The Garden Guide

Flew The Coop

Every spring we have a couple of Eastern Screech Owls come visit and nest in a tree cavity or old woodpecker hole.  We watch the parents come and go at night disappearing into the tree cavity with insects and worms.

Mother Owl watching us closely to make sure we don't get to close to the nest.  She actually drops acorns and tree bark down on you if you place your chair to close to "her" tree.

The Mom ducks down suddenly camera shy as Dad joins her to see what we are doing.

Then one night we saw her swoop in and out so quickly that we knew she didn't feed the yet to be seen baby owl.  Puzzled...we waited.  Pretty soon the Mom and Dad Owl began to call out to the baby from a nearby tree.  Finally he shyly poked his head out at the bottom of the tree cavity and then disappeared again.  This went on for probably an hour before he got brave enough to climb to the top of the tree cavity.

Here's the little guy up close.

 

"It's a long way down!"

 

Getting braver he finally peeks his head out.

"It's a long way up!"

Finally he scrambles out and starts his climb.

And off he goes!  He climbed way up into the tree canopy where Mom and Dad joined him for his first flight...not to be seen again until next spring.

Looks Like Its Gonna Be a Cold Winter!

I keep hearing that its gonna be a hard winter. 

Then I hear its gonna be a warmer than usual winter.

I've always looked to our animals for input on predicting the weather.  When I was growing up, we had horses and you could always get a good idea of what to expect by when they started getting their winter coats and how thick it was.  These days I normally just look to my blue heeler who becomes a real fluffball right before it starts getting cold.

But after what I witnessed the other day, I'm thinking the squirrels might be a good indicator also. 

I just happened to look out as a squirrel raced across the grass and up the tree with something flapping crazily along its side.  He/she got up to the first fork of an oak tree with his new find and then ran off and left it there. 

Curious as to what in the world one of my squirrels was up to now, I went for a closer look.

 

Oddly enough, he had been dragging some sort of rag.

I kept an eye out for him and sure nuff he came back a couple of hours later....

Oh, the rag had gotten snagged on the tree! 

He tugged and tugged and tugged....

Finally, he gave up and abandoned his treasure.  See how hard he tugged in the middle trying to pull it up in the tree?  Typical me went out and got it unstuck for him, but he never came back and tried again.

I don't know about you, but when squirrels start haulin' things up in the tree (besides nuts)to prepare for winter, I'm thinkin' he knows something I don't.

So, it looks like I'm going with the ones who are predicting a long hard winter.  Yuk!

Praying Mantis Poses

I have always thought of the Praying Mantis as a pretty much harmless creature...about as vicious as a grasshopper.

When we were little, we used to catch them and let them perch on the backs of our hands and laugh at the tickly feeling we got when they tried to walk up our arms.

I see them a lot on our property...this one was nice enough to pose on the edge of a rock for me.

 

It was just sitting there in the classic Praying Mantis pose from where I know they get their name.

What I didn't know is that they are carnivorous.  I wanted to make sure I was spelling the name right and ended up stumbling across some videos of them catching and killing a mouse, lizard, snake and even a hummingbird.  I only watched a few pieces because the videos were a little to graphic for me, but I saw enough to have my slow-moving fragile image of the Praying Mantis shattered!

Eventhough I was oblivious to all of that when I took this picture, it was kinda eerie when he/she turned to look at me.  Actually made me wonder if I had come across the inspiration for E.T.!

Tarantula vs Wasp

The other day I was out looking for my shovel (that I had misplaced again!) and saw a Tarantula Wasp dragging a Tarantula across the drive.  A sight that never ceases to amaze me!  It just seems like it should be the other way around!

When developers first starting building out near us four or five years ago, we had waves of Tarantulas come through our property.  I guess all the clearing and building disturbed a Tarantula "town" or something, because they came through in mass each evening, and over a week or so we just saw fewer and fewer each day.  It was really weird...they all came from the same direction and they all went the same direction.

Tarantulas are fun to watch as they are big, hairy things with 8 legs.  When they are mad they rare up and kind of slap with their front arms..er..legs.  Our girls loved to let them crawl over their hands and arms....yuk!   Gives me the chills just thinking about it!

The Tarantula Wasp is probably about 3-inches long with a black body and big bright orange wings.  Someone once told us that the Tarantula Wasp paralyzes the Tarantula, drags it to a hole and lays its eggs on top of the spider who later serves as food for the young.  Pretty ugly I know, but that is the way with nature sometimes.

When I saw the Tarantula Wasp dragging the Tarantula across the drive, I ran to get my camera (shovel long forgotten!).  I wasn't gone long and when I got back she had already drug the Tarantula another 15 feet or so.  About 10 minutes later my husband saw the odd pair probably another hundred feet further down the hill.  Movin' right along!

The picture isn't as clear as I had hoped, but it was starting to get dark and the wasp fluttered its wings in aggitation after I took this picture.  I took that as a warning and left her and her prey alone.

Have You Ever Heard a Roadrunner Laugh?

Well I sure have...more times than I can possibly count! (And no, I haven't been watching cartoons!)

We have a pair of Roadrunners that graciously allow us to reside on our property.  They just trot around like they own the place!  I've always heard they mate for life and our pair has been around for 7 or 8 years that I know of.

I've been trying to get a good photo of them for about that long too!  The male Roadrunner thinks its all a big game.  When he sees me with my camera...he waits and then zips off...then waits and then zips off!  He is quite the clown!  I'm glad one of us thinks its funny!

Like the time I saw him in the yard probably 15 feet from me.  He noticed me, spun around and sprinted around the corner of the house.  When I rounded the corner, he was no where to be found.  I was so confused!  He was just there and then poof he was gone! The game wasn't over yet, though.  He made his noise....I looked up to where the noise came from and there he was just sitting on the roof looking down on me.  Oh he was definitely laughing at me!

Whenever I tell a Roadrunner story, I always get asked the same two questions:

What do Roadrunners sound like? It is really hard to describe!  However, one day our youngest was sitting at the kitchen table finishing up a take out salad she had grabbed on her way home from school.  While we were yakking about how our day had gone, she started running her little plastic fork back and forth across the bumpy bottom of now nearly empty plastic bowl.  And that's what a roadrunner sounds like!  They talk in loud clattery staccato bursts (far from melodious!).

Roadrunners can fly?  Well, they don't actually fly, and whatever it is is not graceful at all.  It looks they just take a leap, flap their wings like crazy, and hope to heck they make their destination!

So there I was standing at the kitchen sink finishing up some dishes and all the sudden there was a bunch of commotion in the Live Oak tree right outside the window.  The tree limbs were shaking and then the Roadrunner (this is the pair's son) dropped to the ground with something in his mouth and dashed off.

Next a squirrel comes barreling down the tree trunk hot on the Roadrunner's heels!

The squirrel actually chased the Roadrunner about 20 feet to where he had stopped under this Cedar tree! (With his coat of many colors, Mr. Roadrunner is hard to see there on the right.)

Can you see the squirrel at the base of the Cedar tree?  He was so agitated and shooting "daggers" at the Roadrunner.  Fortunately, looks can't kill, because the squirrel would've ended the road runner photo shoot right then and there!

The Roadrunner hops on a log and starts to trot off...then pauses and looks back at the squirrel.  Reminded me of that John Wayne movie where (when the shooting stops) he cautions his buddies  "this ain't over yet".

But I guess the showdown was over, because after a few tense seconds the Roadrunner went on his merry way!

The Restless Squirrel

While I was working earlier, I could see my "brave" squirrel sneaking up to get his daily drink out of the dogs' water bowl.  The water level didn't appear quite high enough to suit him, so I stopped working and went out to add water.

He scampered away, but soon after I sat back down at my desk, he was back for his drink.  While I breathed a sigh of relief that the dogs were still napping!

After he had drank his fill, he curled up in the grass next to the water bowl for a nap.  Did I mention that he is one brave squirrel!

Next time I looked up, he had moved to stretch out on the sidewalk in the sun.

It must have gotten too warm for him, because the next time I looked up he had moved a few feet away to cool his tummy on the rock wall in the shade.

And then, he moved to the nearby tree to try and get a few more zzzs.  Only this time....he was sleeping UPSIDE DOWN!

So much for work!  I just couldn't take it anymore!  I grabbed my camera, went out the back door and snuk around to the front (all the while trying to let sleeping dogs and squirrel lie). 

Say "Cheese"!

Mission accomplished!  Except for the fact that I woke him up.  So much for stealth!