For once, our small town’s Facebook page rose above the petty gossip and backstabbing and actually came in handy. Last night, along with the usual lost pig notices… there was a report of a dump truck flipping over, taking out a power line and closing the main road. This was helpful since my husband’s car had overheated and left him stranded on I-295. Knowing about the closure in advance saved me taking the out of the way detour.
Of course the page also had some other gems.
Rent a goat! There’s a start up sure to make a fortune.
Heck, they love to eat…
Are easy to transport….
And give great back massages.
How could you lose?
Then there was this:
Someone wants to cook pie for me?
That can’t be bad.
And finally, there was this heartfelt thank you note…
Moral of that story?
If you live in the country, always carry carrots and apples.
Remember a while ago I posted a picture of the sunflower seeds the chipmunk from Hell had planted in my petunias… and how they were growing?
Well over the past few weeks they grew tall and budded, and then started disappearing. One by one… shredded, stripped of leaves, and gone.
I’ve seen a few grasshoppers, so I thought maybe that was the reason.
How pathetic is that?
One lone stalk remained.
Then I woke up this morning and saw….
A woodchuck…
On the table.
That’s something I hadn’t seen before.
First there was a little pole dancing….
Then he got down to business.
So now I know why there won’t be any blooming sunflowers this season.
He made short work of it and left me this…
As well as this…
Yes, I could have yelled and scared him off, but I admit … I laughed instead.
We’ve had woodchucks all year and they haven’t touched a single plant, shrub or flower. Which if you’ve ever had woodchucks, you know is highly unusual.
So I let the little devil have the sunflower.
The fact that he can even get his fat butt up on the table to begin with is comical and worth the price of a sunflower to view.
Hanging over everything like a gentle blanket of white…
In some places there was a sharp delineation.
As if it cut by a knife.
But as it started to lift…
I looked way out into the back yard by the woods and saw…
A piner!!
I did!
And in the 17 years we’ve lived here?
Not one single porcupine sighting… until now.
There’s elusive creatures, solitary by nature. Shy, quiet and slow… but apparently willing to high five in Philly.
(I totally need to visit Philly now, damn it.)
Sadly, while we see plenty of them dead on the side of the road…. we’ve never seen one at our house since the majority of our property is open lawn or field and they prefer the wooded areas.
So… a piner!!
I was thrilled… and attempted to creep across the back lawn to get a better picture. Naturally, I don’t creep well and he spotted me….. and shimmied down the tree before I could get close.
But I saw a piner on our property and have blurry photos to prove it.
First there were woodchuck babies, then catbird babies (although that didn’t end well) , a quick glimpse of a fox baby, and fawns! Finally… fawns.
But now?
We have skunk babies!!
Simply too much cuteness.
Adorable little critters!
I wasn’t able to film or photograph the funniest part because it was too dark, and that’s a shame because the husband and I had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard.
Our deer came up to feed and those three little fellas chased her all over the yard. In a line… one, two, three… like a little skunk locomotive.
For 20 straight minutes they wouldn’t let her near the food, no matter how she tried.
River's world..... 