Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Backyard Visitors

More often than not I awake to the sound of barking dogs in the middle of the night. Standing tense at the door, hair bristled, waiting for the chance to patrol the backyard as soon as the door is open. After months on end of this endless routine I decided to do a little inspection of our backyard and was shocked to find several deer trails leading right to the meadow on the far side of the property. I immediatly set up our infared game camera on the apple tree and was simply blown away by the results after only a few days!
Whitetail fawns are usually born in late April to early July and can be singles, twins, or even triplets. They generally keep their spots until late October in the same year they are born.I get such a kick out of watching the fawns graze while their mother keeps an eye on the treeline.
Notice the spots still on the fawns!


Usually soon after this family leaves, another doe sneaks in for a late night snack! I have yet to see her on camera with another deer but you will notice she looks slightly thinner than the doe above.


Occasionally the deer brave the sunlight and the busy activity of our house to snack on the fallen apples...
That is until the turkey flock chases them away!
The turkeys have not yet grown fond of the ducks but often times you will see them intermingling with the chickens. Roaming the lawn in search of food and I have even caught them in the chicken coop trying out the roosting box!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Critters

Hello All!
Sorry that my posts have been somewhat sporadic lately. I am currently starting up a new semester of college and am a little more swamped than I had planned! It seems that any free time I have had lately has been consumed by my critters (along with any extra money) but I can honestly say I would not trade a one of them!

~My Boys
Cole

So in case you are just tuning in, I am the proud co-owner of two Labradors Cole and JD (No, JD does not stand for anything). Cole is a chunk of love that just hit 2 1/2 and has just started disappearing when he thinks we are not looking. Three mornings in a row I had to truck to the end of the driveway in my pj's to holler at him to get back to the house. As always, he comes right back wagging his tail ready to play. Since his recent excursions we have put a lock down on his "free time" and have been putting him in his kennel whenever he wanders too close to the driveway. Fingers crossed, it seems to be working!


Unfortunately this trick does not do any good with JD and we have had to pick him up from doggie jail at least three times (Ch-Ching!). Since his love for running does not allow him to stay close by he is generally on a leash or hooked to a run when he is outdoors. That way we can still bring him for a swim at the pond every few days.
JD


Over the past week we started to notice that he would cry whenever he shook his head and continued to rub it on the ground whenever he went outside. After taking a peek in (N.A.S.T.Y) we figured he had some sort of infection. After a $70 vet bill we found out that he had the doggie version of "swimmers ear" and can no longer go swimming! However he is allowed to go to the pond and chase frogs around the edge which seems to be his favorite activity anyways.

~My Girls

Next on my list of emergencies is my poor little ducklings! Thelma and Louise have grown substantially since I last posted photos and have even laid one egg... Minus the shell part.
Thelma

Louise

About a week ago my boyfriend got home just in time to catch them in the act of pecking at the dirt around the garage. Somehow Thelma managed to pick up a fish hook through her lower beak and was in quite a bit of pain. After stripping the comforter from our bed, he managed to get the ducks in a corner and captured them in the blanket. With a pair of pliers and a lot of quacking he got the fish hook out and the girls are back to normal! Some days I think pets are equal to if not more work than children!


They think they can fly...