Bathtub in the Woods

After remodeling our bathroom a few years ago I placed the old bathtub in our woods for the wildlife to use. I checked the game camera at the tub today and this bear loves it. This bear has two ear tags (ear bling for bad bears) and must have been caugth and released by the PA Game Commission.

Gardening Thumb

Some gardeners are known to have a "Green Thumb", while others tend to have a "Brown Thumb", my gardening efforts have rewarded me with a "Purple Thumb".

As the Summer gardening season winds down, I started working on garden projects for next year. One project was to establish a new asparagus bed by repurposing an old raised bed garden that needed some repairs to the wooden sides. The repairs involved nailing pressure treated wood over sections of rotted railroad ties. Since I would be driving large galvanized nails into railroad ties, I remembered Newton's second law of motion (F=ma) which states, force (F) equals mass (m) times acceleration (a) and selected the heavier mass of a 28 ounce framing hammer to generate more force. The first couple of nails went in easily with the framing hammer until complacency took over and the misguided framing hammer couldn't distinguish a thumb nail from a galvanized nail.

It brings new meaning to the phrase "May the Force be with you".

Free-range Chickens"

Earlier this summer one of our neighbors tried raising "free-range" poultry on their small property. Their flock included several ducks, chickens and a young turkey. At first the birds stayed close to the coop and in the owners yard, but then the birds discovered bird feeders in neighboring lawns and the size of the free-range expanded.

The birds also tried to answer the age old question, "why did the chicken cross the road". Their answer, to test a vehicle driver's reaction time and the stopping distance for moving vehicles. Over time the numbers birds decreased to one rooster which is now looking for companionship and a safe place to sleep at night. The rooster's new sleeping quarters is a hanging flower pot where it roosts every night.

Harry the Spider

For the past couple of months we've had Harry living in the area of our basement/TV room. Harry is a large Fishing Spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus). While most people have an unexplained fear of spiders (arachnophobia), Harry has Zuigerphobia, a fear of vacuum cleaner. Harry has become a well behaved house pet and roams freely around the basement looking for insects, but prefers this corner of the TV room, next to the night light.

Unlike most other spiders, Harry doesn't build webs to catch his meals, he uses an ambush method and has reduced the amount of other bugs in the basement area. Harry with the remains of ants he has caught.

A close-up of Harry showing the 8, two rows of 4, eyes at the top of his forehead.

Red-tailed Hawk

While brush hogging a small field I had this Red-tailed hawk fly in several times to catch mice that were running from the mower. A second hawk joined the mouse hunt before I finished mowing.

Reptiland

Roadtrip for grandson Reed, his cousin Liam and aunt Diana to Clyde Peeling's Reptiland near Allenwood, PA. The boys attended live shows about snakes and venom with a discussion about what to do if bitten by a rattlesnake. Liam told the crowd "go to a doctor", Reed's answer was "prepare to die". The boys handling live snakes.

The Exhibit Gallery featured many live reptiles from around the World. Reed taking a picture of a komodo dragon.

Visiting the exhibit of life-sized animatronic models of dinosaurs that roar, spit, and bellow.

This one will spit water at you.

"Reed, there's something following you"

The parakeet aviary where the boys used seeded sticks to attract and feed the birds.

New Crop of Fawns

This year's crop of new fawns are now starting to be more visible as they closely follow their mothers to learn the neighborhood.

Learning what to eat.

"Mommy, you have something on your nose!"

A pair of twins.

Skunk

I never know what I'll find on my evening wildlife drives. This time it was a skunk, also known as a dog's chew toy.

Black Bear Mating Season

Black bear mating season is at peak activity in June and July, and I found this bear near my hunting stand this morning. Male bears travel extensively during mating season to find females. This bear was within 60 yards when I first saw it.

Bears In The Woods

Ckecking the game camera near my spring turkey blind. Some deer and turkey photos, it did have photos of 2 different bears. The bear photos were 1 week apart with a big size difference between the 2 bears.

Mushroom Hunting

After a very wet spring the Chanterelle mushrooms are starting to appear in the woods behind our house.

Grandson Reed and I were out early this morning picking mushrooms.

Reed enjoys picking mushrooms and his container is the full one on the on the right.

Not bad for 15 to 20 minutes of picking.

Baby Birds

Grandson Reed and I were at our cabin pond today looking for "Free Range" turtles when we noticed a pair of red winged blackbirds making several trips to some tall grass. Thinking there may be a nest in the area we went over for a look. We didn't find the nest but did find these 3 fledgling birds in the tall grass.

Bird #1

Bird #2

Bird #3

Another Bear

A couple of our neighbors saw a bear near our cabin road this morning. After several trips around our cabin property I had no luck finding the bear until our evening wildlife drive after a rain shower. As we approached the entrance to the cabin road we saw this bear in the neighbor's lawn. The bear walked off into the woods and I found this bear foot print in our cabin road. Grandson Reed got to see his first bear of his Summer visit.

Killdeer Chicks

Today was the big day for the nesting Killdeers, the eggs were hatching. By 10:00AM 3 of the 4 eggs had hatched.

One of the Killdeer parents and the baby birds.

Our grandson Reed taking photos of the Killdeers. Reed had arrived here on Wednesday for his Summer vacation, just in time to watch the eggs hatch.

After waiting a couple of hours for the fourth egg to hatch, I couldn't find the last baby bird or egg. One of the parents approached me and I noticed something hanging down along the bird's right leg.

The forth baby bird was up under the parent's wing.

Within hours, 3 of the 4 baby birds were out of the nest looking for food.