Crumbly Acres Critters

 I like the change in seasons. The critters run around filling their faces and empty spaces. Things have hatched, matched and been dispatched, in our ecosystem. The circle of life continues, as well as the cycle of the seasons. Critters will bulk up their coats, birds will migrate, mammals will hibernate, estivate, or, like our faithful raccoons, will sleep in the deep cold, but otherwise attack bird feeders as best they know how.

I went down to trailcams and found a couple of deer and coyotes, more on those later. This red squirrel was quite belligerent. It was really giving me a lecture. I had to laugh at it. 

In May of this year, I caught Fred eating Emily's flowers. That was so funny! I haven't seen Fred since Aug. 21st. In 2022 (I tracked his appearances), Fred disappeared around Sept. 3rd. Maybe he's a tourist? I hope we see Fred again. 

An archived Fred ↓, or great-great-great-grandie Fred. They live 3 - 5 years, on average. I'm glad he doesn't winter under the deck. In spring melt, there is a pond under the deck.

We haven't seen the skunk since Aug. 23.

 

skunk from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

In the rain, triplets! They are frantically bulking up for winter, when food is scarce.

Triplet racoons in the rain from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Today, I expect our chrysalis to eclose. I am hoping to video it. Friday night, the kids are coming over and we are off to 2023 Fantasy in the Forest Saturday morning. JB and I visited in July. It was epic.

TV shows, critters, grandies

The days have been a tad chilly.  In the evenings we snuggle in. Clever people go out at night and photograph the moon, but I'd rather not!  Sunday morning it was spitting rain. Sunday night, several cm snow. I have to go out soon, shovel the walk and take the garbage down the driveway. 

📺 Karen Pirie is a 3-part series we watched last week. It is a heart-warming and excellent story about a cold case (2022). It is a good tale.

The show is written based on the novel The Distant Echo of the Inspector Karen Pirie series by Val McDermid.^[1] [2]

📺  We found The Long Call, a 4-episode British series (2021). There are rumours of a season 2, as well.

The Long Call is a British crime drama television series developed by Kelly Jones and Silverprint Pictures based on the 2019 novel of the same name by Ann Cleeves. Set in Devon.

The critters have been busy. Primarily in the dark of the night. 

I set up the trailcam to capture mice friends. Every morning the cats go out on the deck to check them out. Then they come in for breakfast.

cats on deck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

One black squirrel, tree sparrows, a red squirrel. I figured out if I put the trailcam on the deck, I could film some friends. I did!

front deck action from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It is the Year of the Rabbit, and I am doing my part. 

Poor thing, in the snow. She saw me and froze. Figured out I wasn't a threat. You can see her chewing on a lilac branch. Hubby headed out for errands, and she fled to under the tree. They are crepuscular, appearing dusk and dawn, although she is getting out earlier in the evening and staying out later in the morning. Jan. 19.

Labbit from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I spotted a hawk in a tree off the driveway. See it? No, you cannot. I went outside to film it and it disappeared. 

Then it landed on Labbit's lilac tree. I was so excited!

kestrel from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The hawks like the bird feeder. We've had a sharp-shinned hawk, as well. These are from 2015.

I like to multitask, and while we were watching taped tennis games, I sorted through the camera footage. It is our barred owl! She is looking for mice friends under the bird feeders.

midnight owl from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Finally, I leave you with our grandies. The first photo, below, was from a week ago when we celebrated Christmas.

Where does the time go?! They are gr. 7 & 10 now. They both had haircuts! They've had long hair for years, but they are changing it up.

This stool we had made when Josephine was small, 2009. 'Two-cut Kent' made it for us in Bala. She still fits! 

Josephine's haircut is called a Wolf Cut! 

Labbit, deer

Non-mental note: change the frogpond trailcam setting to 30 sec./ clip, not 10.  I finally remembered to change it back to January, after having it set at February for a week or so! Jan. 11th, I changed the batteries and set it to the 10th, not the 11th. sigh. 

I also have to remember to wipe off the lens. We had some wet, rainy days, and it looks frosted.How much fun is this? Little Labbit is a frequent visitor. She came a little further out from under the lilac tree.

Labbit Jan 9 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🐻Yes, I am happy it is just a rabbit under our deck. But bears get pretty dopey in cold winter temperatures. A couple of my blog friends mentioned US news: 

Connecticut family discovers black bear hibernating under deck

Said Bear has its own Tik Tok (video of the bear) and Instagram  accounts! That is funny. I just hope the attention doesn't habituate the bear to humans. On warmer days we know that bears and porcupines, for example, will wake up a bit and emerge from hibernation to forage, then go back down. 

As is the way at this time of year, watching the birds make us happy. (We've another snow storm on the way!)

 

mourning dove from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I chucked out some unwanted bread in the forest. I hated it to go to waste.

Squirrels red & flying from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

A doe ambles by the trailcam.

doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They are not tame, by any means. They know us. They always run if I meet them in the forest. Nearer the house, they tolerate us. This is Clover's fawn. She ran off around the frogpond. By the time I made it to the trailcam and back to the house, he was back at the house. I think.

deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I think this is Clover getting a wash from her fawn! This I shot out the kitchen window. I ended up taking down the shrub in order to see them better.

deer wash ups from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The latest from Crumbly Acres!

YAM, you are funny! In her comments yesterday, she suggested we call the place Crumbly Acres! (YAM has a way with words, and we have 16 acres!) Bumbly fawn, both of us with aches and pains, it fits. That tickled the cockles for several of us! That said, we are carrying on. Those aches and pains are difficult to deal with some days. We keep trying to laugh. I know many of you can empathise. 

Even Isabelle has been sick, and off school for about a week with a cold. We Facetimed, and it was hilarious. I couldn't hear her. Now, this is normal for phone calls. Both of us, JB and I, tend to put people on MUTE accidentally. Below was our conversation, for about ten minutes. I would talk, then she would answer by text.  I suggested sign language. 

During the call, Izzy was in her basement. It occurred to me that I could hear her mom talking upstairs in work mode. (Caitlin's desk is upstairs.) That was a great clue. She has cordless headphones, so she can hear her music while working, and the headphones were upstairs near her mom. We laughed so hard, until she began coughing again. 

Cold and flu bugs are certainly going around. We've a friend who has had all her shots, including the influenza shot, but is really ill, as she has asthma. It's so sad. It's been nearly two weeks, and antibiotics and puffers are involved. JB had that kind of thing awhile back. It is terrible. I had a coupon, from sending Jos her birthday flowers, so I sent our friend a cheery little mug. It made me happy. 

 We can see the birds coming and going from here. It's a two-fer: I am practicing for the Christmas Bird Feeder Count. The birds have been busy out the front window. The female cardinal was almost cooperative. The male, not so much!

That dratted cardinal... I cannot get decent photos of them on the snow, either. The one in back, in the photo below, is Mr. Cardinal. 

JB's back was well enough to go shopping. Bread and batteries! What is really helpful are fresh batteries in the beautiful globe Caitlin gave me. This is the before and after! Doesn't it make a difference?! 

 

There is a reason there are so many December festivals and celebrations involving light. It is dark early, and they brighten up the long nights. Happily we've had nice, sunny days. There is a big dump of snow expected tomorrow night. I'll have to go get more snowblower gas. They anticipate 10 - 15 cm. We shall see. There is a warm front coming towards us from the south east, and a cold, snowy one from the north west. Soon we'll be Snowy Acres! 

Still in the sunny window, I do enjoy it, the orchid plant is thriving. 

I'm rather behind on videos, and when I upload a new one, only to find a better one the next day, I'll delete the old ones. 

Here they are sparring, just as the snow started. Soon mating season will be done. Hormones will decline, and they will lose their antlers.

 

Buck butting heads from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I haven't seen this buck too often. He has a handsome rack! After mating season, the males hang together in what they call a winter yard. The females do the same. Normally, we primarily have the females. 

 

Big buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Dec. 10th, prior to the snowfall, I had a chat with a red squirrel!

red squirrel from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Trailcam tales

 Things are hopping here. Our local issue caught the eye of the press. This is Amy Millar. I'm not sure what good the article will do, but that is just me.

In the meantime, we explore the forest.

Red squirrel and Blue Jay have eaten all the pumpkin seeds.

 

red squirrel from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The turkeys trot by.

 

turkeys from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

As do the coyotes!

 

coyotes from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

🎃 Happy Hallowe'en!

There are folks who really get into this, young and old! I am always impressed with the efforts. We don't have any kids around us, besides, the rural kids tend to go into town to get more bang for the buck! In the past I've carved pumpkins, some years painted them. My energies are elsewhere. 

We drove through Perth and found lots of participants!

My indoor plants include the orchid cactus and my orchid. The afternoon sun has been lovely for them.  

The afternoon sun means that JB has to switch chairs if he wants to watch his afternoon curling or football. Cinnamon did not mind. My chair! 

Poor Joseph Brian accidentally stepped on his glasses. You know how you need your glasses to find your glasses?! They are bent, and won't sit properly on his face. He's taken out his penultimate pair, and they will work for him until he gets into the optometrist. 

We are still researching our options for this gun range. A new article has come out and finally the OPP are talking to the media, if not the township. It's an article about the gun range clean up. The condition of sale was that the OPP clean up the metals. This is a good thing. We are across the wetland from it and we were concerned.

My mother's generation were crazy mad with cleanliness, warned about germs. Living in a forest and wetland, I'm not too worried about it! They were obsessed by bacteria.

Here is proof of my outdoor efforts, aside from the debris in my bra and on the bathroom floor just before my shower. (I find it difficult to keep that floor clean!)  Atop the ladder I'd taken a couple of photos. I'm not sure what to do about this. We had the eavestrough installers in thrice, as I recall. Maybe flashing? What do you handy people think? The hole just invites bugs and woodpeckers!

It's bare wood where they finally re-installed the fascia to allow the proper drainage angle. 

eavestrough from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

"Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results."     – Einstein.

Red squirrel went up the post and came down. I grabbed the videocamera, and caught it doing it again!

red squirrel from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The birds have been wonderful to watch: a cardinal, 3 female evening grosbeaks, blue jays, chickadees, several goldfinches. I videotaped them on the feeder last year. 

 

Sadly, a nuthatch flew into the window, and it has gone over the rainbow bridge. I decided to replace the now wilted hanging basket of flowers with my goldfish. The window, with these light levels are like mirrors.

Chipmunk has been busy. The 'bird bath' I could rename. We get a lot of birds drinking from it.  

I crossed off another chore: cleaning the hops off the back deck. It created a habitat for so many critters over the spring and summer. The railings are washed and the deck furniture stacked under the overhang.

We are making progress with 🍁Fall Chores! 

Sunrise, Snuggle Bears, Springtails...

 Early one morning, I tried to capture the sunrise. The deer glared at me. I tried a couple of automatic settings, but unless I take some quick classes, this'll be the best I can do! Sadly, I'm forgetting what I've learned.

🐻SNUGGLE Bears

We are a family of readers! April 22nd:

I'm having trouble getting my frog count done. It's been too cold, or rainy. Then it clears, and next, I hurt my toe. (More on that later!) The rainbow flag is my favourite. The snow has since melted. I noticed the lichen growing on the gate just under the ribbons on the left. 

During walkies, Cinnamon had a pee and a poo! Good little lad! He is much like a shy dog and a gentle boi.

I don't know why he stared at the squirrel, and then me!

I heard a loud noise overhead. Running out to the front (JB ran to the back door), I videotaped a black helicopter flying south. Later, I heard another. This time a red one. 

Helicopter video:

helicopters from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It was an event. Nothing on the flight radar, I was curious. After running to the door, scaring Nutmeg, running outside, I was coming back in after the second helicopter and stubbed my baby toe. Thing was, I was planning to treat myself to a pedicure this week. Now, it is very sore, and a lovely bruised colour. JB brought me an ice pack. 

Our little red!

The springtails are madly mating. There are millions of them and they are harmless to other critters! 

"Springtails are cryptozoa frequently found in leaf litter and other decaying material, where they are primarily detritivores and microbivores, and one of the main biological agents responsible for the control and the dissemination of soil microorganisms." – Wiki

springtails from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.