this is why I never get any work done
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tuxchick2 Jun 29, 2006 12:38 PM EDT |
A baby bobcat wandered onto my place today. I think the little guy is an
orphan, no sign of mama. I got a little too close and he cut loose with a
grownup-sized growl. Can't have bobcats around, so the fish n wildlife doods
are taking him away. Cute little bugger- from a safe distance :) http://tuxcomputing.com/baby-bobcat.jpg |
| jimf Jun 29, 2006 1:47 PM EDT |
Yeah, right now a candidate for the too cute award. In a couple of years at 20-25#.... well... Let's just say no house pet. I for one wish the little guy well. |
| dinotrac Jun 29, 2006 2:22 PM EDT |
tc - Your first mistake was naming the cat: 1. You get attached, and 2. What kind of name is Bob for a cat? and... Must finish later...only one active neuron and I need to breathe for a while... |
| jimf Jun 29, 2006 2:52 PM EDT |
> What kind of name is Bob for a cat? Well, probably no worse than Tom :). |
| dcparris Jun 29, 2006 2:55 PM EDT |
TC: I'd offer to take him, but my life is wild enough right now. He is kinda cute, though. Dino: You mean you didn't get that shipment of freshly activated neurons I sent you? |
| dinotrac Jun 29, 2006 4:03 PM EDT |
Rev - Keep forgetting to check the mail. I'll go look this very minute. Now... Wait a minute... Isn't there something I mean to do? |
| tuxchick2 Jun 29, 2006 6:57 PM EDT |
aww, kitty is gone. Tugs at the heartstrings, it does. F&W will do their best for him, he'll probably end up in some kind of captivity somewhere. waaah. |
| grouch Jun 29, 2006 9:08 PM EDT |
tuxchick2: Console yourself. Kitty won't eat you in 6 months. While you're cooing over young animals, here's a tale for you. I have a large, black hen who, not understanding the necessity of a rooster, decided to "set" a nest in an unfinished bay in my garage. I left her alone and simply endured the gas bombs as the eggs in her clutch eventually exploded, one by one. (It's a detached garage and that bay is open at both ends). One of my ducks left her nest with 6 ducklings. A seventh egg hatched shortly after she left. http://edge-op.org/images/2006-06/2006_0624/06240016.jpg At the urging of my wife, I eased the scraggly thing under the hen, only receiving a few pecks and threats in the process. The hen adopted it. http://edge-op.org/images/2006-06/2006_0625/hen_and_duckling... http://edge-op.org/images/2006-06/2006_0625/hen_and_duckling... I managed to drag the rest of her eggs from under her before they exploded and on Wednesday she finally gave it up. She took the duckling for a stroll. http://edge-op.org/images/2006-06/2006_0628/hen_and_duck_str... She won't tolerate anything coming near the duckling. I don't know what's going to happen when she tries to roost in a tree. My garage is still a nursery: http://edge-op.org/images/2006-06/2006_0628/little_bird.jpg I'm not sure what kind of bird that is, but it's the 3rd one to nest in my garage this year. That plywood is 3/4 inch thick, to give some idea of scale. I will get my drill and box of car parts back, someday. Some barn swallows (aka, chimney sweeps, aka, martins) decided an outlet box is the perfect foundation for an adobe hut: http://edge-op.org/images/2006-06/2006_0606/barn_swallows.jp... (Focus is off in this crop). They've been there almost a month. I never have to worry about ducking when they swoop through, though. I suppose, from their point of view, I don't move much faster than a tree. |
| jimf Jun 29, 2006 9:36 PM EDT |
A wonderfull storie sequence grouch. I think the other bird is a duck of some kind. It certainly has the flat beak. |
| grouch Jun 29, 2006 9:49 PM EDT |
jimf: Thank you. The little bird in the box? It's not a duck; it has a very sharp bill. The song varies from a raucous chatter to a trill. The eggs are slightly bigger than jelly beans. It has a dark yellow chest and brown back. I heard cheeping noises, so it's almost ready to leave. |
| dinotrac Jun 29, 2006 9:53 PM EDT |
grouch - Very cute. Looks pretty entertaining in your neck of the woods. Here in the "civilized" world, I never have to worry about anything but an occasional raccoon, possum, duck, goose, deer, fox, or teenager. |
| grouch Jun 29, 2006 10:00 PM EDT |
dinotrac: Hey, speaking of deer, a fawn did that lazy, bouncing run thing they do through one of my fields today, about 50 - 75 feet from me. It's the closest I've ever been to one on my place. Must've startled him out of hiding. |
| dinotrac Jun 29, 2006 10:56 PM EDT |
Cool. Deer right around us are not too bad, but some places not too far from here are starting to suffer from deer overpopulation. Funny how the little dears (pun intended) will venture almost anywhere when their population exceeds the available food supply. Bigger problem north of here, where Wisconsin has a problem with "mad deer disease". Did I mention we also have coyotes? They're not as bad as the teenagers, unless you have a small pet. |
| grouch Jun 29, 2006 11:04 PM EDT |
What's "mad deer disease"? Is it related to mad cow disease, or just similar symptoms? I've been told by local hunters that there is an overpopulation here, too, but that could be wishful thinking on their part. Still, I'd rather have good hunters around than have wolves, mountain lions and wildcats for deer control. The greenhorns on their first hunt and the drunken city visitors with high-powered rifles are the ones that scare me. We have coyotes, too. I have one idiot dog who sometimes tries to harmonize with them when they howl. |
| jimf Jun 29, 2006 11:17 PM EDT |
> What's "mad deer disease"? Well, it's not the same as mad cow... I think what you are refering to is what they call 'wasting disease' up here. Seems to be related to the large herds... I think Wisconsin has more deer than people, but, most of that is north and west of where I am :). |
| dinotrac Jun 29, 2006 11:31 PM EDT |
grouch and jimf - I call it mad deer disease, though I'm sure that's not the right name. It is, in fact, a deer version of mad cow disease. There is some concern about eating the venison. |
| jimf Jun 29, 2006 11:58 PM EDT |
The correct name is 'Chronic Wasting Disease'. Currently there is no link to humans, but, You might be wise in not eating much venison. here's a paper on that. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no6/03-1082.htm |
| Sander_Marechal Jun 30, 2006 3:35 AM EDT |
Quoting:One of my ducks left her nest with 6 ducklings. A seventh egg hatched shortly after she left. At the urging of my wife, I eased the scraggly thing under the hen, only receiving a few pecks and threats in the process. The hen adopted it. How cute :-) I used to raise abandoned ducklings by hand. They're pretty easy to raise. You can feed them them the same stuff as newborn chickens (what are they called? Chicklings? Not a native english speaker). The hardest part is setting them free after raising them (you need to make them wild first, and then they still refuse to leave you) and avoid accidentally stepping on them when they're small and run after you where ever you go (yes, this has happened to me - sadly :-( ). They have a nasty habit of always staying directly behind you whatever you do. |
| tuxchick2 Jun 30, 2006 6:50 AM EDT |
grouch, what great pictures! Your garage is not a garage, it is a habitat. What bugs me about the little bobcat is, for his own good, I can't be friendly with him, because people are his biggest enemies. This is prime bubbaland, where hunters are always complaining about not being allowed to shoot every living thing, and it's just plain wrong for predators to eat deer because that takes away from the hunters. More pics: http://www.bratgrrl.com/small/ |
| jimf Jun 30, 2006 8:59 AM EDT |
> it's just plain wrong for predators to eat deer because that takes away from the hunters. Lol... Not that we don't have enough of them. |
| grouch Jun 30, 2006 9:07 AM EDT |
tuxchick2: Yeah, he needs to distrust people in order to survive. There are some idiots around here who shoot anything that moves. Those are not hunters, just shooters. Great photos! P1020686 is the cute one, but P1020687 shows the real cat -- a bundle of springs tied to ears and eyes. |
| jdixon Jun 30, 2006 9:20 AM EDT |
> Hey, speaking of deer, a fawn did that lazy, bouncing run thing they do through one of my fields today, about 50 - 75 feet from me... The deer in our yard sometimes walk right up to or by the house. It's not uncommon to see 4 or more grazing in our yard. We also have possums, racoons, turkeys, and at least one infrequent skunk. We've recently had to close our pet window, the racoon had figured out he could sneak in and eat the cat food at night. :( |
| dinotrac Jun 30, 2006 9:23 AM EDT |
jdixon: Well, better the cat food than the cat!! |
| jdixon Jun 30, 2006 10:11 AM EDT |
> Well, better the cat food than the cat!! This is a young one. Probably only about 12-15 lbs right now. Our cat is as big as he is, and in his younger days could probably have taken him. However, he's getting old and isn't as good a fighter as he used to be, so I expect the racoon would win easily now. |
| dinotrac Jun 30, 2006 10:47 AM EDT |
jdixon - A big raccoon is a nasty critter indeed. Our dog has vanquished a few. Funny...they don't seem to come around our house anymore. |
| jimf Jun 30, 2006 11:14 AM EDT |
dino, Yeah, Raccoons are pesky, but they are also intelligent, clever and resourceful. Most show real personality. My friend in Westchester has one that has climbed the tree next to the house and proceeded to make a trap door in the roof. My friend has patched the roof a number of times and is starting to think 'steel plate' or even a hunter, but decided that that would make him really feel bad. Our conclusion is that no one ever really wins against these guys... |
| dinotrac Jun 30, 2006 11:31 AM EDT |
jimf - A few years back, we had our house re-roofed, new soffets, etc...in part to repair raccoon damage. Trouble is...We had a family of raccoons in the attic, with the cutest little right out of a Disney cartoon babies you ever saw. Not really knowing what to do, I let of some really irritating stuff in the attic. that night, I just happened to look out the bedroom window (on the second floor) to see momma raccoon on her way down with a baby dangling from her mouth. Hope they made out ok. Didn't see any babies around the dog. Mother either, for that matter. |
You cannot post until you login.