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Forest Fire in Arizona

Started by CHARLIE, July 05, 2004, 04:56:15 PM

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CHARLIE

I have a woodworker friend that lives in Payson, Arizona. This past week they've been threatened by a huge forest fire, which as of July 4th, had burned over 69,500 acres of forest and was 10% contained.  Payson is to be declared safe within a couple of days.  Anyway, I thought y'all would enjoy these two pictures he took of a bull elk chased out of the forest by the fire. The sun was hidden by the smoke, so the pictures are a silhouette which I think look neat.  I'm including his story of the pictures.

"We had just got back from the Dog Park around 7:05 this evening, and the neighbor's Mutt was barking like Hell.  Looked around, and on the side of the hill was this 10 point Bull Elk, about 75 feet from our front deck.  Needless to say, I very quietly snuck in the house to grab the camera.  Sorry the pics are so dark, but the smoke from the Willow Fire just darkened the entire sky!  This is what happens during the fires around here......drives the wild life out of the forest in search of water.  Weird thing about this Bull is that he just stood there staring at us while I moved around taking pics.  He stood his ground for almost 20 minutes before he took off across the road and up the hill.  He was a real beauty!  I'm sure we'll be seeing more Elk around here as long as the fire continues.  I see tracks almost daily down alongside my shop, but this is the first time one has stood its ground so close."




I mentioned that maybe a washtub of water might be a nice thing to do. But here was his reply to that suggestion.

" Funny you should mention putting water out for the animals.  I was gonna do just that and mentioned it to a neighbor.  He said NOT to do it cuz it pulls the Javelins out of the forest, and they get VERY aggressive and will attack anything and anyone that they think are in their way...especially the smaller animals, but have been known to go after Elk and Deer at times.  Kinda puts me 'tween a rock and a hard spot, but we have two dogs, plus there are a bunch more here in our area, AND quite a few children.  Think I'll pass on the water idea!!!"  
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

ADfields

 :D :D :D Funny how people fear Javelins and think they are mean.  :D :D :D   They are blind as a bat and only dangerous to prickly pare cactus.   But they grump around at each other trying to find safety in the middle of the herd when they get a smell of man so people think they are mean and not fearful of man. ;)   Soon as they can tell from your sound where you are they are gone like a shot.   When I would go predator calling in Arizona Javelins would come in to a rabbit scream more often then any thing, they think it's another pig in distress but as soon as they smell man they are gone.

My family down there tells me that fire is over 80,000 acres as of last night, lots of folks getting hazard pay for it I guess. ::)   Hear we have 62 fires burning in central Alaska and 10 of them are over 100,000 acres. One is over 300,000 acres for a total of over 2,000,000 so far this season.  The news hear just showed the oil pipeline with the insulation on fire in one fire and another spot that was well scorched but the fire had passed by.   All our Alaska fires started last week from 2 weeks of temps as high as 104 degrees and then a couple thunder heads passed over the tender box. ::)   Our smoke covered half the state and the sun light hear had a red cast to it, it was very strange and ominous looking for days.   Now that smoke has made it's way to Russia.  I had rain last night hear near the coast and no red cast today. 8)   Lots of dry black spruce, scrubby birch and willow brush up there still that could burn. :-/   It's a big mess and to smokey to fly near the fires so they cant even bomb them, very bad deal! :o :o

Link to Alaska DNR fire update page.
http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/standard/dsp_media_release.cfm?id=162&title=FIRE%20UPDATES
Andy

Gilman

Probably souding dumb here, but what's a Javelin? I've never heard of them.  Heard of skunks, oppusums, cougars, bears, wolverines, badgers, squirrels, racoons, gophers and jack-a-lopes, but not javelins.
WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

beenthere

Javelina is a pig-like animal that is hunted in the southwest.
 Here is a site that tells about it, and has a picture.

http://www.desertusa.com/magnov97/nov_pap/du_collpecc.html

I've heard that they are great fun to hunt. Never have though.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Gilman

If it don't have a 10:1 advantage I dont' hunt.  At about 40# for your average javeline, I think I need to eat about 2# of bacon, a 28# turkey, an 1/8 of a 500# steer, a doe, and one Javeline, then I'd be all over that native screeming pig!

Until then, I'm going to stick to being emperor over my worm farm...

Rules are rules, sorry but I've got to stick by 'em.
WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

ADfields

Yup, a blast to hunt and DanG good eating if you remove the musk gland right. ;)   If not :-X and that is why some folks say they are not very good to eat, just got to know what your doing when you dress them.   Quail and Javelina season overlap so it's a great hunting trip to take lots of friends and kids on.   Ain't nothing better then Javelina fajitas cooked over a mesquite fire. 8) 8)   Now I'm getting home sick for Arizona. :'(
Andy

rebocardo

I thought a Javelin was a pig of a car made by AMC!

 :D

ADfields

rebocardo, now your showing our age. ::) :D :D :D
Andy

Ron Scott

Arizona Wildfire Threat Grows, With No End in Sight

Los Angeles Times, Published by Ashley Powers, Nicholas Riccardi and Julie Cart, June 9th
Thousands of Arizona residents fled a voracious wildfire Wednesday that has devoured a stretch of sparsely populated pinelands the size of Phoenix and shows no sign of stopping. The Wallow fire, which began May 29, has blackened nearly 389,000 acres, making it the second-largest blaze in state history. It seemed poised to surpass the record-holder from 2002: Because of high winds and bone-dry terrain, the fire was 0% contained, meaning firefighters had not even begun to hem it in, much less get it under control. To read of this article link to: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-arizona-fires-20110609,0,4031169.story


~Ron

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