本格的な冬が来る前に、
ひさしぶりに風邪で２日間ダウンでした。
夏の疲れがでて、冬前の体の冷え、必ず、この時期風邪をひきます。
でも、必ず、休みの日に風邪をひくので、えらい！でしょ（笑）
I was down with a cold for the first time in a while and it took me two days.
I was tired from the summer and my body was cold before winter, so I always catch a cold at this time of year.
But I always catch a cold on my days off, so I'm pretty impressive! Right? (lol)
三日前に、鹿を探して山奥まで、歩きました。
そしたら、１０cmほど雪が積もった林道に私の先行者の足跡がありました。こんな山奥に誰か人が来るわけもなく、新しいヒグマの足跡でした。爪の跡がくっきりとのこり、昨晩か今朝か、私が歩きたいコースの先をヒグマが歩いて、私がヒグマの後を追う。もし前方にいたらどうしよう。と考えながら３０分ほど足跡を辿ると、どんどん新しくなっていく。これは、もしかすると。と思ったころに、足跡は谷へと下りて消えていきました。
Three days ago, I walked deep into the mountains looking for deer. Then, on a forest road covered with about 10cm of snow, I found footprints from someone who had gone before me. There was no way anyone would be this far into the mountains, so they were fresh footprints from a brown bear. The claw marks were clearly visible, and it seemed that either last night or this morning, a brown bear had walked ahead of the path I wanted to walk, and I followed after it. What if it was ahead of me? I wondered, as I followed the footprints for about 30 minutes, and they kept getting newer and newer. This could be it. Just as I was thinking this, the footprints went down into the valley and disappeared.
ちょっと安心した気持ちと、ちょっとつまらない気持ち。目的の鹿には出会わないまま、山の奥へ。
2時間ほど歩いて、帰り道。一頭の角の大きな鹿がこちらを向いて立ってました。銃を構えて、スコープで狙いを定めて、いつでも撃てるのですが、撃ちません。
I felt a little relieved, but also a little bored. I continued deeper into the mountains without meeting the deer I was looking for.After walking for about two hours, on my way back, I came across a deer with large antlers standing facing me. I aimed my gun and took aim through the scope, ready to shoot at any time, but I didn't.
おそらく、昔の私だったら、考えることもなく、でっかい角のオスでさえ、撃ったのですが、今の私は、撃ちません。なぜなら、後で苦労するのがわかっているので、撃たないのです。私が撃ちたい鹿は、美味しい鹿だけ、つまり年頃の鹿で、メスなら４歳まで、オスならピン角２歳の鹿だけ。
In the past, I probably would have shot even a male with big antlers without thinking, but now I don't shoot them. Because I know I'll have a hard time later, I don't shoot them. The only deer I want to shoot are the good ones, that is, deer of the right age, females up to 4 years old, and males with pin antlers 2 years old.
シーズン当初は、どうしても衝動にかられて、でっかいオスでも撃っていましたが、解体に苦労するし、搬出にも苦労するし、肉も挽肉にしか使えないし、シーズン1頭目で、でっかいオスを仕留めると、その後の労働がかなりこたえて、筋肉痛に襲われます。そんな代償を考えると、さすがにブレーキがかかるようになりました。
At the beginning of the season, I was tempted to shoot even big males, but it was hard to butcher them, hard to transport them, and the meat could only be used for mincing, so if I killed a big male on the first day of the season, the work afterwards was very hard and I was hit with muscle pain. Thinking about the cost, I finally put the brakes on.
結局、でっかい角のオス鹿はそんな私の気持ちを察してか？近づいても全然逃げず、何度も撃てるなぁと思いましたが、撃ちませんでした。結局この日は、撃てそうな鹿はこの雄だけに終わり、久しぶりにカバノアナタケを採って帰りました。カバノアナタケとは、シラカンバやダケカンバから出るキノコで、昔、「癌に効く」と噂になったキノコです。このカバノアナタケの効果がまた素晴らしかったのです。
In the end, perhaps the male deer with the big antlers understood my feelings, as it didn't run away even when I approached it, and I thought I could shoot it many times, but I didn't. In the end, this male was the only deer I could shoot that day, and I went home after picking obliquus mushrooms for the first time in a long time. Obliquus is a mushroom that grows on white birch and Erman's birch, and was once rumored to be effective against cancer.
そして、疲れがでたのか、風邪をひきました。鹿を獲ったわけでもないのに、ジジイになったものです。そして、このカバノアナタケ。昔の職場の上司が会社で私が獲ったカバノアナタケを煎じてお茶を作っていたのを思い出して。私も、やってみました。包丁で細かくしたカバノアナタケを鍋に入れてたくさん水を入れて薪ストーブの上でぐつぐつと煎じると濃いコーヒーのようなお茶ができます。このお茶が、特にクセがなく、なんとなく森の味がして、飲めちゃうのです。お湯で薄めに割って、少し砂糖を入れると。コーヒーか濃い紅茶のようにも感じて、なかなか美味しい。そして、私は免疫力がアップして、2日で、リカバリー。またモモンガに出会う毎日に戻ることができました。
Then, perhaps because I was tired, I caught a cold. I've become an old man, even though I've never hunted a deer. And then there was this chaga mushroom. I remembered that my former boss used to make tea from the chaga mushrooms I hunted at the office. So I tried it.
Put some chopped up birch mushrooms in a pot, add lots of water and simmer on a wood stove to make a strong coffee-like tea. This tea has no particular taste, and somehow tastes like the forest, so it's drinkable. If you dilute it with hot water and add a little sugar, it tastes like coffee or strong black tea and is quite delicious. My immunity was boosted and I recovered in two days. I was able to go back to my daily life of meeting flying squirrels.
何を、だらだらと書いているのかわからなくなりました。とりあえず、まだ全回復ではないので、ブログを書いています。
I don't know what I'm writing about anymore. For now, I'm writing this blog because I'm not fully recovered yet.
さて、今年も この冬も、いよいよモモンガたちと楽しい季節が始まりました。今年は、10月下旬からモモンガを見ていますが、今年から、モモンガチーム、仲間と一緒にガイドをしています。私もなかなか忙しくてガイドを受けれなくなったので、信頼できる仲間がモモンガガイドを手伝ってくれることに。巣穴の情報や状況を逐一共有し、新規開拓、モモンガの様子を効率よくリサーチできるのは、やっぱりマンパワーです。
Well, once again this winter, the fun season with flying squirrels has finally begun. This year, I have been watching flying squirrels since late October, and starting this year, I have been guiding with my flying squirrel team and friends. I have been busy and can no longer guide, so a trusted friend has decided to help me guide the flying squirrels. It really is manpower that allows us to share information and the situation of burrows one by one, and to efficiently research new areas and the flying squirrels' behavior.
この数日の写真を、風邪ひきで、薪ストーブの前で背中をたためている間に、写真の現像ができたので、少し、アップします。
I'll upload some photos from the past few days, as I was slumped over in front of the wood stove with a cold and managed to get the photos developed.
この冬も、十勝の自然とモモンガと、皆様のお越しを楽しみにお待ちしております。眠さに負けず、寒さに負けず、やっぱり外にいるのが一番幸せです。
This winter, we look forward to welcoming you to Tokachi and the nature of the flying squirrels. No matter how sleepy or cold you are, being outside is the happiest thing.
