archives
categories
story collection
tags
- 12 Days of Christmas
- balls flying in my face
- Beg-A-Thon
- Bob
- book pile
- cats
- clip art
- dahlias
- digestive system
- enough about the roof already
- eternal overachiever
- everyone is stupid
- fukoladola
- getting stuff done
- Have you got a bad back?
- how to
- I hate shopping
- I made this
- leave me alone
- movies
- Ndns
- neighbors
- New Yorker
- nostalgia
- not writing
- other people's kids
- Percy
- pie
- plogic
- Priscilla Recipes
- pumpkins
- recipes
- revisiting old things
- soccer
- squirrels
- Star Wars
- things I hate
- things that aren't really free
- tomatoes
- tragedy
- travel
- wildlife
- wildlife cam
- World Cup
- writing
Tag Archives: wildlife
Sunflower Hearts
I just put the bird feeders back up.
I had them down for the summer because it seemed like it was attracting the deer and too many animals.
It’s been fun having them back and all the chaos and flying around. One of the feeds I use has peanuts and the bluejays are very possessive about the peanuts.
I filled one of the feeders most of the way with sunflower hearts and I was amazed by how fast it was getting emptied.
I went out there and saw most of the seeds on the ground. Meanwhile, the bluejay is smart enough to know the lady brings the peanuts so he stood by.
“No more peanuts until you eat the sunflower seeds,” I told the air. I wasn’t scolding the bluejay directly.
I looked it up and I guess it’s a normal bird behavior and today when I was out there the ground was mostly cleaned up. Birds and squirrels and who knows what else ate the sunflower seeds.
All the feeders were refilled.
Raccoon World!
I knew there had been activity out there because the water in the bucket was dirty and the pollinator water dish was nothing but dirt.
Look how many have been out there. I think this is a mom and her almost grown babies. I’m not an expert in raccoons so don’t quote me. They are cute but so destructive. All my pumpkins have been chewed on.
They even tried to steal the camera. I guess they don’t like being spied on. I need one of those signs to warn them they are on camera.
Deer are Jerks
Here is a giant deer helping itself to my peas.
Honestly, it can have the peas if it leaves the trees alone.
I didn’t even notice the deer had been out there at first. There no turds and I didn’t notice giant divots everywhere from their delicate yet lethal cloven hooves.
Then when I saw the clips, I thought: well, at least they got the memo about not turding all over the place.
But later when I was watering I found turds all around the dahlias.
I am not honored to be the safe place for the deer to poop.
Here are two of them fully enjoying my new plum tree! I can’t even watch the whole video. This was very upsetting. They chewed on the nectaplum, too and a little bit on the apple tree including knocking one of the 7 apples I have left after their apple blossom massacre.
What can you do! Nature! I have “learn about deer fencing” still on my list but it just seems like a pain in the butt. We have to move it to mow and do yard work. Or maybe there’s a way I can just protect the trees? The people at the garden store are incredibly nice so I will ask them but also this is one of the things on my list that I never seem to be in the mood to deal with. Watching the deer ruin the trees is the price I pay.
The Tale of the Sad Fruit Orchard
I have a fuzzy trail cam clip but I don’t have the energy to fix it up to post right this second.
The deer returned.
I saw their hoof-prints and turd-piles so I knew they had been through.
I looked over the apple and pear trees and initially thought they looked okay. Just a few nibbles. But after I saw the clips I took a closer look and realized that the fruit buds are gone. There are maybe 2 apple and a few pear left. They didn’t damage the new trees because they are too new and have nothing on them except tiny leaf buds.
Also, there is one new blueberry out in the front of the house that is missing all the buds.
The bird feeders are down. There is no intentional food for them out there. I’m super bummed. It seems like the solution is deer fencing but I’m not sure how that is going to work in our yard. I don’t want to turn it into an obstacle course.
I just want a happy place where fruit trees and wildlife can live together in peace but I will get the fruit.
This is from the Orleans trip. This is Summer wading through a giant puddle.
Mom wanted me to drive through this puddle.
I told her no, I have a city car. It doesn’t go through lakes of mud.
Posted in doing it wrong, garden, Orleans
Tagged wildlife
Comments Off on The Tale of the Sad Fruit Orchard
Too Big
Yesterday I was settling in for a little yoga and looked over to find this sweetie hanging out with me. Generally, I’m not bothered by spiders but I don’t love these big ones. After a brief negotiation, I trapped it in a jar with some cardboard and relocated it to a new home outside which I’m sure means that it ran after me and is back in the house and also mad now.
WELL! I am having a weird issue with my photos and Adobe and my troubleshooting didn’t fix it and you know what? I don’t have the time or energy to solve *that* problem right now. So I managed to get this photo to save and I have another AI generated photo for later in the week.
Today’s topic is: The yard. I’ve been doing some research about my fruit trees and blueberry bushes and looking for tips about pruning and fertilizing.
Where is the fertilizing for dummies material? Everything I found was like a science project and suggested I send my soil out and get it analyzed by a lab.
SERIOUSLY?
I just want some berries for my cereal.
I did look it up for curiosity and there is a university extension that will test your soil for $$$$. I think that’s for environmental testing. It looks like you can buy a kit at certain stores. I still don’t think I will do it. It sounds too high maintenance.
The pruning advice also seemed overly complex so I think I’m just going to trust my instincts. Worst case is I get no fruit and I don’t have any fruit now so not like I’m going to lose out.
Possible photos to come.
Meanwhile: I am obsessed with the Big Bear Bald Eagle live cam. Three eggs!
Destruction Deerby Continues
Stomping in the garden with their big cloven feet.
I can’t remember the exact chronology. I caught the deer in the garden at the beginning of June.
I eventually realized they were very destructive to the plants and also getting into the bird feeder.
Poop machines! Three visitors and three piles of pooplets.
I bought some deer repellant, which was successful.
I also bought a motion-controlled sprinkler. I had some trouble setting it up at first.
Pumpkins are for me and my human friends. All other pumpkin eating is VERBOTEN!
Since I set it up, the trail cam is mostly dead. The sprinkler scared everyone off.
And I’m not too broken up about it because it felt like everyone was getting too comfortable out there. I don’t mind a thirsty raccoon or some cute bunnies hopping through. But the skunk under the shed did not seem ideal.
I had the brilliant idea to put the camera out front, curious what I might catch out there.
I caught a leafy branch. 408 clips in one night. I have not tried that again.
Then I got lazy and didn’t put the sprinkler up for a few days and the majestic beasts returned. My tomatoes!
I am setting the sprinkler up every night and moving it around the yard.
Also if you’re keeping track, no more mice. No sign in the house or in the shop for a couple of weeks. Traps are still set.
Fat Squirrel and The Spool of Destiny
This is Fat Squirrel. There are actually 2 fat squirrels and the way they’ve been running around here, I bet there are more squirrels on the way soon.
I put peanuts out on that little table for the blue jays and sometimes the blue jays don’t come along or leave one and Fat Squirrel gets his chubby mitts on them.
Sometimes he just sits out there, his little hands folded in front of him, and he looks at the window as if to say: hey lady, bring me some peanuts.
The spool was here when we moved in and we use it to hold our drinks when we sit outside. (There’s a swinging seat out there in the summer.) It’s also proven handy for the trail cam and I can easily move it around.
I think at some point Fat Squirrel found a peanut inside that middle hole (you can see in top photo) but his brain is so small, he thinks the peanuts come from a magical place and he has really ripped up the inside of the spool looking for peanuts.
I cleverly covered that hole so now he’s been trying to get in another way.
Sad Day at the Watering Hole
Here is our friend Pogo the opossum in happier times.
I came home from work last week and found the bucket tipped over. I dashed out for the camera card, anxious to see who the rascal was and I was greeted with this sad sight.
I don’t know what happened. There were no obvious injuries but also I don’t think an opossum would drag itself to the waterhole and keel over next to it. Part of me is afraid that maybe the raccoons did something to it. But also maybe it was poisoned somewhere in the neighborhood and came to our yard for a nice place to die.
Is that plausible? I don’t know. I felt pretty bad. He was much cuter in person. His fur looked soft and his ears were adorable.
I brought the bucket inside for now. The trailcam is still set up and all the usual characters have been through since then including the other opossum, at least 3 different raccoons, skunky, and bunny:
We Need to Organize the Sausages
This morning my husband told me he needed a chance to talk to me about organizing the sausages.
After we finished laughing he explained that he bought a variety of sausages when he was at the meat market and he needed to break down the package and wanted my thoughts.
I couldn’t think of any feedback I had on this particular topic so I left him to handle it on his own.
I’m trying to make friends with the blue jays that nest in the hedge.
The other day I saw one out on the power line and I went out and set two peanuts on the top of the fence. The bird flew away but I watched from the kitchen window and it eventually came back for them.
Yesterday I saw the blue jay on the line again and I went out there with two peanuts. It flew away.
By the time I got in the house a fat squirrel was sitting on the fence stuffing its face with one peanut and hovering over the other.
I kept watching and the blue jay came back. It perched on the line for a second, looking down at its peanuts and dive-bombed the squirrel. It landed on the fence and kept squawking and the squirrel ran away with one peanut leaving the second peanut for the blue jay.
One of the best shows I have seen in months.
Squirrels: The Final Chapter. Hopefully.
You can’t imagine the thrill, the exciting rush of victory when you conquer an animal with a brain the size of a pea.
We reset the trap – this time I put a tiny dollop of peanut butter on the trigger so it’d have to really park there to eat it. The exterminator recommended peanut butter. Last night I rebuilt the tunnel and left the front door open. If this squirrel was ripping out insulation to get outside it must be smart enough to run out the front door. (ha ha)
Didn’t hear a peep. Couldn’t see it. This one was climbing up inside somehow. Closed up for the night.
When I got up this morning he was frolicking around the trap.
I opened the front door and fireplace and watch it hop around. I hate to say it but they are really cute. It perched exactly on the edge of the fireplace door and looked longingly out the front door but didn’t try to make a break for it.
I went into the other room and then I could hear it eating. I ran back in and it was eating the peanut butter and TRAP DID NOT SPRING.
What dark magic are these squirrels up to?
I tried to spring it but he hopped out. Bob decided to fiddle to make sure the spring was operating and when he reached in, the trap sprung, startling all of us.
Here I will note that squirrels make a wide variety of noises. They make sad squeaky noises, high pitched chirping noises and low-growly noises.
Squirrely growled.
Bob fixed the trap, re-peanutbuttered it and put it back in. We closed everything up.
It took about a half hour. We both heard the trap spring (Bob was downstairs) and squirrely’s outraged growly-squeaks.
Bob and I ran around high-fiving each other and cheering and doing variations of the victory dance before taking it outside. Of course it was too stupid to leave the trap by itself (it kept eating the peanut butter) so we had to dump it out. While it was squeaking another bigger squirrel came wandering over to see what was going on.
Total squirrels removed so far: 4
Recommended tools: trap with peanut butter – be patient, if desperate shop vac.
We have reset the trap and put it back in the fireplace, just in case.
