Crumbly Acres

 💉This was a week for needles! Monday, I had COVID and Flu shots. They have a small, private room set aside in the pharmacy. I peeked in and the pharmacist was listening to someone and motioned, just a minute. When he was ready for me, he apoligized for the delay I said to the pharmacist, 'your mother must be proud.' We need more kindness. Listening is important. 

There was no reaction to the shots, other than a mild headache, but that may be due to stress and clenching my teeth!

Cancer Treatment 

PART CXV – Nov. 6th PSA test, hemolyzed blood sample, had to do it again. It was good.

PART CXVI – Nov. 12th Lupron injection.

Joe had his Lupron injection Tuesday. He's good for another 3 months. He can have his COVID and Flu shots in two weeks.

😷Our LGL Health Unit is showing some respiratory viruses circulating.

🚘 One winter tire has had a slow leak. Joe checked it, and it was looking bad. He took it in for repairs. They patched it for him, no charge. That was a bright light in the day.

 Just when I think I have a handle on things, I readjusted the Crumbly Acres camera. This is where it sat late summer.

I moved it to cover the driveway where critters run. Here's Joe bringing in the empty recycling bin! 

Once it was all reset, I found that it wasn't saving videos to the MicroSD card. It was saving directly to the computer if the application was on and running. Sigh. Get out the ladder. (My SIL installed it for me, I'm not sure how he did it!)  

I opened up the back of it, which requires removing these two wee screws. I dropped screw #1 and swore.  Un-inserting the Micro card, I reinserted it. This worked last time. Tried it, no difference. I decided to look for screw #1, found it. I thought about it a bit. Rather buying a new Micro card, why not switch it with another. The dashcam! Did so, dropped the other screw. Found that screw. Still no luck with it working. 

I went back to it after lunch. 
(#1) The aluminum case had unscrewed from the base. I couldn't reattach it. 
(#2) The power cable runs through the wall to the garage. It pulled off. No power. No luck. 
I'll have to figure out how to get the cable in the garage through the wall back out to the power cable to reattach it. Maybe tape it to a thin dowel? 

Either way, I gave up for the day when the sun began to get low and it was really getting cold. 

Here we were Wednesday morning. 

After my workout, I put on warm clothes and went to it, again. First task, lay down a towel, just in case I lose more screws. <Insert screw loose joke here!>

Houston, we have a problem.

I put the AC plug back in the hole through the garage wall. It had pulled free. That I could manage.

My conclusion is that the wires from the lens, to the plug into the mother board, have been pulled out. 

The problem stemmed from the fact that this piece no longer rotated and I tried to tighten it, it just pulled the wires out. 

I ordered a new one. There are Black Friday sales (which many Canadian businesses have copied from the US), and it wasn't very expensive. In fact, cheaper than some trailcams and works better! 

Our cottontail needs a name! It's as if Fred Groundhog moved off (Aug.) and Bunny moved in!

I captured the cottontail on the Crumbly Acres camera before all this happened. Their behaviour is interesting. First – they freeze. It is quite camouflaged. I didn't realize it was there till it moved. I chased it away as the cats were out for their morning romp. It isn't often here in the daytime!

Labbit is on the hop!

First, we have weather warnings. The critters have adjusted to the snow. At first they were quiet, but they are getting hungry and having to go further afield for food. We may get freezing rain, we shall see. 

 

🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇 🐇

I think Labbit is an Eastern Cottontail.  She has been popping up all over the place at dusk and in the dark. Since we restrict the cats, and now they don't go out after a brief morning run, I'm not too worried about them getting her. This is from last year.

I have summer images, and they are much easier to photograph when not on the bright, white snow! I nearly ran over this one using the lawn tractor in 2017. I had to bring her to the house and snap a photo!

June, 2012

Caitlin took a photo of its burrow entrance just under the lower deck. Fred Groundhog thoughtfully dug it out for a hidey spot, but moved on. Labbit had to dig out after the snow.

The fawn eats the lilac bush shoots, just like Labbit, who pops out from under the deck to nibble! Both leave their little pellets behind!

 

deer munches lilac stems from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Caitlin gave me a great little book for Christmas, Scat Finder (1981, revised 2022)! It reminds me of the days when I would say to the girls, "Want to go outside and see deer poop?" 

"Sure, Gramma!" and out we'd go! Both critter species poop where ever they are, deer mostly on the deer paths!

It's a great little book (15 cm x 10 cm), which explains what to look for, where to look for it, and how to identify the critter who has passed this way. You can see that the rabbit scat is similar to the deer scat, but rounder! 

The fawn looked more curious than concerned. Richard Deer barely gave her a glance!

 

deer & Labbit from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Labbit comes out and around to the front. There were rabbit tracks on the driveway. I ran indoors to look it up on the Crumby Acres camera.

I had her on the Crumbly Acres camera. It took me awhile to realize there was no point in looking for her as she went out to the front yard lilacs. She is difficult to see without the reflection from her eyes! I got her hopping on her way back to the backyard. 

  

bunny from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Happy trails to you and yours. 

Snowy days and critter videos

🎂Thank you for your birthday wishes. I appreciate them! 

This has been quite the stormy time! Our friends in Muskoka have had 3' in < 24 hours. Plans were cancelled, and lots of snowblowers called for. My friend waited all day at the hospital, and ended up going home as the wait was too long. They didn't have power at the hospital. 

Ontario Hydro put out a message yesterday:

Restoration Update: Crews are out in full force and have gained access to Walkerton, Picton, Prince Edward County, Napanee and Trenton. Efforts to reach customers in Bracebridge and Huntsville continue. Conditions in Bracebridge and Parry Sound may worsen with up to 50 cm of additional snow expected. We won’t stop until everyone is restored.

🛫 Flight Aware said there were 17,000 US flight cancellations in the past week.  There is a luggage carousel in Pearson's that broke down. People arrived at their destinations without luggage, or any way of finding it. They mistakenly put their medications in luggage, rather than carry on. Big rookie mistake.

🌨And, the not-so-good news? It is snowing this morning, but they are warning us of rain Friday and Saturday. That will be a lovely mess. 

🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌

We haven't left the property in days, hunkered down with our four-legged friends. Thank goodness for the critters to entertain us. 

The deer were anxious to check out the bird feeders!

deer playtime from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We had 7 deer Tuesday morning. Under the shelter of the trees, they hunker down. One took a nap in the back.

I took the photo through the glass, I knew if I opened the door, she'd wake up. Sure enough!

The fallen branches are still fallen. Cinnamon helped me outside, shaking snow off the trees.

Cinnamon Walkies from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🐇 I'd noticed bunny tracks under the lilac tree. I cannot tell a hare from a rabbit, despite being corrected several times, so I'll call it a bunny! Bunny has been nibbling the tips of the shrub's branches. There are lots of bunny pellet poopies there, too. We often get them under the feeders in the front yard!

We've a few about. These tracks led to Fred Gopher's hole – under the lower deck. Fred took off, not to be seen again. Putting a couple of carrots to mark the hole, at dusk I spotted said bunny sniffing the carrots. 

Next morning, the carrots were still there. I'll be watching.

I had fun watching the dratted red squirrel (DRS) who had dug some tunnels for safety.

dratted red squirrel from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The critters are still whacking away at the pumpkins. I have removed the trailcams from the forest, since most of the action is here. I didn't think the rain we had would do them any good. This is from a week ago. 

Pumpkin doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Our 3 bucks, they seem to be triplets.  

3 Bucks & Mourning doves from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Let's see what today brings! I'll be using the snowblower, I am sure, but we are safe, warm, and we will manage. 

Nocturnal bunnies!

We had a deep freeze, -26 C. on Wednesday morning. It is a tad chilly. I've been having fun watching our bunnies. Via trailcams, mostly. The tracks in the snow let me know they are out and about. They are primarily nocturnal, for safety I think. They have a fine brownish collar.

Thursday night they were busy. I threw on the spotlight after dark, and saw one sitting on the snowbank. In the morning, you can see all the eastern cottontail tracks! 

According to the Canadian Wildlife Federation, they eat greens in the summer. For example, goldenrod, wild strawberries, dandelions and clover. (We have lots of those things!) This is why I leave my lawn a bit longer. It's better for the planet, as well. In winter, they eat bark, twigs, buds of shrubs and saplings. And bird seed!

I've seen them the odd time in the daylight in summer. My favourite shot is the second image, where you can see the white tail as s/he ran away from me. 

We've hares about. The first image we captured on a summer's walk in town. The second on the trailcam in the wetland. Snowshoe Hares are much heftier and their hind legs are enormous. They are white in winter.

There is a difference between rabbits and hares. From the Fletcher Wildlife Garden: The eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) is the most common species around here. This species weighs 1.1 to 1.2 kg, and may be about 450 mm long (Banfield 1974, Forsyth 1985), with the female the larger animal. They are smaller than hares. 

I was running out of new places for the trailcams. One night, I just plonked #2 onto the step along the sidewalk. I knew the bunnies were visiting. I've seen snowshoe hares on the wetland walking. Just briefly, mind you. They are very fast. I am old and slow!

This is what I managed to get...

I threw some uneaten popcorn on the sidewalk. I meant to throw it under the feeder. (Bad aim!) At 1:03 bunny clearly came from around the garage, setting off the motion light.

I decided to try a different setup, with camera #2 on the step, and #3 (the new one) at the bottom of the steps, and facing the bird feeder. Sadly, I'd forgotten to turn the camera on the night before. Ya win, ya lose, sometimes.

 

Jan. 26th I added the camera. You can see JB coming up the sidewalk, but the camera is focused on the feeder.

   

 I had some fun video of the cottontails chasing one another. They were way too fast for the trailcamera. Cameras are designed for big game hunters to track game, and not for the lowly rabbit, or naturalist. In my iMovie app I slowed the motion by 25%. I set it for 30 second videos, and curate, trim, and splice them all together. 

   

 Thursday, after working on this a few days, I managed to not set the camera up properly, and all I had were 200 images! I put them all together in an iMovie, and it's not too bad. It shows their behaviour. They set off the motion sensor light by the garage.

 

I'd set up another camera in the backyard to capture them coming and going. Nada! They are too fast. The cameras often have a time delay to capture a larger animal. Our bunnies are so quick! Another one scoots home across the frozen goldfish pond, and into the forest. They truly are amusing.

For more critter fun: Saturday's Critters # 424, hosted by Eileen!

Bunnies, mice and deer

I've the attention span of a gnat, but I'm trying to do The Globe and Mail's 2021 giant holiday crossword puzzle. It's free online, you just have to print it all out, the cut it up and tape it together. It is 3 pages across x 2 pages down = 6 panels. I've only taped together the upper three. It's a start. 

 😒 My new trailcam still isn't working. Three sets of batteries. It's just a pain-in-the-arse I cannot manage well. I had to cancel a delightful haircut with a new stylist as I am coughing. Better keep my germs home safe and sorry.

The oldest trailcam hasn't had any critters. I should move it, as the tracks show me they are using the frozen wetland as a trail. The older trailcam, in the front yard, has been pretty good. It's not great, but we used to have replace our computers every three years. This one was from last year and I didn't spend enough money on it. 

Sorry to vent. Here I come to the fun part. I keep changing the batteries on this camera, since the bunnies spend hours here off and on. You'll notice the time stamp on the camera defaults to 2020, as the internal battery isn't working. I keep forgetting to reset it properly.

I've mentioned the mouse hole on the front deck. I finally captured them this year. If you look straight up above the cottontail, you can see its eye shining in the light. Isn't that fun? bunny & mouse from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 

The cottontails are pretty hoppy. One of them nibbled on my rose bush during the video. (Bad bunny!) The one has three marks on its hindquarters. That's one way to tell them apart. Unless it is a grooming issue! 2 hoppy cottontails! from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo. 

 

It's peculiar that the deer think the cats bear watching, but they were non-plussed with the bunnies. I'd not seen this before. doe and cottontail from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

 

The bunnies were there a long time, off and on. It's been fun watching them. 

🐾Saturday's Critters🐕

I've moved the front yard trailcam, here are the last of those videos in that location. It was facing the front yard bird feeder.

I like watching Butch raccoon, I haven't seen many as the cold must make them a bit sleepy. It stood up and did 'bear' – sitting on its haunches, and looking for trouble.

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Today is our December bird count. I've had 13 mourning doves at one point.

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I've been watching the cottontail coming to the feeder. Attaching the time to the image, it is interesting figuring out when they have visited.

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I found that I have 2 cottontails! Not only that, but the one bunny sits up, doing 'bear' and I figured out it was looking at Oregano, our feral visitor.

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Having moved the camera to the deck, I managed a wonderful set of 20 videos on Thursday, Dec. 16th. I chose just one to give you an idea of what happened.

This is where it sat. You'll note the ribbon...

It was another gusty, windy night. Cinnamon wanted to hunker down in the Muskoka Room. I finally had to bring him in when I was ready to turn the light out at 9 p.m. He was happy watching the wind.

Down in the forest, real action!

5 coyotes at the same time...

Saturday's Critters # 418 <= for more critters!

Saturday's Critters

I've moved the trailcams around. This one is focused on the bird feeders out the front window. It gets a lot of traffic. I was trying to capture video of our bunny. I knew there was a cottontail out there, due to the tracks. Last week she fell (or jumped) onto the goldfish pond!, sliding on the ice. 

We had 13 mourning doves this week. They are pretty birds.

The first day of the trailcam relocation, I captured Dratted Red Squirrel, the cats were watching for her. The tracks are everywhere!

 I was locking up for the night, Wednesday night. Looking outside, I could clearly see cat tracks, and both cats had been in since noon. I nipped outside to grab some photos in my jammies, as I expected more snow. By morning the tracks were covered, but I had the evidence! 

It would appear that Oregano our feral visitor walked up the sidewalk, up to the front steps. From there, to going under the feeder.

Our rabbit showed up first. The cottontail was there just before Oregano!

By morning, I looked out the back deck, and there were his tracks. He must have been peering in the door, looking for other cats to play with! Sure enough, feral Oregano was on the trailcam. 

The rabbit was back the next day! This camera has had its day. I get a new one for Christmas. There is that.

The trailcam in the forest revealed a doe, who wasn't buzzed by the noise. I'm not sure what it was. Maybe the snowplough. Any thoughts?!

The coyote with the bad leg showed up. 

It is pouring rain today, our snow will be gone. It is sad. The snow cover protects the land and the critters. That said, I saw 7 Canada Geese fly southeast. I'd heard them in the morning, as well. I guess they didn't get the memo! The goslings are grown, and the cycle resumes. The nearby lake is open, although the little bays are freezing up, they tell me.

Saturday's Critters # 417 <= For more critters, visit Eileen's blog!