Friday, June 7, 2013

New Critters In My Yard

June 7, 2013

Good morning.  It's cloudy this morning, much cooler, and a wee bit damp.  It will be raining off and on all day, with heavy rains moving in tonight.  Sometime tomorrow, the rain should let up.  All this wet stuff is thanks to Tropical Storm Andrea.  This little lady has been causing a lot of flooding and wind damage on her journey through Florida and up the East Coast.  Hopefully, she will fizzle out soon.

Well, yesterday Pogo and I did finally make it to the park.  We did not get to see any new baby ducks or geese, but there were a lot of new young ducks.  The water was filled with lots of splashing and young ducks chasing each other all over the pond.  I tried to take a couple of videos of the playful ducks, but they were moving so fast that one gets a bit dizzy when trying to watch my video.  Ah well, it's a learning lesson.

Wednesday morning, I was outside and took a new photo of my welcome plant which was covered in beautiful blooms. 


About an hour later, one of the dwarfs called me to come have a look at my plant because there was something wrong with it, and there was an animal in it.  Well, what a surprise!! There was hardly any plant left, and a young woodchuck was licking his lips while enjoying his meal.  Here's what he left me.


When this little critter saw me, he ran around to the side of the house, where he joined one of his siblings on a feast of grass, clover and wild flowers. 



Altogether, there is at least a mama woodchuck and four little ones.  Oh dear, goodbye gardens.  I put in a call to SIL Eddie to come and set up our trap to see if we could catch them.  He came by yesterday and set it up around 1 p.m.  Then Pogo and I went to the park. 

When we got home a couple of hours later, we had trapped one young woodchuck.   Joe helped to put the trap in the car, and we took the captured critter to a wooded area down the road a ways and let it loose.  Then we re-set the trap.  Last evening, it was still empty, and this morning I have not gone out to look yet.  I will go check on it after I've had my coffee and I'm dressed.

Wednesday, while we were visiting the swans, I took these photos of a large bird that had been flying high overhead.  After checking in my bird book, I believe this is a Broad-winged Hawk.  Andrea, correct me if I'm wrong. 



Well, now it's time to get some breakfast for Pogo.  He's been curled up in his fuzzy blanket, quietly waiting for me to finish this post.  Tonight, I will be going to see a school play "Alice In Wonderland".  My granddaughter Jasmine will be starring as "Alice".  Of course I will be taking my camera in hopes of getting some nice photos. 

Well, that's all the news for this morning.  Do take care and be safe.  Till tomorrow, Y'all have a wonderful day.

Hugs, Edna B.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad you took the 1st photo of your welcome plant. How destructive cute nature can be!
If they leave it alone it will flower again, maybe a netting over it would protect it a bit. I know it wouldn't look as nice but at least you would have the flowers maybe???
Looking forward to next photo of the welcome plant in flower. Hugs Elee.

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

Oh my, a ground hog family. They are adorable ... But! I have a family too with one Mom maybe a Dad and at least one maybe two little one. They don't come up close to the house because of Izzi, but they do eat at my tree in the back. Everyone seems to like the duck food I put out so I have had to up the amount so that there is enough left for the ducks :)

Loved your swan pictures ... they are indeed beautiful and wise to have a fence there. Those big old Daddy Swans can be a terror ... and they don't give up. Ours used to chase us all over the park.

As for the hawk ... can't be sure because of the lighting. It is definately a Buteo, but a Broadwing is usually light on the underside. My best guess would be that it is a dark morph juvenile Red Tail ... going through it's first molt. When it is done it will have that beautiful red tail. That is only a guess though ... I would have to see it and even hear it to be sure. That said ... great pictures!!!

I loved the picture of Janet and Pogo. I love when the wind blows the hair ... there is just something romantic about it. Another good shot. You are getting too good at this picture thing ... I am getting jealous (not!) :)

And, did I see you call me a Tropical Storm and wish that I would fizzle? ... Hmmmm. On that note, before I fizzle, I have yard work to do while it isn't raining (for a change). So good to see you out and about and enjoying life with Pogo again ... Have another great day:)

Andrea @ From The Sol

Mat's Merry Memoirs said...

O my goodness, those groundhogs sure got hungry didn't they? So sorry they ate all your pretty blooms, but the sign does say Welcome! Guess they took it literally...LOL!
Lovely photos of the swans and yes Pogo looks very excited to be there!
Hope Andrea doesn't drop too much wind and rain on you! She is small, but sure is packing a punch.
Thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment, appreciate them!
So glad you are feeling well enough to work and get out and about! Have a great weekend!
Hugs, Mat

smiekeltje said...

Oh whee, didn;t know those creatures like flowers too!
They are sweet looking, but it is better not to have them in your garden. Hopefully you will catch them all in the trap!
It ooks as if the plants are destroyed completely, so may be they will produce some blooms again?
Have a good groundhog-hunt!
Hug
Kyra

Anonymous said...

Love your pictures as always, and was surprised at how fast they could chew through all your flowers. That's some fast eating! I understand the frustration and desire to relocate the groundhog population, but I sure hope the baby is old enough to be on his own after being taken away from his mom and being left to fend for himself.

The Queen Jester said...

Hmmmmm....any coincidence that the tropical storm is named Andrea?

What a shame to loose such gorgeous flowers. But at least you got some good shots of the family that didn't yet realize they were to become part of the family relocation program.