic to think that no one would take on that calf and raise it.

The National Parks Service merely did what government agencies do. They killed the calf to teach the people a lesson. It's simply a smaller version of what the IRS and other agencies do when threatened with budget cuts if they don't fix their problems. Instead of fixing their problems they kill off the parts that actually help the people who have to deal with them.

Thanks, National Parks Service, for providing this big government metaphor.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service brands some owls as bullies to make killing them easier

We talked about this a few years ago when the program started, and it still amazes. It's the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's plan to thin the flock of the barred owl to make room for the northern spotted owl whose flocks are thinning on their own.

What's new is the terminology. It's almost as if it was poll tested and survived. Now they are calling the barred owls "bullies." Who could oppose cutting a bully down to size?

See Biologists kill bully owls to protect endangered owls.

Darwin is a hero of progressives because his theories of evolution don't necessarily substantiate the literal text found in the Bible. Survival of the fittest was a key element of evolutionary theory. However, the government is so controlling that it seeks to interfere in that process. Please don't mess with mother nature. Unintended consequences usually result.

Fox Friday 9-11-2015

As promised, here's a periodic update of the goings on at the Bone Yard, an undisclosed fox sanctuary in the heart of Midland, Texas. Cats dominated the place for a while. But once I stopped putting food out the foxes came back to make to take advantage of the peace and quiet. Here are a few shots from the last couple of months. click on the image to see a bigger version of it.

The camera makes a slight noise, and it sure has this fox's attention.

Two foxes tail to tail.

Showing off in the morning sunlight.

Yellow Cat and fox have a standoff. The cat is fearless with those weaponized paws, and the foxes give him wide berth.

Here he is again in the sunlight.

A young'un with his crooked tail held high. (Son of Old Crooked Tail?)

Ships passing in the day.

"Ho Hum! Can't a guy catch a nap around here?"

They sure do have great balance. He's walking on that little broken branch.

He's watching me change the camera memory card, and he doesn't like that one bit.

That's it for this Fox Friday. The last couple of weeks the foxes have been residing at another habitat where there's frequent lawn watering. But they'll be back eventually.

Young squirrels orphaned by auto

Let me say up front that I'm not a rodent coddler. But there was a poignant scene that played out on the mean streets of Midland, Texas, this morning.

A dead squirrel in the roadway isn't that unusual. And the most anyone ever does about it is try to avoid getting squirrel parts on their tires. From my perspective, those newly deceased squirrels are potential fox food. Although Fox Friday is on hiatus, I'm holding out hope that the foxes will return some day. And I try not to pass up an opportunity to retrieve something they really like which is an unspoiled squirrel carcass.

But this time something different happened. This particular victim of a fast car was a new mother. And her three little ones couldn't comprehend why mommy wouldn't move. It was a sad scene. They had trouble understanding, and the whole thing was made worse by one of the grief stricken young'uns getting run over, too, before it was all over.

In case you're wondering, I removed both carcasses for future use at the fox feeding station. Yes, this seems like a bizarre eulogy. But it's the circle of life. Every living creature lives by devouring some other thing that once lived.

Fox Friday 11-14-14 -- Don't be a fox hater

They're foxes who came in from the wild to live among us and scavenge off of our leftovers. Who wouldn't like these lovely little animals? Well, a fox hater (foxist?) wrote a letter to the editor of the morning paper trying to agitate against foxes in our homey community of Midland, Texas. Read it here. Scroll down to "Foxes are a problem in the city."

The letter writer claims that someone told her of seeing a fox carrying off a pet cat. This seems very unlikely. The foxes that come to the Bone Yard appear to be about the same size as cats. I weighed a road kill fox, and she came in at 5.5 pounds. The foxes give cats wide berth. A fox's main weapon is his mouth, and with stiff legs and dull claws, he's no match for the cats who carry their sharp weapons an arms length away. Anyone who has been on the receiving end of those weapons can understand why the cats eat first at the feeding station.

Anyway, who couldn't love these harmless little critters of the night?

Fox eyed the cat and tried to move in. But the cat prevailed and finished eating the drumstick.

Let the little critters live. They aren't hurting anyone, and their adaptability is something we should admire.

Fox Friday 8-22-14 -- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Fox

Welcome to Fox Friday, a collection of the best photos of the urban foxes from the previous seven nights at the secret feeding station in Midland, Texas. It was a busy week, so let's get to it.

Two feral cats present the biggest obstacle to a fox's full meal. They always seem to get there first. Last Saturday night there was a confrontation.

Fox tries to look menacing, circles around, then attacks. The cat held his ground. Notice the claw strike to the fox's right shoulder.

Hours later fox returns to pick at the leftovers. Check out the shoulder wound in the far right photo. Ouch.

Fast forward to last night. Fox approaches as the cat eats. Circles. The glutenous cat doesn't even look up. How humiliating. Tip to fox, team up with another fox and attack from two fronts. Aren't canines supposed to be pack animals?

Concluding this week's Fox Friday, I think this is the one I call Scrawny Tail. I hate to get too personal, but here's the rear view. Another female. Recall that the two killed on the street recently were both females. Maybe there's a patriarch among the bunch, and these are members of his harem. But so far I've yet to see a fox here that has shown us a view that would suggest he's a male.

Fox Friday 8-15-14

Welcome to Fox Friday, the weekly collection of the best photos from the previous seven days of the urban foxes who make nighttime visits to the feeding station hidden somewhere in the city of Midland, Texas.

A fox was struck and killed two weeks ago on a nearby street. And ten days later another fox met the same fate in almost exactly the same location. Too coincidental. I thought the first fatality was Old Crooked Tail who was, up until then, the most frequent visitor to the Bone Yard. She's been missing since the hit and run. However, last night one showed up looking very similar. Was it the same one? Can't say for sure, they look so much alike. After all, they may all be related.

The most frequent visitor this past seven days was Scrawny Tail. Here are a couple of shots from early last Saturday.

These photos were cropped to highlight the thing I wanted you to see -- the wide open mouth. I think Scrawny Tail was calling for Old Crooked Tail. Yeah, I miss her too, S.T., I miss her too. (Time was early AM on 8/9/14 about five minutes apart.)

The foxes and feral cats have begun to tolerate each other in close proximity, barely. It's not my choice to feed those cats. But they're like the mafia. I have to pay tribute if I expect the foxes to get anything.

Here's the gray/white feral cat eating away while a fox scrounges around nearby. Take a look at the gorgeous tail on that fox. Unfortunately, this may have been the fox who got run over a few hours later. So sad. It's a five lane street, but it really must be treacherous in the wee hours of the morning.

Scrawny Tail demonstrating the Crooked Tail family characteristic. Then stretching it out.

Last night: More cat and fox interplay.

Sunup this morning: The ghost of Old Crooked Tail? Or part of her legacy? This could be the same fox we see in the close-up above if that one wasn't the one who got killed in traffic.

I hope you enjoy seeing these magnificent creatures as much as I enjoy presenting them. See ya next Fox Friday.

NOTE: Some of the photos in this episode of Fox Friday were cropped and/or finagled to better highlight the central figure.

Dead skunk in the middle of the road

Stinking to high heaven! Actually, it wasn't quite the middle, more like the right lane. And this probably should have been an addendum to Fox Friday. Nevertheless, here it is.

It was about the 1500 block of W. Texas St. here in Midland, Texas, a couple of weeks ago.  And it's rather noteworthy since it's so far inside the city. Why was he there? Maybe all this rain lately had him confused.

Most animal carcasses will start to smell after a while in the outdoors. But with a skunk, no waiting!

P.S.  Folks accostomed to urban driving might not have encountered skunks in the roadway before.  In any case, a driver who would run over a skunk at residential speed is too drunk to drive.

Fox Friday 6-20-14 -- Another Old Crooked Tail?

Welcome to Fox Friday, the weekly photo diary of a feeding station set up for some of the wild foxes living in the urban environment of Midland, Texas. The number of foxes living in the area is completely unknown, however, last summer the camera captured three foxes in one frame. Lately there has been only one fox foraging at a time. The one we see most often is "Old Crooked Tail," distinguished by a bushy tail that in a profile looks as if it's broken. However, looked at head-on it appears to be more of corkscrew than hard bent.

We have a mystery this week.

Two shots of Old Crooked Tail taken about nine seconds apart early last Saturday morning. Notice how bushy the tail is. Then see below.

The scene is Sunday night. Look at how scrawny that tail is. It's as if she got in a fight with a chain saw.

Now skip ahead one more day.

It's Monday night, and look at that bushy tail. It's an over night hair growth miracle.

On the other hand, maybe there two Old Crooked Tails. It is interesting that two different animals in the same territory have that same crooked tail, one bushy, one scrawny. Siblings? Offspring? We just don't know.

Til next Fox Friday.

Fox Friday 6-6-14 -- cat fight!

We're set up to photograph the urban foxes, and most of the time it's a boring scene. But occasionally there's some drama worthy of a display here on Fox Friday. The feral cats make their presence known when there's food out, but they're just photo bombers for our purposes as 3/4ths of the photos are of the cats.

The cats are tough and protective, but on one night the fox arrived after a cat began feasting. Watch what happened.

There are two drumsticks out there. Calico II is happily munching away on one. Hello, what's this? Old Crooked Tail slips in nonchalantly, grabs the other one. And she's gone. Yes! Score one for that silky smooth fox!

The cat gave it up without a fight. Maybe the memory of a few night ago are still fresh. That's when another feral cat whipped her tail. See below:

Cat Fight

Calico II readies for attack. Hiss! Rawr! Yeow! They're at each other's throats. Black Cat emerges the victor.

That's it for the weekly urban wildlife episode of "As The Tail Spins." See ya next Fox Friday!

Fox Friday 5-30-14 -- lightening strikes

Each week Sleepless in Midland tries to display some of the Fox Cam photos from the urban wildlife feeding station. I believe Fox Friday is more entertaining when the photos reveal a story played out on the ground, and often the story is the battle between the foxes and the feral cats for the food.

The cats are slightly less afraid of humans than the foxes, so most of the time the cats get to the food first. But not this night. For the first time in a long time, the fox got both of the chicken drumsticks.  Here we are at the urban Serengeti watching the feeding station when along comes a feral cat. I call this one Calico II. The whole episode played out over about a half hour. Timing is everything in the urban jungle.

The cat looks for food at around 9:21pm, or 21:21 on the camera's 24 hour clock display, only to discover an empty plate. At around 21:30 two chicken legs were put out. Old Crooked Tail arrives on the scene and at 21:45 grabs one of the drumsticks. At 21:48 she grabs the other one. Five minutes later the cat comes back only to find the plate empty again. Tough luck puss.

This next set would be rather unremarkable except for one thing. Lightening lit up the sky!

Before, during, and after.  The time span between the first and last shot here is about nine seconds. The fox certainly isn't fazed by a little thunder storm.

That's it for this week. See ya next Fox Friday!

How to solve the West Texas Prairie Chicken problem

Radical environmentalist have wanted to shut down the fossil fuel industry in the U.S. for years. And one incremental approach to their goal is to find some critter living on oil rich land and try to get it declared endangered or at least threatened. The Lesser Prairie Chicken falls in that category.

Well, here's a solution. Sell the little birds to the state of Illinois. Prairie Chickens are endangered in Illinois, so the state has been flying them by plane from Kansas to Illinois. The Illinois Watchdog says this:

“Illinois is the Prairie State and prairie chickens are an endangered species here, so we thought it would be a good idea to bring them back,” said Scott Simpson, site manager for Prairie Ridge State Natural Area in Newton, Ill.

The feds are chipping in $337,000 toward the program and the state will pay $117,000. Some of the cost to state government may be offset by private fundraising done by the Audubon Society, Simpson said.

That puts the total cost of the program at $455,000 for the next three years. ...

So far this year, the state has relocated 50 cocks and 41 hens. That puts the cost of the program at $1,166 per bird.

There you go. If they'll pay the freight, let them have the West Texas prairie chickens. The birds get relocated out of this drought stricken god forsaken region, and the oil industry gets to stay in business. It's win win.

Via Moonbattery.com.

Fox Friday 5-9-14 -- A tale of two tails

While the humans sleep the urban foxes prowl. The darkness of night is their cover, their camouflage, the silent keeper of their secrets. But the Fox Cam doesn't keep secrets, and each night we get to watch the nocturnal creatures scavenge the Bone Yard -- the feeding station at an undisclosed urban location.

There's one I call "Old Crooked Tail" because of the distinguishing crook of the tail. Another one I call "Swoop" because of the long swooping tail. But as soon as I get one named a series of photos taken seconds apart will show a fox producing both tail formations. And it leads one to suspect that all these appearances are by the same fox. But then on a rare occasion more than one fox will appear in a frame, so it's back to the search for some tail-tell distinction.

For starters this week, take a look at the two photos below and spot the difference.

It's the time stamp. The fox is in almost the exact same spot and position in each photo, but the second photo was taken about 31 hours after than the first. I think we have to assume it's the same fox in both. And look a that beautiful, curved "S" shaped tail. Could that be Swoop? Maybe.

Swoop walked off stage and then came back five minutes later. But wait a minute.

That's not Swoop, that's Old Crooked Tail. Maybe they travel together but keep enough distance that they don't appear in the same frame. Or maybe it's the same fox, and the tail look isn't a distinguishing mark after all.

Oh well.  If we watch long enough maybe we'll get an answer.  Til next time.

P.S. There was an interesting set from Sunday night in which Black Cat had his face buried in chicken leg, looked hard right, then took off like a rocket. An hour later the fox arrived, moved in on the chicken, looked hard right, and took off like a rocket. Something was going on off camera, but the animals weren't talking. Maybe if we have a slow week in the future I'll post that set.

Fox Friday 4-25-14

Here we are once again at the Fox Friday Undocumented Wildlife Preserve. The foxes are shy creatures of the night, and they wouldn't want a lot of attention, so the locaiton remains undiscloced.

This past week only one fox up at time showed up for the free lunch, if the feral cats didn't get it first. The fox known as Old Crooked Tail didn't show up, or maybe she simply didn't show off her namesake feature. Nevertheless, here are some exiting scenes from the bone yard.  Click on the thumbnail for the big picture.

These two photos were taken about ten minutes apart. The area on our left could be a potential entry way for other animals, and that may explain the fixation. But notice the open mouth in the photo on the right. Perhaps she's beckoning a mate. If so, he didn't show.

One more from that series. Eyes down, looking for that food.

On another night Swoop drops in for a snack. What a magnificent looking tail. It's at least as long as the body.

Photo note: These photos were taken in the dead of night with an infrared flash. When the foxes are front and center they have a washed out appearance, so gamma adjustments were made on some.

A fox in the White House garden

This could easily be a metaphor, but it isn't. Apparently, there really is a fox foraging around the White House property. That's according to Carol E. Lee in This Wily Gatecrasher at the White House Is a Red Fox.

Here's a witness statement from Josh Earnest, a deputy White House press secretary,

"I was like, 'Oh I should take a picture. This is crazy. There is a fox at the White House,' " Mr. Earnest said. "And he was gone."

I'm like, dude, you sound like a valley girl. And seriously, if you want a photo why don't you set out a critter cam?

Regular visitors of this blog are familiar with the weakness I have for urban foxes, especially on Fox Friday. So the idea of a fox prowling the White House grounds really warms my heart. I sure hope they don't kill the furry little canine.

Good Fox Friday 4-18-14

Let's commemorate Good Friday with some fox photos.

For some reason the foxes didn't visit the feeding arena as frequently as they did last week. Hopefully that means they're getting plenty of food elsewhere.

These photo were taken on the evening of 4/15/2014. (The moon was full, and there had been a Lunar eclipse in the early hours that day, however there were no photos snapped or animal visits during the time of the eclipse.)

There's very little light even with a full moon. So they see with their noses.

She scouts the area and spies a portion of leftover squirrel carcass. They love squirrel.

She grabs it, and it's gone.

Happy Easter from the bone yard!

Fox Friday 4-4-14 -- Old Crooked Tail revealed -- is he a she?

There must be more than one fox that scavenged the bone yard and got snapped by the Fox Cam. But they look so similar it's difficult to tell them apart. However, there's one with a recognizable characteristic. I've been calling him "Old Crooked Tail."

Well, Old Crooked Tail mooned us the other night. See below.

And by golly, "he" may be a "she." Maybe I should call her "Ms. Crooked Tail." And wouldn't it be grand if she had some pups? Get busy, girl!

For an example of how similar the foxes look, see the two photos below. The photos were taken about an hour apart, and the foxes are in roughly the same spot in the field of view.

Surely, these must two different foxes. The one on the left looks a little bit larger than the one on the right, however that could be the slight difference in distance from the lens. They would be difficult to distinguish but for the crooked tail.

But, on a different night these two photos were taken about 12 seconds apart. It has to be the same fox, so maybe the crooked tail is just an affectation.

Hey, what the?  Where did you come from, and why aren't you in some foxes belly?  Fair warning. There are two road-kill foxes in the freezer, and the foxes will get a taste of squirrel this next round.

Fox Friday 3-28-14

Once a week we view the goings on in the bone yard -- the undisclosed location where the Fox Cam captures the nocturnal critters scavenging for food.

He's not alone. Look at the spying eyes.

These are the glutenous critters that steal the foxes' food. What a sloppy eater Black Cat is. Calico is wagging his tail for the camera.

 Now there are a couple of nice poses.

The evening buffet lately consists of two frozen chicken drumsticks. It's difficult to make them out in the night photos. But there one is, partially thawed and glistening in the light. ... And it's gone.

Nice profile.

Old Crooked Tail on the left showing us his namesake feature. But look at the one on the right. Same night almost four hours later -- look at the straight tail -- is it the same fox? I don't think so.

A suit to end the environmentalist "sue and settle" scheme

It has long seemed that environmentalist were less enthused about saving critters than in hurting business, the oil business specifically. And a federal bureaucracy shared that same goal.

So the tactic was for an environmental group to sue the government in a friendly jurisdiction, settle on terms friendly to the environmentalists, then inflict the terms of the settlement nationwide. It was a sneaky way to circumvent the legitimate procedures for making rules and regulations.

Finally, someone is trying to do something about it. See Stephen Moore's The Obama Administration's Push for More 'Endangered Species' Is Hurting U.S. Energy:

Oklahoma’s attorney general has filed what could become a landmark lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, arguing the so-called “sue and settle” procedure for listing animals and plants on the endangered and threatened list violates the federal Endangered Species Act.

Scott Pruitt filed the complaint late Monday on behalf of the state of Oklahoma and the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance (DEPA), a national network of oil and gas companies.

The attorney general charges that “by entering into private settlements with special interest litigants, (the Fish and Wildlife Service) has attempted to circumvent the legislative and regulatory process and make fundamental changes to its (Endangered Species Act)-imposed obligations.”

It's about time someone tried to stop to these federal bureaucrats gone wild.

Fox Friday 3-7-14 Old Crooked Tail gives chase

The feral cats usually beat the fox to the food, but the fox does check in once or twice a week. And one night this week his timing was almost just right, and there was a confrontation.

Here we see Black Cat holding the drumstick. But wait, there's something moving over there ...

 
Boom! Old Crooked Tail charges full blast!

"Dang. Missed it by that much!"

 "Uh, excuse me. While I'm here, would you like to take get a closeup?"