Our resident fox is feeling comfortable at the buffet.
.
.
They’re such beautiful creatures and I love seeing him trot up from the woods every evening.
.
.
While he comes for the seeds and nuts spilled from the bird feeders, I also feed him mealworms, apples and berries which he loves.
.
.
And small breed, high protein, grain free dry dog food with taurine. It’s the closest I can come to the fox food they sell on UK Amazon but won’t ship to the United States. Boo to that.
I’m hoping if he makes himself at home the law of averages will let him cross paths with a certain… oh so scrumptious… red squirrel who shall remain nameless.
Big momma woodchuck is out of hibernation and stuffing her face at a rapid pace.
.
.
I’d thrown out bread for the birds earlier that morning but when I saw her arrive and start munching, I quickly gave her lettuce instead.
,
.
You know, the head of iceberg lettuce my husband brought home from the store after I specifically wrote “green leaf, red leaf, Boston or romaine…. anything but iceberg!” on the grocery list.
.
.
Even as hungry as momma chuck was….
.
.
She left most of the tasteless crunchy white parts.
You never know what kind of birds will show up at our feeders in the morning.
Cardinals? Check.
Bluebirds? Yup.
Ruby Throated Hummingbirds are back and I saw the first Baltimore Oriole yesterday. But this morning?
.
.
It was a pair of Mallard ducks.
.
.
They’re comical to watch as it’s mating season and the male follows closely behind the female everywhere she goes. She leads him on a merry chase and you know she enjoys it immensely.
Don’t you hate it when someone beats you to the buffet line?
.
.
The only thing you can do is use your superior size to muscle out the competition.
.
.
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.
.
.
One half gone, one to go. Talk about being lopsided.
.
.
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.
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 ….
.
.
Twice.
.
.
That’s just rude.
Lord Dudley Mountcatten was completely uninterested in the visiting wildlife and slept soundly on the couch.
.
.
When I die? I totally want to come back as a cat. These creatures never have insomnia.
.
.
He roused for a moment when he heard the click of the camera…
.
.
And then decided nothing the human was doing was worth disturbing his nap.
Stiff was delightfully bizarre. Gulp was disgusting but fascinating. I admit Spook was a tad disappointing. But now? There’s Fuzz.
.
.
The new Mary Roach book that deals with human animal interaction.
.
.
This book is fun and filled with quirky tidbits I’m going to enjoy sharing. Chapter one finds the author in Canada taking classes with WHART.
WHART. Wildlife-Human Attack Response Training taught by the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service.
First up? Examining mannequins that represent people who were killed/mauled by bear/cougar and trying to determine who did what.
.
.
Ya gotta love Canada.
.
.
Now I’ll never be able to eat a plum without thinking of this. Thanks Mary.
.
.
Tampons. Useful any time of the month apparently.
.
.
Bear print long johns? Geesh. That guy was just asking for it.
There was a large section on bears and bear attacks, which are actually quite rare… so in the interest of public service, I’ll share WHART’s best advice should you ever encounter one in the wild.
If a bear is threat displaying (pawing the ground, huffing) in an effort to intimidate you, it’s a bluff and you should back away slowly while speaking calmly to the animal. Maybe something like, “No worries Mr. Grizzly, this little ole blogger is going to sashay back to her car now and post about her near death experience. Follow my site for an awesome close up of those impressive teeth. Kudos to your dentist by the way, they really are pearly white.”
On the other hand, if the bear is in full predatory attack mode…never run. Open your jacket to look larger, yell, scream, throw rocks, stomp. If the bear starts to charge with his ears flat, you’re the one who needs to look scary. If this happens to me first thing in the morning when I wake up… pre hairdo and makeup? No problem. The bear doesn’t stand a chance.
Legend has it that many years ago the tugboat Portland slowly wound its way up the nearby Cousins River. Its destination was Yarmouth, and its purpose was to provide a place for good food, drink, and hospitality. A harsh nor’easter besieged the boat at its mooring and strong winds grounded and overturned her. The restaurant is built on that site.
But wait…. as we were sipping our adult beverages something was spotted outside.
.
.
Do you see it?
.
.
My iPhone camera doesn’t do him justice, but that’s one very chill seal slowly floating by on a chunk of rapidly melting ice.
.
.
Wedge salad and clam chowder later…
.
.
He was still floating. Though he’d flipped over on his stomach and turned to face foward.
.
.
Fried scallops and a stuffed haddock with sherry lobster cream sauce later? He was gone, and we were full. Just another average day on the Maine coast….
.
Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 