Tag Archives: backyard

Oh deer.

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Don’t you hate it when someone beats you to the buffet line?

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The only thing you can do is use your superior size to muscle out the competition.

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Or so I’ve heard.

The next two pictures aren’t the best quality…blame my zoom lens and our resident buck’s propensity for showing up at dusk…. but I thought someone might be interested to see the antler shedding process.

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One half gone, one to go. Talk about being lopsided.

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Right after the shed. What’s left are big boney bumps with an active blood flow.

It always looks painful to me, but I’m assured it’s not. Though how any anter-less naturalist can vouch for that I don’t know.

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You know you’ve had a lot of rain when…..

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As I mentioned before, spring has brought an abundance of showers to my little corner of Maine. As proof…. I offer the new visitors who dropped by this week.

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A pair of mallard ducks who’ve made our backyard puddle their temporary home.

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We had ducks as pets years ago and I’ve always enjoyed watching them. They’re quite comical.

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But this pair is wild and flies off if they spot me. So for now, this is as close as my zoom lens will get me.

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What’s at the end of your rainbow?

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Winter in Maine was virtually nonexistent this year. One good snow storm and enough wind to blow down even the sturdiest of little piggy houses was about it. Now that spring is starting to emerge what we are having is rain.

Lots of rain. Rain every other day. And while that can be a bit depressing….

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It’s hard to argue with the beauty it leaves behind.

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I don’t know why, but we’re blessed with killer rainbows at Casa River. And even though there’s no pot of gold at the end…

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There is a cat…. which is the next best thing.

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😊

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Rude deer and a cute cat.

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A group of deer came up the other morning and since they rarely show in good light I grabbed my phone for a few pictures. If you look closely you’ll see the same doe sticks out her tongue ….

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Twice.

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That’s just rude.

Lord Dudley Mountcatten was completely uninterested in the visiting wildlife and slept soundly on the couch.

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When I die? I totally want to come back as a cat. These creatures never have insomnia.

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He roused for a moment when he heard the click of the camera…

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And then decided nothing the human was doing was worth disturbing his nap.

❤️

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Backyard training grounds

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We have a young Coopers hawk who enjoys using our backyard bird feeders as a training ground for hunting. He’s not very adept at capture yet, but he sure does give it the old college try.

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He also drives Lord Dudley Mountcatten completely insane. The poor feline is confused. It’s a bird, so he’s fascinated. But it’s a predator, so he’s scared.

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It’s only a matter of time before blood and feathers will be scattered on the ground.

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And while that’s hard to take….

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Hawks really are beautiful creatures.

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And deserve to eat just like the rest of us.

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More sad animal facts.

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As I said, my crazy calendar hasn’t been nearly crazy enough to suit me, but here are a few more tidbits from March.

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I see nothing wrong with this abnormality. Heck… it would saved me quite a few miserable nights when I was a foolish teenager who over indulged on T J Swan wine.

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Comparison of drawing to actual rabbit?

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They nailed the ears, but otherwise it looks like a bloated tick with whiskers.

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This is very true…. and if I could find my backyard video when I literally bumped into a skunk, I’d prove it. They really do look like little gymnasts when they’re pissed.

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Comparison of drawing to actual skunk?

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The tail is too small, the head is too big and we still have the bloated tick issue.

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Spring is officially on its way…

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Every morning for the past week I’ve woken up to honking. Not inner city traffic and pissed off commuters, but honking all the same.

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Canada geese are on their way north, and the river behind our house is a veritable goose super highway. No need for an alarm clock when these fellows are overhead…. they’re loud!

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Large groups and small, for the first hour after dawn the sky is full of travelers.

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A raucous and sure sign spring is on the way.

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❤️

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The herd

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Saturday afternoon, the deer and the snow showed up at the same time.

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Our two little bowls of sweet grain don’t last long with a herd of 13 and there’s always a good deal of jostling for position. This includes outright kicking.

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It’s hard to tell, but our buck has finally lost part of his rack.

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And as the alpha male he usually gets a bowl to himself.

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For your viewing pleasure, deer tv.

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