Do you know how I know it is hunting season?

 All of my neighbors are practicing with their duck calls.

 And it is driving my four-year-old black lab, Storm, crazy!

 This is a dog who tried to eat my dining room table and my coffee table when he was teething. This is a dog who has been known to drag me across the street. This is a very strong dog who loves to chase squirrels and cats.

 But when he hears a call being used, the dog goes nuts. My husband was given a four-part call that can work on four different species of fowl. The other day, he took his call outside in the gangway between our house and the neighbor’s to try it out.

 Of course Storm heard it. And my lovely dog began to howl. He wanted to be where that thing was and he howled in the most forlorn manner that a dog can howl. There were tones of longing and sadness that he wasn’t where that call was hiding. Roy Orbison could have gotten a song out of that howl.

 Plus, he was running about the house trying to find the source of the sound. He ran up the stairs and down again. Through the dining room and into the kitchen. Only the possibility of dropped food made him stop for a moment. It was the shortest ‘food’ moment I ever saw the dog have. My husband came back in the house with a sheepish look on his face. As he should have.

 If that was not bad enough, a week later I was walking the dog when someone a block over tried out their goose call. There was some calling out to me and perhaps some laughing. Not that I was really paying attention because I was HOLDING BACK EIGHTY POUNDS OF DOG. It took all of the strength I had and some that was stored up for a few years coming up.

 But Storm was pulling and standing on two legs because he was trying to get a better look for the call. About a half a block later he finally got back on all fours and walked with me. But it was a quick walk, a look-around-and-see-what-you-can-see walk. A go-after-anything-you-see walk. I think I lost a whole pound during that walk so it was a little worthwhile.

 Now that waterfowl season has started, I am wondering who else is going to try out their call to see how my dog responds to it. I want to write something mean about what I would do to that call but then if anything happened to some one’s call, the police would only look in one direction. Perhaps if I demonstrated what a call does to my dog, they would let me off the hook.

 Maybe.

 Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

When you have one guinea pig, changing the bedding needs to happen once a week. There have been times that we have stretched it to every two weeks for a variety of reasons. I prefer to keep it clean as much as possible.

The problem in the Bowman household is we don’t have just one guinea pig, we have three of these cute rodents. Hannah likes to talk to me whenever I go into her room. Usually it is about complaints of no food and water that is almost empty. Those conversations always end up with me calling the owner to come upstairs and make Hannah happy. The other two live together and are quite happy. Snicker and Doodle enjoy cuddling with us but squeak like crazy when we try to catch them to do so.

Unfortunately, their cage has to be cleaned more often. It has to be done weekly or it just stinks. One of the larger packages of bedding will last two weeks at our house. But I remembered buying a huge package of pine bedding (most recommended for guinea pigs) at Pic-A-Pet at 530 South Schuyler in Kankakee. It had been a few years since I had last been to the shop and remembered again why I like going there, especially with kids in tow.

There is a lot to see. Like what, you ask? Well, there are parrots and big birds who want to talk to you. One rubbed my shoulder as I went past. There were guinea pigs, a hedgehog and fish galore. Plus my five-year-old son was fascinated by the large turtle that was crawling on the floor.

Because the owners have been in business for 23 years, they know a lot. You can ask questions and will get an answer. When I talked about the size of bedding I was looking for, they helped me with an industrial package of pine bedding. Actually, it is a great size for a horse stall. But I am storing this in a garbage can in Hannah’s room to prevent spillage.

During the time we were in the store, my kids looked at everything. We left happy, having seen cool animals, cute animals and enough bedding to last us at least two months. Oh, and I am planning to go back when I need more. It will make for a great quickie outing. The bag of bedding might have cost $14 but to run errands and have happy kids – Priceless!

Pic-A-Pet is located at 530 South Schuyler, across the street from Burger King. For more information you can call then at 815-939-3474.

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.

How do you make the mark of winter going into spring?

For me in the past week it has been hearing more bird activity at Northfield Square Mall in the mornings when I walk. In the food court, there are very tall palm trees. I would say some of these trees are as tall a two story house.

When I started walking in the middle of winter, you would hear one or two of these birds, maybe. But this past week I have been hearing – and seeing- more of them. The birds are beginning to pair up, calling for each other and flying about in that small tree-filled area. As I do my walk throughout the mall, I do not see or hear the birds. They stay in that small area. Hearing them makes me feel as if warm weather is about to get here.

Speaking of walking at the mall, I am beginning to notice more people are doing it. I am seeing all of the regular people who were there when I started. But now I am seeing others. It is girlfriends, couples, fathers and sons, and one set of girlfriends who has a young child in a stroller. It is getting a little crowded at times but this is a good kind of crowded. Everyone who is there is working on their better health – or in my case – to fit in skinny jeans by May.

Back to the topic at hand, which was sure signs of spring? Yesterday it was snowing when I took my son to his high school but by afternoon that snow was melted away. That is one of my favorite signs of spring. That means there is no great pile up of the white stuff, no long lasting snow on the ground to reflect the sun’s heat back to space.

And that can only mean sometime soon my husband will hoe a row for spring peas in the tradition of his grandmother. This year he will not do it in February as he has done in past years. It will have to wait for March. And March starts next week.

March signals the end of high school basketball. And it starts into the March Madness Final Four basketball tournament. How do my husband and his friends celebrate? They get-together on that first weekend of 24/7 games, play cards, drink beer and have a no-holds barred guy time.

By the time it is all over, well, spring has made definite inroads.

However, the best sign of spring by far is when I hear those four magical words.

“Pitchers and catchers report.”

Now starts the daily reports of Cubs and White Sox baseball spring training camp. Now we get to hear about who is playing where, if there are any spectacular last minute deals, how much is the MLB network is going to have to edit what Ozzie says in their new reality series called The Club. Oh yes, baseball is back!

Do you have any sure signs of spring?

Karyn Bowman lives in Kankakee County with her outdoor writer husband and four children. Become friends with Karyn on Facebook or send an e-mail to momgoestothemovies@sbcglobal.net.