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We’ve had a banner crop of grey squirrels this year.
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I know people hate them because they eat the bird seed, but I love watching their acrobatics.
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And they can shimmy up a pole faster than any stripper.
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Our guys are well fed.
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And don’t even bother burying anything for winter.
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😊
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten is a fair weather cat. He doesn’t like heat, humidity, wind, rain, cold, fog or snow. Summer is too hot for backyard walkies, winter is too cold.
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But fall? When the leaves are turning and the air is crisp and cool?
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He’s totally down with that.
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And gets so frisky he thinks he can climb trees.
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Which he really can’t. Most of the time he just sits in them looking puzzled.
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Oh, he tries.
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But more often than not, he gets stuck.
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And requires careful plucking from between the branches.
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He’s awfully cute when he does it though.
😊
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It’s been squirrel central at Casa River lately.
Our beef feeder pole is out in the open, and with our resident hawk patrolling the skies we usually only have a single squirrel show up to nosh.
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Seven is a record.
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But after something scared the others away one brave little guy took advantage.
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I know people hate squirrels because they eat the bird seed, but we’re equal opportunity feeders here and all critters are welcome.
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I enjoy watching their gymnastic performances.
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Rats with bushy tails?
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Maybe.
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But they’re still sweeties.
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We have a few nice bucks visiting this fall.
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Sometimes with a companion skunk.
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As long as stinky doesn’t get too close the buck doesn’t seem to mind.
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It’s hunting season so I’m always worried about these guys, even though our property and our neighbors is posted.
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A deer’s home range is usually one square mile and while our neighbor’s properties on both sides are 4 times bigger than ours… that still leaves us about 600 acres short of a safe from bullets zone.
😥
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We have anywhere from two to six raccoons show up nightly now.
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I think this is the same family that discovered our buffet when they were babies.
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We’ve watched them grow up…
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And, out.
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As they are a wee bit rotund these days.
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❤️
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The skunks beat the fox.
Now the raccoons are beating the skunks.
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It’s first come first serve at River’s critter buffet.
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Though the deer are lucky… as no one else wants their grain.
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Three deer and three raccoons.
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All are welcome.
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But I really enjoy watching these little devils tussle and push each other out of the way for the best spots.
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❤️
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Our night time visitors include deer, fox, opossums, skunks and raccoons. I put out a bowl of water and critter specific food but they all nibble the bird seed that spills on the ground.
All of them except this fellow.
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Who prefers his straight from the source.
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You wouldn’t think his chunky little butt could shimmy up that pole, but he climbs it with ease.
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https://youtu.be/FL8DFR3lok4?feature=shared
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Of course coming down isn’t quite as smooth.
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🤣
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Pardon the photo quality, I was taking pics through the window and the kitchen light was throwing reflections.
And why isn’t WP letting me embed videos anymore? That’s annoying.
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We’re down to one single woodchuck now.
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Momma and the other 3 siblings have departed the pattern…
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But this little guy knows a good thing when he sees (and eats) it.
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😊
Saw this the other day and had to do a double take.
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And while it’s absolutely true, I had to wonder if it also looks like anyone we know….?
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❤️
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Along with our extremely dry, drought ravished lawn?
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A pair of young bucks.
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They’ve been coming for a nightly nosh since they were born and are now sprouting their first sets of velveted horns.
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Adolescent male deer will stay together until they’re ready to rut.
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Then it’s every deer for himself.
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Our lawn has turned brown from the troubling lack of rain, but that doesn’t stop our nightly critter visitors.
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Skunks and raccoons are usually not a good mix…
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But these guys make it work.
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There are five trash pandas here…
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And this family has been coming since they were babies.
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I rarely get photos because they arrive after dark but here’s a quick clip to give you an idea.
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💕
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River's world..... 