Fauna and other natural things

[Puget]

I just saw either a grey fox, or a coyote in my backyard! We are in a semi-rural area, so I won't be too surprised it it happens to be a coyote.

On another note, this isn't good for the birds, since it was by the bird feeder.

Oh! That's so exciting! I hope it was a fox!

It was very exciting. As soon as we locked eyes- it took off!

Cool! Coyotes are about twice the size of foxes, with much longer legs and a more dog-like appearance. If you look at side by side pictures you should be able to tell which it was.

We are making plans to go to the family cabin this summer, with various of us taking turns being there with my 92 year old grandma. This is relevant to the topic of foxes because she can't be dissuaded from feeding the local semi-tame foxes that make the rounds (my mother has tried to at least encourage feeding them things related to their natural diet, like grapes and meat, rather than, say, toast with jelly). No one was up there last summer so I wonder if they will have forgotten her, but they seem to know when cabins are occupied and add them back into their daily rounds. It is amazing how dog-like they have become-- they will come right up to the glass deck door and sit there with their head cocked to the side staring at you exactly like a dog begging for a treat. It really is kind of hard to resist that look.  Easy to see how canids got domesticated!

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I just saw either a grey fox, or a coyote in my backyard! We are in a semi-rural area, so I won't be too surprised it it happens to be a coyote.

On another note, this isn't good for the birds, since it was by the bird feeder.

Oh! That's so exciting! I hope it was a fox!

It was very exciting. As soon as we locked eyes- it took off!

Cool! Coyotes are about twice the size of foxes, with much longer legs and a more dog-like appearance. If you look at side by side pictures you should be able to tell which it was.

We are making plans to go to the family cabin this summer, with various of us taking turns being there with my 92 year old grandma. This is relevant to the topic of foxes because she can't be dissuaded from feeding the local semi-tame foxes that make the rounds (my mother has tried to at least encourage feeding them things related to their natural diet, like grapes and meat, rather than, say, toast with jelly). No one was up there last summer so I wonder if they will have forgotten her, but they seem to know when cabins are occupied and add them back into their daily rounds. It is amazing how dog-like they have become-- they will come right up to the glass deck door and sit there with their head cocked to the side staring at you exactly like a dog begging for a treat. It really is kind of hard to resist that look.  Easy to see how canids got domesticated!

Oh wow. I can't imagine having a fox as a daily visitor. Though I am tempted to put food out to see if it comes back.

[Parasaurolophus]

Saw a small squashed otter in the road this morning. But the road is several hundred meters up from the water, and several hundred meters back... maybe an eagle dropped it before it got squashed?

[Catherder]

I just saw either a grey fox, or a coyote in my backyard! We are in a semi-rural area, so I won't be too surprised it it happens to be a coyote.

On another note, this isn't good for the birds, since it was by the bird feeder.

Oh! That's so exciting! I hope it was a fox!

It was very exciting. As soon as we locked eyes- it took off!

Cool! Coyotes are about twice the size of foxes, with much longer legs and a more dog-like appearance. If you look at side by side pictures you should be able to tell which it was.

We are making plans to go to the family cabin this summer, with various of us taking turns being there with my 92 year old grandma. This is relevant to the topic of foxes because she can't be dissuaded from feeding the local semi-tame foxes that make the rounds (my mother has tried to at least encourage feeding them things related to their natural diet, like grapes and meat, rather than, say, toast with jelly). No one was up there last summer so I wonder if they will have forgotten her, but they seem to know when cabins are occupied and add them back into their daily rounds. It is amazing how dog-like they have become-- they will come right up to the glass deck door and sit there with their head cocked to the side staring at you exactly like a dog begging for a treat. It really is kind of hard to resist that look.  Easy to see how canids got domesticated!

I remember feeding a young fox Timbits from my car window. The fox just sat there and stared up with big eyes each time I thought he'd had enough.

[apl68]

Saturday I was sitting on my patio after mowing the back yard and saw squirrels foraging.  One of them startled me by running right underneath the lawn lounge chair I was sitting on!  I watched it for some time as it perched on the rail around the patio, jumped in the grass and rooted around, and ate a nut or acorn it had found--all within a few feet of me.  I'm not used to being able to observe the squirrels around here at such close range.

[mamselle]

The one summer I tried to grow cherry tomatoes in a large tub on my back deck, there was a squirrel that reached though every chicken wire cage and plastic netting contraption I came up with; took one bite of the green fruit; and spat it out.

He often did this sitting on a rail a few feet from my head, just inside the rolling French doors, where I'd sit working on stuff. He seemed to like sneaking up, grabbing his spoils, and fixing me with one eye out of the side of his head, as if to be sure he'd gotten my attention.

Of course by the time I could scramble up and yell at him, he'd be gone ...

M.

[apl68]

The one summer I tried to grow cherry tomatoes in a large tub on my back deck, there was a squirrel that reached though every chicken wire cage and plastic netting contraption I came up with; took one bite of the green fruit; and spat it out.

He often did this sitting on a rail a few feet from my head, just inside the rolling French doors, where I'd sit working on stuff. He seemed to like sneaking up, grabbing his spoils, and fixing me with one eye out of the side of his head, as if to be sure he'd gotten my attention.

Of course by the time I could scramble up and yell at him, he'd be gone ...

M.

My grandmother would have shot him and turned him into dumplings.  If squirrels ate the vegetables she was raising for the family, she'd put them on the family's menu!

[mamselle]

Varmint control for a different time! (My great-uncle might have done something like that, in fact, from the stories we heard of him....)

Aren't they a bit gamey, though?

And in town as I am, I'd be worried about parasites and infections and so on....

But I do indeed understand the impulse.

Cheeky little critters....

M.

[Parasaurolophus]

Vultures circle 'round.

[apl68]

Varmint control for a different time! (My great-uncle might have done something like that, in fact, from the stories we heard of him....)

Aren't they a bit gamey, though?

And in town as I am, I'd be worried about parasites and infections and so on....

But I do indeed understand the impulse.

Cheeky little critters....

M.

I've found squirrel to be pretty palatable.  It does go better as the meat portion in a batch a dumplings, though.  I don't think squirrel is much of a risk for parasites and such.  There have been reports that eating squirrel brains can be hazardous.  Hardly anybody does that any longer.  It was an archaic practice even when my father was a boy.  He recalls his grandfather--my grandmother's step-father--sitting there with a plate of cooked squirrel heads, cracking their little noggins open like nuts.  Dad doesn't recall ever seeing anybody else do that.

[Morden]

Just last week, I saw a news story about a centenarian+ who attributed his long life and health to squirrel brains.

[paultuttle]

Two days ago, during my morning walk, I saw three rabbits eating breakfast on the lawn at a nearby church's daycare center entrance.

That wasn't the startling thing. This is what really surprised me: One of the rabbits let me get to within about two feet of it (!!!) before it decided I was too close and hopped away.

[apl68]

Two days ago, during my morning walk, I saw three rabbits eating breakfast on the lawn at a nearby church's daycare center entrance.

That wasn't the startling thing. This is what really surprised me: One of the rabbits let me get to within about two feet of it (!!!) before it decided I was too close and hopped away.

That IS unusual!  I've sneaked fairly close to them before by freezing in place and then slowly getting closer, but not that close.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

SO and I have noticed, what appear to be dead honeybees, on the front porch most mornings for about the past two weeks. By accident, we observed these bees flying around the porch lights at night (11pm EST)! I did some quick googling and the reason they're out at night could be due to a nearby hive being able to see the light from the porch. SO and I tried turning on the lights much later (after dark) to hopefully, deter the bees from being attracted to the lights. We had fewer dead bees this morning, so maybe it worked? Anyone have thoughts on this? I don't want any more bees to die. :(

[Puget]

SO and I have noticed, what appear to be dead honeybees, on the front porch most mornings for about the past two weeks. By accident, we observed these bees flying around the porch lights at night (11pm EST)! I did some quick googling and the reason they're out at night could be due to a nearby hive being able to see the light from the porch. SO and I tried turning on the lights much later (after dark) to hopefully, deter the bees from being attracted to the lights. We had fewer dead bees this morning, so maybe it worked? Anyone have thoughts on this? I don't want any more bees to die. :(

Do you really need to have porch lights on at night? There are all sorts of reasons to try to reduce light pollution. If you have them for security, perhaps you could replace them with motion activated ones?