Saturday's Critters

The 4-legged critters have been more difficult to spot in the daytime. Which is a good thing! We don't want the coyote, bears, fox, fisher, etc., hanging out here. The squirrels are a different story.

The tray catches a lot of spilled seed. As Mr. Cardinal can attest.

'Deer' feeder!

 

Coyote in the dark

 

More deer, a doe

 

Butch is up to something!

   

 This video 'thumbnail' shows Joe in the day time. Most of our critters appear in the dark. I wanted to paint a picture! You can see the coyote on the back lawn in the dark.

 

Saturday's Critters # 572 <= visit more critters at Eileens meeting place.

Sunday chores!

In fact, I've been working on these projects all week. I cleaned and painted the base of the globe bird feeder. I even figured out how to put it back together. I'm so proud of myself! I didn't swear but once, I dropped a nut! I had to balance it on the tip of my finger and slide it in under. 

The squirrel will be happy, although the feeders are down for the season! 

Repainting included painting the dolly. Sadly, I picked it up where I'd painted it! I laughed and laughed.

Cherry Tomato planter

I transplanted my cherry tomato plant into a larger container. It's heavy as sin, and I hope it stays up there! 

You may recall the day Butch pulled a feeder right off the rafters. That was a year ago, in June: Houston, we have a problem. Scott came over with a pal, and screwed it all back in. 

Hops vine

The hops vine is getting taller. The first two photos: May 27; then the 30th; the next June 2nd, then two from June 4th. I've tied it up, and it is climbing to the roof! Unfortunately, they have been gathering quite a collection of LDD caterpillars. I've a container of water and I plop them in.

🍃LDD Invasive Moths🐛

The LDD caterpillars are still doing their thing in the front of the house. This is the top of my wee spruce.

I toddled down to the new little aspen forest. I haven't been mowing there, and they are growing quite nicely, except for the LDD caterpillars.

Quite a difference in sizes, depending upon the instar.

JB does his daily walks... 

Daisy tales on the frozen pond

A trip to the forest, and the frogpond. Daisy was harassing her sister, so I strongly suggested walkies. Daisy is green with envy. Or wants a playmate. Could be either! We adopted Annabelle 2 years ago (Jan., 2015).



The turkey tail fungus is lovely.


This is the pond from up the hill. Half green, half frozen.


She's a busy girl. She loves skating.

Animal dormancy: squirrels

I do like it when the leaves fall, and our skies open up. We've had rain, snow, sleet and hail, sometimes within the same hour. Once the leaves fell, I noticed this squirrel nest in the tree. Turns out it is a black squirrel. We have several. It sat in the sunshine for about 10 minutes, then ducked back into the nest.


We have lots of rodents! I was reminded that they come and go in winter. Many of our critters become dormant, if they don't migrate.

Animal dormancy: New World Encyclopedia

• 1.1 Hibernation – heart rates can slow by as much as 95% (e.g., bears, raccoons).
• 1.2 Estivation – like torpor, slumber, slow down of metabolism in summer (e.g., salamanders, squirrels).
• 1.3 Diapause – deer (pregnancy), insects in winter remain as embryos.
• 1.4 Brumation –cold-blooded animals (e.g., snakes).
• 1.5 Torpor – diurnal metabolism slows by half.

The question is which ones hibernate?

Properly speaking, however, use of the term [hibernate] should be confined solely to warm-blooded homoiotherms—i.e., birds and mammals whose feathers or fur serve as insulation to reduce heat radiating from the body and aid in the maintenance of constant body temperatures, which normally are independent of those of the environment. 

I found an interesting reading comprehension passage, with questions, that explains hibernate and estivate, as the critters manage in our harsh climate in Canada. Our critters have choices: hibernate (sleep in winter), estivate (sleep in the heat), migrate. I think we need another word, as the tree rats are waking from hibernation on an irregular basis.

hibernate, estivate,

I'm finding that the critters are doing less hibernation, as our temperatures went from warmish to cold, to snow, and back to rain this November: precipitation. It's mostly melted. The critters have come and gone. It cannot be good for them. The deer need the cold temperatures to go into heat, and for the males to get any action. The females are only in heat for 24 hours.

Yet, the red squirrels, the black and gray squirrels, have been quite active. I haven't seen the chipmunks for a month, or so.