venison

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A good food alone is enough to make me very happy.  If my purpose in life was to spread happiness I probably would have aimed to be a chef.

The above picture is a venison with cherry sauce, recipe of which I found online.  We Chiiori were fortunate to have a neighbor give us venison as "samples."

Locals say that venisons are best as Sashimi (raw), but I was not so sure about that so I tried several cooking recipes.  The thing about venison is that it has so little fat, so if it is cooked thoroughly it becomes very dry. (And I prefer to cook it thoroughly because I am not sure how safe the meat is.) That is when a sweet sauce like this cherry sauce comes in.  I tried it with pineapples or apples, and they were also very good.

Unfortunately I cannot guarantee the safety of eating this venison, so I cannot offer it to the guest staying at Chiiori.  I'm still alive so far.

Overpopulation of deers are becoming problems in Japan, just like it is in US.  Unlike US, Japan does not have a naturally returning wolf population and sports hunting is extremely rare.  Only recently Japanese are becoming aware of the problems associated with deer overpopulation, as plants are getting decimated across the countryside, and so are the crops.  More and more, people are talking about the use of venisons, and soon there will be a deer meat processing factory in Tokushima as well.  That alone would not solve the problem of deer overpopulation, but at least it is more of an environmentally friendly source of meat.

Standing tree

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A single standing tree in middle of the thatch field.  Oddly picturesque scene.  It would be a good place for birds to perch on.  Once the thatches are removed, the field will be very open and visible from above.  Maybe a bird of prey will perch on this tree to look for its prey.  When I look closely the tree has several holes.  Perhaps a woodpecker pecked on the tree to look for insects.

In a human-controlled environment such as cedar plantations, dead trees are usually not left standing.  Such trees would be removed to make room for living trees.  But a tree like that has its roles in the ecosystem.  As we Chiiori tries to manage the thatch field, if we are also going to value nature we would have to think about what to do with trees such as this one.  I imagine they burn down fairly easily....

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Found just in front of the house.  It may be slightly difficult to see in the picture.  It is a Japanese five-lined skink (Eumeces latiscutatus), though this particular individual seem to have lost the five-lines.  Apparently the lines are more distinct when they are still young, which means this one is rather mature.  It was larger than most skinks I have seen so far.  

It stayed still even though I was just staring at it.  I went inside the house to grab a camera, and it was still there in the same spot when I came back.  Even though it was sunny, the air was still chilly and this lizard probably needed to sun-bath before it could move well.  Until then, it's safety depends on the camouflage and being still.  

I guess the fact that this lizard is out of hibernation means the Spring is here.  Even though it snowed only two days ago...