Yesterday’s Visitor
I’ve seen the little hummingbirds enjoying nectar from the honeysuckle blooms, but yesterday was the first time I saw one go to the feeder this year.
I can sit at our dining room table and watch these little jewels flitting about. They always make me smile.
High ANT-xiety
It’s a cold and dreary day here. We’ve had a few sprinkles, but not really enough to even measure in the rain gauge. It’s just misty out there.
I don’t know if the weather had anything to do with this, but when I came back to the house from doing morning chores, I noticed a flower pot in the rosebed had what looked like a lot of dirt all over the edges.
When I got closer, I realized it was NOT dirt. After all, dirt doesn’t usually move on its’ own.
No, indeed this “dirt” was actually a moving mass of ANTS! The pot and the plants in it were positively polluted with ants.
I’ve never seen them on a pot out in the open in such masses. There were creepy crawling piles of ants all over!
.
.
I kept a safe distance while taking pictures. Over the past few years I’ve developed a sensitivity, if not a downright allergy, to ant bites. Makes me feel kind of sorry for the poor gnome…
He’s being tortured by ants crawling all over his stumpy body.
Just looking at all those ants was enough to give me the creeps.
High ANT-xiety indeed!
Wild and Weird Worms
Okay farm fans, here’s the trough full of water after it rains…
And here’s the question:
How does the earthworm get in there?
Seriously, every time it rains, I find earthworms in the feed troughs. I understand they’re coming up out of the soggy ground to get some air, but how in the world do they manage to crawl up the slick sloped plastic sides of the water trough and end up in the water there?
However they manage it, they can’t seem to get back out of the trough and it’s full of water. I reckon it correlates to “Out of the frying pan and into the fire,” only it’s “Out of the mud and into the water.”
All of which equals one dead worm.
This Polar Bear Club is for the BIRDS!!!
I spoke too soon yesterday about being glad I didn’t have to chop ice. Figures. I went out this morning and there were empty heated water bowls in the peafowl pen and poultry pens. That meant I either had to carry water out from the house, which is a fair distance, or chop the ice off the top of the unheated water buckets so I could pour water out of them into the heated buckets. Follow that?
I chose the latter, and whew! That’s tiring work. The good news is I had enough water to fill the bowls back up. The bad news is, if it’s still this cold tomorrow, I’ll have no choice but to carry water from the house to the distant water bowls.
While I’m chopping through ice to fill water bowls for the domestic fowl, some of their wild cousins are trying out for the Polar Bear Club, and splashing around in the birdbath.
Even though this birdbath has a heater to keep the water from freezing, it’s not THAT warm, and the air is FRIGID. Personally, I think they’re birdbrains to be playing in the water when it’s this cold.
I figured I was providing drinking water during the cold weather months for the birds, but never imagined I’d be providing a heated spa!
The Three Masked Marauders
Night before last, I was sitting on the couch in the living room when I heard a lot of scrabbling noises out on the front porch. The light was still on since The Farmer had just got home, so when I peeked out I got a good look at what was out there.
Three Masked Marauders, otherwise known as raccoons, were busily munching up the cat food. I ran for my camera, then opened the door. They drew back for just a moment, but one was bold and headed right back to the cat’s bowl.
Hey! Can’t you see I’m trying to get some food? One of the party was a bit shyer, and stayed as far back as he (she?) could, and still stay on the porch.
Geeshhhh… can’t a body eat in peace around here?
The three of them made themselves at home, squabbling over the cat food. They didn’t seem too concerned about me standing in the open door, or the flashes from the camera as I took pictures.
Hey, give me some!
Look at this, the food’s all gone!
Hey Lady! Instead of messing with that camera, why don’t you put some more food out here??
Our cat food seems to be a popular menu item in the area. One of the neighbor’s dogs eats on it during the day, and I’ve seen opossums dining there at night. Now not one, not two, but THREE raccoons have added it to their nightly buffet.
At this rate, we’re going to go broke buying cat food!