Released Coon

We released a coon for Annie and Uno who trailed the coon down the creek and treed. On this release we left the coon alone and gave him time to travel before releasing the dogs. After Annie and Uno treed, we then let Joe follow the scent and get some practice too.

Joe and Uno

After finding and shooting the coon, Zeb, Zach, Joseph and I watched the best fight I ever saw. The boar coon wasn't exceptionally large but was exceptionally fierce! Joe normally dispatches a coon quickly but not this time. I was proud of Uno, she rushed in to help and they finally put and end to the coon five minutes later.

Pastor Joseph, A Holy Man of God

Pastor Joseph Weyel from TX preached for us at Eureka on Sunday in our morning and afternoon services. His messages were powerful and centered on Christ's glory exhibited through evangelism. He gave several examples of men who gave all of their energy and life to proclaim the gospel. The verses that capsulized the importance of the gospel was Romans 1:16, 17 because the gospel is powerful to change lives and because the gospel reveals Christ's righteousness. The messages was relevant to all of us in light of Pastor Joseph's preparation to move to Cambodia to minister the gospel along with his wife and four children. Later that evening, Pastor Joseph, Zeb, Zach, and I headed to the woods to enjoy a little "hound music." The tree Joe and Uno treed in was in water almost knee high. Joseph had borrowed Hannah's boots without knowing that one boot had a hole in the bottom. But he soon discovered this unknown fact as we walked into the water to get the coon. He at least had a good attitude and was thankful he wasn't wearing his cowboy boots. Holy man, holey boot.

Gggrrrooowww

Do you remember the sound the panther made just before he pounced on Dan and Ann in "Where the Red Fern Grows"? That is the noise I heard last night!

We (Abi, Gracie, Zeb, Zach, Lydia, and I) went to the "swamp" last night on the river where we had the feeder-buckets. Uno however went deep and had an armadillo in a hole. To get to her I shined the truck lights in the wood and left instructions for the kids to blow the horn every five minutes. I hoped that I would be able to see the lights and hear the horn as I returned. I did get to Uno, saw the armadillo, disciplined her and started back. Then and there, I heard the eerie sound of a panther, gggrrrooowww. I've been in the woods a lot in my life, but that was the first panther I've heard. So I hurried along to the truck as you might imagine.

On the way home the kids mentioned an Indian ritual for a boy to reach manhood. The boy has to stay in the woods all night without making a sound, and he has to remain blindfolded. At that point Zach assured us that he was not afraid of a panther and would stay the night at the "swamp." He begged us to turn around. However, we didn't believe that he was expressing his true feelings. I think he knew I would never leave him so he was talking big. We also took a vote, five to zero, that Zach would not really stay the night. I know I wouldn't!

"An Ounce of Prevention"

Benjamin Franklin said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Today we filled the feeder-bucket with sour corn at the river. This location has a lot of water and makes maneuvering through or around hard to almost impossible if Ol' Joe gets deep into the woods. Too, there is a real possibility of getting lost. We figure getting back to the truck is more concerning than getting to Joe. A little sour corn will give the coons an incentive to be nearby the drop when we arrive. Our take on Mr. Franklin's words is, "A bucket of sour corn is worth more than being lost in the woods all night."

Pups and a Drag

Joe did it right last night (2-6-09). This morning we let the pups follow the coon Joe treed. Annie and Uno found the drag (a dead coon pulled along the ground) together, but Annie remained at the tree barking . Uno went on to look for something alive to chase.

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" (Prov. 17:22)

(2-5-09) "The Big Time Gang" decided to release Joe and Uno where we thought raccoons were in spite of the fact the creek was up with the recent rain. Joe struck and treed quickly, in ten minutes or less. We took the GPS and headed out to the tree to find Joe had the coon in a den. On our way out the batteries went dead on the GPS so we wondered around until we got our bearings and forged our way to the truck. I remember hearing one of the kids remark while we mingled with briers and vines, "We're going in circles!"

No excitement on the second and final drop except I really got aggravated. I couldn't hear the dogs over the laughter from the truck. When I finally saw the picture I understood what the peanut gallery thought was hilarious.