Friday, January 17, 2014

Settling in


Skye is starting to settle in at the cabin.  Baby Dog is perhaps a tad jealous, though she’s putting on a brave face. She likes him but seems a bit perplexed by it all. Naturally, the puppy is oblivious to any undercurrents.  He has started to herd the cats.  They are not amused.

At the cabin, I’ve had a brief thaw. It’s nothing major, just a few hours in the afternoon that manage to claw above freezing.  That’s enough to bring out some of the small forest denizens that were missing for several weeks. Last night a huge opossum was discovered eating cat food on my front deck, to Baby Dog’s outrage.  She was further outraged around 4 a.m. by the appearance of two very large raccoons. None of these visitors caused any mischief. They were just out and about prowling for food and seeing if they could find any.

The raccoons raided the bird feeders, so I guess I’ll have to return to bringing the feeders in at night, an option I don’t much care for.  The house cats like bird seed, too, and finding a spot to keep the seed away from their reach isn’t easy.  It only makes it more difficult for me to replace the feeders in the morning, too. Another snowstorm would send the raccoons scurrying back to where they’ve been hiding. I’d be okay with that for another few weeks.

6 comments:

Scott said...

Carolyn: Interesting comment about your cats' interest in birdseed. Quite a few years ago (before coyotes arrived at my preserve and cleared out all the feral cats), a feral cat showed up under my bird feeder after a particularly long cold spell. I felt really bad for the cat--it must have been miserable--but we already had taken in two "stray" cats and couldn't accommodate a third--so I just let nature take its course. In any case, the cat hung around for a while eating the birdseed. I just assumed that it was desperate (which I'm sure it was), but perhaps it was enjoying the seed, too. I never would have guessed it would have been interested in the seed.

Sharkbytes said...

bird feeders sometimes seem more bother than they are worth

Anonymous said...

That is such a beautiful sunset. We've been taking in our bird seed feeders every night since the bear smashed them (twice). Lesson learned. We even take in the hummingbird feeder because the good ol' bear likes that sugar water too.

Nice to see your new pup.

Carolyn H said...

Scott: My cats eat bird seed and chicken feed. They also eat puppy food and would eat dog food if Baby Dog allowed it.

Carolyn H said...

Sharkbytes: Bird feeders can be a bother, but I enjoy watching the birds. most of the time I do think they are worth it.

Carolyn H said...

Robin Andrea: Now that it's cold and snowy again, the bird feeders can remain outside, as the raccoons and opossums are back in their dens. So far the few local bears haven't attempted to climb the deck stairs.