Dawn and deer

 Wednesday, a lovely dawn.

🦌 Fuzzy Fawn was nibbling on the spruce out front, Momma, as well. The Trio nibbles on dead weeds, buds on the raspberry bushes, and all sorts of vegetation.

Out the kitchen window. There seems to be 16.

🐕 I read in our local online news that people in Perth have sighted a coyote or wolf on the edge of town. 

You can see the red pin, about where the animal has been spotted. It's the edge of a subdivision, and right near the woods and wetland. They are opportunistic feeders.

They aren't sure which it is, coyote or wolf. It is troubling to me, not that they have such a critter, but that they are still feeding birds. One dude keeping a trailcam on his bird feeder to video bears. What's with that? The minute we spot bears in May, my feeders go away. The coyotes don't come near us, or our feeders. Mostly, the coyotes eat mice and the odd turkey. They'll go after domestic animals like dogs and cats. People ought to be wary.

16 deer from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Walkies & antlers

🦌 But first, I had an interesting question about how we distinguish one deer from another. 

• 
  Antler shapes make it easy, if it is a buck. The antlers grow in the same shape each year, although usually one point larger.
• The females are difficult to tell apart.
• Size of the critters.
• Some fawns are bigger than others. 
• The behaviour is the big clue. The 'kings' and 'princes' are the bosses, and bully the others. There is a pecking order. 
• Mammas hang out with their fawns, one doe has twins and we call them The Trio. 

In 2015 I found 5 antlers that year. 

457 grams

    I took Cinnamon for a walk Monday morning. Can you see him?! He led me along the deer path. Critters tend to follow the same path as it makes for easier walking. 

He wanted to go into the wetland, which wasn't so wet, except at the edges. It was quite solid in the middle!

I noticed deer tracks with soil in them. This is why. They all walk on the edge of the wetland, when they don't have to worry about the crunchy snow.

It was really tiring. I stuck to my old snowshoe track, which helped, and found a stick to use as a cane. Back to the house for a rest! The snow is blinding, and really treacherous walking.

I've been watching this tree trunk for months, maybe years.  It has a split in the trunk. The split has widened! I've been watching it, but so far so good.

The snow is so crusty. You can see the shine of the icy top in the sun. The sun, however, is such a treat! I had a client yesterday, and the car sat in the sun. It was quite warm when I got in to come home. We know we are on the way to warmer weather and spring.

You know how animals in rehab are given toys to stimulate their brain cells? I brought the heated cat house in. Cinnamon likes it best. 

We were up to 16 deer. The camera has a bit of a tilt. The sun is so nice!

dawn feeding time from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Duke, a deer

Watching the deer provides much entertainment. I moved one camera, but I didn't get much. It does show how difficult it is moving around in the snow.

  

field doe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

They are curious, and like to inspect the camera.

sniffer buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Duke came by for a visit!

Duke Feb. 1st part 2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Prince Harry had a split ear on Jan. 21. It is tricky navigating this world. We have both a Bobcat, and many coyotes. Most cannot take down a healthy deer, but running on the icy snow is awful.  JB noticed that Duke is missing part of his tail! You can compare with other deer. It should end in a point. I often wonder what happens to them out there. Otherwise he is holding his own. 

Dawn arises...

The kids had hot chocolate outdoors! Isn't that fun? They rented a hot tub in 2021 and it was a success. They are enjoying it for this month, as well. 

Monday Morning...

We still use silly words the grandkids said when they were young. JB went out to get 'keem' for his dry skin. That was Josephine called it when she was 2 years old. She's 16 now, with her first professional driving lesson today! She'd hold on to one of those wee bottles of lotion, the ones you get in hotels, while having her diaper changed. Then she'd wander around asking for keem.

I took Cinnamon out for walkies, and he wouldn't play with the catnip-infused bubbles. Instead, he was playing in the snow. 

Cinnamon playtime from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

He has liked these bubbles indoors, this is March, 2020 – during Gramma Camp. Josephine had fun with him. 

Cinnamon bubbles from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

💐 My paperwhites were less than stellar. Three bulbs and two blooms. They were fairly small, and you can't use them again. I threw them on the deck. Happily, my second amaryllis is show two bud stalks. I am trying to grow some plants by seed (in the roaster!). They are to go in my terrarium. 

Saturday night there was a pretty sunset. 

Still awaiting the results from the OLT hearing RE: the gun range appeal. The Sudbury Mirror article on the OLT points out that Ford is driving the process, and results that go in favour of developers in 97% of cases. [Our full Gun Range Appeal Saga!] 

I thanked Siri yesterday. Twice. She said, ‘You're welcome’ the first time. And ‘No Problem’ the next!

Too bad Siri can't put out the garbage for me! At least we aren't in the Maritimes. Nova Scotia has had 5' of snow this weekend, AKA 150cm. They have simply shut down and declared an emergency. 

Off I go. 

Thanks for being there, faithful readers. 

How healthy are you?

 We are both managing some health issues. I know many of you can empathise. Thank you for your kind words. Mine are slowly improving, thankfully. We were talking about how we still feel pressure to achieve something during the day. Joseph Brian has that persistent cough, without many other symptoms. He has to use his puffer regularly, which is new to this stage of his life. He's never had asthma or anything. Teaching I used to get bronchitis and laryngitis. I haven't had a cold in ages! Most of my symptoms are eased, except for a bit of vertigo. I can manage 10 minutes on my elliptical machine. 

JB had his quarterly PSA test Friday. It is an adventure, but he makes an appointment at the lab (no charge as we live in Canada), and has the blood test. He usually needs them to use butterfly clips (green thing, below), in order for them to get a vein. 

For Christmas he was given this type of rechargeable hand warmers, as it help to get the vein. You plug them in and charge them, then insert them into the soft sock. They don't fit under gloves, maybe mitts would work!

He tried them, and found that it took a couple of hours for them to get up to temperature. Something we will have to remember. It is the same with the chemical ones, just so you know. They never warm up in time.

The good news is that it was an experienced nurse (we won't say 'old'!) who got it first time. What a relief. Sometimes they try his hands and both arms! Here he was in 2022 and 2020!

The next thing he has to do is go online to check the results. They were good! The PSA test is something he has to have prior to his Lupron injection this month since his prostate cancer surgery in 2014. This is good news, again. 

Our Ottawa kids have rented a hot tub for February! Here is Jean-Luc (my SIL) Friday night, Caitlin must have taken the photo! Isn't that a fun treat? Saturday was partly sunny, which makes for a nice relaxing adventure.

Here's to February!

Saturday's Critters

Feeding the birds leads to all sorts of critters. We haven't had many deer at the bird feeder this year. Lately it has been poor disabled Duke, with his dislocated ankle. He is doing better, navigating this awful snow cover, with its frozen layer and slush, somedays.

Duke Feb. 1st from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Thursday, Feb. 1st, we were watching TV at night, and Cinnamon heard a noise. He's been sitting watching the wall since the real cold began. We've mice in the wall, none in the house. We've had young mice other years. They learn there are cats, though. Here is Nutmeg in 2022!

That said, I went out front and looked for evidence of racoons. None. They don't seem to be awake yet. Going out back, I noticed tracks in the snow. I thought about it. They aren't very deep, and the snow was soft. It couldn't be a coyote. I couldn't see the tracks properly in the dark, but they were there.

Hooray for the Crumbly Acres camera. I thought of it as I was in bed reading. I used great restraint to keep reading and knew I would check it out in the morning. Such a search is not good for sleep hygiene! It turns out the fisher came by about 7:40. This is the first time.

Fisher at the feeder from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Here is the cedar corridor in the fall. I trudge through in my snowshoes, and the critters tend to follow my tracks.

Having managed to get down once to the trailcams, we had critters. The deer cross the path, through the rough snow, in the precipitation. At one point the fawn shakes like a dog!

deer cedar corridor from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Saturday's Critters # 529 

Trumpeter Swans

An issue I've heard about is that there are about 13 Trumpeter Swans and 4 cygnets in Almonte, Ontario, not far away on the Mississippi River. What concerns me are people giving away their locations and then people flocking to the location. Good birders don't spread this kind of information around. Bad things happened when we had the Snowy Owl irruption. People begin feeding them to lure them closer, and this is a bad thing. They get used to humans and this habituation does not bode well.

I heard the news on the radio and thought I'd read about it. 

From the Trumpeter Swan Society:

There are three species of swans in North America. The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) and Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus), sometimes known as the Whistling Swan, are native to North America. The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a Eurasian species that has been introduced and now breeds in the wild in some areas. All three are very large all-white birds.

It turns out that these swans were extirpated in Ontario. A few people worked long and hard on a captive breeding program (since 1982) to raise swans from eggs imported from Alaska, to then release them into the wild. We know how important biodiversity is to our flora and fauna. Their only issue was to get them to migrate, which they ended up teaching them with an ultralight and a couple of them figured it out!

Trumpeter swans:

• extirpated due to lead poisoning, overhunting, 
• before they reach sexual maturity, they lose about 60% of their population,
• hunted for feathers, meat, and their foot leather,
• between mid-February and March leave leave to breed in northern wetlands.

A number of them winter near Toronto, but these are unusual. We've Trumpeter Swans here in our area. We've seen them at Narrows Lock. People in our local area have seen them on a nearby lake.

Nine years ago (March, 2019) we spotted these:

Trumpeter swans from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo. 

🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢 🦢

In 2022 the group logged 168 sightings of trumpeter swans in the Ottawa area. That number more than doubled last year to 341.

• Trumpeter Swan Coalition
• How the majestic trumpeter swan was rescued from extinction
• Trumpeter Swan Conservation Ontario

Here we be: February

🌨 January was a month... Not as much rain as last year. We shall see how February stacks up! 

  

😷 I took my BP, 129/87, which is a good number for me. Still feeling vertigo, I'm wondering if it could be something to do with my secondary cataract in my left eye. We have some COVID rapid tests, set to expire today, and I was negative. This is what I thought. It is good to rule out certain things. I am feeling more energy and did some light housework. 

📺 What do you when the weather is poor, and you are feeling poorly? We watched the funeral of our late politician Ed Broadbent. He had a state funeral. He was an amazing man. It was a lovely celebration of life. He enjoyed classical music, and the musicians were amazing at the funeral. He made such a difference in the world.

♭𝄞 Singing at the funeral were terrific musicians. The NAC Orchestra and the Daniel Taylor and The Theatre of Early Music Choir participated, including Heather Lynn, who sang at our wedding. Can you pick her out?! She was my 38-year-old's girlfriend when he was in gr. 12. She was on a full music scholarship in New York the summer after our wedding in 2002. She's married, with a family. A delightful young woman. Daniel Taylor is a well-known counter tenor, with the red hair.

In the evening, I was playing with Cinnamon, and along came Nutmeg. She likes to sit on top of Clown Pants. Cinnamon likes to sit with his head in it, tail sticking out the back! 

It is the best toy!

clown pants from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

There were quite a few deer, including Duke, our wounded buck. He is doing better. He can put weight on his ankle. He avoided the others the first few day, but is hanging out with them now. There was an altercation, and he rose up on his back legs and was whacking away at another buck. 

Duke the buck from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I hope February treats us all well. Good luck to you!