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| Eastern bluebird |
My photo today was not taken today. Yesterday Blogger was being difficult and wouldn't let me upload any photos. Today my morning walk with Dog around Roundtop was rainy and foggy. In fact, it was so foggy that at one point I took a wrong turn. Even with my headlamp I couldn't see where I was going and almost ended up walking into some bushes. You know it's pretty bad when I can lose my way within yards of the cabin. Even Dog wondered what I was doing.
For early November the weather is downright balmy and that is bringing out the nighttime visitors. Both raccoon and oppossum have paid 2 a.m. visits this week. Baby Dog can't sleep through any visits and barks wildly so I am forced to get up, go to the door and look out. That's all it really takes to chase off a visitor. Baby Dog believes this is my job, perhaps my only job, around the cabin. Her own fierce barking isn't good enough, though the visitor is usually gone by the time I reach the door. She simply will not stop barking until I've gone to the door and assured that we are all safe from attack. She has me well trained.
If the visitor returns, and if it's a raccoon it usually does, I have to repeat this procedure every time. Last night the raccoon returned at least 3-4 times between 2-3 a.m., though by the second or third trip the last of my bird seed had disappeared and there was nothing for it to eat.
The raccoon is fattening itself up for what passes for raccoon hibernation during the winter. They don't go into anything like a full hibernation but they do hole up for extended periods of bad weather. That can't come soon enough for me. I sure could use a full night's sleep without any interruptions.
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2 comments:
I noticed a nice flock of about 10 bluebirds in the preserve over the weekend. I know they're here all the time (we have a fairly successful Bluebird Trail of nesting boxes), but I only notice them in the winter. Maybe 'cause the leaves are off the trees? Or, maybe because they aren't nesting? Or, maybe, like the robins, these are more northern birds just hanging around in a group for the winter here.
Are you aware that Philadelphia has proposed a major raccoon extermination scheme? The only reason they haven't done it already is that the raccoons are managed by the Game Commission, not municipal animal control. One enlightened city council member was quoted as saying, "They're creepy when they walk down the street all hunched up like that."
Scott: I have bluebirds all year round, too. In summer I hear them more than I see them, but I do see them regularly.
No, I hadn't heard about Philly's raccoon extermination project. It's a good thing it wasn't morning when I read your comment, or I would likely have spewed my coffee when I read that "they're creepy..." comment. Sigh. The odds that any raccoon extermination project will be successful is about zero, I'd guess.
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