MORE FROM MRS. NATURE
The Muse has written about nature in and about our Philo residence extensively. And it might seem repetitious. But really each season it is exciting to see the new denizens – either different critters or newborns. Eventually seeing a deer becomes a bit routine, but it is still interesting.
Mrs.T says our house is similar to a hunting blind. We do indeed have nearly a 360 view if one moves from room to room. Another feature that helps is our windows. From the outside our energy efficient windows are almost opaque for many animals. And our house is nearly soundproof with the windows down, again making it difficult for animals to detect us watchers. They might see movement or feel vibration, but otherwise we do not disturb most of them.
Rebecca did not mention the pileated woodpeckers, the humming birds, or the phoebes. Mostly she did not mention the flora. Perhaps she is leaving that for a part 2. No blind is required to observe the flora. And they are much easier to photograph.
Which brings me to an important note. I thank my wife for the kind comments regarding my greater photography skill. But alas, there actually are no photos with this post. Due to some technical issues with a new computer – you may recall the last one succumbed to a five-finger discount while we were in Mexico – and with new Flickr linkages, I was unable to get the photos uploaded in time for this post. And as R related, those animals just will not stand still. Perhaps we will have a supplement latter.
On to musings:
Our house is like a hunting blind in the woods. It is in the middle of a clearing in our forest and we can look out of the windows on almost every side and see different animals passing by. It is a refuge and we both enjoy it a lot.
This week we saw a tiny baby deer following its mother as she grazed. The baby kept trying to nurse when the mother stayed in one place. When she moved it had to trot to keep up. (It was so young that it barely could hobble. –dt) There was another small deer with them. The mother kept chasing it away. I wondered if it might be last year's fawn. Usually the mothers leave their fawns in a 'nest'. I don't know if this one refused to be left or what, but it was the tiniest white tail deer I have ever seen.
After that a fat old groundhog waddled by. Nothing particularly special there but they always seem to be so cheerful that you can't help liking them unless you are a farmer and they are eating your soybeans or making holes in your fields.
My pond is doing well this year. We can watch it from our patio. I have loads of fish; at least three turtles; lots of frogs of different kinds; many salamanders; tadpoles galore; and Mr. Snake. The fish don't like me very much right now. Yesterday we cleaned out the cistern and dumped a lot of mucky water in the pond. When I took out their fish food and yelled, "Here fish. Here fish", they turned up their fishy noses and swam away.
The turtles however had no such scruples. They immediately stuck their heads up and started chomping. The turtles like fish food about as much as I like potato chips. They are just about as noisy as I am with chips; go figure. The exciting news is this: Myrtle is at it again. I found two nests that I hope contain baby turtle eggs. In fact the turtles have become much more outgoing. The other day I was trying to move the waterfall pump - by poking it with a stick- when I slipped on the rocks and fell into the pond. Yertle immediately swam over and looked at me quite sternly as if to say "Are you planning to move into our pond?" (Maybe we are heading towards a turtle pond. –dt) "No, no it was an accident. I just fell in; I am leaving," I reassured him. "Well, OK then.…" Yertle kept an eye on me but backed away as I clambered out dripping with mucky water. This was just what I had hoped to avoid by poking at the pump with a stick. Sigh. The turtles used to jump under the water whenever they saw me but now they seem to recognize me as a food source. They still don't want to be patted but they do stick their heads up and listen when I talk to them.
It is odd because just when the turtles are getting bolder Mr. Snake is getting more nervous. In times past Mr. Snake used to chase me away. Many snakes are shy but water snakes are aggressive. (They are totally not dangerous. –dt) Whenever he saw me Mr. Snake would hold up his head and slowly advance while I would rapidly retreat. (R is a typical ophidiophobe. –dt) He tried it once too often. He tried to chase me when I had a long handled rake in my hand. Well I held out that rake as far as it would go and poked at Mr. Snake. Mama would have been so proud! Give Mama a hoe and she was the bane of any snake in existence, or at least in Ohio. Mr. Snake was shocked and appalled. The worm - or in this case the woman - had turned. Since that day whenever he sees me Mr. Snake retreats to the far side of the pond and crawls under a rock. Fine by me.
The pond attracts a lot of other animals. When we first returned this spring we had several visits from a barred owl. He would perch on a tree overlooking the pond and look things over. His head would turn in almost a complete circle. Sometimes he would fly from one tree to another. Eventually he would swoop down to the pond and then fly away. I think he was catching frogs which the internet says are part of his diet.
Other visitors we had were a pair of wood ducks. This pleases me because they are somewhat uncommon. The male has a very distinctive black and white coloring. The female, as is common with birds, is drab. Alas poor birds. Anyways, a couple of times this pair stopped by and swam in our little pond for a while and then flew off to some other water hole nearby. Best part came when one day Dan spotted the mother duck paddling along trailing a bunch of ducklings. I hope they return soon so I can see them.
One morning I was looking out the kitchen window when I saw some frantic activity at the top of the snag of a tree about 25 feet in the air. I called Dan and the two of us tried to guess what animal or bird was up there and what they were doing. After discarding woodpecker, cat, and groundhog we finally settled on raccoon. We decided that they were trying to build a nest right across from our porch where they regularly try to break into our fish food container. What a convenient location for them. After having decided that this was an animal I didn't mind disturbing, I wandered out to try and take a picture. Dan stayed inside to watch as he always finds my efforts quite entertaining. Well trying to be quiet I snuck up to the side of the tree the raccoon was working from. The raccoon promptly climbed around to the other side. I slid around to the other side but that wily rascal moved again. After we had both circled the tree two or three times the raccoon tired of this game and heaved herself up to the top of the tree and jumped down the center. As I came back inside, "Get any good pictures?" Dan asked. There are times when I think husbandcide is surely justified. (And so is wifeocide. –dt) At this point it is only fair that I give credit where credit is due. Most but not all of the photos that illustrate these posts were taken by Dan. He is much better at it.
Once upon a midnight dreary
While I pondered weak and weary
Over many a quaint and curious
Volume of forgotten lore
As I nodded nearly napping
Suddenly there came a rapping
As of something gently tapping
Tapping on my window pane
No, I guess not. Someone has already written this or at least something similar to it. However that may be, late one night after Dan had gone to bed I was reading in my office when I heard a gentle tick, tick, tick. Moths, I thought, attracted by the light, I often heard them in the evening. Then I heard THUNK, THUNK. "Oh no the thieves have come back," I thought. I jumped out of my recliner (where she often reads very deeply, with her eyes shut –dt) in alarm and ran to the window where I saw the biggest most beautiful Luna Moth I could imagine. (Luna Moths are very, very large. –dt) And the way he was knocking on my window I could tell he wanted to come in. Well I was tempted. I have reverently held Lunas on my fingertips a couple of times and they are lovely. I put my finger against the glass and he tried to climb on, but of course it did not work. I wanted it to. But if he got loose in my office how would I catch him? In the end common sense prevailed and I turned off my lights and when I turned them on in a few minutes he was gone. So my friends I wish you all nights of magic like mine, full of Luna Moths, and lightning bugs, and stars.
We have a busy summer this year. Many trips. Perhaps our resident writer will have some things to report later.
Best wishes,
Dan and Rebecca
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