Thursday, February 25, 2021

Wildlife Update

I spotted some new wildlife in the yard today.  As I was settling down for some lunch, I glanced outside and spotted a couple of raccoons just sauntering past my house.  This was a new one for me - I've never seen them before, at least not in my yard.  No idea how they would react to a human presence, but I went outside to get a closer look - and one of them scarpered up a tree whereas the other stood it's ground just staring at me.  I wonder what it would have done if I'd got closer.  But instead I went inside to get my phone to take a photo, but by the time I got outside again they had disappeared.  Judging from the racket that all the nearby birds were making, I'm guessing that they might have both gone up the tree.  But I couldn't see them.  Let's hope that they don't make the transition from the tree to my roof.  And talking about birds - I had to make the difficult decision today to bring my hummingbird feeder and bird bath inside.  Apparently a lot of sick and dead birds have started showing up in our state, and it's due to some strain of salmonella that is rapidly spreading (that came to us from Canada - damn those Canucks, they're also guilty of giving us murder hornets).  So the bird experts recommended removing bird feeders and baths for the next month to try to slow down the spread.  Not that I ever see loads of birds congregating there, but since the snow I've not seen hide nor hair of my local hummingbird - so I don't feel too bad about it.  However, I do hear the distinctive birdsong of a hummingbird when I go past my neighbor's yard - so the traitor might have just moved next door.    

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