Tag Archives: maine

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Misc. wildlife.

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All kinds of critters are showing up for the evening buffet at Casa River.

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Some of them a tad more odiferous than others.

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I wish it was still legal in Maine to de-scent a skunk and have one for a pet. A friend of mine did that back in the day and the little fluff ball was wonderful. Affectionate, playful and litter box trained. More than I can say for some of my friend’s husbands now that I think about it.

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Baby chucks are always the first to pounce. Carrots, apples, lettuce, melon and blueberries? Love them.

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Spinach, celery and strawberries? Won’t touch them.

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We have one young lone deer showing up for grain a few times a week.

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We probably won’t see the herd back until fall.

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Let’s play.

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Admit it. You have nothing better to do right now…

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Seeing that our yard/property is covered in flowers instead of vegetables and the pear tree, apple trees, and blueberry bushes aren’t ready to harvest yet ….

I’m going to have to go with woodchuck.

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Kidding!

( But with all the fruit I feed them, they’d probably be sweet. )

So what’s on your dinner table tonight?

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What’s blooming?

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This week at the Casa River gardens…

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Pink Astible. Guaranteed woodchuck proof, they hate it.

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A new hot pink bee balm I just planted. Dark red and purple are common, this one is as bright as a peony.

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My little rose is hanging in, but not quite as full as previous years. Fertilizer is on the shopping list.

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The geraniums are wonderful this year. Our local nursery is about to have a half price sale. This could be dangerous.

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A line of Stella Doro day lilies. Smaller than other varieties but still a nice burst of color.

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In which his Lordship searches for woodchucks.

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While Lord Dudley Mountcatten prefers watching squirrels and birds, the abundance of baby woodchucks scampering around the royal landscape can be perplexing. He spots them, but then they scurry into a hole.

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Usually this hole, which is really more of a tunnel dug under a burning bush after we removed a dead cedar.

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His Lordship is a patient soul and knows they’ll pop their heads up sooner or later.

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Catching them? Well that’s a whole other issue.

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After he sees one, he searches everywhere.

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Sorry buddy. I don’t think they’re in there…

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News you can’t use.

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Because it’s so much more interesting than news you can.

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That’s good to know. I’m tired of worrying about Covid anyway.

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Why the alarm? I think they sound perfectly delightful.

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Yes, I’m here to tell you first hand… it most definitely is happening. On the plus side, this is the first time I’ve been glad I came up allergic to lobster 9 years ago.

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Of course she did. I would expect nothing less.

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Mr. Happy? How can you tell….

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And is it me…. or is this one of those owners who starts to resemble their pet?

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There’s no such thing as free money.

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The husband and I each received a check in the mail the other day.

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No, it’s not another round of Covid stimulus money. It’s a distribution from what is apparently a huge stash of surplus tax revenue.

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Every Maine resident received them and while extra money is always nice, it does make me wonder why there was such a huge surplus to begin with. Clearly our taxes are too high and to be honest… I’d much rather they reduce that burden then send everyone a check. Or they could fix the roads and bridges. Or build affordable housing. Or expand the heating oil assistance program. With the current price of fuel, winter will break a lot of people.

And if you’re wondering how that money will be used at Casa River?

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It will try to slake the never ending thirst of our twin oil tank beasts. And at just over $5 a gallon? Both checks combined won’t come anywhere near to filling them.

😫

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Waking up to a horror.

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Warning- disturbing, graphic images of a dead animal ahead.

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Still here? Okay then…

I woke up the other morning and thought I saw something strange on the front lawn. Still in my pajamas, I asked the husband to investigate. He came back inside with a strange look and a reticence to tell me what he’d found. After much shuffling of feet and stalling.. he told me Momma woodchuck had been killed.

I couldn’t believe it. She’s a tough old lady and I literally watched her chase off a fox last year.

Much as I didn’t want to, I had to see for myself.

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Poor thing.

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Something… coyote? fisher?… had ripped it apart. But as awful as it was, I told my husband the good news. It wasn’t momma chuck.

He thought I was nuts and proceeded to deal with the corpse. He said I couldn’t possibly tell one woodchuck from another … but I knew.

And a few hours later?

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Momma chuck and her baby enjoying some leftover deer grain.

Silly man. He should never doubt my ability to identify the critters I feed.

❤️

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