This Is Kind Of Fun..

Otis Jan. 4th. 

I didn't sleep well last night so I was up at 5:00 am. Unheard of if you are retired. I watched a couple of TV shows and laid back down around 7ish. I woke up it was almost 9:30.. horrifying. My wildlife crew were waiting for me. I'm usually out and have filled up the feeders and bowls by 8:30. 

Otis is a funny thing. He isn't as hungry as scruffy and scrappy. He decided this morning to take the peanuts and bury them in the snow. I tried to snap a few photos of that but with the digital and the time delay I just couldn't manage it. It was funny to see him bury each one in the snow, then sit and wipe off his face. I never realized until the last few weeks how much squirrels wipe their faces. They use both front paws/hands and rub from front to back several times. LOL Almost as though they are slicking back their hair. Hmmm maybe they are.. anyway. Otis spent his peanut time burying them. 

Scrappy Jan 4th

On the other hand, Scrappy, ate everything he found. If you look closely you will see that Scrappy is missing some fur. The fur around his back end is longer. Scruffy has no hair except for tufts here and there and his tail. At first we were concerned this was mange. Nasty and very contagious. When I realized that Scruffy was not the only squirrel with the condition it really made us concerned. I was hoping for a severe flea infestation, and only for the reason that with the cold the fleas would die and the squirrels would get back their coats and be normal looking again. The hair seems to be growing back well. So we are hoping Scruffy's is also. I've not seen him for a day or so. He is smaller then the other squirrels and they chase him constantly. I wish I could make him a little squirrel sweater so he would be warm. I know, I just think stuff like that sometimes. I'm hoping to see him later today. He shows up after the other squirrels leave. 

This is Tank.. 

As you can see Tank has ample fat supplies for this winter. He was the first squirrel I saw at our feeders. I haven't seen him lately. I think because he's so fat he can't waddle over here through the snow. I took this photo of him in Nov. I'm not worried about him a bit. He fits right in with this family for sure. 

I think I see Milo, Otis' brother/maybe sister, he is a tail waver. His tail waves a mile a minute. I'm sure it's some kind of communication system. I know squirrels will chatter at you when you tick them off, or irritate them. Milo seems to be irritated a lot. He may be the main guard squirrel. 

Hmmm I've been watching "Amish Mafia" I wonder if there is a Squirrel Mafia.. Tank is the head guy, then Milo and Otis are the security team. Leaving Scruffy and Scrappy to keep other intruding squirrels away from the peanuts. LOL  I'll leave that all for you to mull over. Squirrel Mafia or Not, I really enjoy watching all the birds and squirrels come in and enjoy the snack. I know Scruffy sits and eats till it's all gone. He is so hungry. I'm glad we decided to feed them this year. You may want to make one of your "photo A Day" ideas some of your local wildlife. Family pets, birds, livestock. all would make a great project for a week or a month of photos. It's great fun and relaxing to watch them too. Hope you have fun and relax today too.. 

Our Special Girls

These are our special girls.. This one is Sissy.. She and Rosie (see pic below) are our special little girls... They are JackRats.. LOL Husband refers to them as our Jackrats.. they are Jack Russel Terrier/ Dad.. and Mom is Rat Terrier... They love to look out the window and watch for squirrels LOL they love to tree squirrels.. bark at them, well I guess that is treeing them.. and chase them. They are squirrel nuts... or should I say " nuts for squirrels... Husband started working with them as 8 week old pups.. Now I won't guarantee that they would go hunting and tree them in the woods.. thought I don't know why they wouldn't... but they tree them all the time here.. They are on leashes.. We've had 3 dogs hit and killed here.. we are on a Hwy.. where folks drive between 60-80 mph. that and log trucks spell disaster for anything that doesn't have the good sense to stay out of the road.. We lost our Dixie the last time we were here.. and had to have our old Joe dog euthanized only 3 weeks later.. We heard about these two girls.. they were the only pups in the litter.. and they were both girls. We were very Leary of getting another dog.. but we've never been without at least two.. so we went to check them out.. we were just looking for one dog.. and I wasn't so sure we needed one right after the devastating loss of Dixie.. only a year old.. and Joe.. 14yrs.. But we went.. both these girls came bounding out of the house with their mom.. we played with them for a while.. then went across the road to see their dad.. he was a fine looking fellow and very friendly and a great hunter.. We left telling them we'd let them know in a few days.. well on the way back to the cabin Husband asked what I thought about getting them both.. I wasn't sure about one, let alone two.. but we talked about how having both dogs would give them each a playmate, someone to sleep with.. I really didn't want to go through the crying for mom all night.. the decision was made and we took both girls.. It was the best decision. Our Vet said Puppies are always better in twos.. LOL I think it's just cause he gets double the money for everything.. LOL but I think he was right.. they slept together, played together, console each other.. and tag team any animal that gets in their way.. they are really our special little girls..

Wild visitors drop by all the time..

This is the first little fellow that drops by on most days.. there are 2 or three that live in the woods behind our cabin. We have Walnut trees.. several of them.. up by the cabin.. also a hickory tree.. it's fun to watch these little guys run up the mowed path from the woods to the Gymnasium foundation where the nuts are tossed.. they sit on the foundation, in the surrounding trees. and on stumps.. they eat the walnuts, take them back to their home, or plant them in the yard.. we have about 10 walnut trees that came into being this way.. :-)
There are also a little bunch of squirrels that live across the road.. I worry about them running across the road.. one little fellow lost his battle the other day to a vehicle. I tell them often to stay on their side of the road.. or to stop and watch for traffic.. like typical kids, they don't listen..

Another of the squirrels that come to visit.. I thought of naming them. I name most of our frequent visitors. Unfortunately to me all the squirrels look alike.. no distinguishing tattoos, haircuts, or clothing.. so they are just "one of the squirrels"...

The pictures of the deer are just two of many. They were taken a couple of years ago. Due to "blue tongue" and the ice storm this past winter, many of our deer died. Not to worry there are still plenty of deer in the area.. just not walking through our yard anymore.
at one time we could watch as many as 50 deer wander through our yard in the evenings. they stopped to nibble on the mowed grass, and eat some salt. I did name one of the deer one spring.. Crazy Larry.. I loved Larry.. he was not quite right.. he would buck and jump and fall over.. he would run through water splashing and chase the neighbors dog.. Larry was tolerated by the others. they would watch out for him. I never did see any of the others play with him.. I guess he was not very popular in the deer circles. I would love to be Larry's friend.. he knew how to have fun...

Yep, the wild ones come to visit.. we have turkey, owls, hawks, fox, deer, coyotes, squirrels, all kinds of birds and the occasional dog.. We even woke up one morning to find two young steers in the yard.. they had escaped their home down the road. It was quite funny to see this city girl try to help the farmer round up his cows. LOL well, at least I tried..