Cinnamon walkies

First, to answer tz_garden's question, I really don't know when the fawns are born. Some are later, some are earlier. I would think May. We didn't see any fawns last year. Not fawns with spots, I mean. They are called a fawn for a year. Then, they are called yearlings.

Here is an archived fawn photo! August, 2019!

We had a lovely time! He climbed a tree.

We walked to the back 40, then skirted the wetland. Here are the rocks where the grandies would play!

Silly cat. He saw Dratted Red Squirrel (DRS) checked under the rock for it, Clever DRS did a switch back. Then Cinn tried to get into a rock cave. Silly cat.

 

He likes fallen tree trunks.

We found two more garter snakes trying to get warm. They are sitting in the sun trying to absorb some energy. The sun was flitting.

Can you see them?

Close ups...

I think this one is pregnant. I removed the leaf to let it get more sun, and it took umbrage. Garter snakes typically don't bite, but if it is pregnant I'll bet it's more defensive.

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

Tracking in the snow!

Saturday night I was in bed reading when I heard wild barking. Not the normal coyote yips. It was scary, and loud. I thought maybe they'd had a kill. Cinnamon was snuggled at my feet, and he stood up in shock. Sunday morning Joseph Brian was doing his usual walk and he looked, but didn't see any signs of a carcass. I decided to go out, too, knowing that there was a storm on the way and anything out there would be buried under snow.

Cinnamon was a great helper.

It was above zero and the snow we had was quite wet. 

Cinnamon helped me search for evidence, but we found nothing. See him on the fence!

From there we searched for tracks. I found some large coyote tracks.

We searched up and down the hill beside the shed. By now it had begun to rain. Oh yuck! It was tricky tracking anything.

We are surrounded by wetland, and there are a few paths the critters take. We ended up going to The Point, me and my cat. You can see, how there is no snow in the forest, as I stood in the wetland to take a photo. 

This is the track that leads right into the wetland. It looks like bobcat tracks, I think. They are much smaller. 

I have a working theory that one of our big coyotes met our bobcat, which I only have on a short trailcam video. They avoid humans at all costs, both the coyotes and bobcats.

Sunday afternoon, in the rain, King Charles IV licked up all the bird see under the feeder.

I had a nice Facetime with Jesse, Bryony, and Cluny, who were at the cottage. 

They were going back to the city soon, since the girls are in a Vancouver panto, Beauty and the Beast. Both parents are trained actors, although Jesse is in finance these days. 

We hunkered down, JB by the fire in the basement, and me with my Christmas RomComs upstairs. I visited Norway, and very much enjoyed the adventure as we watched the rain fall outside. My Norwegian Holiday (2023) it successfully showed us some of the language, culture, food, and traditions of their holiday season. It was quite lovely, with some Nordic actors with lovely accents. 

OK, busses are cancelled today. It is a snow day, although the problem is the ice underneath the snow. Road conditions are horrid. My only job is to get the garbage 100m down the driveway by 8 a.m. Wish me luck!