Trishy
Site Supporter
I have many creatures living in and around my back yard. Raccoons, possums, groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, field mice, frogs or toads, salamanders, turtles, assorted breeds of birds and insects. When the groundhog and chipmunk populations grow too large we use hav-hart traps and relocate them to unpopulated, wooded areas.
Last spring a family of white shouldered hawks decided to nest in one of the trees at the back of my yard. I thought "how very beautiful" until they started taking out all of the squirrels and bunnies, picnicking on my lawn, and not cleaning up after themselves either. After seeing one flying low across my yard carrying a rabbit (and saying to myself as I watched, not in the pool, don't drop it in the pool!) it occurred to me that my kitties might be in danger.
My yard is fenced in and I walk the perimeter every few days to check for dug out holes under the fence from groundhogs or rabbits since all three neighbors have multiple dogs. My himy for the past 10 years comes out in the yard and no amount of coaxing will get her to go off the pavement and into the grass. She either stays right by my feet or I can plant her in a spot at the edge of the pavement to nibble grass. If I go in the pool, she sits by the edge watching me or goes under the gazebo on the sofa. So now with the hawks around, the poor girl has to wear a jacket and be attached to me at all times. Leo and Smooch had a 12 foot lead but now I use the shorter bungee leash and keep them close to me.
Of all of the animals in the yard the frogs/toads make me very nervous because of the jumping thing/warts I guess. Since I installed path lights which attract the insects which in turn attract the frogs, I won't go behind the waterfall garden to shut down the pool after dark. My husband and daughter think that this is comical and have had many laughs over my fear of frogs. Until the other day I could not justify my fear of them.
So if the insects attracted the frogs, what do you think the frogs attracted? SNAKES!!! Okay so now my frog fear is justified, thank you very much. It was only a baby garter snake, but I have seen mom and dad back when I had a vegetable garden and they can get pretty darn big. I was out with Leo on a leash, romping through the leaves. I turned around and there he was, the front part of him raised up as if to strike. We must have run very near to him. I grabbed Leo and ran for the house, put on my boots, and grabbed my phone. I would not have done this if it was mom or dad snake, mind you.
Here is Miss Piggy with her spring haircut and her "bad kitty" jacket and her just hanging out on the deck waiting for me to untangle her jacket to go for a walk, followed by the snake.
Last spring a family of white shouldered hawks decided to nest in one of the trees at the back of my yard. I thought "how very beautiful" until they started taking out all of the squirrels and bunnies, picnicking on my lawn, and not cleaning up after themselves either. After seeing one flying low across my yard carrying a rabbit (and saying to myself as I watched, not in the pool, don't drop it in the pool!) it occurred to me that my kitties might be in danger.
My yard is fenced in and I walk the perimeter every few days to check for dug out holes under the fence from groundhogs or rabbits since all three neighbors have multiple dogs. My himy for the past 10 years comes out in the yard and no amount of coaxing will get her to go off the pavement and into the grass. She either stays right by my feet or I can plant her in a spot at the edge of the pavement to nibble grass. If I go in the pool, she sits by the edge watching me or goes under the gazebo on the sofa. So now with the hawks around, the poor girl has to wear a jacket and be attached to me at all times. Leo and Smooch had a 12 foot lead but now I use the shorter bungee leash and keep them close to me.
Of all of the animals in the yard the frogs/toads make me very nervous because of the jumping thing/warts I guess. Since I installed path lights which attract the insects which in turn attract the frogs, I won't go behind the waterfall garden to shut down the pool after dark. My husband and daughter think that this is comical and have had many laughs over my fear of frogs. Until the other day I could not justify my fear of them.
So if the insects attracted the frogs, what do you think the frogs attracted? SNAKES!!! Okay so now my frog fear is justified, thank you very much. It was only a baby garter snake, but I have seen mom and dad back when I had a vegetable garden and they can get pretty darn big. I was out with Leo on a leash, romping through the leaves. I turned around and there he was, the front part of him raised up as if to strike. We must have run very near to him. I grabbed Leo and ran for the house, put on my boots, and grabbed my phone. I would not have done this if it was mom or dad snake, mind you.
Here is Miss Piggy with her spring haircut and her "bad kitty" jacket and her just hanging out on the deck waiting for me to untangle her jacket to go for a walk, followed by the snake.
