Saturday's Critters

 August rushes by us. I am usually happy when August is finis. The garden and forest are spots that require taming. We miss the critters, of course. 

Fred has been creating a new burrow. I've spotted him on the deck, too.

 Auntie Fred has taken ownership of the shed burrow. The burrow under the lower deck floods in spring. Not a good choice! Soon The Freds will be hibernating. In the meantime, digging is the call to action. He does doggy digging, shoves the sand with his snout, and the sand flies!

   

 I think MiniFred is a male. You can giggle as he stops to groom, and rolls over. I think he likes self-deprecating humour! 

   

 In the backyard, Momma Butch has 3 kits! If you like the moths dancing in the light in the night, keep watching! We still have fireflies in the yard. Front and back. 

   

 Yesterday, I posted a video of the fox going after leopard frogs in the garden. Apparently, that is what the skunk is after, as well as Butch. In this video, Butch accidentally trotted towards skunk. It thought better of it! You can see the motion sensor lights by the garage reflecting on the white pine trees.

Finally, we celebrate twin fawns frolicking in the forest!

 

Saturday's Critters # 660 Visit more at Eileen's blog.

Saturday's Critters

Having fun with the new trailcam, I threw out a bread crust. The crows dispatched it. The one on the left won! 

Coyote:

Fred:

Phoebe has 5 eggs, which should hatch next Friday. They sit on the purple pencil, swooping down to catch a bug. I hope they don't poop on the trailcam!

I cleverly lowered the camera, as the skunk just missed! Love that tail!

MiniFred was sent to back to her burrow (which Momma Fred dug) in no uncertain terms!

   

 Momma Fred took umbrage and resorted to doggy digging under the deck. 

   

 The phoebe is still sitting on the nest. They like my purple pencil. 

   

 Busy spot, coyote at night, deer and Fred in the day. 

 

Saturday's Critters # 647 for more critters, visit Eileen's blog.

Trailcam Tails

 I am so behind on posting videos. We have stopped feeding deer. They have lots to eat now. 

 

 The turkeys have pretty much disappeared. In years past they would amble around with their harems, in full mating display.

   

 This tree sparrow was scrambling for bugs. The cats make this kind of move when we play! Maybe you aren't as keen as I, but I like seeing their little hop-scratch-search!

   

 The Skunk is still roaring up and back down the driveway. I am curious about the location of its home!

 

Lastly, a porcupine. It looks a bit smallish. Maybe a young one?!

 

#75, or rehabbed and released black squirrel, has been teasing cats!

The cats have had their tick/flea, etc., meds. 

I hope that helps with lots of horrific news out there. We had good news, in that we now have a majority government led by Mark Carney. We shall see what unfolds.  

Amazingly, the three new MPs are women, and 2 of them are women of colour. This is Canada.

These things are sent to test us!

Joe Brian had a Bone Mineral Density test (BMD #9) on Thursday. His first one was in 2013. This one was in Smiths Falls. They test his BMD since the Lupron he takes robs his bones of calcium. He takes calcium supplements to counteract this. I keep track of these things in order to review them.

• PART IV: Bone Density Scan #1 (Oct. 31, 2013) 
• PART XXV: Bone Scan #2 (Sept. 19, 2014)
• PART XXXVIII: Bone Density Scan #3 (Jul. 17, 2015)
• PART LVIII:  Bone Scan #4, 2017
• PART LXVIII: Bone  Mineral Density Scan #5, 2018
• PART LXVIII: Bone Mineral Density Scan #6, 2019
• PART CIV – Last minute Bone Density Scan #7 Wed., Dec. 7th. (#104, 2022). 
• PART  CXI – Bone mineral density scan #8, 2023.
• PART CXXIV – Bone Mineral Density test #9, Mar. 19, 2026.

 Good Bunny Labbit is coming out just before dusk. As Joe Brian says, "if you see a rock with ears, it's probably our bunny!"

The critters are quite hungry, for the most part. The birds are doing well. During that warm spell, he was singing his spring mating song. 

Eileen used to post photos of her birds out the window where she works out. I didn't spot a bird, but our mother/fawn duo. Can you see the fawn?

I ended up going upstairs and getting the zoom lens!

They are scratching away at the dead grass. Skunk ambled on by.

 

Skunk wandered over to check out Good Bunny Labbit's lair! 

After we lost a fawn last week, and the warmer spell, the deer were quieter for a few days. Saturday morning, there were 9 deer feeding. Joe Brian was watching them from the kitchen window and a coyote  roared on by, down in and across the meadow, heading toward the frog pond. Fortunately, they avoid the house in the day time. They cannot get the big deer. 

Who goes there?

I heard a Pine Grosbeak, according to Merlin. This one sounded like it was in the big pine tree out back. I've no photos that I can find. Just a photo of the purple finch. Whaddya think? Close enough?! 😉 The purple finch and house finch always give me trouble. Now I have to worry about the Pine Grosbeak! 

 

The doe was on a mission.

These two hang around all the time. Once Spring arrives we won't see them.

I saw these tracks, and wondered who was out in the night! 🦨

Skunk videos

Scanning the trailcams, I found some answers. The Crumbly Acres camera doesn't capture small mammals too well. 

 

 I caught it as it went along the driveway, headed across the highway. 

 

I wrote a piece about animal tracking for our local lake association! Soon the snow will go and we won't know who goes there!  

Who goes there in the night?

We had more snow. I managed with the blower. I was so happy to have it back. This was 14cm worth.

 

With snow comes more tracks. I'm finding that Good Bunny Labbit is so fast, she doesn't register on the camera. I have to go clip by clip. Ah well. It satisfies my curiosity. 

There are tracks here, perhaps #75 squirrel, and another mystery. 

The snow height discouraged it. 

I looked at these as I took the garbage out Monday morning. Not as long and thin as Butch raccoon, and the pattern is different. I wrote a piece on animal tracks for our local lake newsletter. The stride of this track is short. Fishers have five obvious toe pads. 

Look who I found on the camera! Skunks are omnivores, both plant and other animals. They eat just about anything: bugs, mice, eggs, insects, worms, grubs, bird seed,  plus fungi, roots, leaves and berries, most of which are scarce right now! 

The gate patterns I haven't seen before. Mostly the skunks have been around in the other three seasons. Not winter.

 

We often have a skunk roll by in the dark, this one was lactating. While they are crepuscular (active dusk and dawn) they den up in winter for extended periods. They aren't true hibernators, like Fred Groundhog. A lot of our little mammals do this, like Butch who holes up in the really cold weather.  

I seldom see them in the day time. This one pretty much ignored me.