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It is my impression that June is always inclined to be humid. The garden decorated with dew-laden spiderwebs each morning.
Everything else is superlative this year, so for dew read deluge.
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“Can I come in? It’s very wet out here.”
“Is it you who’s eating the milkweed?”
Whoever the guilty party, the milkweed is getting stripped. Because we had so much I thinned it out, but at this rate there will be nothing left when the monarchs arrive.
Though I suspect there is a whole field full of it, just down the slope.
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There are hungry creatures everywhere.
Sometimes they agree to share.
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Sharing is what it’s all about.
The groundhogs love it when we have cauliflower and now we share our sweet potatoes too…
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Impressive teeth and claws!
For such a petite.
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And a nose that guides her to whatever is on offer.
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The little darlings rarely clean their dishes.
We don’t actually serve too much, but when they turn their noses up we foolishly offer other choices which leads to leftovers.
Nibbs was a great help with this, but sadly it seems he is being kept in again, like last summer.
Occasionally he gets out and arrives muttering and complaining, not at all the friendly chap he was.
Is he being kept in because of ticks? If so they missed the window by a couple of months.
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Why else would a cat be kept in only during the summer months?
The thing is, you can’t expect a cat to be half and half. Once it’s known freedom, there is no turning back. It just isn’t fair to the animal.
Of course, we have no way of knowing and it isn’t our business but it is sad to see a normally contented animal no longer happy.
So now, skunks and raccoons help us out with kitty leftovers. Nothing gets wasted.
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Why do I put bird seed in trays on the grass where the groundhogs, chipmunks and squirrels can get it?
To be honest, I can’t remember where it started. I have two hanging feeders as well. I suspect the trays were intended for pigeons and doves that are too large for the hanging feeders.
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In theory!
The poor doves seem to get food wherever they can, when everyone else has gone.
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Pigeons just bulldoze their way in without regard to such niceties as pecking order.
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It is unlike them to hesitate…
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“You look out of sorts.”
“I’ve been up all night with my horrible children.”
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“Oh my. Groundhog motherhood is rough!”
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As I wrote these few words, Grant popped up and announced he was going out to weed his vegetable plot.
He headed for the door, suddenly gasped and ran instead to a window.
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“It’s Scooter!”
He exclaimed with a huge grin.
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Recent track marks had confirmed that she was still alive, but we had not seen her since the end of March.
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Alive and well!
Last time we saw Scooter, she was tiny.
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If it was not for the unique disability, I wouldn’t think this was the same animal and what we now believe, is that Scooter is a he and not a she, based on the shape of the head.
Scooter clambered onto the porch, clearly remembering the location of food sources.
Finding none, without hesitation Scooter went to the edge of the porch, launched onto the grass and scurried beneath the hedge.
With only two functioning legs, this amazing creature moves as quickly as any able-bodied groundhog.
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Grant immediately rushed out to scatter food along all Scooter’s known paths.
His rump is bald which it was not before, but there is a fuzz, so perhaps it is growing back in.
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Hopefully, Scooter will be able to feed up sufficiently to hibernate properly next winter, though we will certainly be on the look out in case he sticks to the modified routine of last year.
It’s hard to express how delighted we are to have seen our spunky friend again.
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Thank you, Carolyn, for the good news, and I am delighted too! I love, as always, all your photography, thank you!
Joanna
Great news. Glad that S/he is OK!
I love looking at, and reading about, your outdoor critters.
Your photos are so good! 😍
Yay, Scooter! 🤗
Thanks for sharing…
Catherine
Hooray for seeing Scooter again! Keep his food going. (I know you will anyway)
Best wishes, Pete.
I’m so happy to see Scooter again! He certainly doesn’t go hungrily when one looks at how big he is. I am surprised to see what the animals all eat – one of these days you will have to have a “market day” in the garden so that everybody can come and choose which vegetables they would like to have!
Wow, what an assortment of creatures you have at your place! Keeps you busy.
Do you put a small bell on the collars of your cats? We have to in Australia (I don’t have cats or any pets as I’m always away) so the wildlife can hear them coming.