It looks like we have another youngster in the family. But that means more mouths to feed. I just heard that some deer got into our next door neighbor’s backyard and ALL of their roses are gone, even the leaves! As cute as this little guy is… are those the biggest, cutest ears ever?! … oops, I got sidetracked with the cuteness… but I’m back. As cute as he is, if he gets inside my fence and eats all the flowers I will be very upset. But if he eats all my peaches, it’s payback time! I will lassoo him by the neck and drag his sorry ass back to his parents. How much is a lassoo anyway? I’ll use a rope – I don’t care. Aaaaaah, but look at that adorable, innocent face….. I take it all back. Here, have a peach.

We had the most amazing thing happen yesterday. Denis and I were having tea in the backyard around 3:00, wondering if we might see the young deer again and all of a sudden a hawk swooped down and landed on a tree branch just 5 feet off the ground. He was right next to us! Maybe 25 feet away in a birch tree. The green leaves in the foreground are to top of a hydrangea bush. Before we saw him we heard his wings as he flew down. We sat motionless, afraid to even move an arm, knowing he’d fly away as fast as he landed. And I didn’t have my camera! “I have to try,” I said to Denis, “because the camera is just inside the door.” So I very slowly slid out of my chair and moved towards the door. I opened the door and it creaked a little and I was afraid to look back, knowing the noise would scare him away. But he stayed. I got my camera and slowly came back outside, in disbelief that he was still there and so close.  I was so thrilled to get this photo. He stayed for about 5 minutes and then his giant wings opened up and he was gone.

Did you see my posting on May 16th when the baby deer got into the backyard? Well, mom and baby came around again today (not in the yard – just on the hill behind the house) and guess what? Its a boy! I wish I had a better picture but as soon as he saw me, he ran to momma! But you know I’ll be staking out the hill for more photos of this beautiful boy when his antlers start to grow. The way he was looking at me, I wonder what he was thinking… “Aren’t you the broad who was chasing me around the yard? Try and catch me now, lady!”  Or maybe he was thinking, “What’s to eat? I ate all the flowers up here so…  got any tomatoes?”

If it weren’t for the vile, putrefying stench, skunks are actually rather cute. But as afraid as I am of coming across a rattle snake, I was really scared when this skunk just walked up next to me in the backyard. It also happened a couple of weeks ago when a skunk walked right past me like I was invisible. They must have bad eyesight because this time it was around 7:00 pm and still light outside. I had just finished clipping some roses when this guy waddled out and acted like he was alone in the universe. I heard some rustling behind him and noticed another skunk behind some shrubs. I decided not to stay around. Not knowing what would prompt them to spray and not needing to find out, I slowly backed away into the house. I got my camera and took this picture from inside the house. He still didn’t notice me hanging out the window (maybe skunks need glasses!) but I was prepared to slam that window shut if he got too close. I wonder what would have happened if my rabbit showed up at the same time. Could they coexist? I wish I could pet all the little fuzzy animals that show up and bring them inside for a snack… except for the mangy, rat-faced, no-good, low-life, beady-eyed, scum-sucking, fruit-eating squirrel.

How did he get into our backyard? We were stunned this week to find a baby deer in the backyard. We’ve seen adults and babies behind our house up on a hill but never inside the gated yard. The poor thing was so scared he was trying to get out but the gate was closed. He kept trying to jump over an 8-foot chain link fence but he wound up jumping into it instead. As soon as we saw him, we all went out to help. We opened the gate and calmly tried to get him away from the fence he was jumping into but instead of going to the open gate, he panicked and raced, and I mean raced, across the yard in the opposite direction. I’m pretty sure he was going about 50 mph! He headed for another 8-foot  fence, this one was wood and covered with ivy (in the photo) and he was getting ready to jump. This time we panicked because on the other side of the fence was a long drop to the neighbor’s concrete walk. We raced towards him to stop him, which scared him even more, so he raced back across the yard, flew over a 5-foot wall like he had wings, found the open gate, and disappeared up the hill. We were all relieved to help him get home but sad that he was so scared and didn’t realize we were trying to help. We still have no idea how he got in. I hope he’s back with his mom but I’ll be looking out for him, hoping to see this beautiful animal again on the hill, where he belongs. It was quite an ordeal for all of us.

A few days after finding the hummingbird nest and egg by our front door, I checked inside with a mirror and saw a second egg.  I was so excited – we were having twins!
But after that, I never saw the parents again. I’ve been checking several times a day and have never seen anyone sitting on the eggs or any birds hovering around at all. It looks like the eggs have been orphaned.

Could it be that the second egg was dropped there by a different mother and now there’s a dispute about who’s the baby daddy?  Why else would they be abandoned?

So this morning I put my face against the window to look outside. I’m always curious to see what happened overnight, like did the raccoons neatly turn over pieces of the lawn again, did the deer eat my flowers, or is there anything dead floating in the pool. I didn’t see much because directly in front of my eyeball was this humungous, hairy, wierd, I don’t know what. I tapped on the screen but he didn’t move. I thought he was dead. I still don’t know if he’s alive. He let me put a tape measure right next to him for this photo and still didn’t move, although I think he eyeballed me once. “Take your stupid picture and go away!”  As moths go I’ve never seen one this big – almost two inches! Moths? Maybe it’s a bird, or a flying gopher or something. I don’t know. That was hours ago and I checked and he’s still there. Dead? Playing dead? Waiting until I open the window so he can terrorize me in the house? He’s huge! I feel like if I tried to hit him with a fly swatter, he’s grab it and throw it back. What the heck is it???

UPDATE: Emmie’s right, it’s a White Lined Sphinx Moth and an ugly one at that. Here’s the even uglier caterpillar it comes from…

Hey, wait a minute! Isn’t that the bug that ate all my tomatoes??? (I hope this one makes it across the street before the bus runs him over!)

So here’s what we know: They are also known as Hummingbird Moths. Their wing span can range from 2 to 8 inches. They pollinate flowers such as orchids, petunias and evening primroses while sucking their nectar with a proboscis (feeding tube) that exceeds 10 inches in some species. They like garden crops, especially apples and tomatoes (no kidding!).  Larvae burrow into soil to go into chrysallis, where they remain for 2–3 weeks. They change into adult moths underground and then dig their way to the surface. I know I’m going to have bad dreams tonight!

Yesterday  morning, I spotted three coyotes in the backyard. We don’t usually see them during the day but this was 9:00 a.m.. I was at the kitchen window and saw some movement and assumed it was a deer but I still enjoy taking their pictures. So I grabbed the camera and ran out to find a very large coyote who stopped to look at me and then walked away.

I was about to leave when a second one came right behind, stopped in the same area, and then followed the first one up the hill.

Right after that, a third one emerged from behind a bush, stopped to look, and followed the others up the hill.

This was my first opportunity to see these wild animals up close and to take these amazing photos. We don’t usually see coyotes during the day, only at dusk, so I don’t know what brought them out. They really are beautiful creatures!

Squirrels, it seems you are remiss in your annual fruit-tree pruning work. I noticed that I still have some almost-ripe pomegranates on my tree but last year, you had already decimated them all, even though the seeds were still white inside. Where are you? How could you have missed these bright red globes of goodness? Not hungry? Lost your appetite? Perhaps you’re spending too much time on the much smaller tomato-flavored red globes of goodness and neglected to notice that the pomegranates are almost ripe. I can’t imagine what’s keeping you mangy, rat-faced, no-good, low-life, beady-eyed, scum-sucking, fruit-eating squirrels away from my tree???  Come back! I miss you! We can share. Oops… I gotta go. My pants are on fire.

It looks like my little bunny has had enough tomatoes and is moving on to the flowers. He’s living a pampered life here in my backyard. It’s my fault – I’ve spoiled him. Now I’m worried about the cold weather. Should I get him a blanket… make him some soup?