My neighbor & I were trotting briskly along an
irrigation canal. A pair of ducks flew up alongside of us, making the horses
swerve sideways, then the ducks flew along the canal in the same direction as we
were trotting, landed in the canal, and then repeated the sequence about 3 more
times as we continued trotting along. Do you think our horses would ignore it
after the 2nd or 3rd time? No way! Just too much fun to take that
little sideways jump to make sure the riders are paying attention.
Yesterday I was trotting along at a pretty good
pace and I see a turkey vulture sitting on a post right next to the trail. I
slowed down, thinking it would fly away as we approached. It waited until we
were about 4 or 5' away to spread it's wings & take flight. I stopped
to see what it would do, and it came right back to the post where we were
waiting and landed again. I lifted my arms & yelled, so it took flight
again, made a wider circle & came back again. We left.....I thought maybe it
had a nest in the area that it was feeling protective about. At least now I know
that a wide wing-spread isn't going to scare Storm, at least as long as he's
looking in the general direction at the time it happens.
