Thursday, January 26, 2012

Winter Wildlife

Aside from the cardinals and chickadees who make their home in the trees surrounding my house, I am sometimes reminded that there are other animals who reside in suburbia with me.

Raccoons, for instance.

I found these on the deck about 10 days ago, after a light dusting. He or she wanted what he or she knows is usually liquid water in the makeshift birdbath on the deck. In a way, I feel sorry for them. I would need to buy a whole birdbath with heater system, something the budget does not allow, to provide liquid water. At times I wish I could because I know how important it is for animals as well as people to have liquid sources of water. It was very interesting to see all the tracks so I wonder if it was more than one.

With the cats not going outside, rabbits have settled back into the yard. I went a few years with rabbits only passing through, not building a nest and staying. There is at least one, maybe two, who have made under the deck a place to live. I would flush them when leaving the house in the morning for work or coming home after work.

We got 6 inches of snow last Friday. On Saturday, when I went out to shovel, I saw these tracks in the virgin snow off the deck. As the snow was deeper than most rabbits are tall, it was interesting to see how the rabbit moved through the snow.

Some people talk of "getting back to nature" by driving somewhere. I see these examples of nature in my backyard and think "I don't have to go anywhere. Nature is right here."

Beverage:  Darjeeling tea

Deb

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