Sequim Daily Photo

I often admire these draft horses, which I’ve learned are Shire Drafts. In mid October they were starting to grow their wooly winter coats. These are working animals and are used for plowing. Aren’t they beautiful?

Shires have held world records as the largest overall and tallest horses; they have great capacity for pulling weight. Originally imported from Great Britain, shire draft horses are increasingly rare and their numbers are now considered at critical levels by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Click here for more information from Wikipedia.

As I photographed these horses the owner and a farm hand bicycled out to make sure I wasn’t feeding them. Many people feel compelled to feed animals — I’ve seen people give anything on hand to any critter they encounter, from cigarettes to the day’s lunch. Though many animals are opportunistic feeders, what they take isn’t always a good choice. Unless there are handlers who approve what you’re doing, please don’t feed the animals. You may do more harm than good.

S’Klallam tribal art is not confined to totem poles. There is a carved  rendition of a killer whale located at the north campus of the S’Klallam Tribal Center in Blyn. To the right are drawings of the piece as planned and a foam carving of its front end. The photo is taken in the Tribe’s Carving Shed. Below is the finished piece as it stands today.

This might pass for a spooky Halloween mask but for its odd setting, attached securely into a bush of wild roses. I’m fairly sure this is a paper wasp nest. Nobody came or went while I was photographing, so there were no clues there. It was on the large side, about eight inches tall and perhaps six inches wide. Notice how it’s constructed completely around branches of the rose, with a “front door” opening at its base. Much as we prefer to dislike wasps and yellowjackets, they are beneficial insects that eat pests that can damage trees and shrubs. Here is more information from the Washington State University Cooperative Extension.

Here’s another view that shows more of the setting, surrounded by ripening rose hips. Though the insects abandon the nest around now, it’s not a bad neighborhood if you’re an insect looking for a nice spot.  This is not near any human homes.

Humpback or pink salmon have been swimming up the Dungeness River to spawn in record numbers this year. The director of our local Dungeness River Audubon Center has declared it the biggest run in 10 years and estimates that there may be a run of as many as 60,000 fish, possibly more.

The fish average about four to five pounds in size. The one pictured above was about 14-16 inches. They must swim through fast-running currents and expend a tremendous amount of energy to reach spots where they lay or fertilize eggs for the next generation of salmon.

Females lay about 3,000 eggs each and the males, called bucks, fertilize them as they swim over the eggs. The bucks spawn until they die and the river is littered with fish carcasses. It’s a credit to the relative health of local rivers that runs like this occur. Salmon need clean waters and gravel beds, with vegetation cover to keep the waters cool. Erosion from road and home-building can load waters with sediment and runoff from garden chemicals or livestock waste can pollute rivers and streams and devastate a fishery.

One of the “slow down and listen” sounds of summer is that of  the honey bees collecting pollen in gardens and fields. These tiny powerhouse workers pollinate nearly 50 varieties of orchard and field crops, including apples, pears, cherries, peaches, melons, and squash. Each hive collects about 66 lbs. of pollen yearly.

Worker bees, all female,  literally work themselves to death during summer, usually in about 6 weeks. Their lifespan is 4 to 6 months in the slower winter season. Though there were native bees in North America when European settlers arrived, they were not nest-builders and makers of honey. So colonists began to import honey bees in the late 1600s.

Honey bees are doing pretty well on the Olympic Peninsula but populations have been decimated in other areas, including just north of us on Vancouver Island, B.C. Mites and disease have taken an alarming toll, threatening crop and honey production.

Beekeeping goes back to the stone age. Cave paintings show honey collection and beekeeping activities.

Here’s another of those “Guy Thing” rodeo activities, an eight second ride on the back of an uncooperative horse and a surefire way to need a chiropractor. The cowboy must hold onto the leather and rawhide rigging with only one hand and keep his feet in the correct position when the horse hits the ground as it bounds out of a chute. The rider is disqualified if he touches his equipment, himself, or the horse with his free hand.

Another rider stays nearby during the ride and helps the bareback rider off the bucking horse at the end of his ride, which in itself qualifies as a mighty feat in my book. The riding is beautiful and skilled.

This is an event that I can only classify as “It’s a Guy Thing,” riding an angry bull barebacked.  The rider tries to remain forward or “over his hand” at all times; leaning back can result in getting him whipped forward and back when the bull bucks.

The bull doesn’t cooperate and the rides are quick. Most of the riders at the Sunday Rodeo were off in less than 7 seconds.

Riders try to fall away from the bull’s line of sight so it doesn’t come after him. I was surprised that this fellow was able to get up, dust himself off, and walk away. Notice the two men on each side of the photo, in yellow and in red. They’re rodeo clowns.

The rodeo clowns are there to distract the bull, keep it away from fallen riders. If they’re successful they can truly be in harm’s way. They were in constant movement during the bull riding event. One clown had to jump a fence to escape a particularly annoyed bull.

Shannon, I think this is why everyone warned you away from petting that beautiful bull whose picture you posted some months ago!