Booboo bear and Muskrat

The back deck is the place to be. This past week was a tad chilly. We anticipate a hot spell this week. Heat warnings abound. In the meantime, I put out garbage in the pouring rain and climbed the ladder to clean out the gutter. 

The good news is I get my lawn tractor back today. The battery was fried. They serviced it, as well. The bad news is that it is pouring rain and too wet to mow. Thunder and lightning to the south west of us.

I've scheduled a pedicure today. That will be a nice treat. 

The good weather  brought out the planes! 

This was a Cessna!

Going down to the frog pond has been good exercise. One is wise to wear bug spray, long sleeves, boots, and pants. The joys of living in the middle of a wetland! 

Muskrat has been working hard building a shelter under my dock. I guess it is easier than in the middle of the pond. I've been tracking it or them, hard to tell if there is a pair.

 This is just a young bear, determined to renovate Muskrat's shelter. They are curious! He was here an hour prior📹 and came back. You can see him rake away the debris as he snorts and snuffles.

 

Booboo bear June 13 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The next day, Muskrat was working to repair the damage by the curious juvenile bear. I finally captured it on camera! It is working hard to seal up its shelter under the dock. Booboo hasn't been anywhere near the house. Thankfully.

 

Muskrat work June 14 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Books and bears

 📚 Book Reviews! 📕

We've had a strange weather system roll in. It's been chilly.  It's 14℃ here now, but 7℃ in Ottawa. The sun is out and it'll warm up. Reading on the back deck, my summer pleasure, requires a blanket once the sun disappears.

 I seek respite on the back deck. It is lovely to relax and read. The first is by an independent author, R.A. Consell, Stealing from Wizards. It is a great fantasy read, for teens and adults. Quite a wonderful fantasy, the third in the series. Caitlin told me about these books, and we've read the first two.

The next book is by a Canadian author, Daniel Kalla. He's an ER doctor in Vancouver. This is the list of his books. It is all about the plague returning. He just published a new one and was interviewed on TV.  I'm trying to read them, but someone has them out from the library and isn't reading any too quickly. 

Interestingly, 

"Daniel Kalla finished his latest book about vaccine hesitancy and misinformation the day he learned what COVID-19 was."

Since it's been chilly, it was a time to bake! I love the bubbling as it comes out of the oven. Local strawberries and rhubarb. My rhubarb has gone kinda wild. It is wonderful being able to support local businesses.

 

rhubarb strawberry crisp from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Even Cinnamon wants to snuggle for warmth!

reluctant sharing from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

During our storm, the poor little critters! 

hummingbird in rain from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I heard the barred owl!

 

dusk barred owl hoots from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We went down to fetch trailcam videos! I had on an anti-bug shirt. The mosquitoes have lessened, though. Now it's blackflies and deerflies. 

 

Cinnamon walkies Jun 13 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🧸 Lo, and behold, Booboo bear. It knows Muskrat is in there! At the end Booboo is pulling the debris away from Muskrat's shelter and looking under the dock. I think Muskrat is trying to block the sunlight. Or itself?

bear june13 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The bears are good bears. We've no food out there, bird feeders well away in spring. Garbage is secured in the closed garage. There are too many humans with guns out there for local bears to be complacent around humans. I've not seen them around the house at all in the daytime. They wander at night. 

Booboo is likely looking for a new habitat. The older bears don't wander near homes in the daytime. 

This is the time of year they are mating. The females kick the 2-year-olds out of their territory, or the males could hurt the young ones in competition. The bear that wandered by at midnight is a mature bear, looking for love, I'll bet.

People talk about critters invading human spaces. So far so good here! 

🐻👮You never know what the day will bring. We responded to a bear stuck in a garage trying to paw its way out. Officers were able to help the furry intruder escape through a side door and back to living its best wild life.#BearAware safety tips: https://t.co/lT4KAF2OV2 pic.twitter.com/cDgl27dIRQ

— Coquitlam RCMP (@cqrcmp) June 13, 2024

Bear breaks into northern Ont. woman's car, destroys interior before taking a dump in the front seat, nap in the back https://t.co/Zbr2zhhlQt

— Adam Frisk (@adamfrisk) June 11, 2024

Monday dawns

 Monday. Garbage day. Unlike A/C, I had no wish to photograph the sunrise! Typical cool August nights, although the high will be 27C., it began a bit chilly. 

Instead, I put out the garbage. I had a friend, then two. Then three. A buck, a doe in under the sumac trees, and Cinnamon.

Their responses to us, as humans, is very situational. I was down in the forest the other day and he hid behind the trees. 

buck velvet from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Later, on my walkies, I found lots of red-eyed vireo. Back in the backyard, I heard the cardinal singing, sure enough. I spotted him. The cedar waxwings are still zooming around like an air squadron. 

Down on Oliver's Lot, I found this critter. I would think it is the larvae exoskeleton of a cicada. I've photos of the adults.

cicada from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

There are now 14 frogs in the goldfish pond. I'm going to have to fish them out once the fall brings rain and fill the wetland. Our frog pond is dry.

Two are leopard frogs, the other 12 are green frogs of various sizes. 

The wood frogs jump through the forest. Running to escape me.

I'll end on a fun note. Little Booboo Bear 2 was spotted.

Booboo 2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Booboo 11

Booboo bear Aug. 11

Catalpa tree, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Booboo

My catalpa tree, which seemed dead, has some MORE leaves. I'd trained some wild grape ivy to go up the tree. It's coming along! A couple of feet up the tree, as well up higher. 

It is a popular tree. Can you see Cinnamon, and the red squirrel?

Cinn thought he'd treed DRS (dratted red squirrel), but the squirrel had tricks up its sleeve.

Nutmeg got up in the tree, as well! She's not fond of photos.

Cinnamon is growing into a big boy!

As I approached trailcam #2, I knew something was up. Well, in truth, it was down. Lying flat. Booboo didn't damage it, thankfully.

Down in the forest, we had a visitor. S/he as there for several minutes. I hope you like the snuffling. I'm inclined to think it is Booboo bear. He's quite curious, and a young 'un. 

If you go to the end of the video, you'll see Cinnamon sniffing around the camera, as well!

Backyard critters: bears

I keep track of bear sightings here: 🐻BEAR WATCH. With my eye surgery, I can see!

JB and I were on the back deck. He was reading his Kindle, I was listening to Uncover, a podcast.  (I still cannot read.) It's a lovely view from up there. It's a modest bungalow, but we enjoy it so much.

First Nutmeg came up on the deck, fairly normal, as she tends to nibble-on-her-kibble all day, in and out. Then, Cinnamon roared up onto the deck. They had a play fight. It is unusual for the two of them the be there at the same time.

I was gazing out the back, with my new distance vision, and from out the 'back 40' came Booboo Bear. Don't look for him in the photo. You'll have to imagine.

I whispered to JB look at the bear. I ushered the cats into the house. I dashed back outside with the marine horn, and videocam. I just wanted an image, and then I'd scare him off. We have to teach him that humans are dangerous.

JB said that Booboo lay down in the shade, just behind the flag pole. Booboo didn't see us, but he heard me. The minute I began videotaping, he was gone. At that point, I sounded the marine horn a couple of times, just to let him know we were serious. He has a healthy fear of people, so I think he'll be a good bear.

He's not very big yet, but he has managed so far. We will cross our fingers for him.  He's gotta be a spring cub, he's so wee. They are born in the winter.

Since my surgery, Friday, I've laid low. Sunday, I went down to the trailcams. Nothing on cam #2.
However, as I approached camera #1, there was evidence!

I did not collect camera footage Friday, or Saturday. I left it until my eyes were feeling better.
This is Booboo, but 40 seconds into this video from Thursday night (23rd), I think the older bear appears, and squats.



 This was Saturday. This is an older bear.



Booboo's only predators might be older male bears and coyotes, as well as humans.  The coyotes are pretty smart, though. They would know to steer clear of bears.

If he is a she, she'll have an easier time. The older males kick the younger ones out of their territory. We have a healthy bear population in the area. If you recall, one of our mommas had triplets last year. This was a fall photo on the trailcam. Momma and year-old triplets.

It was all very exciting.
In the meantime, we've had more rain, which is wonderful. Drought is bad for bears, as they mostly eat berries. Our wild raspberries are out now. They also have been eating the services berries, as evidenced by the poopy photo!

 

We've another heat wave (30+ C.) and poor JB has been watering plants for me. I'm not supposed to lift.
Thank you, all, for your kind wishes. I am so relieved. Reading is tedious, but I shall get to your blogs shortly!

Saturday's Critters

I could not find one volunteer to come down with me to the forest and fetch the SD cards from the cameras! The bugs are horrid.

I met a doe, she trotted off, then a buck on Oliver's Lot!  

Momma Butch has been doing well with her 5 kits. The girls have enjoyed watching them. 

 

 But, Booboo bear was the best video!

In the forest:

 

 The turkeys are out and about. No little ones, yet. They are deep in the safety of the forest. 

 

 We've lots of American Crows about. They seldom visit. We used to have a trio who visited.

I heard this strange noise, and Cinnamon and I followed it. Cinn gave up! I finally caught up with it. It was a good forest walk.

 

Saturday's Critters #342

Facetime, Bunny, Booboo bear,

Father's Day was exciting! We did Facetime with the kids. FIrst, Ottawa, and then Vancouver!

Bunny showed up, again.

 

 Our one-year-old bear cub. He has something on his ear. The bugs are bad, too!

If you watch to the end, you'll hear him snuffle and watch him inspect the camera.

Still no rain. I am worried. It looked promising...but nothing.

The hops vine is doing well. I made it to the top of the railing by Monday, and now it is near the roof.

🐣PHOEBE

This is the last photo of the phoebes. I checked on them in the morning, snagged a photo with the zoom lens, did Facetime with the kids around noon, went out and they were gone! 

We sat on the back deck, and could see a phoebe in the tree. Another seemed to do a fly-by, checking out the nest. 

Nutmeg was sitting partly on and off the stones. I don't know if she fell off, or meant to do this!

She was bird watching. I bring the feeders in every night, and so far, so good.

Finally, the peony! The peony season is so short!