VERMONSTER 4X4 - Bradford Mud Races - May 2012

Kevin, Kate, and I headed to Bradford, VT for the Vermonster Mud Races.  Monster trucks, head to head mud racing, the trench, the tuff truck competition, and rock crawling. 

Before the events started we looked at the show trucks competition.  

The monster trucks are big, loud, and have huge engines.  They roared around and jumped over several cars and a school bus. 

One of the Monster Trucks rolled over but no one was hurt. 

The trench was not as deep as last year.  This gave more trucks the opportunity to complete the run.  The fastest time wins in each class if you make it to the finish line.   The distance is also measured in case no one in the class makes it to the finish line.  There were several bumps in the trench.  I was thinking they must put logs in several spots to keep the mud in that section of the course. 

 

Many trucks bogged down and would dig deep holes.  That would make it more difficult for the trucks that follow.  Several drive shafts broke and it is clear 2 wheel drive vehicles don’t do well in the mud.  One truck made a loud bang near the finish line sending parts flying through the air. 

I can tell you there were 3 vehicles that were so fast and powerful they hit those bumps and went airborne coming out of the trench. 

The driver of this Ford Mustang was going very fast, lost control, climbed up the side of the trench, and tipped on its side when it hit and moved a concrete barrier.  The front right suspension was damaged.   Neither the photographer running away nor the driver was hurt.

Some of the drag races were very fast and close.  I was taking pictures of a rock crawler when this driver lost control.  His truck flipped and the front end was torn off.  They said there are safety switches to cut the electric and fuel so the driver was not hurt. 

Rock crawling was fun to watch.  Several close calls with trucks almost rolling.  One guy thought speed was the way to get through the course.  He has a license plate on his truck so probably drove it to the event.  Needless to say he damaged a front quarter panel, rear quarter and broken tail light, then damaged the drive train.  He had to be dragged off the course and pulled to the parking lot.  It didn’t look like speed was the way to go after all. 

The Tuff Truck competition was fun.  The course they set up had several jumps, big bumps and a large.  I liked trying to take pictures of air born vehicles.  As the red truck passed by us it hit the bumps hard.  The loud pop we heard was the steering wheel and passenger airbags being deployed.  Wearing a helmet helped the driver so he just kept driving the course.  Two trucks had front tires come off their rims and a couple just stopped running in the middle of their run.

The weather was nice and we had a great time.

Search Blog Archive: May 2011 & September 2011 - for more Vermonster 4X4

Trek to the Pond ...

I have been doing a fair amount of hiking in the local area this spring.  Through some exploring I have found some nice loops that are several miles long.  

I found a couple remote ponds.  One I have been to 7 times and have only seen a couple other people pass by walking their dogs.  The end of March I saw many geese and quite a few ducks. 

I am no expert when it comes to waterfowl.  The Canadian Geese definitely sounded off when they saw me and would slowly swim away.  The ducks were pretty skittish and would fly away.  I guess the trick is a stealth approach … and a zoom lens.  I saw Mallards, Wood Ducks, and I was told a Hooded Merganzer.  The ducks seemed to stay close to the grass and I wasn’t able to get very close.

Stealth worked with the geese and I was able to get closer.  I spotted these 2 turtles on a log.  They were checked out by this goose but stood their ground.

Several weeks later the geese disappeared and no ducks spotted.   

I spotted this Great Blue Heron with it's wings extended.  Question: Is this heron sunning itself ... praying ... drying off ... covering up its kill … What? 


After a few minutes it brought its wings back in.  As I moved closer it spotted me and flew off.  I repositioned myself under a big pine tree.  10 minutes later I was surprised to see 2 Blue Heron flying together circling.  It was a bad position on my part being under a tree with my camera on a tripod.  I was only able to get one picture of them flying in the same frame before they disappeared.  I also saw these two geese mating.

I spotted this Heron and moved closer.  I watched it fishing in the shallow water.   As I watched it a duck came out of a duck box nearby and sounded off as it flew away.  I didn’t know ducks could fly so fast.  

I did not get a picture of the beaver swimming before disappearing under the water.

Walking through the woods I have seen a beaver, hawk, deer, porcupine, turkey, and an owl.  I would like to see and get a picture of a bear (they are now searching for food), fisher, fox, and a bobcat.  

My treks to more ponds continue …

Guard Dog Training

My sister worked at a Guard Dog Training facility in Arizona before she moved to Connecticut.  I went to see her at work when I was visiting.

There was a big outer fence with barbed wire surrounding the facility, another fence inside that, rows of kennel cages, and a house in the middle of it all.  I saw Dobermans, German Shepherds, Rottweiler’s, and a couple Great Danes.  As I walked around the kennel some dogs seemed to dislike my presence.  One was biting the chain linked fence and was yelled at.  I would think there have been broken teeth because of that.

Upon entering the house there were dogs in every room.  Even the bathroom!  Several of the dogs were free to roam about the house.  I was new to them so they came to greet me.  What do you do when you are told “Don’t be afraid, they can sense fear!”?? 

·         Do you put your hand out, or not? 

·         Do you make eye contact, or look away?

·         Do you stay standing, or sit down?   

·         Do you grab a towel to wipe the sweat from your brow, or just remain still? 

In any case, they didn’t harm me. 

I was told they raise and train guard dogs for individuals, businesses, etc.  They sell their own dogs and current owners will bring their dog in to have them trained.  The presence of a dog can stop bad people from doing bad things.

Guard dogs are a great deterrent used in the military, law enforcement, home protection, etc.  Not all the dogs being worked with would become guard dogs.  Will the dog retreat at a raised hand?  Are they aggressive or passive?  Are they obedient?  And so on.  This Rottweiler was one of the top dogs and was going to the military.

I observed the trainers “agitate” the dogs.  The trainer will give a command and the dog will become aggressive toward the intruder.  The dogs were wagging their tails. 

When agitating these 2 German Shepards you can see one became aggressive and the other turned away.  The one that turned away did not end up becoming a guard dog. 

There were dogs that were not people friendly.  My sister said this dog did not like men but was fine around women.  She said it was a great dog but overall not a people dog so was going to be a “junk yard” dog.  A dog that would roam free behind a fenced in area to protect whatever was behind the fence. 

My favorite dog was this one named Cowboy.  He was big and very friendly.  I watched him as they agitated him.  I learned that he would not be as expensive as many of the other dogs because of his smile …

Once given a command the demeanor of these trained guard dogs change.  The first thing I noticed was their smile.  It is intimidating when a dog becomes aggressive and smiles at you with all of their pearly white teeth showing.  That smile may be all it takes to stop a bad guy so big dog smiles command more money.  I was still sold on Cowboy …  

Observation:   As these guard dogs were working and doing their job, they were smiling, wagging their tails, and seemed to enjoy their work.  Could there be a lesson there for us??