Tilla, my favorite dog, gives me hugs. He puts his front paws and body on me when I am sitting. Sometimes it is his way of saying I want to go out in the yard and other time it is not. He is the only dog who will jump on the bed to greet me when I am in that room. And he will immediately jump off when I leave my bedroom. I never had a dog do that before. He is a very affectionate dog. Often when he comes in from the yard he will greet me (or my wife) by tapping me lightly with his nose.
Tags: Tilla and his hugs, Tilla greets me from the yard, Tilla will jump on my bed to greet me in that room
Posted in animals, pets |
My pets comfort me. I arose several hour before my wife and Coco joined me in my den as I was watching TV. Suddenly my other two dogs came into my room–Tilla and her mom Sweetie. Coco immediately left my room. She likes her space. I love my pets (all eleven). I went to sleep last with all three dogs in my bedroom including one cat–Cool Hand Luke, who jumped on our king sized bed not far from me. Maybe they just like the air conditioning. Anyway, I was happy they joined as I fell asleep. My animals just love me. And that is always comforting.
Tags: Cool Hand Luke, Four of my pets joined me in my bedroom, Sweetie, Tilla, Two of my pets joined me in my den
Posted in animals, pets |
Big Bad Benny, a beagle-mix, who has been dead for over fifteen years, knew how to open the refrigerator door. We had to make sure both doors leading to the kitchen were closed. He really was not that smart and must have discovered how to do that accidentally. Anyway, if one door was left open he would discover that and raid the refrigerator. Anything he could reach was history. He certainly had lived up to his name.
Tags: Benny The Horror, Benny would help himself to the refrigerator, knew how to open the refrigerator door
Posted in animals, pets |
I would sic the dogs on the squirrels eating from thee bird feeder I keep sunflower seeds in. I’d simply open the screen door and out they went in fast pursuit of the squirrels. My wife was afraid they might catch one so once I rattled the screen to give the squirrels some advance notice. Tilla the fastest of my three dogs took one look, noticed the squirrels had fled and refused to run out. He knew he did not have a prayer to catch one. I just laughed. He did not want to waste his time. He wanted a fighting chance.
Tags: Siccing the dogs on the squirrels, squirrels eating my sunflower seed, Tilla did not want to waste his energy
Posted in animals, nature, pets |
Last Christmas my wife bought me two caged suet feeders. They paid for themselves. I would go, sometimes, through one suet cake a day. Usually in two or three days I had to put up another. Now it is weeks, sometimes a month or two that before I have to put up another suet cake. I did not realize how much the squirrels were eating. Until now.
The second suet cage I hung from a stake and can be viewed from our bathroom window. There is a tree nearby and my wife said recently she saw five birds on that tree each taking a turn feeding on the suet. The birds definitely know about the suet outside the bathroom window.
The other cage is hung up near the trunk of the large white pine which can be viewed outside our large living room window. The holes in that cage are a little bigger so a larger woodpecker like the red bellied woodpecker can reach the suet inside. Not just the downy woodpecker. I really am thrilled with this unexpected gift from my wife.
In addition to the woodpeckers the suet attracts white breasted nuthache, titmouse and an occasional chickadee and sometimes other birds like the brown creeper.
Tags: brown creeper, chickadee, downy woodpecker, red bellied woodpecker, squirrels eating my suet, the caged suet feeders
Posted in animals, birds, nature |
Cheyenne finally made friends with me. For years, often, when I approached him, he would stand there and give me the “eye’; as if to say how dear you approach me. Recently I realized he would let me pet him. I would run my fingers from his head down to his tail and he would not run away and, even, seemed to like my touch. I really do not know what changed. He is such a regal long haired cat. And I was thrilled he made friends with me.
Tags: Cheyenne, my cat made friends with me, one of my cats
Posted in animals, pets |
Two fawns crossed my road. I had slowed down. I never know exactly what I might flush. About an hundred feet in front of my car. When I reached that point on the road I looked into the side of the road but they had vanished. One fawn appeared to be a little bigger than the other.
Posted in animals, nature |
A doe and her fawn crossed my road fifty feet away from my car and disappeared into the tract of woods right next to our property. It was a little over two weeks ago we saw a doe in our backyard from the kitchen window. Both of them were firsts. A doe (and her fawn) must be living in the tract of woods next to us.
Posted in animals, nature |
It was the first time since I moved here–twelve years ago–I actually saw a doe come to our backyard. My wife spotted it first and then with an hush called me to the back window. Its ears perked up when the doe heard our voice. It probably was feeding on our mulberries. I ran to get my camera but it was gone by the time I made it back. That was a thrill for both of us seeing a deer in our backyard.
Posted in animals, nature |
You can’t own a cat not like a dog who you can win their loyalty. All my cat (all seven) have their own personality. They do not seek your approval. They let you take care of them but they have their own mind. They do not cater to you. They let you take care of you. Of course that is true of dogs too. Animals either like you or don’t. They don’t feign affection. They are more reliable than humans. In fact, some people prefer animals, particularly dogs, (and their are cat people too) to humans. They only know one thing: that is love. They give unconditional love. The animals do not care how many degrees you have or how much money. Each animal accepts you how you are.
Posted in animals, pets |
It appeared to be petrified lying there at the water’s edge. I finally viewed Lake Heron which was buried in the woods nearby me. It was part of a private camp ground. I had never seen the pond before: the entrance to the camp ground is usually cordoned off. Finally my curiosity got the better of me. It was Sunday and the entrance was open. I drove right up to the water edge. The pond is approximately an acre big. It was odd. At the edge of the water there was a big dead turtle. And what was weird about it, it appeared to be petrified–mummified actually. I had never seen anything like that. It was all dried up. I had never seen anything like that. I did not have the slightest idea how the turtle got that way.
Posted in animals, nature |
It was the largest turtle I ever saw on the side of the road opposite me as I was taking a trip into town. I stopped my car to check it out. It was almost ten inches long near a brook a foot from the road. It did not have the orange and black markings–the common marking of a box turtle. Its shell was brown. I approached it carefully and examined it from a safe distance. I suspected it was a snapping turtle. And I did not want to get bit. I decided to leave it alone and check on my return trip if it was still in the same spot. It was not. It had disappeared. At home I verified it was a snapping turtle. I had never seen one before. I certainly did not want to mess with it. It was the first snapping turtle I had ever seen. Usually the turtles I see on the side of the road are box turtles.
Posted in animals, nature |
