"but you couldn't possibly mean me..."
Showing posts with label critters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label critters. Show all posts
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Rainy Season
The level of our pond always goes down in the summer, and in fall we anxiously await it filling again with the autumn rains. One season it dropped perilously low, and didn't fill deep enough before it froze. We lost most of the 'big' fish that year.
Since we introduced some koi to the pond a few years ago, which have been happily thriving and multiplying, and have a fairly happy eco-system out there, with frogs, toads, and turtles, crayfish and clams, as well as several species of fish, we are even more alert to the health of the pond. So it was reassuring to see the level start to rise, though I don't think we expected it to rebound quite so quickly.
This picture was taken two weeks later. Not only has the gauge stick vanished under the surface, the entire boundary of the pond has expanded to cover most of the 'summer beach'. So, that's a bunch of water that's come out of the skies in the last fortnight. The fish should be happy, since with a good depth, the water won't freeze all the way down.
What our fish breathe during the winter is more of a mystery...
Since we introduced some koi to the pond a few years ago, which have been happily thriving and multiplying, and have a fairly happy eco-system out there, with frogs, toads, and turtles, crayfish and clams, as well as several species of fish, we are even more alert to the health of the pond. So it was reassuring to see the level start to rise, though I don't think we expected it to rebound quite so quickly.
In the top picture, taken as we went into the Thanksgiving weekend, the red arrow shows our 'depth gauge', a piece of steel that Darrell planted in the deep section of the pond. I think it registers about 5 feet deep. It's only visible in the summer.
This picture was taken two weeks later. Not only has the gauge stick vanished under the surface, the entire boundary of the pond has expanded to cover most of the 'summer beach'. So, that's a bunch of water that's come out of the skies in the last fortnight. The fish should be happy, since with a good depth, the water won't freeze all the way down.
What our fish breathe during the winter is more of a mystery...
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Envy
So, what I see out my kitchen window when I look across the crossroads at my neighbours' place?
And what I can find in my yard:
The trail leads down across Larry's yard and under the apple tree, over to our yard.
Through the cedars, and across my 'woodland garden' and towards the cedars around our deck...
This last is a little flurry of tracks under our lower deck. I did throw some food down, but...
You see this picture? This is out my deck door. See beyond the Christmas tree, where the vertical deck rails are? Through there is the lower deck. Beyond, and under, is where the turkeys are hanging out. Sigh.
So much for the Wild Turkey Channel on Bird TV!
And what I can find in my yard:
The trail leads down across Larry's yard and under the apple tree, over to our yard.
Through the cedars, and across my 'woodland garden' and towards the cedars around our deck...
This last is a little flurry of tracks under our lower deck. I did throw some food down, but...
You see this picture? This is out my deck door. See beyond the Christmas tree, where the vertical deck rails are? Through there is the lower deck. Beyond, and under, is where the turkeys are hanging out. Sigh.
So much for the Wild Turkey Channel on Bird TV!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
One Fish, Two Fish
For the life of me, I cannot find any information that really says for sure that Koi change colour, or what causes it, but this year's brown fish now proudly include two red fish and a black and red fish. It's kind of exciting watching them change from day to day...
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
No Room At The Inn
So, an odd sort of Christmas parable. Just before Christmas, yet again there was a day when both Lily and I perked up our ears and thought we heard something as we passed through Darrell's indoor shop.
('Indoor' being a relative term. Yes, the room is framed in out of part of the garage space, and insulated to a degree, and heated very mildly, but that's about as far as it goes. For all intents and purposes it is *outside* of the house. In fact, come wintertime, it becomes extra pantry and root cellar storage in a pinch, because things will keep cold enough!)
Anyway, Lily mistrusts the room for reasons known best to herself and her little cat mind, so the attempt to let her out into the rest of the garage, which was far less deep than the official outdoors, didn't go so well. And then I heard the tiny voice. A little mewing voice. Lily heard it too. And went over to stare at the cupboards under the sink, and the ceiling above it.
Since last fall we'd had abandoned kittens that had stuffed themselves in the soffits (go figure...) I layered on the winter gear to explore that possibility.
[Note: winter in Wareham can be a polar experience. We're in the snowbelt. And then some. We get the 'north of Toronto' snow. We get 'lake effect' snow. We get the 'highest point in Ontario' snow. In short, we get snow. You've seen the pictures, right?]
In fact, winter in Wareham can be very much like the descriptive passage from Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story.
"Preparing for school during an Indiana winter was like getting ready for extended deep-sea diving. Long johns, three pairs of socks, high tops, overshoes, corduroy knickers, flannel lumberjack shirt, four sweaters, fleece-lined leatherette sheepskin coat, gloves, mittens over the gloves, stocking cap, ear flap hat over the stocking cap... and a scarf wound around and around until only the faint glint of two eyes peering out of a mound of moving dry goods told you that there was a kid in there. Somewhere."
So, we'd had snow, and moving through the yard as opposed to around the outer edges of the yard is less of an option. So I put on the big boots. (Several years ago, I gave up on the idea of any boots remotely resembling something ladylike or fashionable and have just opted for big winter snowboots, or bigger higher wellies for short duration slogs. And snowshoes if I really intend to make it to the compost heap....) And the big coat, and gloves, and a scarf. And wormed my way out and around the winter barricade of tarps and 2x4's that we erect about ourselves in winter, in hopes of leaving some lifeline to the outer world traversible. At least with the minimum of tunneling.
And then I floundered my way around the side of the building to check for small animals on the outside.
(Seems the lost cat was smarter than I was!)
After I scrabbled my way back in and emptied the boots, I tried making inviting, small animal noises in the loft, and then again in the main room of our driveshed garage space. Eventually I was answered, and a skinny black cat emerged from the depths of under or over the shop space, and demanded attention. (No nervous feral barn cat this...)
He also seemed to have no particular fear of any of our cats. Though they didn't think much of him, and announced it quite plainly.
Because the weather took a turn for the colder, and the Spare Cat didn't show any interest at all in leaving, or looking for somewhere he should have been that wasn't here, Darrell rigged up a milk crate with a worklight attached for warmth. Last thing we wanted was to discover a catsicle in the morning!
As is usual, no-one on the crossroads appeared to have lost him, or know anyone further afield who might have. And, of course, they all already have their share of adopted abandoned animals.
He was definitely a people cat, and more than determined that we should let him in. Soft-hearted that we are, he eventually managed to spend some of his time in Darrell's shop.
Then, as Christmas loomed, he got cunning and discovered that if anyone wasn't wary enough as they went into the house, or their hands were full, he could streak by and get in too! That was fun.
He was a very persistent little cat!
We didn't worry too much. Although we weren't really looking to adopt another cat, if there were no other options, and our other cats would allow it...
Thing is, we'd lost our fourth cat in August. Both Darrell and I miss her a great deal, but we'd realized shortly after that, just how much our cats don't. It was only after we were back to the original trio that we saw just how unhappy Bear had been with her around, and how much his personality had changed now she was gone again.
It had always been a bit like a bar in the Neutral Zone with Klingons and StarFleet not getting along... After over three years with Coco, it was still just a shaky temporary cease fire, not peacetime.
Anyway, Spare Cat was pleased to come in where there was heat and comfortable places to sit, and tried to become invisible so no-one would throw him out. But the amount of time he could sit still was pretty limited and eventually he'd just be in to too many places he shouldn't be, or have upset the cats too much, and out he'd get tossed again!
Just before Christmas, a good friend who'd been 'pimping him out' to everyone she knew figured she'd found a possible new home for him, so we didn't worry as much, and we'd let him come in for visits more frequently, until he'd wear out his welcome.
And after the Christmas weekend, we bundled him off to a new life, with a new person and fellow-cat and name. So, hopefully another abandoned or lost cat has been saved. I wish I knew where they keep coming from. And why the cats that show up seem to always be nice cats, friendly cats, attractive cats, cats of an age where they need to be neutered, coincidentally just about when people need to step up and accept some responsibility for owning a pet...
But I'm so happy that there are also people out there who helped us, and were willing to take a little spare cat into their home. It made our Christmas a bit happier.
('Indoor' being a relative term. Yes, the room is framed in out of part of the garage space, and insulated to a degree, and heated very mildly, but that's about as far as it goes. For all intents and purposes it is *outside* of the house. In fact, come wintertime, it becomes extra pantry and root cellar storage in a pinch, because things will keep cold enough!)
Anyway, Lily mistrusts the room for reasons known best to herself and her little cat mind, so the attempt to let her out into the rest of the garage, which was far less deep than the official outdoors, didn't go so well. And then I heard the tiny voice. A little mewing voice. Lily heard it too. And went over to stare at the cupboards under the sink, and the ceiling above it.
Since last fall we'd had abandoned kittens that had stuffed themselves in the soffits (go figure...) I layered on the winter gear to explore that possibility.
[Note: winter in Wareham can be a polar experience. We're in the snowbelt. And then some. We get the 'north of Toronto' snow. We get 'lake effect' snow. We get the 'highest point in Ontario' snow. In short, we get snow. You've seen the pictures, right?]
In fact, winter in Wareham can be very much like the descriptive passage from Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story.
"Preparing for school during an Indiana winter was like getting ready for extended deep-sea diving. Long johns, three pairs of socks, high tops, overshoes, corduroy knickers, flannel lumberjack shirt, four sweaters, fleece-lined leatherette sheepskin coat, gloves, mittens over the gloves, stocking cap, ear flap hat over the stocking cap... and a scarf wound around and around until only the faint glint of two eyes peering out of a mound of moving dry goods told you that there was a kid in there. Somewhere."
So, we'd had snow, and moving through the yard as opposed to around the outer edges of the yard is less of an option. So I put on the big boots. (Several years ago, I gave up on the idea of any boots remotely resembling something ladylike or fashionable and have just opted for big winter snowboots, or bigger higher wellies for short duration slogs. And snowshoes if I really intend to make it to the compost heap....) And the big coat, and gloves, and a scarf. And wormed my way out and around the winter barricade of tarps and 2x4's that we erect about ourselves in winter, in hopes of leaving some lifeline to the outer world traversible. At least with the minimum of tunneling.
And then I floundered my way around the side of the building to check for small animals on the outside.
(Seems the lost cat was smarter than I was!)
After I scrabbled my way back in and emptied the boots, I tried making inviting, small animal noises in the loft, and then again in the main room of our driveshed garage space. Eventually I was answered, and a skinny black cat emerged from the depths of under or over the shop space, and demanded attention. (No nervous feral barn cat this...)
He also seemed to have no particular fear of any of our cats. Though they didn't think much of him, and announced it quite plainly.
Because the weather took a turn for the colder, and the Spare Cat didn't show any interest at all in leaving, or looking for somewhere he should have been that wasn't here, Darrell rigged up a milk crate with a worklight attached for warmth. Last thing we wanted was to discover a catsicle in the morning!
As is usual, no-one on the crossroads appeared to have lost him, or know anyone further afield who might have. And, of course, they all already have their share of adopted abandoned animals.
He was definitely a people cat, and more than determined that we should let him in. Soft-hearted that we are, he eventually managed to spend some of his time in Darrell's shop.Then, as Christmas loomed, he got cunning and discovered that if anyone wasn't wary enough as they went into the house, or their hands were full, he could streak by and get in too! That was fun.
He was a very persistent little cat!
We didn't worry too much. Although we weren't really looking to adopt another cat, if there were no other options, and our other cats would allow it...
Thing is, we'd lost our fourth cat in August. Both Darrell and I miss her a great deal, but we'd realized shortly after that, just how much our cats don't. It was only after we were back to the original trio that we saw just how unhappy Bear had been with her around, and how much his personality had changed now she was gone again.
It had always been a bit like a bar in the Neutral Zone with Klingons and StarFleet not getting along... After over three years with Coco, it was still just a shaky temporary cease fire, not peacetime.
Anyway, Spare Cat was pleased to come in where there was heat and comfortable places to sit, and tried to become invisible so no-one would throw him out. But the amount of time he could sit still was pretty limited and eventually he'd just be in to too many places he shouldn't be, or have upset the cats too much, and out he'd get tossed again!
Just before Christmas, a good friend who'd been 'pimping him out' to everyone she knew figured she'd found a possible new home for him, so we didn't worry as much, and we'd let him come in for visits more frequently, until he'd wear out his welcome.
And after the Christmas weekend, we bundled him off to a new life, with a new person and fellow-cat and name. So, hopefully another abandoned or lost cat has been saved. I wish I knew where they keep coming from. And why the cats that show up seem to always be nice cats, friendly cats, attractive cats, cats of an age where they need to be neutered, coincidentally just about when people need to step up and accept some responsibility for owning a pet...But I'm so happy that there are also people out there who helped us, and were willing to take a little spare cat into their home. It made our Christmas a bit happier.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Unpacking
Lily found the bread basin again. Fortunately, it's still in its carry-bag... But it seems to make the very best kind of Lily-nest.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Phoebe Cam, July 1st
It's getting just a bit tight in the nest as these little guys get bigger and bigger. Since I'm not sure when they hatched, (I didn't find them till after,) I also have no real sense of what the timeline is for them doing all those baby bird things. Mostly I worry about them falling out of the nest. The stone covered bake oven is directly below, not soft grass. (Not to mention that ol' Hungry Mouth Charv is ever lurking around.)The worries of parenting, even surrogate-parenting.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Babies
I accidentally discovered that we have a nest of phoebes, out in the summer kitchen.
What tipped me off? The rapt attention of Charv. I found him sitting atop the bake oven, and he sat there and sat there... Fairly odd behaviour for a basically odd cat. Until I walked into the kitchen and stared up at the rafters!
Personally, I wouldn't have known one kind of bird's nest from another (more or less) except that there were some phoebes hanging around. Every year for the last few, we've had a pair of Eastern Phoebes show up for a single weekend, catch a bunch of bugs, (I think they like it when the cluster flies wake up!) hang about, flipping their tails, and then they're gone again.
This year, I've seen them more than the one weekend.
Now it appears they're making more phoebes!
In the space of only a couple of days, the little scrawny critters attached to the big hungry mouths have changed; as they're putting on fluff, and the beginnings of feathers. They look far more three-dimensional now, and even appear to be crowding the nest. Good thing there's only two babies in there....
Unfortunately, patient and persistent Charv is still hanging about. Though with good planning, the parent birds tucked that nest BEHIND the rafter he's staring at, so hopefully, the worst he can do is irritate the parents.
And here's a shot of Mom. Or Dad. Just cunningly out of my zoom range. And they both took turns flitting about and cheeping at me, but never staying long enough for me to creep closer and focus...
What tipped me off? The rapt attention of Charv. I found him sitting atop the bake oven, and he sat there and sat there... Fairly odd behaviour for a basically odd cat. Until I walked into the kitchen and stared up at the rafters!
Personally, I wouldn't have known one kind of bird's nest from another (more or less) except that there were some phoebes hanging around. Every year for the last few, we've had a pair of Eastern Phoebes show up for a single weekend, catch a bunch of bugs, (I think they like it when the cluster flies wake up!) hang about, flipping their tails, and then they're gone again.This year, I've seen them more than the one weekend.
Now it appears they're making more phoebes!
In the space of only a couple of days, the little scrawny critters attached to the big hungry mouths have changed; as they're putting on fluff, and the beginnings of feathers. They look far more three-dimensional now, and even appear to be crowding the nest. Good thing there's only two babies in there....
Unfortunately, patient and persistent Charv is still hanging about. Though with good planning, the parent birds tucked that nest BEHIND the rafter he's staring at, so hopefully, the worst he can do is irritate the parents.
And here's a shot of Mom. Or Dad. Just cunningly out of my zoom range. And they both took turns flitting about and cheeping at me, but never staying long enough for me to creep closer and focus...
Monday, June 22, 2009
Oh Dear!
Frogs can scream! I didn't know that.
I had just wandered down to the pond in time to hear it, and see some little froggie kind of bobbing around strangely. Then I got up closer, and realized that he'd been chomped on by a snapping turtle, who proceeded to eat him all up.
I'm sort of sorry for the frog, but then I guess the turtle is part of ur pond environment too, and has to eat something. And better the frog than my foot...
I had just wandered down to the pond in time to hear it, and see some little froggie kind of bobbing around strangely. Then I got up closer, and realized that he'd been chomped on by a snapping turtle, who proceeded to eat him all up.
I'm sort of sorry for the frog, but then I guess the turtle is part of ur pond environment too, and has to eat something. And better the frog than my foot...
Friday, May 22, 2009
After...
I never thought to take a Before photo. Never realized I needed one...
This is after the much-hated raccoons came in the night and shredded my twenty-year old jade tree. There isn't even enough left to try replanting, or starting anew.
sigh...
This is after the much-hated raccoons came in the night and shredded my twenty-year old jade tree. There isn't even enough left to try replanting, or starting anew.
sigh...
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