Editorial Warning: The following entry is not for the weak of heart or stomach. You have been warned.
Hello again! Wow, two days in a row. Maybe Mom has turned over a new leaf ... Nah, she just is feeling a little guilty.
Like we said yesterday, so much has happened in the last month. Today we are going to share our mighty hunting experiences. Since we live out in the country, we see a lot of animals we didn't get to see when we lived in the city. Over three years ago when we were still in the city, we had a successful hunt when a squirrel got into the yard. Andy was not in the family at the time while Maggie and Jake were our foster sister and brother instead of our cousins.
Since then we had not had a successful hunt. We would see rabbits and birds and squirrels and cows but, other than the cow who was always on the other side of the fence where we couldn't get to her, the rest of them moved too fast when we spied them in our yard. WELL ... we are crafty hunters and we figured out where the rabbits were coming from so ... we laid in wait. And sure enough a rabbit came through the fence. We pounced, we cut off the escape route, we were ruthless, we were victorious!! (Queue up "We Are The Champions!") Of course, now there was the problem of dividing up the spoils. We were working it out when Jake grabbed the head and ran into the house. Mom was sitting on the sofa and asked him what he had. Jake was trying to block it from her view but she moved him to the side. We didn't realize that "What the heck? OMG! GROSS! Get away from that!" was code for "Good job, you mighty and fearless hunters". We also didn't realize that Mom would take Jake's prize and toss it over the fence. (By "take" we mean use a whisk broom to put "it" on a dustpan.) The rest of us were thinking it was his own fault for going into the house. We had our parts outside and they were safe. But, what's this? Mom surmised that if there was a rabbit's head then a rabbit's body couldn't be too far away. She found Roxie protecting her part and Andy protecting his part. The details are a little too graphic but you should know that we think internal organs are yummy. That was Monday.
On Tuesday, Mom hears us barking outside again in the same place that she stole our prizes the day before. She comes outside and sees, yes, another dead rabbit. This one is still in one piece. Very dead but in one piece. She tells everydog to get away and stay away. She goes to get the trusty whisk broom and dustpan and ... over the fence our second kill goes. For the record we do not think this is at all fair since we did all of the hard work.
The next day we are barking by the fence where she tossed our hard work so Mom comes out to investigate. Through the trees, she sees one or two coyotes or wild dogs. We are besides ourselves with frustration because they got to have our rabbits!
So the rest of the week goes along and Saturday morning dawns. We are outside checking around. Mom isn't sure what happened and we aren't telling but Mom hears more barking. So here she comes to break up the party. Andy and Roxie are playing tug-o-war with an opossum while the rest of us are cheering them on. Mom yells for Aunt Bec who comes over to see the fun. Then they yell at us to get away! Geez, can't dogs have any fun around here? What's the point of living in the country if we can't try country food? Sammy, Maggie and Jake run for the front door and Aunt Bec follows to lock them in the house. Mom stands guard near the opossum so Andy and Roxie can't come back. Aunt Bec comes back and they chase down the last two of us who have freedom and lock them away. We didn't get to see what happened after that but the opossum was on the other side of the fence when we got back outside. Mom took pictures of the opossum after the tug-o-war match but decided to spare you the images.
So we had a very exciting week though it was also filled with disappointment and frustration. We heard Mom tell Aunt Bec "You get the next three." What do you suppose that means?
Showing posts with label wildlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wildlife. Show all posts
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Texas Flora and Fauna
Like the last two dozen posts, we are going to apologize for the long lags between entries. Mom says she will try to do better but we have serious doubts.
Anyway, lots and lots of things have been happening in the last month. We won't tell them all to you today because this entry would be too, too long and then we might not have anything to say tomorrow (assuming SHE will do something tomorrow).
Well, first we will tell you about today's excitement. Mom had the back door open so we could go outside. She heard a fluttering noise and looked up. In flew a bird (robin, she thinks). It hit the wall, hit the window, hit another window before it landed on the hutch (a "collectibles" and dust holder). Then it flew to the fireplace mantle, then it flew to the ceiling fan blade (fan was not running), then it flew to the crossbeam in the ceiling, then it flew to the wall where Mom was able to get a picture.
Mom is pretty sure it left but a little over an hour later, she heard more fluttering and she took this picture. The bird is inside in case you aren't sure.
It was much easier to get it to go back outside since Mom jumped up and opened the door next to the window. Or maybe it was the same bird -- stupid enough to come back in but smart enough to remember how to get out.
And we are stuck inside because none of the doors are opened. Stupid bird ruined it for us. The next time we see it, we are barking at it.
Between these two instances, we were outside barking. Mom went to investigate and was looking along the fence line because we were facing toward the fence but not standing next to it. Mom's heart just about stopped when she saw a coyote (or a wild dog) on the other side. She yelled at it and it ran away. She ran to get the camera in case he came back but we haven't seen him again. We think it would have been a cool picture but Mom was more worried about our safety than the artistic fulfillment of our blog. Hummmphff, doesn't she know we can take care of ourselves? We can ... and we can prove it but that is for another entry.
We bet most of you remember all of the excitement we have had with snakes. Well, we have only had one so far this year and Mom shot it before it could bite any of us. That was near the middle of May. Anyway, Mom and Aunt Bec have decided the snakes have too many inviting places in the yard. Mom kind of cleared out under the deck but it is at least 10 feet by 30 feet and Mom's arms aren't that long. Instead they have been working on places in the yard that have had leaves for years, decades, forever.
Here are a couple of pictures of the area before they worked on it.
And this is after hours of work and one really bad poison ivy rash.
There is still lots of work to do but the snakes have fewer places to hide during the day so maybe they will decide to live and hunt someplace else.
Remember we said there was poison ivy? This is what poison ivy looks like ... normally.
This taken with a zoom but the leaves are about 1.5 inches long and 1 inch across. The runner/vine is a little thicker than a pencil lead. While Mom and Aunt Bec were clearing the area, they found some vines that must have been there for decades because the vine running up the tree was a *little* thicker than a pencil lead.
The three trunks in the back are trees. The three in the front are HUGE poison ivy vines. The biggest one in the middle is dead but the other two were alive and well until Grandpa chopped through one of them. When he and Mom were going around finding them for him to chop, they missed the one on the left. How??? Anyway, here is a picture of the leaves from the monster vine that is still intact.
Yes, ALL of those big green leaves are poison ivy. As long as you don't climb the trees, you should be pretty safe. Oh, and watch where you step. And don't lean against any trees that have live poison ivy vines on them. And don't brush up against any of the leaves. But, other than that, it is perfectly safe.
We know Mona mentioned our great rabbit hunts but we will tell about them in our own words (barks?) next time! And we had another great hunt! Mom actually took pictures of the victim so you might let her know if she should include them or not.
Anyway, lots and lots of things have been happening in the last month. We won't tell them all to you today because this entry would be too, too long and then we might not have anything to say tomorrow (assuming SHE will do something tomorrow).
Well, first we will tell you about today's excitement. Mom had the back door open so we could go outside. She heard a fluttering noise and looked up. In flew a bird (robin, she thinks). It hit the wall, hit the window, hit another window before it landed on the hutch (a "collectibles" and dust holder). Then it flew to the fireplace mantle, then it flew to the ceiling fan blade (fan was not running), then it flew to the crossbeam in the ceiling, then it flew to the wall where Mom was able to get a picture.
Mom is pretty sure it left but a little over an hour later, she heard more fluttering and she took this picture. The bird is inside in case you aren't sure.
It was much easier to get it to go back outside since Mom jumped up and opened the door next to the window. Or maybe it was the same bird -- stupid enough to come back in but smart enough to remember how to get out.
And we are stuck inside because none of the doors are opened. Stupid bird ruined it for us. The next time we see it, we are barking at it.
Between these two instances, we were outside barking. Mom went to investigate and was looking along the fence line because we were facing toward the fence but not standing next to it. Mom's heart just about stopped when she saw a coyote (or a wild dog) on the other side. She yelled at it and it ran away. She ran to get the camera in case he came back but we haven't seen him again. We think it would have been a cool picture but Mom was more worried about our safety than the artistic fulfillment of our blog. Hummmphff, doesn't she know we can take care of ourselves? We can ... and we can prove it but that is for another entry.
We bet most of you remember all of the excitement we have had with snakes. Well, we have only had one so far this year and Mom shot it before it could bite any of us. That was near the middle of May. Anyway, Mom and Aunt Bec have decided the snakes have too many inviting places in the yard. Mom kind of cleared out under the deck but it is at least 10 feet by 30 feet and Mom's arms aren't that long. Instead they have been working on places in the yard that have had leaves for years, decades, forever.
Here are a couple of pictures of the area before they worked on it.
And this is after hours of work and one really bad poison ivy rash.
There is still lots of work to do but the snakes have fewer places to hide during the day so maybe they will decide to live and hunt someplace else.
Remember we said there was poison ivy? This is what poison ivy looks like ... normally.
This taken with a zoom but the leaves are about 1.5 inches long and 1 inch across. The runner/vine is a little thicker than a pencil lead. While Mom and Aunt Bec were clearing the area, they found some vines that must have been there for decades because the vine running up the tree was a *little* thicker than a pencil lead.
The three trunks in the back are trees. The three in the front are HUGE poison ivy vines. The biggest one in the middle is dead but the other two were alive and well until Grandpa chopped through one of them. When he and Mom were going around finding them for him to chop, they missed the one on the left. How??? Anyway, here is a picture of the leaves from the monster vine that is still intact.
Yes, ALL of those big green leaves are poison ivy. As long as you don't climb the trees, you should be pretty safe. Oh, and watch where you step. And don't lean against any trees that have live poison ivy vines on them. And don't brush up against any of the leaves. But, other than that, it is perfectly safe.
We know Mona mentioned our great rabbit hunts but we will tell about them in our own words (barks?) next time! And we had another great hunt! Mom actually took pictures of the victim so you might let her know if she should include them or not.
Friday, September 05, 2008
The Wild Kingdom
Hello everydog, cat and Girl Girl! We decided to check in and tell you about some of the cool animals we have seen around here. You know all about the cowdogs, the birds, the squirrels, the mice and the snakes but today we saw rabbits and a deer! We hope they are okay ... well, the cowdogs, the birds, the squirrels, the rabbits and the deer. Hunting season starts soon and we know that lots of folks around here hunt. Mom only hunts snakes to kill them so they won't bite us. She says she hopes the deer stay around here and no one trespasses on the land and shoots them.
Mom had to work late tonight so we got our dinner late. She was worried when we had to go outside because it was into the snake time. The snakes must have seen that she had her shotgun because they left us alone. We wish we could have played outside more but Mom insisted that we come inside. When is snake season over so we can play outside all of the time? We are kind of tired being cooped up in the house with Mom. She is nice and all but there are some interesting smells for us to check out.
We smelled a raccoon but we haven't seen him yet. Mom seems pretty happy to keep it that way. She says we may have been bred to hunt badgers (dachs is the German word for badger) but she says we haven't had a lot of practice with wild animals. Who is she trying to kid? We have hunted down at least three snakes and we can't even count all of the squirrels and birds we have chased. And then there are the cowdogs ... admittedly, we've only been in the cowdog field twice and both times Mom or Aunt Bec chased us back to the house but we still bark at them and we are not afraid!!! We even protect Mom from anyone who is in the house. We take our positions as guard dogs seriously.
We are sorry we don't have any pictures of the wildlife. We found out they move pretty fast ... especially if you bark at them. We need to get Jake up here because his legs are a little longer and maybe he can turn them toward us and we can all enjoy the chase!
Anyway, we are doing fine. No snake bites this week. Take care and we'll catch up with you soon!
Mom had to work late tonight so we got our dinner late. She was worried when we had to go outside because it was into the snake time. The snakes must have seen that she had her shotgun because they left us alone. We wish we could have played outside more but Mom insisted that we come inside. When is snake season over so we can play outside all of the time? We are kind of tired being cooped up in the house with Mom. She is nice and all but there are some interesting smells for us to check out.
We smelled a raccoon but we haven't seen him yet. Mom seems pretty happy to keep it that way. She says we may have been bred to hunt badgers (dachs is the German word for badger) but she says we haven't had a lot of practice with wild animals. Who is she trying to kid? We have hunted down at least three snakes and we can't even count all of the squirrels and birds we have chased. And then there are the cowdogs ... admittedly, we've only been in the cowdog field twice and both times Mom or Aunt Bec chased us back to the house but we still bark at them and we are not afraid!!! We even protect Mom from anyone who is in the house. We take our positions as guard dogs seriously.
We are sorry we don't have any pictures of the wildlife. We found out they move pretty fast ... especially if you bark at them. We need to get Jake up here because his legs are a little longer and maybe he can turn them toward us and we can all enjoy the chase!
Anyway, we are doing fine. No snake bites this week. Take care and we'll catch up with you soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)