My deer friends

 

Sunny Boy Too, lounging after eating apple.

 

Hard to scratch you nose without fingers. Such a cute baby girl.

Buddy trying to eat and not drop things out of his broken jaw. He still looks happy even though his tongue is hanging out the right side of his mouth. He still runs up to me with a silly smile. I try to help him out the best I can. He's really a nice guy and takes care of the younger deer by licking then and cleaning them. He seems very affectionate to the other deer.

Happy Faces

Mr. Friend lounging on the cool new soft grass. Mr. Friend will walk up to me and surprise me at times. Seems like that would be the other way around.

My Sunny Boy, one of the two Sunny Boys. Amazingly I can tell the twins apart. They are just over a year old. The Sunny Boys like to play together. The older deer look out for them and help clean each other. It's really amazing watching these little guys when they come running up to see me with a big smiles. Talk about trusting they didn't run off while lounging when I fired up the lawn mower today and cut part of the lawn and things were flying around. 

The babies are back and okay

Thought I lost my babies but here they are yesterday with mom. Had worried that mom might have left them because of the heat like mother deer ate doing in the heat wave zone. I heard a deer on the porch today. When I got up there were three coffee cans of grain gone. Don't know if momma deer was here when it was less crowded.

Today I started the lawn mower up looked over and the deer were eating the apples I brought up to the table. Some of them were too big for them to get in their mouth so I cut the big ones up into quarters. I had about a shopping bag full and they are all gone now.

Little baby skunk was screaming thinking all the older skunks were going to take her food. She was screaming so hard that the baby sprayed a bit. Lucky I'm used to it and it doesn't bother me. What did bother me was picking up grass and weeds and stuffing them into a bag. My arms became bright red like I poured boiling water on them. Just a minor reaction that I shouldn't itch.

The Bunghole Inspector

"I do this to all the incoming congressmen." The self appointed official "Bunghole" inspector makes sure that all republicans are perfect assholes. "It's a dirty job but someone has to do it." We can't have any posers coming into the ranks." Besides Bungholes he acts as the parties road block to block anything good to come to the senate floor even if it harms the country. He can't let anything from the other side pass. So it's better to stop all bills that don't have the republican name on it. He work "Boehner" in hand to keep congress as plugged up and constipated. If you wonder why nothing gets done in Washington look no farther here is the bowel obstruction of Washington.

Great day with the forest friends

Still recovering from surgery slowly. Tried doing yard work, pulling weeds with burs out and putting them in bags so they couldn't reseed. I noticed one thing interesting about the weeds and plants, there was several growing seasons this year. It looks to me like three seasons of weeds this year. In January we had a summer like two months where the weeds started the first time. Then it got cold with snow and rain knocking off many blossoms from the fruit trees. The snow and rain also knocked off many of the developing cherries and plums which are in the same family of trees. After an extended winter and spring we went into a two plus month of heat where it was close to 100 degrees every day. There was a short period of rain and cool weather which some people said was unusually cool but was normal compared to the 100 degree days which are now becoming the norm. It should be in the mid eighties here during the high of summer heat with only a few days reaching a hundred. Having hundred degree heat for months at a time is abnormal. Just like it's abnormal for Phoenix to be covered with a dust storm that reaches up two miles high and a hundred miles wide. But times are changing even if some republican law makes say it's a political debate and not scientific truth. The rest of the world is working on the reduction of Carbon Dioxide but here corporate money trumps logic. For a while the religious right followed the neo-cons talking points until they discovered they were being a part of the destruction of the planted. The neo-cons will do anything for money even poison Americans with anthrax to create fear and start wars with a country that wasn't even involved in 9/11. After that was even proven the extreme right still didn't believe it like telling the sky was blue and they were told by the party it wasn't so they went along with those talking points. So we have to get used to living in a more weather turbulent world with bigger storms, bigger tornadoes, bigger hurricanes, higher sea levels, hotter hots for longer periods and colder colds with more snow to areas that never had snow before. This will cause more flooding to some areas because we build our flood control to the past history and not the future which is changing. Some plants and animals will have to migrate this includes humans mammals too.

Back to the weeds with burs. The seeds have hooks like Velcro and stick to every part of your body and clothing. They hook on to hairs of everyone. When the hooks break off they become embedded into your skin for weeks. I've found that I can pull some of them out by dragging a razer blade over my skin but it doesn't get the deeply embedded ones out. I filled up six 50 pound grain bags with weeds. Also setup a sprinkler to spray out over the field. The mint plants were looking a bit dry and I see that  they perked up along with other plants in the field. I have a few different variety of sages that moved in as it's been getting hotter here. One sage has bright red flowers. There's moths that pollinate the sages. With the decline in bees over the past few years I was surprised to see the amount of honey bees this year pollinating the cherry trees.

I have a rare succulent that's on the watch list flowering this year. It's the first time I've seen them ever flower. So far it's been only in a few places here and grows very slowly. I've had to watch out for the plant to keep it growing. I have one pot I put a little piece of it several years ago and now it's a good sized plant. It hangs over the pot to the ground where it's starting to take root. That's what interesting about succulents is the root when resting on the ground. It's a great strategy for growth. It's always looking for the best and wettest places. The ground needs to be damp all the time for it to grow.

While weeding I noticed the short forest, the plants that grow under all the other plants. There are plants that are so small they live under the grasses flowers and plants. You need to get on your hand and knees to get close to them to see them. There's a whole world under the small plants just like grasses and flowering plants are under trees. Some of these plants have tiny little flowers that are only 1/32 to /1/16 in across. What growing right now is a pink flower in one area. I've noticed that some of these plants will only grow in one part of the forest and not in other areas. Some of the grasses are like that too. I've got several variety of sedges moving in over the years from the valley floor. Many of them usually grow around the edge of rice fields. One variety that has long waxy blade or leaves has a stem that grows from the center of the plant and has a seed clump that grows ant the end. This clump grows until it's heavy enough to fall over about 24 inches long. That's where it drops it's seeds for the next plant to get started. The seeds are very light and will blow in the wind but having a stem drop hundreds of seeds right on the ground insures that they will make it into the ground for the next generation. I've found you can cut them like grass and they are impossible to ignite because of the high amount of water stored in them. So even in the driest part of the year when it's extremely hot they are green. They are very decorative too. There are one variety that grows about six inches tall and that's it. It's got fine blades so it's really soft in feeling. There's one type that has long slender shape and it works well on the retaining wall because they hang over very nicely. There's a center stem like the others thats sort of round with a little clump of seeds at the end. Another real slow growing variety has round blades that are somewhat stiff so it looks like a pin cushion. Each blade or leaf is about 12 to 14 inches long and they grow tightly together in a clump. I've noticed that all of them have a good tight roots which holds them in the soil. You can dig them out but can't pull them out so they are good to hold soil on hill sides that would slide other wise.

The last two years I haven't been able to work on my garden area and it's over grown with native plants. Many of the plants I've never seen before and many of them I've never seen this size because the animals would keep them cut down. One thing about the native plants I like is they are green right now and just starting to flower unlike the European grasses and plants which turned brown months ago. The European grasses grow here in the spring when there's a lot of constant rain and while the ground stays wet just like European countries which are further North. Native grasses have extremely long root which goes down to the water table so they can be 12 feet long where the European grasses are right at the surface. The wildlife doesn't eat the European grasses which took over. It's good if you have European animals that eat European grasses.

While pulling weeds my deer friends showed up. They came over to where I was to see what I was doing because they are always interested to see what is changing. I shook the apple trees and several hundred small green apples fell to the ground. I had to help the deer with some of the apples that because stuck between logs or under plants where they couldn't see them. It was great having a dozen deer walking around me. I'd be pulling weeds and shoving them into the bags. I'd come across a apple and toss it to the closest deer. It was something you might watch on a fictional movie or in a fairy tail but for me it's a part of my forest and forest friends. I'm afraid that the two baby deer I posted pictures of are no more because of the heat. I do have water here for the wildlife which does help them. I also had bears hanging around here while it was cooler when they should have been migrating up the mountain. I can't blame them for anything because they are doing what comes natural for them like all mammals and birds just trying to survive but the humans believe they are expendable. One thing I try to tell people is that when you don't see wildlife it's not because they moved it's because they are gone. Deer live within two miles of were they are born. When the food runs out so do they. Migrations for wildlife is slow just like it's slow for plants. They can't hop in a car or jet and move off to another better place.

I did way too much yesterday and when I was hurting I just took a pain pill to keep going. I've always been like that, keep going no matter the amount of pain I'm in. I guess that was instilled in me when I was younger in the Boy Scouts. When I was backpacking and became tired or hand aches and pains I couldn't stop. In some cases it would have been deadly to stop and give up. So these days I'll put off getting water or running to the bathroom as long as possible because that would take me away from what I'm doing.

Stepping outside I can expect to see something new every time. Whether it's a new plant, flower or even bug there's always something new to see along with the sounds here. I'm always listening to the birds and noises to tell me where creatures are and who is there because they all have their own unique sounds. Now to figure out why I can't post pictures of my adventures here on planet earth.

Tea Baggers are ruining the country and world lead by the Koch Brothers

What do the Tea Baggers all have in common, the Koch brothers. The Koch brothers father was the leader of the John Birch Society and now the sons are picking up where daddy didn't do, destroy the country. It's amazing that the Tea Baggers say they are for the constitution but have never read it and quote parts that aren't even there. They talk about history and make it up as they go. From wanting to create another depression to run the country into the ground they are pure evil. It can't be just a simple ideology because they are so radical that the republican party doesn't want anything to do with them like the Christian Right. I believe they are a part of a conspiracy to turn the country into a totalitarian country. One so called Christian leader that will say he's doing Gods work but will be the Antichrist if not worse. If you have noticed people like Michelle Buttman who says she's a Christian and went to a fly by night Christian college and believes in Jesus Christ as her savior but who want to make the poor even poorer and take away the country's safety net. Want to through elderly people out on the street along with the disabled. They want to dismantle social security which is a insurance policy not some sort of free money like they would want you to believe. Michelle's husband is a real nut job too. A radical Christian who thinks he can change people gender practicing junk science. How can you get a science degree from a Christian college when they don't believe in science. Both don't believe in climate science because they were paid to say that by the Koch brothers and Koch industries a oil and chemical corporation along with many think tanks and political groups you may have heard of but didn't think they amounted to much since they sounded patriotic. They are extremist that want to have a working class of slaves. It's a take off of the sudo Neo-Nazi type of idealism. Money and power has been perverted with the Koch brothers. What would be good for the country is if their corporation was nationalized along with other energy corporations like it has been done in other countries. This would make energy fair to the public by dismantling the monopolies.

This corporate take over of America is going to be it's down fall since they have no allegiance to any one country. They are out for themselves and don't care about any country. That's why the corporate sponsored republicans are willing to cut taxes on the rich. They did away with Glass-Stegal act which brought down the banks and the public needed to bail them out to prevent a world wide depression. We should have put the banks into receivership and restructured them into smaller banks. Citi Bank and Bank of America still owes the country a trillion dollars each with interest. The Glass-Stegal Act  should be reenacted. Keep investment banks seperate from regular banks so they won't take risky beats. Hedge funds should be outlawed because it's like Los Vegas for the rich beating on things like funds that would fail after knowingly putting together fund that would fail. Everything on the stock market needs to be taxed and regulated to prevent them from fraud and cheating people.

I saw an ad on TV that said to read the prospectus closely at the end of the ad after telling people what a great bunch of funds and firm they were. As Greenspan found out which broke him from the big economist he was into the dirt-ball he is, a broke man. People listened to him like he knew what he was talking about and it turns out he didn't know what he was talking about. He's just an old man rambling.

Kanter is one that's so full of himself and believes the crap in his book, "Full of Crap" and his video, "So full of himself." I'd like to see Obama slap that smirk of his face. Punch him right in that big nose and make it bleed. No one has ever told him no before and so he just a spoiled man-child. He's the Eddy Haskel of the congress. I'm amazed how Boehner lets him walk over him. Boehner suppose to be the leader but he's snot.

Where were you when....

Where were you Mitch McConnell when Bush spent 10 trillion dollars? Where were you Boehner when Bush was spending 10 trillion dollars? I didn't hear a peep out of spending then but a spending spree. Your not blaming Bush for the problem we have now, why not? Because if you really had a spine you would say it's your fault that the debt is so high. Bush came into office with a 500 billion dollar surplus. What did the republicans do, start a war so Bush could be reelected. Bush had a map of Iraq on the wall from the first days he took office and planned on starting a war for oil and you guys followed him into hell. McConnell you said when President Obama took office that you are going to do everything you can to make him a one term president so you have been blocking progress, making the country worse off, blaming others for your problems, your just an incompetent bigot hillbilly. Boehner your speaker by default and totally incompetent. How did you even get elected, stupid voters? A Boehner by any other name is still a Dick. You can even say your name right, there's no "ai" sound in your name.

You voted yourselves a raise of 200%. You get more money to cut your hair per month them most people make. Free air travel any time you want. Now I found out you sexually harassment people without going to jail because your exempt. You and your family and staffers don't have to pay back school loans because you wrote a law exempting you and your family and friends.

How you McConnell say the lies you say without laughing because the others around you are standing in back of you.  Boehner we all know your drunk so you can say lies with a straight face.

So republicans where were you when Bush and Chaney were on the 10 trillion dollar spending spree? Giving the rich and corporations tax breaks tax and billions. Deregulating everything you could get your hands on bringing us to the mess we are in today. I haven't met one republican that hasn't been out for themselves and not to help the country. Republicans can't win an election without lies and  cheating. Why are you out to destroy the country?

The only thing I see republicans good for is fixing potholes or land fill like toxic waste.

The Little Babies

These look great at full size. Just click on the picture to see it as a larger picture. Click it again and it goes to full sized. You will see the little hairs and whiskers. Mother deer is so proud and smiling. I haven't changed anything with the pictures, they are right out of the camera.

I'd like to setup this editing software because U can't see some of the boxes because they are so light in color. White on light gray isn't very good to see. Since this is all new I'm wondering if they are still working the bugs out. I can't find anything to change the way the page is laid out. Can't change whether the pictures left or right but only in the center. Can't do that with the text either.

Now that's a Bug

Those are 2X4's the mosquito is resting on. The mosquito is so big that other bugs are crawling on the wings of this guy. The wingspan is close to 3 1/2 inches using the 2X4's as a reference.

Bit put off with this new blog editing software because they didn't check to see if it works with Opera, a real nice full service browser that does mail, web page design and more except work properly with Google Blogspot. You can click on the photo to see it larger and up to the original size 3008X2000 or there abouts. I was before the software Java script was changed able to set the size of the picture size and placement. Going to have to do the blog entry with Firefox. Well, had to manually edit this in HTML. I haven't looked into all the plug-ins it has, most everything is installed with what you need from the program. I should setup the mail and chat.

Congress Cheaped out the Shuttle

When the Shuttle was first being designed it was going to take off and land on a runway. Congress cut the assist vehicle that would carry the shuttle to a high altitude before it would take off on it's own power. This would have gotten rid of the booster launch rockets which one failed burning a hole in a O-ring and causing the external fuel tank to explode. It would have got rid of falling foam off the external fuel tank which damaged the leading edge of the Shuttle's wing causing the Shuttle to burn up on re-entry. They also had the NASA administration pushing for more launches by then which gave up on safety and they didn't listen to the engineers. That lift vehicle which sort of was like a 747 that moves the Shuttle from the other landing spots to Kennedy is sort of the idea how it works except it would take it to the edge of space before the Shuttle would start it's own engines to get the rest of the way into low earth orbit. There were congress men, persons that wanted to see rockets and power of a lift off and not a plane running down the runway so they vetoed that design. That design would make it safer for everyone on the Shuttle since the rockets used are just controlled explosions. Congress chose a 800 year old design over something new because it didn't have fire and flames and lots of smoke and sound of power. It's sad how people who know nothing about science have input on science only to screw things up. Taking off and landing horizontally with a reusable design would have been the way to go but because of the cut back design it ended up costing more to run then the original design which would have cost more to begin with but wouldn't explode on the deck. If you look at the X series of aerospace planes they were dropped from a B-52 high off the earth. That's how the Shuttle was designed originally but you can't sit in bleachers and watch a take off so congress didn't like that, it wasn't impressive although safer and cheaper in the long run then what we ended up with. It's too bad there are such backwards people that get elected to congress and make laws about things they know nothing about. Some of them don't believe anything that scientist tell them and that's why the United States if the only country where climate science is a political debate. When businesses can buy off congress and senate nothing gets done right. That's why republicans defend tax breaks for the super rich where they make billions and pay no taxes.

First of the babies pictures

Saw the babies for the first time today. Mother deer was so happy showing them off to me. I got to walk up rather close to them too. The Sunny Boys greeted them and licked them showing their affection. They are just amazing.

So I'm getting a lot of babies to watch. There should be more baby deer from all the mothers. I liked watching them run around but since they are so small they don't travel all that fast yet. They spent a lot of the time drinking water. Looking forward to seeing them tomorrow.

Getting some loving

Mother and baby exchanging some loving. I'm always amazed at the affection mothers give there babies and how their babies give mothers love and affection. It doesn't matter what animals I'm photographing they all express their love for each other. Whether it's a bird feeding it's baby bird a skunk with it's mother or my kitties and their mother they all express affection. What's real amazing is seeing a soon to be mother deer that's real pregnant come over to a mother skunk and her babies and admire them. She will stand there watching the babies knowing she's going to have babies soon. I was just watching a mother raccoon and her baby. Seems all the animals will see babies and cut them slack. One thing I find real amazing is how several species get along. I've watch the raccoons push aside a skunk and the skunk didn't even stop chewing. The baby skunks challenge everyone even their brothers and sisters. The babies being so small trying to stomp their feet can be real quiet even if there's leaves under them. I really like to two albino raccoons. They tend to get picked on by the others for looking different. Those little pink fingers are really something. All the raccoons do like getting wet and do smell like a wet dog. The skunks only smell when they spray and they don't do that very often. I wonder what ever happened to the one baby skunk that wanted to follow me around. He would come in the house and lay down and go to sleep then would wake up after a few hours and go to the door when it wanted out. When I sit out on the porch it's common for a baby to come up and lay next to me or on my foot and go to sleep. I guess it's the warm body they like.  I hear the skunks making noise and think it's one of the babies. I just have to say forcefully, "Babies" and they stop.

But us rich republican are just cheap

Rich people didn't get rich by spending money. They are penny pincher's and want everyone else to pay there way that includes for national security. Back when "Ike" was president income tax on the progressive scale was near 80+% and the country went on just fine. There were great social programs and no one went to another country to create businesses. When Regan did his tax cut everyone mainly the republican remember that but don't remember the 6 tax increases he had because the tax cuts were so great the county was going to run out of money. Then George H. Bush claimed no new taxes and had to raise taxes to pay for the first gulf war. Clinton said I'm going to raise your taxes and balance the budget and he did. There was a 500 billion dollar surplus at the end of his second term. W came to office and thought he would be cute and win over the people by giving a tax break for the wealthy and a minor check to everyone else. No rich people did anything but put the money in the bank just like it was predicted. We went from a 500 billion dollar surplus to being in debt. How Bush spent 10 trillion dollars while in office still amazes me. He didn't pay for any of the wars and gave the rich outrageous tax breaks. Before the end of his term congress and senate gave themselves a 100% raise while the republicans were still in power. Seems like those benefits they get should be cut. Make them pay for their own health care costs. Let them pay for their hair care too because what they get from the tax payers to keep their hair cut is just ridiculous. It's in the thousands of dollars a month range. Many of the people of both houses aren't insurable but we pay what ever the cost is to get them health care and now they don't want any people in this country to have health care even though they paid into the programs. Why republicans keep saying it's broken and they want to privatize social security when it is where the government has been borrowing money from for years. The government owes social security 75 trillion dollars and doesn't want to pay it back. That's like organized crime getting into the retirement funds of unions. Of course government plays that down and keeps saying it's going to run out of money in some years in the future. If the government paid back what it borrowed it would be just fine but they keep taking money. When G.W. Bush was in office I kept writing that he was doing everything he can to destroy the country and I was right. The republicans pilfered the country. The rich got richer and the working class got poorer. We are at the same place we were when Bush took office or was appointed by the supreme court as president. There hasn't been any growth to the county while Bush was in office. Now we are taking in 20% less income from taxes and fees and the republicans are out to de-fund and break anything and everything while giving tax breaks to the rich and wanting the lesser class to pay for the country. They, the republicans say that Medicare is broken when it works just fine for millions of people. What needs to be changed is both houses need to be placed on Medicare for their health care. Then changes will happen to improve Medicare for all. Why the republican hate all social programs even though before there were this so called conservative movement they were the social party. Now they are the anti-social party and I mean the mental kind. They are social-paths with their idealism. They don't believe in science. Inholf thinks climate change and global warming is a conspiracy even though the rest of the world would have to be in on it. He says it's so scientist can create job security, if that isn't the stupidest thing you ever heard.  It's amazing that most of the religious right broke with the republicans over climate change and said it was a crime not to be responsible for being good stewards of the world. Still slowly they are finding out that republicans aren't the moral party. They are as moral as Michelle's hero John Wayne Gacey the serial killer of her home state. If you look at new reals of hearings where Phil Gramm was defending deregulation and what made Greenspan a disheveled man. Markets can't be trusted at all and the republicans defended this policy saying the market will self regulate. Well we saw what happens there. The market cheats and lies and defrauds people of their money. They bring down other countries while making the country pick up the mess they created. Even if the republicans have their way and getting rid of social security something they hate because a democrat made it it still would only fix the budget for one year and leave many people destitute the year after. Why they want to protect the richest people in the country and I'm not talking about the low end of wealthy making a couple million a year but the people making billions a year with all sorts of tax breaks that common people don't get. Just 1% increase in their income would balance the budget over ten years faster without the Bush tax breaks. Yet they defend the richest companies in the world now that immoral. They don't care about people and yet keep saying how moral they are. They use the voters and harm then with a smile. What gets me is how voters drink the coolaid and think the republicans are going to help them when they are doing everything they can to take their money and leave them out on the street. There you can be arrested for being homeless and put in jail because rich people don't want to see poor people.

Cooling down, only going to be around a hundred

Well it has been around a hundred so when the weather reader said on the news today it was going to cool down I thought he meant it was going to cool down. So it's down 4 degrees from 104 degrees to 100 degrees really not much of a difference. It's still like being in a sauna. Going outside for a little bit my shirt is soaked and I'm sweating even though I'm under the celling fan right now.

There was a couple cells of thunder storms crossing the mountains. Up to 2 inch hail coming down. It's mainly following Interstate 80 since that's the low spot in the mountain pass. It's moisture coming up from the Gulf of California. This is the main rain that comes up every summer to water Joshua Tree. It's also blowing up the back side of the Sierra's.

Kitties are moving some what slow but it's hard to keep a kitten down. I'm putting out cool milk for the kitties and they flock to the bowl soon as I close the door. I've notice that the kittens wanted to play with a baby squirrel but the squirrel wouldn't have any of it. The kittens just see the baby squirrel as another fuzzy creature that is the same age as them. They don't see that there is a difference in species. I've notice that what I thought was the white kitty has gray ears, tail and part of it's back legs are gray with white feet. The gray kitty with long hair seems to be more on it's own a lot of the time. It does play with the other kittens but I notice it being off exploring by itself. The black and white kitty and the mostly white kitty are best buddies and are always together.

I put scratch out for the birds on the rails of the porches. The jays are the first to zip in. They come by every morning and evening. They have to be the jets of the bird world with there sleek bodies.  They dive in on each other for what looks like fun. How they drop straight down and land is amazing. It's drying out here so not as many robins as there once was earlier in spring. Every late afternoon the finches come through the trees in a large flock going from tree to tree.

I've added a trash can lid to my cascading water for the critters and birds. Have to do some minor adjustments to level them off. There was a jay splashing in the water yesterday cooling off. I'm amazed at how the birds come in and clean up even in the cold of winter. Now it has to be about cooling down. I've noticed the birds with their mouth open, panting.

Not sure what's going on with the hummingbird feeders but I'll find them on the ground or empty hanging in place. I tried hanging one out on a dead branch but it still gets knocked down. When I took the one down to fill it, it had large ants inside. The ants up here are something else. The worst ones are the carpenter ants, big black ones. They live inside wood carving the wood out just leaving a shell of the wood which falls apart with a touch. The next worse ant is the black and red ones because those like to swarm and they climb all over you rather quickly. There are small ants and I mean real small that seem to be mainly outside.

Trimming some weeds out of the gardens I saw a yellow spider with eggs on a leaf. Was the first time I've seen this type spider. The daddy long legs spiders making a random like web make the material for the finches nests. As I was pulling weeds near the house these two finches came in close then started collecting spider webs from the eves. They make hanging nests like a sock hanging from a branch.

The deer are starting to show up so I should greet them. It's nice to see them sile when I come out to see them. I wanted to water one area so it would be damp for them when they lay under the trees and bushes.

Coopers Hawk

Coopers Hawk. Saved a Blue Jay the other day from being snagged by this guy as it came diving in. The jay made it into a bush where the branches are close together. The hawk couldn't fly in tight like that, it did try though. I clapped my hands and the hawk flew up to the oak tree first still keeping an eye on the jay. I grabbed the camera and started walking closer to the hawk. It moved from one tree to another watching me very closely.  I hear the hawks crying out every day as they fly around.

The deer were here at sunset today like always. A kitfox came up on the porch for some cat food and was more interested in what was out in the yard them me. I told the little one it was okay and it continued eating like it was tame. For a wild animal it sure is friendly. I didn't want to move to get the camera because movement bothers most all the animals. I try moving real slow with the night shift and talk softly to them. The raccoons are resting up in the walnut tree. Been a real hot day close to a hundred. I see the skunks have the same idea and are laying on the cool concrete. The raccoons are laying with their arms and legs hanging over the branches. You would think the skunks would smell but there's nothing like a wet raccoon for being aromatic.

The baby skunks are trying to show off how tough they are. Saw a mother skunk get tired of the baby making noise and stomping it's little feet. With a fast nudge the baby was pushed off the walkway and totally surprised. There are several generations of skunks here. One my oldest male has been here since I first moved in.

Grandma raccoon's here. She's been here also since I moved in. Has a bit of wear to her too. Her tails trimmed like a toy poodle with a ball at the end from being chewed on. One raccoon has a round cut on it's ear and now looks like something sharp fell on it's head. There's a 3/4 inch piece of skin missing. Doesn't seem to bother the girl and is starting to dry up from the other night when I first saw the wound.

It's funny to watch the skunks sit down because their legs are so short like a wiener dogs. With it being this hot they look like a flat skunk laying around. It's amazing when they stand up on their hind legs to get a better view. The raccoons do that too so do the bears. It doesn't mean they are going to attack it's just for a better view. With the shape of their heads pointed and nose way out there it gets close to the ground. They have to be one of the best smeller's. They can smeel stuff that has past in the air and on the ground. They will follow the smell from in the air to where ever the smell takes them. They have musk glands and will rub the side of their heads on the ground to mark where they have been. I'll see them following their scent even in the rain.

It's amazing how much they look like mini wolverines. Big back legs and small front legs. They have long claws on their front paws and do a bit of digging. I heard if you give them enough time they will go through concrete but I think that is because of the determination they have. For the most part they are very friendly and like to explore everywhere. I've seen them and the raccoons snag bugs right out of the air as they flew by. I used to have a gopher problem but think my night shift took care of them.

I haven't seen the bobcats this year. Maybe because I have a cat with kittens. She's a bit on the wild side and hisses at me every time I get close to her. The kittens are something a mostly white one with a light gray tail and white feet and gray ears. There's a black and white one like the father and hangs close to mom. Then there's the little gray kitty that looks just like mom with the long hair just like her.

Still haven't seen the new baby deer, the mothers are keeping them hidden until they can get larger. I'll see the mothers ears perk up and look out over the yard and once in a while take off to check on the babies. It's going to be nice to see the babies running and playing here soon.