Porcupine, Fawns and Turkeys – A Winter Woodland Celebration
In late October, I woke to a landscape glittering and bright in the golden sun of daybreak. It was the first snow of the season, and this particular day was my birthday. Through the window, from the warmth of my bed, I watched a rabbit making tracks as our Newf, Shamus, ate frosted crabapples straight from the tree. The view made me cheerful for the first time in a long while.
Return of the Porcupine, an Apple Fest
Last week, as I told of My Unlikely Encounter with a Porcupine, we left off with this darling, quilly little girl trotting through the deep woods as I skipped home filled with wonderment at our chance meeting. But that’s not the end of the story…
On an overcast Saturday afternoon, a dark, waddling shadow under the apple trees caught my husband Tim’s eye. “Hey. You’re friend is back!”
I ran to the window. There she was, face-first in a shiny, red, fallen apple on the lawn, circling around it as she ate, not a care in the world. Unable to hold onto the fruit, she sank her long teeth into the ruby red flesh, re-angling for every bite. When only a bright white core was left, she abandoned it for the next apple. Continue reading
An Unlikely Encounter with a Porcupine
It was October 18th, 2011. The sun played peek-a-boo, ducking behind passing clouds and cheekily popping out again like a gleeful child. Bulbous shadows floated across the lawn in tandem with their fluffy white counterparts above. I absorbed the sights as if they were harmonious sounds, the clouds providing a strong bass line as melodious bursts of golden light trickled through the pines.
Then she arrived, hopping and bopping through this symphonic space like a tuba in the strings section. From a distance, she looked like a ground hog, or perhaps a beaver. But, no. She was a beautiful little porcupine.
Climbing the hill toward the house, she took a turn past the dog yard – which sent the dogs into an ear piercing cacophony. When she redirected, I grabbed my camera and followed with a wide birth letting the zoom bridge the gap.
Black Bear! What Do We Do?!
The house rattled and creaked as the wind pushed and pulled, searching for a way in beyond the logs. Crisp brown leaves whizzed past the windows, illuminated only by the lamplight inside. The feeder swayed back and forth from it’s hook, metal grinding on metal. The cedar trellis whipped from side to side. From under my my chocolate knit afghan, as I sat with the dogs basking in the warmth of the fire, I lazily thought, I need to tighten those trellis screws.
In the flurry of all that commotion, something caught Jed’s attention. The curious cat ascended the couch, planted his face in the window and stared into the darkness. Then he started to pace.
Squirrel? I thought. We hear them trotting across the roof some nights. They use the trellis to reach the closest feeder with solid footing. I welcomed the thought.
Postal System Carries New Message: Stamp Out Wildlife Loss!
The U.S. Postal Service was flooded with letters, calls and emails all containing a single message: Let’s stamp out wildlife loss! Not only was that message delivered loud and clear, the U.S. Postal Service response was filled with pride as they answered the call.
You can now support wildlife conservation by purchasing the Save Vanishing Species semi-postal stamp at your local post office and online. According to the Wildlife Conservation Society:
The First Class stamp, which features a tiger cub illustration, costs 55 cents. Net proceeds – a total of 11 cents from the sale of each stamp – will go to tiger, rhino, great ape, marine turtle, and elephant conservation projects, including several led by WCS. These projects are supported by the Multinational Species Conservation Funds, which is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Send a little gift to wildlife. A sheet of 20 Save Vanishing Species stamps costs just $11. To learn more about this stamp and how it supports wildlife, or to purchase a sheet, visit the postal store!
Happy Feet Penguin: Go High [Tech] and Go Home!
JOURNEY OF THE BODY AND OF THE MIND
Traveling to a foreign land is often an exciting adventure. When I volunteered in Ghana (summer ’08), I was constantly stimulated by new experiences. At the same time, I quickly discovered that my mind equated each new sight, smell and sound with things already familiar to me. Clearly, this reaction is not unique. When Gunadiish, my Ghanaian guide, took his first journey to the US (winter ’09), his reaction as his big, black, borrowed glove sifted through the crisp, white, drifting snow was, “Snow looks like sand!” It seems this type of association happens with animals too.
Injured Bird Care Guide from Badger Run
Window Alert on Amazon.com (affiliate link)
Bird strikes were fairly common at our house until I found these pretty, little WindowAlerts on Amazon (affiliate link) that debunk the illusions of continuous skies and limbs with reflective UV reflective decals. Still, there are times when a decal won’t cut it.
My husband Tim will never forget the red-tail hawk who, in pursuit of a small bird, crashed head-first into our sunroom door, fell to the ground with the bird still in its talons, flew off to recover – hopefully. The feather dust left a perfect outline on our window for weeks. Another, not-so-lucky hawk, flew into our kitchen window under the same circumstances and broke his neck, sadly alive and struggling until it expired.
Wildlife Abduction: Put the Baby Down and Step Away!
AN UNFORTUNATE PREDICAMENT
A rugged young man with tousled red hair picks at the callouses on his hands. His fast-rocking foot threatens to disengage from his ankle. Searching the man sitting calmly behind the desk, his voice trembles as he asks, ”How will I know if he’s okay? Can I call later? Can you call me?” He has just delivered an injured duckling.
The man behind the desk is Mike Pratt, Rehabilitator & Director of Wildlife Services at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter, Bainbridge Island, WA. This is 1 of 2 ducklings delivered to him in less than an hour.
Wild Animals: The Next Generation
Spring sprung at our house but, with so much rain this season, who’s been outside long enough to notice? This weekend, the nice weather on Curtis Hill changed all that. Aside from pulling up 500 pounds of weeds, we found plenty of little critters growing like them all around the property.
ROBINS
Look who’s taken up residence in our Rhododendron! Four baby robins hatched so recently, only one is old enough to open his little eyes. They’re growing so fast, just ” being” exhausts them. What’s the one thing they do muster some energy for? Each time the wind blows, these little babies enthusiastically snap their big, hungry mouths open thinking their mother has landed on a nearby branch with a fat, juicy worm.
Mexican Riviera Cruise: Dolphins Party with Margarita Mariners
Bottomless Margaritas flow freely as our small boat heads back to Puerto Vallarta from Yelapa. The party only gets better when hundreds of dolphins come to play.
Heading straight for us, they surround the sides of the boat, dive under and come up to see the people on the bow. Smiling for the camera, they come straight for – and playfully duck under – the boat’s photographer whose legs dangle in the water.
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