Relative Something

Since this is our first spring and summer on this property, we are discovering more about the wildlife here, with each passing day. Last fall, we were quickly introduced to the reality of the carnivorous coyotes, and we saw a lot of deer. We’ve had an amazing collection of colorful birds all winter, and of course, the squirrels were particularly pesky that whole time, too.

Now, the raccoons seem to have taken over for the squirrels, and have caused Cyndie to pull in a couple of her feeders that got tipped over and dismantled in the dark of night.

One of the first things we noticed, after snow finally stopped falling, has been something we hear, but have yet to see. The sound of frogs has been prevalent. I wonder if we’ll have a lot of tree frogs.

I figured the incredible wetness we are experiencing this spring would lead to a frightful number of mosquitoes, but that hasn’t happened, yet. I don’t know why. Now that it is no longer freezing at night, however, there are a number of other flying things that have showed up. Wasps have been making regular appearances around the house, and I keep finding spots where there are little mini nests, but so far, I think they have all been old ones. I expect we will need to be vigilant in policing our eaves to avoid having a large active nest become established.

The flies have been bothering me a bit, and have me sympathizing with horses, who so often suffer the constant harassment of the pests. I expect that once the mosquitoes show up in force, I will hardly even notice the flies anymore.

I fully expected to witness a lot of ticks. So far, between the two of us, Cyndie and me, only one woodtick, and it wasn’t on me. We haven’t shied away from walking in the long grass, so I have no explanation for not finding more. All I know is, I constantly feel like something is crawling on me now, because I keep expecting something probably is.

I am a little surprised by the wide variety of spiders we are seeing. The other day, one little wispy thing had built a web in the bathroom sink overnight. Unfortunately, most of the others we have seen have been far from what could be described as wispy. Just this morning, this guy in the picture appeared outside our bedroom door. He looks pretty full. Maybe the spiders are eating all the mosquitoes? I’m hoping it wasn’t a she, and those weren’t eggs.

Last fall, the grounds were covered with mounds and tunnels from moles or gophers. We figure that problem won’t just disappear, but their return hasn’t been obvious, yet. There were a couple spots where we questioned whether we were seeing new activity, or if it was a left over soft spot. We’ll see what develops there.

I did come across a hole in the yard, but instead of thinking gopher, since there wasn’t any dirt piled up, my fear is it could be the slithering creature I am least comfortable with: a snake.

I am with Harrison Ford’s character, Indiana Jones, when it comes to snakes.