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We hadn’t seen much of mother red squirrel lately, which after the last pregnant photo I took of her.. was a very good thing.
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But she showed up yesterday…
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Looking kind of rough. Motherhood must be taking its toll this time around.
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Now if only I could coordinate her visits with this new addition to the backyard wildlife sightings….
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He could solve all our squirrel problems in one fell swoop.
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The late season Bambi is back and not looking quite so evil this time.
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Eat up little one, winter is coming and you’ve got a lot of pounds to pack on before the white stuff falls.
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The big buck was here as well.
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As was his son from last year whose felt is starting to shed.
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Hard to believe we still have a spotted fawn this late in the year. Makes me worry.
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Fall is here and with such a terribly dry summer the pickings aren’t good.
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The rut will be here shortly.
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And this guy will be very busy.
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Okay, we don’t live in the mountains.
But there was fog over the woodchucks this morning…
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So I’m rolling with it.
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My little fellows are quite used to being served breakfast now.
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Spoiled?
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Maybe just a bit.
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Our resident skunk who visits nightly.
Like everything else around here, he’s ass backwards with a black striped tail and white tip.
Regardless, he’s still a little stinker… and if the tip goes up?
Run.
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Two CH-53E Marine Corps choppers flying over our backyard during some rare state of Maine training.
We lived in the flight pattern of these babies down south when my husband was active duty, and trust me, when they go by? You feel it.
As does your house.. because everything that isn’t nailed down rattles.
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The sunset up the road from our house the other night.
You may ooh and ah at will.
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A sign I bought for the husband’s future barn bar.
Beer.
Making friends more interesting for centuries.
And yes, I mean that literally.
Continue at your own risk.
Remember, you were warned.
And I’m not talking about a little poo. No.
To be precise….
It’s a dozen piles of crap.
On top of our stone wall.
What?
Why?
All along the top of the wall….
Crap.
It looks like skunk to me, although why the little devil feels the need to climb up there and poop every night is beyond me.
It’s happening.
Red squirrel.
And woodchuck.
A common goal.
A shared food source.
An alliance.
Partners….
Synchronizing positions.
I’m doomed.
I got a few of them the other day.
One was how quickly the husband managed to junk up the few clear spaces of big barn floor we’d worked so hard to find.
After all these years it shouldn’t surprise me, but it did.
Here’s a new addition he must have smuggled in when I wasn’t looking.
The next surprise was how he expected me to help him clear floor space in there again because…. are you ready for it?
He was bringing home a pool table.
What?
Where!
And for the love of all that’s holy…. why?
Yes, a pool table.
Where? I have no idea. Because unless it measures 4×6 inches it’s not going to fit.
Why? Because his friend’s wife wanted it gone and it was free.
* Insert giant eye roll here*
So we tried to clear room…
But since the husband won’t part with anything? We just ended up with wider paths.
And if all that wasn’t bad enough….
The final surprise of the day came when he opened the big barn doors and found this:
See it?
A giant squirrel nest.
No more wondering where momma squirrel went.
That bitch has been busy.
You would not believe how much crap tumbled out of that small space.
And btw…. remember how I blamed the baby woodchucks for ripping the stuffing out of my porch furniture?
I was wrong.
There it was, providing fluffy bedding for the revolting red rodent and her brood.
I seriously hate that squirrel.
As any gardener can tell you, things happen.
Flowers don’t bloom, leaves turn brown and sometimes…. things pop up without you having any idea how they got there.
Case in point?
The pots on our back deck.
I swear …..
I didn’t plant that.
But it’s thriving all the same.
So for the past few weeks the half dead mallows that the woodchucks munched to nubs have been soaking up Miracle Grow and sun on my deck table.
They’re coming along, but it’s slow going.
Completely out of reach of little mouths and teeth, they might have a chance.
So when I looked out the window the other day and saw momma woodchuck sniffing around the deck….
Eyeing the plants and poised for action….
I had to laugh.
Stretch all you want.
You and your buck teeth can’t reach them!
Neener, neener.
I have no idea why we have a pair of visiting Mallard ducks this year…
But like all the other critters who venture in….. they’re welcome.
Though the drake’s table manners leave a little to be desired.
Is standing in the dish of deer grain really necessary?
Other times he’s a bit like Caligula.
And eats lying down.
Ducks.
I hope they remember how nice we are to them.
