Spring means rain!

First, to answer Barb's question: " Will they nest in a tree, or do they need a box?"

They do nest in trees, but I have two nest boxes on the property. People on the lake have installed nest boxes, and taken some of my customers! That's okay, I've lots of photos and we want them to survive.

 Friday was an amazing day. I got so much done outside after days of cool, cold, and intermittent or heavy rains!

#75 was soaked!

The coyotes took down a fawn. The crows are gathering its fur from time-to-time. They don't like me watching them. Clever birds.

I'm keeping an eye on Barry Beaver's work. The water is high, which bodes well for his lodges and wetland protection.

Our heavy rains means Barry Beaver has a safe place to hide, in the wetland.

Aren't they precious?!

I managed to get the water fountain going. It's a miracle. It may be too early, with an overnight low of -4 ℃, but if it keep moving that'll keep it going. When I unwrapped it, it was full of snow water. I shall have to remember to cover it a little better next winter. (Non-mental note!)

I was ready for a shower and jammies after!

Butch raccoon

I don't have a conclusion for our ill raccoon. I have to process it all. Short story, it appeared, slept in the wood shed, and it left in the night. 

April 13th

We spotted Butch raccoon wandering around. It didn't look quite right to me.

 

 It came right up to me, which was worrisome. It wasn't aggressive, which was good. 

  

This is not normal behaviour! It wasn't aggressive, so it isn't rabies. We don't have too much rabies around here in the wild.

It settled itself in the shed. I was curious.  

MiniFred wasn't amused. She began whistling, her warning signal. (They are called Whistlepigs in some places!)

After dinner, down I went to check it out. Curled up in the wood shed, it was asleep. I was worried it was dead, but I could see its chest gently rising and falling. The next morning it was gone.

 

I cleverly put a trailcam on the chair, facing Fred's burrow. Sadly, I had no useable footage. The wind knocked it over.

I'm wrong. There is lots of useable footage, but trees blowing in the wind lose their appeal after 700 videos!

Joe Brian did some research. He thought it might be Distemper. Dogs and cats are given inoculations against distemper. Our cats are up to date on their shots. 

 

I emailed our Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (RVWS), sending them the photos and videos. They are busy with baby animals that are sick, lost, abandoned or injured. Their summer staff haven't begun. The universities are in exams. 

Kayley said she checked with ED Linda, and they thought Butch was too co-ordinated to have Distemper. Anyway, I went out the next morning, Tues., Apr. 14th, and it was gone. You'll recall, we all released a dozen raccoons back in mid-October. They have scattered. There seems to be a group of 3 and another group of six over the winter. 

RVWS said to call them if he returns and we will figure out what to do. 

Saturday's Critters # 644 for criitter fun.

The Spring Peepers are peeping!

US ICE detentions  story #45

This really is ridiculous. The Canadian, Douglas Dixon, living in Florida, pled guilty to owing back taxes as his smoothie stand went bankrupt during COVID, was paying it back, checked in with his parole officer, and a bunch of them were arrested. Most for unrenewed licenses. This poor man didn't tell his family he was in debt. He was embarrassed. 

Dixon said the men in his pod were arrested because they “didn’t have complete paperwork or did not renew their [driver’s] licences,” and were rounded up by ICE at the licence bureau.

This is insane. 

OK, back to my wildlife. We are in full-throated Spring. The wood frogs, tree frogs, and spring peepers were in full chorus last night. 

We'd had more rain, and the wetland is really full. There are flooding warnings all around. Not great news.

This, iPhoto tells me, is a Red Fox Sparrow. New for me! I was afraid to get up out of my chair and scare it off. 

What a surprise! A male wood duck up in the tree in the backyard. This is the same pair, I'll bet, I found on Barry Beaver's trailcam. Waddling around.

 

I was working out and spotted the male out back. Running upstairs, I grabbed the video camera. 

It was a foggy morning yesterday. But I got the evidence!

 

I have been reading these murder mystery/psychological thrillers by Freida McFadden, her real name is Sara Cohen. She is a specialist in brain diseases! Seriously!

I printed this off and I'm working my way through them. It keeps me occupied, and not about the horrific world news.

Trailcam Tails

 I am so behind on posting videos. We have stopped feeding deer. They have lots to eat now. 

 

 The turkeys have pretty much disappeared. In years past they would amble around with their harems, in full mating display.

   

 This tree sparrow was scrambling for bugs. The cats make this kind of move when we play! Maybe you aren't as keen as I, but I like seeing their little hop-scratch-search!

   

 The Skunk is still roaring up and back down the driveway. I am curious about the location of its home!

 

Lastly, a porcupine. It looks a bit smallish. Maybe a young one?!

 

#75, or rehabbed and released black squirrel, has been teasing cats!

The cats have had their tick/flea, etc., meds. 

I hope that helps with lots of horrific news out there. We had good news, in that we now have a majority government led by Mark Carney. We shall see what unfolds.  

Amazingly, the three new MPs are women, and 2 of them are women of colour. This is Canada.

Wood frogs and spring peepers

There are moments. A robin:

 

A Flicker, with a red-winged blackbird. We have a half-dozen blackbirds, and another half-dozen Grackles. 

I swapped out the green ribbons for March, to yellow for April. 

Our snow is gone. Joe Brian did a bit of a rake.

There are enough outdoor chores with out making more to do inside. Something happened with the coffee machine. The coffee overflowed, and dripped out, down, and under. We had to scrub it all. Great fun. 

Outside it is a mess, wet, muddy, with more rain on the way. We'll be begging for rain in August, I bet. Meantime... there are flood warnings and watches around Simcoe, Sudbury, Muskoka, and Lake of Bays in Ontario. YIKES.

 

The wood frogs are signing. OK, mistyped that, but they are signaling for mates! 

   

 A couple of days later the Spring Peepers chimed in.  

 Down in the pond, the mosquito Larvae are squiggling around.

   

 The yellow-bellied woodpecker is doing its thing. They have learned that banging on the metal towers amplifies their sounds. He is looking for a mate.

 

MiniFred

I fished 5 dead frogs out of the goldfish pond. The water barrel is hooked up to send eavestrough water into the pond. The overnight temperatures are worrying, but I hate wasting the rain water.

The ice takes interesting shapes.

Good old MiniFred. We think it is the daughter of Fred. I know she spent the winter here under the shed. Momma appeared before the hole was uncovered by warm air and did not seem to come back. They are solitary critters. We'll see what happens. 

Last Thursday we had a taste of Spring.

As the snow melted, miniFred emerged in the afternoon. Joe had given her some leftover broccoli.

   

 Then she began gathering leaves for a nest.

  

Fred has checked out the area under the deck. Three holes have been worried. 

The fourth hole I removed the stone over. It prevents us from falling in the hole over the winter. 

This is the burrow under the flag pole. She was peeking out at me.

By the time I walked up to look for Barry Beaver and came back, she was back out and trimming my Yucca plants! 

I noticed she has a bit of fur missing. It should grow back.

On a sad note, it seems as if we have a small raccoon with distemper. We'll have to do some research. It was holed up in the shed overnight. It is right near MiniFred's burrow exit.