Summer ramblings

Summer has only just officially arrived, though to my eye it already looks midsummer-ish. Leaves have changed from the bright, neon green of spring to the deep emerald green of summer. All the vegetation is thick and lush, and none of it has yet taken on that August shade of brownish green.

That nursing raccoon has returned. Last evening she appeared on my front deck at 7:45 p.m., when the chickens were still out. The chickens were on the other side of the cabin, a full half hour from going to roost, but at that time of the day they are usually foraging near the pen. As far as I know, neither raccoon nor chickens knew the other was nearby, but I am taking no chances. The chickens are in lockdown again, or so I hope. They love to be out of their pen, scratching around the forest, and anytime I open the pen door, even if only to replenish food or water, they rush the gate, thinking they are about to be let out. Have you ever tried to juggle 6 chickens? That’s what trying to keep them inside is like.

Doodle the rooster isn’t tame enough to catch. One of the chickens, dubbed Dumbbell, isn’t catchable either, and worse, she doesn’t seem to know how to go into the pen unless she follows one of the other chickens. I can have the door propped open and she will walk past it every time. The others are easier to catch, but they aren’t usually the ones first out of the pen, so I don’t usually have to deal with them.

The raccoon, and for that matter the chickens, are after the outside cat food. I currently have a wild momma cat and a small kitten that I’m trying to get tame enough to live trap. So far they are like quicksilver and very wary of the live trap. There’s also one of last year’s kittens still around, but only rarely. I’ve given up trying to catch him.

Never a dull moment. Sometimes I’d like to have a few dull moments, just to see what it feels like.