Wildlife Kept Me Busy

Baby Bunnies

First thing in the Spring as I was walking past my raised beds couldn't believe these baby bunnies were nesting here. Right out in the open to be a feast for the hawks or other predators. I went and barricaded them and knew it was not going to help. Mother rabbit came later on that night and moved them. With all the thickets and briars close by I find it hard to understand how these rabbits can be so stupid.

This new nest of bunnies was only found because every time I let the 4 dogs out in the back yard, 2 of them ran to the fence and kept trying to dig under the fence. Had no idea what they were doing as it seemed they were going crazy to get at something. I walked around the outside of the fence and found this bunny nest. Oh my heavens, another stupid mother rabbit. One foot from the fence in the open grass she dug her hole and had her babies. The only thing I could do was barricade on the inside of the fence with cement blocks and a large ladder so the dogs would not get a tunnel dug and reach the bunnies. On the outside of the fence I had just placed a pile of straw nearby in case the mother wanted to cover the hole better. She did use the straw, but after a few more days of the dogs constantly trying to dig, she gave up and moved her babies.

It is so important to look around your yard for signs of nests. The poor bunnies get killed with lawnmowers, cats and other predators so often. I have huge dense gardens that I hope they would use in order to stay safe and help themselves to all the extra vegetables I plant.

One Baby Robin

Only one baby robin in this nest. The only reason I was able to get a picture so close-up was because this mother robin made a nest in a shrub 3 feet off the ground. What a terrible place this was. I had to warn everyone not to walk near there and plus keep the dogs away. Always worried this baby would have been killed by the House Sparrows aka English Sparrows. Perhaps that is what happened to the other eggs. But eventually this baby grew and saw it many times near my gardens with its mother. I had many robin eggs destroyed again this year by those horrible House Sparrows. When those sparrows tried to take over the Bluebird boxes and then laid they eggs, I would monitor those boxes weekly and destroy their eggs. House Sparrows kill too many of our native birds. This is the second year in a row that my friend's baby Bluebirds were killed by a male House Sparrow.

Green Horned Caterpillar

I had quite a few of these Caterpillars on my tomato plants again this year. I felt a little guilty that I fed them to my Bullfrogs and also placed a large deep dish near the Robin's nest and fed them. The Caterpillar is hard to see on the plants since he blends in so well. They are usually found clinging to the underside of the leaf. A sign to spot him easily is to locate his large droppings found on the leaves underneath him. 



A Very Large Snakeskin

Oh what a shock early one morning!! As I went to turn on the hose, something didn't look normal. I stood back and had to let my brain register what I was looking at. This was a snakeskin over 3 feet long and when I pulled the rest of it out of the hole, it showed the snake was coming out of my house. 7 a.m. I was screaming at my family that they better start cleaning up the basement, because of all of the wonderful hiding places these creatures would have. Last year I had a large nest of baby milk snakes in the basement. I never kill snakes, I just relocate them. The last small one I found I took him down the road to a cemetery, actually let him loose by my grandparents grave. The only reason I do not want snakes in my gardens is because they eat my toads and frogs. Snakes are truly helpful for gardeners to control slugs, mice, moles, etc. But I love my toads and frogs too much to have them live here. Don't know what became of this large snake, the dogs are always near this area.