Just a couple quick notes to respond to comments in my guestbook before I get to bed (Elk season in the Seminoes opens one hour before sunrise tomorrow, and I need to be there.)

To Melissa: crows are about a foot and a half long, whereas ravens are a good two feet. When flying, the tail of a crow looks like a fan spread out. The raven's tail is "wedge-shaped", ie the center feathers extend farther out, like a triangle. Crows, of course, have the "caw", whereas ravens have a deep, throaty croak. And to go along with their voice, the throat of a raven looks broad or bearded, while the crow looks sleek. Ravens tend to be loners or in pairs or small family groups. Crows flock up like the big blackbirds that they are.

To Imp: actually I have baby wipes in the truck. Been carrying them for many years (since we needed 'em for the boys). Got a canister right behind the driver's seat now. But they are hard to find in the canisters, so I need to make them last. And I get bloody so often on check station it would be an awful waste to use them regularly. So you get used to dried blood on your fingers (and jeans, where the fingers get wiped). And as I said, bull elk blood ain't bad tasting. Neither is pronghorn or mule deer, for that matter.

When the blood is really thick, as in after gutting something, my best solution is to grab a handful of soft dirt or mud and mix it in. Then rub and wear the mixture off. Extremely dessicating to the hands. A fellow biologist's wife, who happens to be a beautician, got quite upset at this process, as she claimed those are the two worst natural substances you can put on your skin.

'Course she also got quite upset when I let my heeler drink from my thermos cup (after and before I did), so I don't give her a lot of credence. Told her the heeler's mouth was cleaner than hers (it is), which put her in a huff. When her husband backed me up, he got punched.

This was after an antelope trapping session, shortly after the airplane had delivered the keg of beer (out the window...really!). But that is another story...