It's dark here in the woods. I noticed one of our outside lights was out, so I went out to change it. I evidently disturbed a buck, because he started snorting. They show their displeasure by blowing air very forcefully through their nostrils. I couldn't see him because when it's dark in the woods it's really dark. I whistled at him and I could hear his snorting dying away in the distance.
We went to the creek today and it was dry. The weather has been extremely hot and almost no rain has fallen for several months. I think that global warming is a reality. We have had some days when the temperature reached triple digits in the area. Here on the mountain we are normally five degrees cooler than the valley, however.
When the creek drys up there is normally less wildlife about but just when you start missing them they'll show you they are still around. We were sitting on the deck the other evening and noticed a red fox about 50 feet out in the woods. He was just sitting there watching us as though he were curious what manner of animals we were. When my wife started to point at him he trotted away in apparent unconcern.
Two days later I was standing at the head of our path that leads to the creek and noticed the same fox come trotting past me at a distance of no more than twenty feet. He was presenting his side to me and I saw that he was quite large for a fox. So large, in fact, that I might have mistaken him for a coyote if not for his red overtones. He must be hanging around hoping for food. Perhaps a rattlesnake? (See a previous blog) Someone told me that a fox or a skunk will actually eat yellow jacket nests out of the ground. Last year the rascals were really bad here. I couldn't find the hive but eventually I saw where an animal had found it for me. A fallen tree, quite rotten, had been torn apart and there was evidence that a yellow jacket nest had been devoured.
You may remember our little lost fawn that I mentioned in a previous post. The other day, the little guy came running up to us when we were walking on an old logging road behind our house. Since the mountain lion incident we are fairly edgy in the woods and I don't know who jumped the highest, the fawn or us.
Hey. If you want to watch a good movie, try Red Rock West with Nicholas Cage. Also, try Clay Pigeons with Joaquin Phoenix. Both are five star.
From the green, and dark, place. CE Wills
We went to the creek today and it was dry. The weather has been extremely hot and almost no rain has fallen for several months. I think that global warming is a reality. We have had some days when the temperature reached triple digits in the area. Here on the mountain we are normally five degrees cooler than the valley, however.
When the creek drys up there is normally less wildlife about but just when you start missing them they'll show you they are still around. We were sitting on the deck the other evening and noticed a red fox about 50 feet out in the woods. He was just sitting there watching us as though he were curious what manner of animals we were. When my wife started to point at him he trotted away in apparent unconcern.
Two days later I was standing at the head of our path that leads to the creek and noticed the same fox come trotting past me at a distance of no more than twenty feet. He was presenting his side to me and I saw that he was quite large for a fox. So large, in fact, that I might have mistaken him for a coyote if not for his red overtones. He must be hanging around hoping for food. Perhaps a rattlesnake? (See a previous blog) Someone told me that a fox or a skunk will actually eat yellow jacket nests out of the ground. Last year the rascals were really bad here. I couldn't find the hive but eventually I saw where an animal had found it for me. A fallen tree, quite rotten, had been torn apart and there was evidence that a yellow jacket nest had been devoured.
You may remember our little lost fawn that I mentioned in a previous post. The other day, the little guy came running up to us when we were walking on an old logging road behind our house. Since the mountain lion incident we are fairly edgy in the woods and I don't know who jumped the highest, the fawn or us.
Hey. If you want to watch a good movie, try Red Rock West with Nicholas Cage. Also, try Clay Pigeons with Joaquin Phoenix. Both are five star.
From the green, and dark, place. CE Wills
Comments
Post a Comment