Archive for December, 2013
Happy New Year 2014
The photo above was my best for 2013 and I will remember the morning I took this shot. I was in India and tigers were just about everywhere. I hope one day I can return to this amazing place with one of the country’s great wildlife reserves with very good conservation practices in place. But it is still under threat from politics and poaching which can slowly erode an ecosystem in a short time…! But there are also tigers still roaming several forests in Thailand.
The Kingdom is normally a very peaceful country with a great history and beautiful natural heritage. It has been my home for 48 years, and I love the King who is a very wise and gentle man. He made a royal statement recently that the Feb. 2 elections should go on but the present situation is the worst I have seen since the ‘yellow shirts’ took over the airports and government house, and then the red shirts took over several parts of downtown Bangkok. We are being pushed into a corner by politically motivated groups and the latest one is driving a wedge into Thailand’s stability.
It saddens me to see this going on with these groups flaunting corruption as the sole source of their insurrection but the fact of the matter, they are just as corrupt as the opposite side and hence, do not have a leg to stand on or to make a case. Unfortunately, the people who follow this group are blind to these facts. This is only my opinion, and if you feel my words are too strong or one-sided, please forgive me….!! Have a good 2014.
Bruce on the Loose in the USA…!
THE TRIP: STATE BY STATE…!
In August, I decided to do a road trip in the USA. I arrived in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas on October 18 and spent a few days with my family in Grand Prairie (between D-FW) before heading out. Got a Nissan ‘Altima’ from Hertz with unlimited mileage and got some 35 miles to the gallon. The car was very comfortable and handled well. Also, bought a Garmin Nuvi 2597 GPS and boy, did that ever come in handy. I could have bought two GPSs if I had rented one from Hertz at $12.99 plus tax a day….ouch…! Over the entire trip, it (she) took me to everyone’s front door; simply amazing.
On October 21st, I left Grand Prairie, Texas to Oklahoma (one night), then up to Nebraska (three nights), Wisconsin (one night) Minnesota (one night), Michigan (three nights), Pennsylvania (one night) and New York (for a 5 day rest). It was back on the road again down to New Jersey and back up to Pennsylvania (one night). Then it was down to Tennessee (two nights), Georgia (two nights), Florida (two nights), Alabama (one night) Louisiana (five nights) and back to Dallas. The odometer at the end of the trip was 6,240 miles. The main objective for this mega-trip was to visit my friends on Camtrapper.com forum in the the Mid-West and East.
Unfortunately, I missed Fireman Jim in Dechard, TN (he was at work) and Ron Davis in Jacksonville, FL (out hunting in Georgia)…but I did talk with both of them on the phone at length…!
I also did a wildlife presentation for the Biology Club at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. This group are serious students of wildlife conservation…!
Another objective was to meet-up with Beak, an old friend I knew more than 45 years ago in Thailand…..We visited the Okefenokee Swamp together in southern Georgia with the main objective of photographing the American alligator. It was fun and I got my gator…also met a lovely Cajun girl who was our naturalist/guide/boat operator; she was sweet and knew her stuff about the swamp…!
List of Camera Trap guys that I met on this trip:
1) ghoot – Gary Kohout at Snapshotsniper – Duncan, OK
2) TRLcam – Jeff Dale – Walton, NE
3) jjkscf – Joe Kahl – St Croix Falls, WI
4) willy – Sean Hall – Cloquet, MN
5) wolvenkinde – Lon Ludach – Ironwood, MI
6) IroquoisArcher – Jon LeVan – Erie, PA
8) johnnydeerhunter – John Lockburner – Boonton, NJ
9) Buckhunter1 – Bruce Kisner- Wyalusing, PA
Other people I visited along the way as follows:
10) Wayne (Beak) Sivaslian from Schenectady, NY (My dear friend and buddy for more that 45 years).
11) Dr Robert Orr in Knoxville, TN (retired professor at the University).
12) Brad Preston and Chris Lytle, in New Orleans, LA (business associates).
13) Bryan Marlborough in Baton Rouge LA (my webmaster).
And finally, stopped by my 5 acres of timberland outside of De Ridder, LA…as I was leaving my property, a bobcat bounded across the front of a pickup coming towards me. I will camera trap this thicket one day knowing that many animals pass through…!
Politics in Thailand have just had another negative downturn and I might have to set-up some sort of a fall-back in the US. I’m thinking I could homestead my land if Thailand went into serious civil unrest….I’m just prepping for what might come…!!
I enjoyed my trip in the States and look forward to another one in the future. I would like to thank all of you who extended your kind hospitality and friendship. and look forward to doing it again…!
The odometer back in Texas. 6,240 miles total..!
The route and guys I met on the trip. I will post (Part Two) more photos ASAP.