“He followed me home! 

Can I keep him?”

 

 “This grouse just followed me home... can I keep him?”  This is how Ray LoPresto of the Sogn Valley recalls telling his wife Judy about his new friend who accompanied him back from his hunting trek near home last fall.

 He named him “Gord”.  He had a book identifying the sex of a grouse by a description of its tail.   

How they met...

The two first met when Ray was hunting in his hills with a muzzle loader.  Ray was situated in a ground blind.  Gord was up in a tree but flew down to be near him.

Another time Ray was bow hunting and walking through the woods looking for a lost arrow   Gord flew down and decided to run alongside him.  He was so close Ray was concerned he might step on him!

Gord would also fly along with Ray’s ATV when he headed back home.

Or he would fly onto his head and knock his hat off.

Back at home Gord was comfortable too.  With Ray sitting on the back porch, Gord would sit on his arm.  

 

Or after supper, when Ray would went outside on the deck to smoke a cigar, Gord would show up to sit on the next chair.

And when Ray would split wood, Gord would come to watch. 

Did Gord like anyone else?

It took a while, Ray explained, but later on Gord adopted Judy too.  Gord would jump and whack their legs when he wanted attention.

  It seemed like Gord enjoyed being part of the family.

When the grandkids came to visit last Christmas, Gord would repeatedly jump up to the window in the front door to be able to see them inside.

Later on, when their youngest son and family were driving away, Gord was seen running after their car... down the driveway.

He likes to run, Ray explained.

Then when their oldest son was packing his car to leave, Gord was there too.  Ray looked out the window and saw his son on his knee talking to Gord.  He even patted the top of Gord’s head.

The future?

Recently Ray was gone from home for awhile and and hasn’t seen Gord since he got back.

He’s a little worried.

Ray and Judy are hoping that Gord might have found another bird-friend and that might mean more grouse friends for the LoPrestos.

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