Critters, Wild and Tame

It doesn't seem like a week since I sat down in front of a blank blog page...  All sorts of things are going on in the news and wildlife areas.  And I've been taking care of multiple houses full of critters, as people decide to vacation on a whim, without planning for pet care.  I've been running around like crazy.  I think I have two days off, Wednesday and Thursday this week, if nothing else pops up.
   I've started re-reading my Robin Hobb collection, and am currently reading Dragon Haven.  After I read her books, I'll hit my Rafael Sabatini novels, and then my un-edited editions of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.  That should keep me busy for a little while.
  I received my National Geographic DNA information back some time ago - my Haplogroup is J1c4.  But I have recently sent my DNA for processing to both Ancestry and to 23AndMe, also.  I'm waiting to see what is reported by the other two agencies...
   We've recently had moose in North Boulder - a woman was tending her garden on the edge of Wonderland Lake, and said she "suddenly felt a presence looming over" her.  It was a mother moose with twin calves, and the mother decided the woman was threatening her babies.  She was knocked down and walked upon.  Luckily, she only had scrapes and bruises.  And another moose with a single calf was reported at the Justice Center near the end of Boulder Canyon.
   Of course it's now summer, and we're having our usual incursions of coyotes, mountain lions and black bears.  The coyotes have been grabbing small dogs who are off-leash on walking, jogging, and biking paths, as well as cats loose in neighborhoods.  The mountain lions are grabbing the mule deer and fawns.  The bears are smashing bee hives and stealing honey, as well as raiding any bird feeders they can reach.  A friend has a one-inch thick wrought iron post for her feeders, and thought they were safe - this morning the post was bent at a 70 degree angle and the bird feeders were crushed and empty on the ground.  And folks around my sister and brother-in-laws house now have teen-aged bobcats out hunting with their parents, as well.  The fox are staying under cover as much as possible.  The cottontail rabbit birth explosion is feeding most of the smaller predators.
    Tess, one of the dogs I care for, is not doing well at the moment.  She started having seizures last fall.  They began occurring every 4 days a couple of months ago, and she has finally been placed on Potassium Bromide as a daily medication. (Her owner is a very firm believer in holistic medicine and diet taking care of everything.)  The K-Bro medication has increased her appetite amazingly, as well as her thirst.  But the main side effect is ataxia, her hind legs don't support her well...  The vet told the owner that once Tess reaches her optimal medication level, she'll return to normal.  The vet told the owner it would take one month.  I read the information, and it says the optimal level is reached in three to four months...  We'll have to see.  In the meantime, the dog who always bounced and danced on her hind legs is now shuffling with her nose to the ground.  It's pretty sad...
   Still at 59 new foals on the Chincoteague NationalWildlife Refuge - 56 after the three losses.  One foal died from an umbilical infection, one foal got stuck in the marsh mud and couldn't break free, and one had a congenital defect of the forelegs, which could not be healed.  All the others are quite bouncy and bold.  As usual, there are some really stupendous pinto markings, quite a few solids with great conformation, and a few real stand-outs.  I'm happy with the foals so far...
 

Local Colorado Predators - Photos

Black bear

Bobcat

Coyote

Fox

Mink

Raccoon

Skunk

Mountain lion - photo taken two days ago within the

Boulder city limits

Assateague Island Photos

Bodacious Bob (Maryland)

Fox (Virginia)  Photo by DSC Photography

Red-winged blackbird  (Virginia)

Harmony's foal  (Maryland)

Sunning turtles  (Virginia)

It's called the Teaguer Two-Step  (Maryland)

Sunrise  (Virginia)

Assorted Photos

Moss/algae growth in a marsh

White squirrel

Three mountain lion cubs on a porch in Boulder

Vulturine guinea hen

Buddies

Fox on Assateague beach

New species - red-headed opossum

Seen on Assateague Island (Maryland) - Photos

Photos by "Beached Paws" and "Cat Nonamehere"

Reflected serenity

Old anchor

Sika deer

The beach on 1 March

Fox at sunset

Pinecone study

Three generations - (left to right) mom Charmed, grandma

Ninka, grandson Phoenix

Local Wildlife in Snow - Photos

Mountain lion, puma, catamount

Horned owl

Beaver

Deer

Owl

Fox

Rabbit

Chickadee

Bobcat, lynx

Wild Critters Returning to the Neighborhood

Boulder is continuing to have extremely warm temperatures so fat this November.  Our normal high temperature is 53 degrees (F), but we've had temperatures usually in the 60s and low 70s.  Today, we're forecast to have a high of 76 - and there isn't a cloud in the sky...  A small storm is due to arrive Thursday and give us a high of 40 degrees, and, with a low in the teens that night, we have rain and a small chance of snow, as well.  I'm not crazy about "grey days" but we really need moisture, so I won't complain a bit.
    In my house- and pet-sitting neighborhood, in north Boulder, the coyotes have finally moved on, and a few red fox have come back into the territory.  We've had an explosion of the rabbit population, and the fox are beginning to deal with the surplus.  And, two weeks ago, I saw something from a distance at dawn, and convinced myself I had imagined it.  My niece confirmed my sighting last week, so I can now report that there is a mink living in the neighborhood, also.
   Since I first saw the mink running across the road in half-light, I thought I just hadn't seen it plainly.  I thought  - No, it wasn't a darker, elongated squirrel, without a bushy tail; you imagined that... - but then I saw it's head and shoulders pop out of a woodpile last week.  Several hours later, my niece saw the mink climb on top of the woodpile, stand on all four feet, then rise up on it's hind feet, and survey the area.  She was sitting 15 feet away from the woodpile, and had an excellent view and time to study it.
    Last night, one of the neighbors was taking a walk around the area, when he saw a bobcat sitting in the street in front of my sister and brother-in-law's house.  Mark said it was gazing up at the nearly full moon, and when it heard his approach, it looked at him, stood up, stretched, and calmly stalked away.  That report made my sister and Jim very happy...

Assateague Island, Maryland Photos

Bright Star

Osprey

Red fox

Squirrel

Jojo's colt

Bald eagle

Sunrise

Colorado Wildlife Photos

Cottontail

Mountain goats

Ermine

Mountain lion

Elk

Fox

Mule deer

Bobcat