bonus pictures

Bonus critters, or “I think the kittens should stay outside longer.”

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I headed outside to start rounding the kittens up and close them in the sun room for the night.

The kittens were all over the place, including in and out of the sun room.

Something, however, seemed odd.

It was getting dark, but the shadows seemed… darker, somehow.

Plus, something had the kittens’ attention.

Then they moved.

Not one, but 2!! skunks were in the sun room, eating cat kibble.

These two are smaller than the one that would visit us last year, and they have less white on them.

When I was first trying to figure out what I was seeing in the dark (I was able to lighten the photo up, so the skunks are more visible in the photo than they were in real life), there were a couple of kittens sharing the kibble with them.

All of the cats that were around showed only a mild curiousity about our visitors, and had no problem being near them. Likewise, the skunks had no real issue with the cats. They mostly ignored the cats, and only seemed to have a problem when there were too many kitties in the doorway.

We waited a while before putting the kittens away for the night! :-D

Both of the skunks went into the old kitchen. I kept watch from the side windows and saw one as it left, but where was the other? I saw it come to the window near me, go under the couch on the other side of the sun room, wander back into the old kitchen and out again, disappearing several times in the process.

After a while, I went to the old kitchen from the inside, making sure to rattle the door knob a bit and turning the light on, before opening the door. I saw no critters, so I went in and turned the light on in the sun room and started looking under things from the doorway before coming in.

Then I heard some noises on the other side of the freezer I was standing next too.

Sure enough, the skunk had gone behind the freezer, and I could just see its tail as it came out the other end and made it’s away through things to the other side of the room.

By the time we did get everything shut down for the night, I was still only about 95% sure the skunk was no longer in the old kitchen! (yes, it turned out to be gone)

They are such adorable critters. They are likely what is digging the holes I’m finding all over the yard lately. Dozens of tiny holes in groups around the yard, so I’m thinking there’s a fair few more than just these two! With the state of the lawn, I’m not too concerned about any damage they are doing, which is minimal to begin with. I rather like that they are eating grubs, which are probably worse for the lawn than their leaving little turf balls all over the place. :-)

I would really love to pet a skunk some day. :-D

The Re-Farmer

Bonus pictures

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Taken recently while in town, at a park near the lake.

This is in a park I sometimes go to to play Pokemon Go. :-D

I don’t know what type of lily that is in the top picture, but the bottom picture is yarrow. They have some in bright pink as well, and you can tell they are starting to cross pollinate.

Yarrow is one of those things that grows wild where we are. Growing wild in hard soil, watered only by the rain, they don’t get big like these ones. Some consider them a weed, but I like them. I’ve read that adding their leaves to a compost pile will speed the composting, but I haven’t really had the chance to confirm that.

The Re-Farmer

Bonus Critters: big shaggy babies

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On my way home from town this morning, I saw the bison were usually close to the road, so I just had to stop and get pictures!

To the left of the above photo, you can just see one of this year’s babies, lying in the grass. The larger bison lying near it would be one of last year’s babies.

One of this year’s babies is visible in the middle, to the left of the fence post, in this photo.

For such big babies, it’s hard to get pictures of them! :-D There are about 5 bison babies that we can see, this year.

These shaggy lumpens must be so hot, with the weather we’ve been having!

Critter(s) of the Day: making up for yesterday

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I missed posting completely yesterday; not even a critter of the day picture – so I will make up for that today!

With kittens.

Because kittens are awesome.

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Box Baby

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We have been enjoying our company lately – as much as possible in this heat! Yesterday was a scorcher. 29C with a “real feel” of 35C! We were supposed to get thunderstorms, and one did quickly pass over us, but for the most part, they all passed us by. Which meant very little rain.

Today, we were supposed to get a series of thunderstorms, but again, they passed us by. We are, however, FINALLY getting a solid rainfall right now, and it’s even cooled down a bit. We need rain so much! At least it’s not as dry as last year, but it’s still way too dry. Yesterday, my friend and I went to get the mail, stopping at a park nearby. When we lived here, years ago, we once released a snapping turtle found on the side of the highway into the pond in the park.

The pond is completely dry right now. Even with the one downpour we had earlier, the only side of it was what maybe-couldbe-kindalookslike some mud, visible between some grasses.

Today, the girls arranged to take Dave to the vet in town. He got a check up and vaccinations, as well as a deworming pill. We got some antibiotic eye drops to take home. His eyes are getting better on their own, but the drops should help his eyes clear up faster. The vet says it’s from cat herpes, and that pretty much all outdoor cats have it (and worms).

He is a bit under sized for his age, which we could see just by comparing him to the other litters. However, aside from his eyes, he seems quite healthy. He’ll be coming back in a month for another round of vaccinations, and likely another deworming pill. Since we now almost exactly when he was born (thanks to date stamps on the photos I took!), we know to come back in November to get him fixed.

He was a very tired kitty when we got him home.

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Cat tales

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The kittens have really been enjoying their newfound freedom.

Yesterday morning, they all discovered the ornamental apple trees in the old kitchen garden. At one point, we have 4 or 5 of them in one, and 3 in the other, all at the same time!

All that running around is very tiring.

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Mamas, kitties and comfort

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While the kitties were out and about yesterday, they were not about to turn down the comforts of a mom!

Beep Beep lay down and was immediately accosted. :-D

One of the aunties came by for food and was thoroughly confused by the mass of kittens, everywhere.

She kept going back and forth, moving away from one group of kittens, only to be blocked by another, and another. It was so funny to see!

This morning, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were slightly more relaxed about it. :-D

Now, it’s time to paint gate posts again, before it gets too hot. I decided to give them 24 hours to cure before a second coat, instead of doing it last night, just to be on the safe side!

The Re-Farmer