October 18, 2025 : 

My Schnauzer (Pepper/TheMuppet) passed away from Canine Respiratory Virus yesterday.   I changed all of her bedding, took a shower, and came back to find that she'd passed quietly. Jeff was sitting 10 feet from her and didn't realize she was gone, so I hope it was like going to sleep for her...not in pain. 

The respiratory virus surged here in 2023. It's back, but there haven't been public health notices about it this time. I took her in for her annual vet visit on Sunday... five days later, she was just gone. My girl was such a character. She made me work extra hard for every scrap of affection, and she had crazy high standards for food (shrimp, oranges, marshmallows, rotisserie chicken, only half the flavors in a variety box of Cesar's Delights). You should've seen the way she would dance for marshmallows. We buried her by the peach tree in her favorite (forbidden) part of the yard so her idiot bestie, Hopper, wouldn't go digging for her. I had class an hour later for an exam review I couldn't miss... it was so hard to hold it together and I barely remember the class now. Hopper was sick for a couple of days but he's back to normal already. I don't know why that virus hit Pepper so hard but spared Hop. She was drinking water as usual, and still barking smack to the squirrels and neighbors the night before she passed. Friday morning, while I was in the shower, she crawled over to the pillow,  closed her little eyes for the last time, and never greeted me again. I'm so mad at myself... that I wasn't holding her in her last moment. I miss her so much already, it's been one day.

I have one fully finished bear in the hopper, and I'm starting a couple of smallish 6-9" bears next week.
(Just a little info for those of you here looking for bear info, not my whole life story.)

Check back here (my site) for bear updates.
I'm sorta' done with Facebook and Instagram.
If you really need me, or just want to say "Hi", you can always email me at   thepeachpeddler@gmail.com -- but it better be funny! Just kidding, you can email me anytime, about whatever bear-related stuff you want.

​As always: I hope that you're all staying safe and healthy. Please look out for each other,
it's important, now more than ever.
Support your local universities.
Speak up (!) if you see someone being mistreated (or stand back if you have to, but take out your phone and film). 

It feels like the right time to rewatch
A Bug's Life... that was such a good movie!
"You let one ant stand up to us, then they all might stand up! Those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred to one and if they ever figure that out there goes our way of life!"

- Crickets... and Billionaires, probably.

  Chris