Flora and Fauna – Summer 2013
Every year when we return to our Summer Estate, the plants and animals have a slightly different dynamic. While they are generally the same species, some have expanded and grown and others have been substantially reduced. And there are often brand new things. We have some flowers which even Mrs.T has not yet identified, although she is sure she planted them.
In her story R neglects to mention Woody Woodpecker, or rather Mr. and Mrs. Woodpecker. We seem to have a pair of pileated woodpeckers in residence somewhere in our woods. They both flew in the other day and now we know what they sound like, sort of a 'Yuk, Yuk, Yuk', in addition to the jackhammer sound they can make when working on a tree.
Well the flora is doing pretty well, In spite of a dry spell. The summer flowers are out now. And everything is coming up roses (The $3 ones from Big Lots; Mrs.T does not like the wild variety. – dt) and peonies and daisies and iris. Everything we got at two plant swaps and a few plant sales - not to mention some roadside flowers which may have jumped into my car as I drove past! (I will disavow any knowledge of the woman to the sheriff. -dt) - are all planted and seem to be doing pretty well. The only down side is that the poison ivy is also doing pretty well in spite of the fact that I sprayed it. I usually do not spray a lot of things, but in the case of poison ivy I make an exception. (Some variety of Roundup, I think she is going for Agent Orange next. –dt)
The fauna seem to be doing well too but I am not sure that is always a good thing. This seems to be a banner year for turtles. I found one walking through the underbrush and brought her home and set her down by my pond and she immediately jumped in. I called her Myrtle. After a few weeks Dan told me that either she had grown a lot or I had two turtles. He has a better eye for things like this so I watched her for several weeks and I thought he might be right. I was not sure until the day I saw both of them together. The newcomer I named Yurtle. Meanwhile the fishies had been coming up every morning when I fed them and frolicking about, much to my delight. Unfortunately it was too good to last.
The first unwanted visitor was a barred owl. (I was lucky to get a decent photo. –dt) He sat looking thoughtfully over my pond for several days. I feared that he had designs on my fish but they did not seem concerned and I didn't catch him making threatening moves. Research on the internet showed that he did not eat fish but did like frogs and snakes. Well I have so many frogs I was willing to donate one or two and many of you know my feelings about snakes. (Barred owls often nest in holes made by woodpeckers. –dt)
Speaking of which, a few days later I saw two water snakes in my pond. The first one was an adult about 18 inches long and the second was a baby maybe 1 inch long. At first I thought the baby was a very thin tadpole. But it was definitely a tiny snake. I thought it odd that there was only one but I suppose the babies live a precarious existence. I told the water snake to go away but he dived under the water and hid beneath a lily pad. I have seen these snakes a few times but they know I don't like them, they eat the small fish, and hide a lot. I was feeding the fish a few mornings later when "EEEK!!" a rather large blacksnake - about 4 feet long- stuck up his head, looked at me, and crawled away. I have several times seen either him or his brother lounging about when I have been planting and weeding. It is always the same. I give forth a loud "EEK!!" and the blacksnake leaves. Dan says snakes are our friends but I am not buying it. (They take care of rodents. –dt)
I was quite happy with all the animals in the pond - well at least most. I have loads of frogs and salamanders, many little goldfish, four big fish, and two turtles. I went one morning to feed everybody - they all eat fish food - when suddenly I was dived at by a rather large bird. "Who are you? Get away!" I shouted. And after I waved my arms about and drove him off I identified my assailant. OH NO!! A KINGFISHER!! I stared in dismay at the pond. Not a creature in sight! Could that bird have possibly eaten them all? I did not feed the fish that day, not wanting to lure anyone to the beak of doom. The next day it was the same thing. I was attacked by the kingfisher and there were no creatures. I chased the bird from tree to tree shouting rude things at it. In the afternoon when I came out the bird was perched sulkily on a tree near the pond but did not attack me. I chased him around waving a long stick at him and finally the kingfisher flew away. I threw out some fish food but no fish came out, only a few salamanders and Myrtle. I waited quite a while but finally went back to the house unsure who if anyone had survived.
Dan told me that the fish were OK, just hiding under the lily pads. And of course he was at least partially right. Slowly, as the days pass they sneak out a few at a time but they are clearly traumatized. The frogs and salamanders have recovered completely. They are swimming around, sitting on lily pads, eating fish food as if nothing had ever happened. And the Kingfisher, thank goodness, has not returned.
And as for the turtles, one day I found Yurtle, on the bank of the pond laying eggs! I am so excited!! If those dratted snakes and raccoons don't find the nest, which so far they have not, in a couple of months we will have baby turtles. Hurrah!! We saw a couple of other turtles crossing our driveway but aside from pushing them out of the way we left them to their own devises. Dan said the one he saw was absolutely enormous. (It was at least 12 inches in diameter. –dt)(Mrs. T discovered that this was about the height of egg-laying season. –dt)
Speaking of raccoons we do have a raccoon problem. We store the fish food in a metal trash can on our porch. Unfortunately the raccoon is under the impression that it is raccoon food and resents the fact that we do not serve it up each night on a silver platter. It did not take him long to learn to pry up the lid and then he would simply crawl in the can and chow down. Dan produced a bungee cord which I stretched between the handles so that Mr. R could not pull the lid off. This worked for a few days. Mr. R never got the lid completely off but he did pry up one side so he could reach in his little paw and bring out the food. After I got up three times in one night to chase Mr. R, Dan decided to take over. Not only was he (the raccoon, not me. –dt) eating my fish food but to add insult to injury there was a small circle of pee where Mr R had marked the porch as his territory. I got out the Fabuloso and scrubbed the porch. I tried to get Dan to pee on it but for some reason he refused. "I am going to fasten that bungee cord so there is no way that raccoon can get it off!" Dan declared. Implying, I thought, that it was my fault that Mr. R kept getting at the fish food. (Of course it was; she had not tightened it enough. –dt) I must admit, I was a tiny bit pleased when I walked out the next morning to see the lid off the trash can. "There is no way he could have unfastened it," Dan muttered as I led him to the porch. Well in fact he did not. Mr. R had chewed entirely through the bungee cord to get to the fish food. That night we locked the fish food inside the garage. After some thought, Dan got a steel bicycle cord. "Let's see if he can chew through that!" Dan exclaimed triumphantly. So far he has not. (He may have died from intestinal blockage. –dt) But in my mind's eye I see Mr. R every night while we sleep, patiently turning the dials to try and get the combination. And when he does all bets are off.
Some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157634088590980/ You will notice that Flickr has changed its format; I hope you can navigate through it okay. Also, the pictures are in reverse order; my fault.
You will see in the pictures that Mrs.T managed to do a puzzle between planting flowers and feeding the fish; perhaps it will be added to the collection at the Winter Residence.
Also, we attended a very nice get-together at the house/studio/farm of Paul, Nora, and Ruby. We had a great time – good people, good food, good conversation, and good art. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
A bit wetter weather came through and the plants and pond appreciated it. Hope your summer is full of sunshine, not too hot, and not too humid.
Dan and Rebecca
www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
