Bright Idea Outdoors Weblog

Persistence

For an excellent story about an outdoorsman and artist who never gave up, check out John Kellys article "Keeping His Dreams Afloat" in today's Washington Post.

Dead Deer Removal Journal: The One That Got Away

As I sat at my desk today emailing resumes and doing the other things that job hunters do, an email came in from a Fairfax County Homeowner with a dead deer in her front yard.  My reputation as the go-to-guy for dead deer removal operations is obviously growing, and she wanted to know if I could help.

I called the Captain and told him to fire up the truck and then called the homeowner to give her a price.  Guess I should have called her first; she'd already found someone to carry off the carcass.

So now I know that there is competition out there.  The good news is, the price I planned to quote was right in line with the other guy's fee; next time I'll go a little cheaper.

If you have a dead deer or other animal that you need removed from your property in Loudoun, Fairfax or Prince William counties, please email outdoorblogger@verizon.net or give me a call at (703)431-0182. 

Leads on regular jobs are welcome too!

Because Tomorrow I Might Have to Go and Fly Away...

Credit Country Music Superstar Tim McGraw with this post's title, and credit my wife with the great pictures of the baby birds that were born and quickly raised on our porch.  You can see them and read the story here.

Old Blog Post Pays Off With Dead Deer Removal Gig

A blog post I wrote more than a year ago helped make my family's Independence Day weekend a happy one when it led to an inquiry about dead deer removal from a Fairfax County homeowner.

The Great Falls resident found me when he Google searched "Dead Deer Removal Fairfax County," and this post popped up.  This nice fellow had a problem: a deer killed by a car at the end of his driveway; the decaying carcass stinking up the neighborhood; guests coming for the holiday weekend; the buzzards making him and his wife uncomfortable; him not knowing what do about the deer.  His email to me read:

"It is July 3rd and no public service personnel are available in Fairfax County to remove a dead deer at the foot of my driveway. The vultures have arrived and so has the stench. Can you provide me some advice as to how I can get rid of this?"

My advice was to pay me to come pick up the deer and make it "disappear."  A couple hours later, the homeowner called the Bright Idea Outdoors dead deer removal hot line.  He said we had a deal.

So the morning of July 4 found my six-year-old son and I scraping the deer up off the driveway.  The buzzards had already done most of the work for us, and I almost felt bad taking the cash.  But we got the job done, got paid, took the carcass to a place where roadkill deer can do what they are supposed to do in peace, and made it back into town in time for the parade.

Afterward, we went and blew most of the money we'd made on fireworks.  I've always said I wanted to make money from blogging; just never realized it would involve spending a holiday morning performing such a gruesome task.  To be honest though, it was a great experience.  My son and I had fun doing something together; we made a few bucks and helped someone enjoy their holiday.  The homeowner even wrote me an email thanking me later that day.

Maybe I've finally found my professional calling...

Author's Note: If you need a dead deer or other animal removed from your property in Loudoun or Fairfax County, Virginia, please email outdoorblogger@verizon.net.

Hogback Mountain Bear Sighting

Every now and then I see something at work that makes all the stuff I don't like about my job worthwhile.  That happened today, when a black bear wandered into a clearing behind a client's pond in the Hogback Mountain area of Loudoun County.

I had gone to the guy's house to pick up a check for some work we did last week.  The house is an old stone farmhouse that my client has restored over the last few years.  It is located on a large farm, which is surrounded on all sides by an even bigger farm (I don't know how many acres, but we're talking thousands.)

At the bottom of the hill behind my client's house is a small pond with thick woods behind it.  As the homeowner headed upstairs to get my check, I absent-mindedly gazed out his open back door toward the pond.  Something moved on the edge of a small clearing and suddenly the bear emerged.  From about 200 yards away, I judged it to be a full-grown or nearly full-grown black bear. 

I couldn't believe it and got really excited. That's when I messed up.

I really wanted the client, who is a super cool guy and a hunter, to see this bear.  So I shouted his name three times.  The bear heard the noise, looked up at me and disappeared as quickly as it had come.  By the time the homeowner got back down the stairs, the only thing in the clearing was tall grass.

He said that his wife and son had seen bears on the property several times but that he had never seen one.  I told him that this was the first bear I'd ever seen in the wild.

What an exciting way to spend part of my work day!  The most exciting thing is that the place I saw the bear is only about a mile from my office, six miles from my home and real close to a couple of my hunting spots.  I still haven't decided whether I'd take a shot at a bear if I got a chance during the archery or muzzleloader seasons we have in this part of Virginia, but it's thrilling to know I may have to make that decision someday.

Now, about that camera...

Snake!

For more than three years now, I've enjoyed working at a company whose office is located in the woods south of Leesburg.  I open my office door and can hear the birds singing, cattle mooing in the distance and the breeze rustling the leaves. I take afternoon walks on the trails during the summer, and I've killed two deer on the property.  I could even turkey hunt here if I ever find the time.

But today was one of the first times that--just for a moment--I would have preferred to be working in an in-town office.  I'll bet the venomous copperhead snake that was relaxing in front of my office door when I walked up wishes I worked in town too.

My typical day this time of year starts around 6:00 and consists of about an hour-and-a-half in the office in the morning, and the bulk of the day in the field doing sales calls, showing crews what to do on various jobs and making sure they have the material and tools they need.  I'll typically return to the office at around 4 p.m. and work on whatever needs doing until sometime between 5:30 and 7:00.  At times of the year when I'm not as busy, this is when I do a lot of my blogging.

This afternoon, I pulled up right on schedule, walked up to the door and leaned forward to unlock it.  Then I heard a hiss, looked down and nearly jumped out of my Lacrosse Alpha Camp Mocs.

The snake squirmed under the building but paused just long enough for me to identify the unmistakable markings of a copperhead.  The creepy thing is, as I write this, the snake might be right underneath me.

Maybe I better check the want ads...

Beaver Battle Rages On

With the Captain too busy down in the big city these days to hang out with his buddies in the boondocks, I've had to take the fight against the beavers that plague Cowboy Lake into my own hands.

In case you're wondering, there is a continuous open season on beavers in many Virginia jurisdictions, including my home county of Loudoun.  These animals can do a lot damage quickly, and the main problem with them at Camp Cowboy is that the beavers like to clog up the pond drain, which can lead to flooding and once caused the road to wash out completely.  The beavers have also cut down a number of trees on a neighboring property that we hunt as well, and pressure has been building for the Bright Idea Outdoors team to do battle with these buck-toothed bark busters.

I've always kind of liked beavers and can identify with their anti-establishment tendencies.  So it was with mixed emotions that I returned from the woods last fall to learn that a big beaver had taken a crossbow bolt between the eyes.  And it was still with some regret in my heart that I took the fight to the beavers again at dusk on Saturday.

Out of respect for my foe, I won't go into detail about how that round ended.  I will, however, say that if a scoreboard were built on the side of Cowboy Lake, it would read:

Bright Idea Outdoors--2

Beavers--0.

This fight isn't over though.  The beaver is a resourceful and determined animal, and I expect the beavers of Cowboy Lake are on the warpath now.  I shudder to think what they've got in store for me next.

Deer Sequence

I spotted this doe on the edge of one of my client's yards today and took this picture out my truck window at around 60 yards.

I got out and casually walked up to 50 yards.

Then 40. . .

Then 30. . .

I inched my way up to 20 yards, and then. . .

At 15 yards, she finally. . .

Bolted!

Lyme Disease: Not Again!

Deer ticks and the Lyme Disease they carry are making it harder and harder to be a summertime outdoorsman. 

I've had at least five of the little varmints attached to my skin this summer as well as finding several more crawling on my legs.  Today I started antibiotic treatment for Lyme Disease for the second time in my life. 

I'm still awaiting the results of a blood test that will hopefully show whether or not I indeed have an acute Lyme infection.  But after seeing my symptoms and hearing how many ticks I've had and when, the doctor was convinced enough that I have Lyme Disease that she went ahead and started me on antibiotics.

The symptoms that led to my doctor visit began Sunday night when I started experiencing soreness and joint pain throughout my body.  Then I woke up with a fever Sunday night and had more joint pain and a headache all day yesterday.  Last night my fever was 101.9.  By the time the nurse took my temperature at around 3:00 this afternoon, it was up to 102.7.

I'm not one to go to the doctor on a whim (today was the first time I'd been in three years.)  But I became convinced I needed treatment for Lyme Disease today when I went to Lyme.org and read that "Signs and symptoms of Early Local Lyme Disease often start with flu-like feeling of headache, stiff neck, fever, muscle aches and fatigue."

All of the above describe the way I've felt the last couple days.  I didn't have the "bullseye rash" often associated with Lyme, but according to Lyme.org only about 60% of patients experience the rash.

Hopefully the antibiotics will work; I'll feel better soon and be back in good health by the time I finish off the medicine in two weeks.  But unfortunately, I feel like I'm going to have to re-think the way my family and I engage in summertime outdoor activities.  There's got to be a way to enjoy the outdoors without having to be treated for Lyme at least once every few years (the other time I had Lyme was about six years ago; a couple years back, my uncle had to bow out of one of our deep-sea fishing trips while he was being treated for Lyme.)

So far though, I haven't found a way to keep the deer ticks off.  Some people say Deet is the answer.  I'm sure it helps, but I doused myself in the stuff before I took a walk in the woods of Northampton County back in June and still found several deer ticks on my legs during and after the excursion.  What's even worse is that every year there seem to be more and more deer ticks out there. 

The incidence of Lyme disease is particularly high in my home county of Loudoun, Virginia, about 20 times higher than the statewide average.  Wherever you live though, please be sure to check yourself and your kids for ticks and to get tested for Lyme disease if you have even the slightest suspicion you might have it.

You definitely don't want to feel the way I've felt the last couple days, and Lyme can be even worse than that if left untreated.

Bear Hit by Vehicle in Leesburg

A young bear was put down by authorities in Leesburg yesterday after they determined it would not survive injuries sustained in a vehicle crash, according to a report posted on LeesburgToday.com.  Leesburg Police found the two-year-old black bear on the Dulles Greenway near Rt. 15, according to the report.

Meanwhile, bear sightings have have been reported in nearby Ashburn as well.  An employee of a local homeowners association told me yesterday that numerous residents of the community had reported spotting a sow bear and a cub.  Ashburn is an area made up of several planned communities and located about eight miles southeast of Leesburg via the Dulles Greenway.

It's common knowledge that Virginia's bear population is growing, and there have been rumors of sightings in this largely suburbanized area of Loudoun County for years.  But the bear crash and reported Ashburn sightings are the first reliable evidence I've seen or heard.

I checked the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website for last year's harvest data and for regulations on this year's black bear hunting season.  The harvest report is interesting, but opening dates for this year's archery and muzzleloader bear seasons have not yet been posted.

I can tell you, however, that I have three treestands in close proximity to the Greenway.  I'm not saying I'm going to sling an arrow at a bear, but I'd sure hate to see a spike in bear-related crashes. . .