Trail Camera

[Kelly]

WOW Marsha! A whole family of *****. Party at your bird bath!!!

 

[Cayuse]

Love that picture Marsha. Made me think of my empty bird feeder mystery.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Love that picture Marsha. Made me think of my empty bird feeder mystery.

Oh my. If they werent so darn cute!

 

[Cayuse]

They ARE cute, we have one (or two,lol) living under the garage. Don't see them often at all. The one in the picture that is in the bird feeder stayed in the bird feeder for the entire day. He stuffed himself into it with just his tail sticking out. I was afraid he got stuck, smothered and died , so I got brave ant went out and tapped on the feeder. He woke up and I high tailed it outta there.
One night a few summers ago I was asleep and something woke me up. Our bedroom windows are low. I rolled over and peered out the window and two red glowing eyes were staring back at me from about 4 feet away. Scared the beejeebers out of me. I think it was the racoon, or a skunk. Or maybe the devil!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Some really interesting birds this time. Could this be an indigo bunting?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

And more **** shots. Those little rascals. I wish they would stay out of my water gardens. They play havoc with the water plants.

 

[Silver City Heritage Farmstead]

Looks like it may be.

I don't much care for raccoons anymore. I don't think they're cute, and I don't want them on my place.

In 2017, I had a rabid raccoon get into the barn. My Jack Russell Terrier heart-dog Lucky gave her life defending me from it. (I think I posted that story here somewhere.) Ever since, I'm hyper-vigilant and try not to leave anything out they'd like.

On a more pleasant note, found this guy in the grass while mowing. I set him on a canna leaf to be safe:


I thanked him for the picture. I hope he forgave me for scaring him.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

A rabid **** is a fear. We used to trap them, but dang! we're getting really soft hearted in our old age. It's tough to shoot things now--except rattlesnakes.
I try to save mantis and garden spiders. Grasshoppers get their heads pinched. On our trip to SD we stopped at the butterfly garden by Oahe dam. I thought this sign was fun:

 

[MerMaeve]

Some really interesting birds this time. Could this be an indigo bunting?View attachment 44460View attachment 44461

More likely a Blue Grosbeak.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

More likely a Blue Grosbeak.

Oh, I will look that up!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

More likely a Blue Grosbeak.

Looking at the beak, definitely looks like a grosbeak; same family as cardinals, right?

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Well, the raccoons are no longer cute. They are ravaging in my water gardens, tearing up the plants and making a huge muddy mess on the porch and furniture. We have decided they have to go. Caught one last night; guess it will take at least 4 nights to get them all. Cheetos is bait of choice. We used an egg the first night and the wily masked critter got the egg out without tripping the trap. They are also tearing leaves and small branches out of our young oak tree; maybe there is a nest up there? Or they get to playing together in the tree? whichever, it has to stop. If it is a nest, I prefer birds to raccoons.

 

[MerMaeve]

Looking at the beak, definitely looks like a grosbeak; same family as cardinals, right?

Yes ma'am.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

At last! We caught the ring tailed cat on the game camera! Isn't it a amazing animal?
I think we are getting so much wild life now because both farm ponds are dry.

 

[Dragon Hill]

WOW, what a beauty!

 

[Kelly]

YES!! What an amazing and beautiful animal!!! What a cool cat!!!! I wonder how close he lives to you, probably an excellent mouser


PS. I thought it was a hairless raccoon at first glance, with a big bushy tail

 

[MerMaeve]

Wow, that's really cool! I didn't realize that was an actual species, until I googled it.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

It came again last night, twice. Or maybe it was a mate as one seemed a little smaller. It's interesting that it laps like a cat and doesn't like to get its feet wet.

 

[HersheyMint]

Wow! That is so cool. I never heard of it before. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Yes, we do have a pair of ring tail cats. The are playing around the bird bath nearly all night, every night. They have discovered water, I suppose. We do keep the chickens shut up at night; not sure if the cats would bother such large birds, but better to be safe.