Snowshoes!!!

Wed. morning, Jan. 30th, I popped out to grab the rain gauge from the deck, to check the snowfall. The little tracks in the snow were so cute. Poor critters out there in the cold. The polar vortex extends down into the USA.

In the dark of the morning, I could see tracks. I examined them in the light of day, and I'm not sure. Something in the rodent family, with something running sniffing its path. It wasn't Hooper, he hadn't been out overnight.



It's a goodly distance for a small track. Perhaps our weasel.

This is from December.


Red squirrels are everywhere. Here, near the water barrel, leading to an actual hole in the snow. The snow has a base of about 30 cm.


This tree is still splitting. It will fall into the wetland, it won't harm anyone. It creaks in the winds.


It's so dark, but looking for tracks is motivation! Once you get going, you warm up.


This is our island in the middle of the wetland. It's a busy crossing, a path all the critters use. You can see the fox scat, and then the turkey tracks.


A deer bed, they nestle in the snow.


This was in the middle of the frozen frog pond.


My trusty snowshoes.


I'm thinking these are turkeys, strutting their stuff, dragging their wings, as they do.


The purpose of the trek was exercise, as well as fetching the trailcam SD cards. This guy I filmed out the kitchen window. He's shed his antlers. I was hoping to find some. It's good exercise.



Jake is still carrying his.
Trailcam Jake from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Who goes there?

Tuesday, Jan. 29th

Hooper had had a Classic morning, knocking things around, and off of shelves. ("Hooper, down!" Hooper, get down!") They are both more relaxed, with Daisy elsewhere.

Annabelle was taking it easy. 

Hubby did the driveway with the snowblower. He had Meals on Wheels to dispatch. Off he went.
☎️Still no phone, it's rather strange. I phoned Ma Bell from my client's house, we're out until Friday, by 10 p.m. (It was Thursday, but they delayed it another day.) It's been off since Tuesday, Jan. 22. After another storm!

The irony is, Bell is marketing their Let's Talk campaign. I'm sitting on hold, listening to their promotion, getting anxious, hoping they'd just get on to it. My anxiety levels are up, with rehoming Daisy. It's part of my issues. I went home and took some meds for it. #ironic

"Mental health affects us all. Let's work toward ending the stigma. #BellLetsTalk"

After I shoveled the walk, I ambled down to the forest. Can you see them in the tree, in the middle of the photo? They seemed a bit disgruntled.
I was headed to the tree, in the middle ground, far right. The trailcam sits there, and faces away from me, into the forest beside the wetland.


Here, look closer. Several wild turkeys.


I took a video, just for fun. They didn't seem too concerned about me. I wondered if the coyote was about?
turkeys 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Back up to the house, pretty tired from navigating a snow cover of 30 cm, I uploaded the photos from the trailcam at the end of the meadow. You'll note the time stamp, 25 minutes before I arrived, when I was at the house doing the snow. It was on the run, snow flying.



I wasn't done with turkeys. I came home from my client's house, and found them eating the cracked corn I'd put on the ice on the driveway for traction. Gone!


turkeys from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Front feeder and forest owl

Front yard tails

The deer was poking around under the bird feeder when the turkeys moved in. She was quite ticked off, givig them a look! 

In the meantime, I managed to make a little bit of Valentine's Day cheer. All my crafty blog buddies inspire me. I knew I could figure it out. I did some research. I put a wine bottle inside, upside down, held by a long twist tie.
Then, glue premade hearts, glued onto some sticks.

It's been bitterly cold and will be this week. We're using up our wood.  I ought to order some more, once we pay the bill for the plumbing issues!  [SUNDAY, 20 JANUARY 2019 The toilet issue, the $530 invoice arrived Monday!].

That done, feeders refilled, I heard the blue jays bothering the owl. I knew what it was! I walked down. Success!

Barred owl from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

After I moved onto the scene, the jays were quiet.

The bucks stop here

After a morning blizzard...

Our frequent visitor, this week, seems to be Jake. I don't know if it is, or not, but we'll go with that. The dang things refuse to wear name tags!
I saw them hanging out back, and hubby went outside to put out some feed. They watched for him, eyes glued...





This was in the morning, before the sun cleared up. These two play fight a lot. I think it is Jake, and a younger buck. Rutting season was in November/December, and now the females will be taking care of little buns in the oven until May-ish.

P.S. I heard from Daisy's new mom. She is going to call her Daisy May. This is sweet. Daisy knows her name, I'm glad she didn't totally change it.
She didn't eat anything the first two days, and hid in her new room, but emerged yesterday and got up on the window sill. She's going to be an indoor cat, now. I'm sure she will adapt.

Daisy and I wetland; tree climbing from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This was our last play. She prays, as always.
Daisy from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.