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This morning I let the dogs out as usual and got their breakfast ready before calling them back inside. Only, when I opened the door, there were no dogs waiting for me. I called. No dogs. I yelled. No dogs. I took Pumpkin (my parrot) back upstairs and put her in her cage, and went out and went looking for the dogs, calling the whole time. Where could they be? I had my suspicions. Molly, our Border Collie, was the one who got them into mischief. It's always been something very stinky and very dead. I was not amused. After going around our lower forest and making my way up to our granite valley, I suddenly found Zoe, our Boxer, charging gayly in my direction, followed by Moosie, our Basset. But no Molly. "Oh no," I moaned, "She's found something reeking and dead to roll in...please don't be that!!" We got back to the house and still no sign of Molly. I went around back and yelled again, and there she was at the edge of the meadow, making her way at an easy 3-legged lope with tail high. When she got to the house, I was very happy to find that she didn't stink! Hardly any burrs...but...oh Molly...she'd been eating something that was freshly dead, so I washed the blood off her face and feet and let her into the house. Looking out back, I saw some vultures flying around and then land near the place I saw Molly running back from. I thought I'd go take a look after lunch.

I went with my camera, not to take any pictures of something gruesome, but hopefully to get pictures of the vultures. And WOW, did I ever!! My best pictures of vultures yet!! I walked slowly over to the place where the dead animal was and the vultures flew close enough that I could take many pictures. It turned out to be a young deer, probably hit by a car and died where it lay. Almost all of it was gone, so though it was sad that it died, its death meant that many animals were fed...including Molly! We have coyotes, bobcats, foxes, feral cats, and though I don't think any are right here, there are cougars and bears in our county too. I love living in this wild place, but it's not always kind and I no longer get so angry when an animal is hit by a car because there are so many hungry animals that need to eat. At least their death helps others to live.

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were as loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955), and as the surly ranch hand, Jett Rink, in Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rests on his performances in only these three films, all leading roles. His premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status.Wikipedia: James Dean

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