fawns

Wildlife – Day 1003

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Cutie – Photo: L. Weikel

Wildlife

I’ve had three surprisingly close encounters with wildlife in the past 24 hours – and that doesn’t even count the eight fawns (two of which popped out of the brush beside the road to scamper in front of my car – twice) and 5 does I passed.

I only managed to get photos of the first encounter. But as you can see, s/he was a cutie!

Hard to call this WILDlife – Photo: L. Weikel

First

This little raccoon was on the side of the road as I was driving home last night after taking my photos of Jupiter and Saturn. I may not have succeeded in seeing any Perseids, but – what was that? As I passed by several clusters of leaves littering the side of the road, I caught sight of what looked like a small cat-like creature scratching its ear with its hind leg. I was tired and realized it may have been just another clump of fallen leaves, but I turned the car around in a driveway and headed back for another look.

As my headlights washed a broad beam onto the side of the road, I could see that it was indeed a small animal. My window down, I pulled up slowly to see if I could snap a photo of it before it ran away. Well, didn’t this little creature come walking right up to me? It looked lost and a little like it just wanted to be held, to be honest. (Yes. Of course I was talking to it the whole time. And no, I had no intention of holding a wild animal.) But it bothered me that it had moved into the road as it responded to me.

I drove down the road a piece and turned around yet again. I hated having my headlights trained on it, but I needed to be able to see it and hoped it would want to retreat from the lights. In fact, that’s what happened. S/he crossed the road in front of me and descended into a culvert.

Next Encounter

I was sitting in my car following the tremendous thunderstorms that went through the area early this evening. Half in and half out of the car, my right leg was inside the car and my left on the ground. I was looking at something in my lap when all of a sudden a squirrel ran from behind my car and almost bumped into my left leg! It just stood there on its hind legs – sort of taken aback by the encounter as much as I was. I yelped involuntarily and it ran off.

It was an odd encounter.

Final for the Night

About an hour later, Spartacus and I were taking a walk on our usual ‘walk around’ route (our shorter, two mile excursion). He’s getting older and it shows: he’s developed cataracts and his hearing is not what it used to be either.

Thus he missed the coyote that loped across the road about 20’ away from us. What a gorgeous animal! At first I thought it was an adult fox, but the tail had more of a look of a dog than the fluffy, sticking straight out tail of a fox. And its coloring was more brown and dark gray as opposed to the usual rust-colored fur of a fox. Needless to say, it didn’t ‘say’ anything to us as it passed!

Spart may have missed it as it crossed, but as we approached where it disappeared into the bushes, his nose got him all sorts of excited. And historically, he has not had quite the same reaction to foxes. So, again, my sense is that the creature that padded across our path was definitely a coyote.

What a wonderful day, filled with close encounters with the wildlife that share our habitat. And just as I write this, a screech owl serenades me just outside my door. Wow.

Hopefully heading home – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-108)

A Plethora of Pleasures – Day 937

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Sunset, Tree, and Wildflowers – Photo: L. Weikel

A Plethora of Pleasures

My walks the past two evenings have yielded a plethora of pleasures. From pigs to bunnies to a stunning sunset casting tangerine rays across a field of wildflowers, it’s hard to choose a favorite. Even lightning bugs made their appearance and demanded their share of oohs and aahs.

Lightning bugs are pretty tough to capture with my iPhone. But they were definitely showing off tonight, reveling in their newfound ability to light up the night. Karl and I sat in the dark on our porch and watched them rise from the grass, and slowly make their way up into the trees. A few were sassy and bold, lighting up brightly then dragging their fluorescent abdomens to create streaks across the yard with dramatic flair.

Wary but not afraid – Photo: L. Weikel

Not Much Movement

I don’t know if it was the heat of the day or just a lack of fear, but so many creatures we encountered seemed utterly unfazed by my attempts to take their photo. The bunny allowed me to nearly walk right up to it – and this with Spartacus (obliviously) trotting and sniffing along the way.

A barn swallow continued flirting with me as well. It allowed me to approach and take a slow motion video of it launching into flight that’s stunning.

I didn’t even bother to take photos of all the deer sitting in the fields, their heads the only parts of their bodies popping up out of the wavy grasses. There were at least three moments of unadulterated adorableness when a mommy doe walked onto the road in front of me, only to have the teeny tiniest of fawns stumble onto the road right behind her. I swear, the babies I’ve seen over the past five days or so had to have been born the same day as I saw them.

You Called? – Photo: L. Weikel

Captured My Heart

For now, I’m just going to leave you with a few photos. I’ve had a long day and spent much of it out in the sun. I feel sated by the plethora of pleasures strewn in my path.

(T-174)

Evening Stroll – Day 602

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Fawns and Moms – Photo: L. Weikel

Evening Stroll

It sure was hot today. While I spent the majority of the day sitting outside on our porch writing on my laptop, I nevertheless found the heat oppressive. And I have to admit, as the day wore on and the heat seemed only to bake itself in, I despaired of managing even an evening stroll.

At one point, Karl came outside, either awed or disgusted by the fact that I was (in his opinion) torturing myself by working on the porch, to give me an update on the projected hourly temperatures for the rest of the day and evening. Upon the completion of his recitation, I just looked at him. “Your point?” I asked when he didn’t seem to get the intent behind my baleful stare.

“Guess we’re not going to walk again today,” he stated. “I don’t know how you can even stand sitting out here. It’s barely going to cool down at all – unless we wait to walk around midnight.”

I snorted at that. While I might be game for a midnight walk, we both knew he’d be fast asleep long before that witching hour.

It’s All Relative

A few hours later, I was putting two containers of freshly made potato salad and a big bowl of watermelon salad into the refrigerator, the vast majority of my meal preparation for the week completed. While it was admittedly hot work, Karl’s earlier provision of a weather advisory had tipped me off that the next several days look pretty uniformly oppressive.

I wanted both salads to chill in the refrigerator a while, so I lobbied for at least a quick stop sign for Sheila’s constitutional. (Karl will do almost anything for his little girl.) The sun was setting and even though the temperature hadn’t dropped dramatically, it did feel like a walk might be bearable now that the sun was no longer boring down on us.

A quick trip to the stop sign with Sheila not only yielded results for her, but also confirmed for us that it’s all relative: the setting of the sun actually made an evening stroll enticing, despite the fact that the actual air temperature was only about ten degrees lower than it was all afternoon.

So we managed to get a two mile walk-around under our belts (after taking Sheila back to the house). Wow, did we need it; the weather the prior two days had been either too oppressive or too wet to walk. A third day of no walking would’ve been ugly.

A Lovely Calm

Not only did we see two does and two fawns romping in a field, we were also treated to an evening without crackles and booms. Instead, we heard crickets and a catbird chattering its song, a breeze (albeit a warm one) shushing leaves high in the treetops.

I can’t say I’m not still waiting for that other shoe to drop. But for an hour or so this evening, peace and calm were the order of the day. May it extend into the week for all of us.

(T-509)

Photo That Got Away – Day 226

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Fawns from another year (in our back yard) – Photo: L. Weikel

Photo That Got Away

As soon as I walked in the door this evening, Karl was ready to take a walk. I was relieved, because I knew I needed a walk, wanted a walk, and could easily have been persuaded out of a walk.

We were just rounding the first corner of our walk-around (the shorter, 2.2 mile trek), when we heard a skittering clatter of hooves on pavement. Just ahead, as the road we were on goes straight and the road we were headed for bears right and up a hill, we saw three fawns slipping and sliding on the gravel where these two roads meet. They looked like they were on a patch of ice, their legs akimbo and their inner panic palpable.

Not Fast Enough on the Draw

I couldn’t get my phone out fast enough to get a photo, but I can assure you: they were soooooo cute. Oh my goodness.

They did manage to get themselves off the roadway and into the tangled, prickly brush at the edge of our neighbor’s property. They were hiding. Try as they might, I could see them. I knew they were there. But they were obedient to their mother’s lessons: Stay still.

There was one little one in particular that I could see peering out at me through the criss-crossed arms and legs of pricker bushes. Walking to the edge of the road to get as close as I physically could with my phone, I then zoomed in to the greatest magnification. Nevertheless, the camouflage was perfect.

I just looked at the photo moments ago. I deleted it, not realizing I would actually end up writing about the fawns. But there you have it. I honestly think you wouldn’t have been able to see the fawn, but it occurs to me right now how ridiculous it is that I didn’t give you the opportunity to try.

I gave you Cloud Goblin. I gave you a Sunset Dakini. Realistically, I should have had greater confidence in all of you and given you the chance to play “Where’s Waldo” with the fawn.

Next time!

(T-885)