Saturday, July 16, 2011

Animal Kingdom


The last couple of days have been a reprieve from the 100+ heat indices and high humidity, which in the middle of the day felt a lot like slogging through hot soup under a broiler. No rain with the weather change, unfortunately. Also unfortunately the cooler weather has brought on a flare-up of fibromyalgia, which has kept me down and out for the last day and a half.

The puddle next to the water trough is now home to 4 frogs. (The water is murky because I just emptied the trough, causing the frogs to leap from the fence and the puddle margins into the water and stirring up the silt.) I'm not surprised to see these frogs in the puddle, as there are what sounds like hundreds in the spring pools between the paddock and the woods. What's funny is that before now, I've actually seen one of those frogs only a few times, maybe two or three times, as they always fall silent if you get near them and they're very good at hiding.

Leopard Frog?


Juvenile?


To see how small this tiny frog kingdom is, here is Tommy next to the trough, with the puddle to the
right. The little bumblebees that feed on the Bee Balm come here in droves to drink during the day.
Tommy will venture into the paddock as long as one of the horses isn't too close by.


Prince's coat has faded under the fierce summer sun. He and the pony spend some time under the shelter of the stalls during the day, but most of the time they stay outside. We will probably move them back down to the pastures tomorrow.



View to the neighbor's horses, regular sized and minis.


The deer family that was sampling my daylilies, down near the old house site.


Mom


Yearling buck

A couple of nights ago I saw a Gray Fox in the driveway near the horse trailer. At first I thought it was Prissy, then I realized that it didn't have a white chest and was too tall. Foxes are so graceful and cat-like. I've seen Gray Foxes many times over the years here on the farm, at times surprisingly close up. I've seen a Barred Owl in the woods behind the paddock at twilight recently as well. Gene has seen him or her a few times when he came home after dark (usually on Thursdays, when he works evenings), hunting at the wood's edge next to the driveway.

15 comments:

  1. Piękne zdjęcia, a sarny rewelacyjne.
    Pozdrawiam, miłego dnia.

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  2. What an animal refuge you have, for both the wild and the domesticated ones. You have such a beautiful, open, rural area, not at all like the suburbs I live in! I love to see it.

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  3. Good morning dear Sweetbay ~ I'm sorry to hear you are having a flare up of fibromyalgia, and hope you are feeling much better soon.

    I loved all of your critter pictures. Your place is lovely and peaceful as always.

    Hope you get some rain and cooler temps soon.

    Hugs ~ FlowerLady

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  4. I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well, Sweetbay.
    I like your horse stall setup. It's fancier than ours.
    Beautiful deer!

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  5. What lovely peaceful scenes of country life. Our deer don't seem to have been around much this spring. It has been so hot I think they are hiding during the day. I love foxes, despite the fact that my gg grandfather, who was a huntsman, must be turning in his grave!

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  6. Cute frog. I wish I could identify them but am not so good at it.

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  7. Great animal pictures! Such a pretty horse!

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  8. You captured some great shots of all the wildlife, Sweetbay! My granddaughter would be in heaven at your place, especially seeing all the horses. I remember taking my daughters to a miniature horse show many years ago; they are so cute.

    Sorry to hear about the flare; I hope you're feeling better soon.

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  9. Hope you feel better soon SB. Doesn't sound fun. We have your heat and a little humidity (very unusual for here). I guess because of the afternoon monsoon pattern we've been in?
    Anyway, I'm not surprised at all the animals that call your garden home. It's always looks incredibly inviting to me so I'm sure it does to them too. The frogs are cute and that IS a little puddle. I guess it doesn't take much, right?
    ps In my post about the Bullock's Orioles, I was going to write about their different personalities but I thought people would think I was crazy. They definitely have them tho ~ not so different from us...
    Take care.

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  10. The classic big frog (fish) in a small pond. Truly a tiny pond - a few slurps from Tommy and their kingdom could disappear :-)

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  11. So enjoyed your nature blog post..the photos were lovely. Hope you are feeling better soon..

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  12. The horses are so pretty. I like the deer too if they stay away from my lilies. LOL! Don't you just love Botanical Gardens? I could wander around in them for hours. Now I would hate to be chased by one of those big bees. LOL! How cute. Beautiful Pictures.

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  13. just lost my comment....bummer. I love hearing the Barred Owls calling to each other....have had a few sightings.
    I worry about the animals in the heat. Really been a scorcher.

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  14. Hope the fibromyalgia has stopped flaring up.

    I've been reading about the heatwave over in the states. I actually wonder whenever the weather plays ball?

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