Busy as a petunia eating ground hog

Got a crazy busy schedule in the upcoming weeks starting with daughter's ballet dress rehearsal tomorrow night. I might not post much but life should return to normal by the endish of June.

Not yo momma's adult swim

Off the subject of wildlife for a moment I move to wild lives of childlike adults.
We visited the pool today for the first time this year. Having two young ones and no one else to watch them I had to exit the pool when the whistle blew for adult swim.
Remembering all other adult swims I've witnessed or been apart of in the past I was amused to see the action that took place.
Adults, I'm talking parents of children and many well into their thirties, hopped in the pool and began playing. I was expecting the typical waders, dippers and lap swimmers. Instead I got ball throwers and people doing handstands. It was delightfully odd and I hope to bring the husband to stay with the kids next time so I can join in.

Mark some more off the list

When we first moved to this house a little over one year ago, the previous owners welcomed us with a list of wildlife we could expect to see.
The list included:
Raccoon
Squirrels
Chipmunks
Rabbits
Groundhogs
Fox
Skunks
Variety of Snakes
Possum
Turkeys
Deer
Large woodpeckers
Black bear

There might have been more on the list. The animals in red are the only one we haven't seen so far.
In these parts there have also been spottings of Coyote, Bobcats and Mountain Lions (though this is heavily debated). Although I would love to see these animals in the wild, I would prefer they stay miles from my home and extremely edible children.

Some of the cute ones...

Last night we grilled bratwursts and apparently the scent was more than one raccoon could resist. He actually came into the yard and took a stroll around the deck checking to see if we dropped anything. I noticed its front paw is injured and it was limping a bit. Poor cutie pie!
The deer were here this morning. The GH is the same one who ate the petunias.

In case you were wondering, we don't feed the wildlife. I do feed the birds in the winter but not this time of year. All the houses in my neighborhood are similar in that they back up to the mountain. I suspect these critters feast as they visit every house bordering the woods.

Enjoy!

I'm in yer yard, mowin' yer lawn

... and eating your petunias.

Transformers movie fervor has waned somewhat it's time to get back on topic:
Wildlife in the wooded suburbs.

Friday night as I grilled chicken, I admired my gorgeous, healthy and plentiful petunias. Two hours later I returned outside to put the cover on the grill and the petunias had been hacked. A very sneaky and speedy critter ate EVERY single flower from EVERY single plant. I was so peeved, I cried. I realize that sounds over-dramatic and extreme but I was very proud of those plants and was looking forward to showing them off to my parents when they arrived on Sat.


A momma bunny was my first suspect. I had seen her about on the hillside lookin' cute and admiring my lawn from afar. Perhaps it was she bringing the kids out for a dinner flower buffet. I was not feeling compassionate toward the villains and had I seen the event taking place I would have done something horrific. You know, chase them while screaming "frick, frick you frickin' fricks!"

Sat afternoon, CTDad took this photo of the culprit.

It's a groundhog. And I was all blamen' the bunnies.

Woooweeee

I saw Shrek the Third with the kids this afternoon. It was alright, however before the feature pic their was a preview that made me way more excited than an adult should be.

Are you ready for this?

There is a live action Transformers movie coming out soon.

I LOVED the Transformers when I was a kid and actually pretended like I was a VW bug that transformed into a girl. Very weird and nerdy, I know....

The movie looks so cool. Sigh...
http://www.transformersmovie.com/


Find out which Transformer you are at LiquidGeneration!

Shout out to my balding asthmatic cat

Seriously, for those of you who do not know this already, my cat has asthma. It's all funny jokes about kitty inhalers until you find out that they really exist and they cost a fortune. Argh!

Anyhow, so now my cat is loosing all of his hair. I'm not joking. In the last two weeks or so his rear end has begun resembling Mr. Bigglesworth.

To make matters worse when he is content, nervous, drowsy, angry, happy, hungry or frisky he SUCKs his tail. It's revolting. His skinny long tail ends in a wet and slimy point which he wields like a scorpion's tail and tries to touch me with it when I push him away from me.

Now, some may wonder why I put up with this. Why do I spend the money on his treatments? Why not dock his tail?
Because I love him and he is very sweet. The vet actually suggested surgically removing his tail as she suspects he has no feeling in it. However, because of his asthma he is not a candidate for anesthesia. Husband would never have paid for it anyhow.
I'll have to sharpen up my crochet skills so I can make him a sweater for winter.

This is a video of Harry Hedwig in his glory days. Notice the shiny point at the end of his tail during the dream sequence.

Lost in Love Again!

LOST is back in a huge way.
I had lost faith in it at the beginning of the season. Then they took that hiatus. Growl...

Oh but now... (heart thumping)... it's wonderful again. I'm in love with my computer every Thursday afternoon. I watch the episodes online since I'm too old to stay up till ten to catch the Wed night running.

Now that the finale approaches, I strongly recommend those of you who gave up on it to rethink you're decision. Catch up with the episodes online or buy the dvds.
There are also great sites to fill you in on the details you may have missed.

This is a great one. Favorite it and you'll end up with a cute alien head icon in your favorite list.
http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/

Bittersweet Milestone

My oldest graduated from preschool this morning. She was very serious during the ceremony. They showed this horribly sappy and tear inducing slide show of all the preschoolers from birth to present and I cried just a little even though I promised myself I would not.

Here are the highlights

What drives the blog?

Since I've started my blog I've struggled with the direction. Where do I want to take this? What do I want this to be about?

So many blogs have a purpose (http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/, http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/) but mine seems to be nothing other than an outlet for my own ramblings. Not exactly interesting reading for most people. I always think it'll come to me. It'll work itself out.

Cozytail's Suburban Wild Kingdom

Is that what I've become? For the last month I seem to be posting many stories about wildlife encounters. Just this weekend Steve killed a copperhead outside our garage door and their was a crayola sized millipede in our basement last night. No photos of the villains (all deceased).

Comment. Let me hear the stories of your wildlife encounters. Don't be shy!
Let's see if this is my blog destiny..

Sad news

I got a sad call from my aunt last night. She said that my grandmother is in stage four of colon cancer and hasn't been given long. The Dr says she may be able to live another year or more if chemo works. She is in her 80s and so this shouldn't be so unexpected for me but I found myself very shocked at news. Her own mother is 103 and still kicking. I guess I just figured she would be the same way. Esp since about two weeks ago she was still very active and playing tennis.

According to my aunt GM has rarely gone to the Dr in her life and figures the last time she really saw a Dr was when she (meaning my aunt) was born. She may have been able to prevent this with annual checkups and colonoscopies. I remember my grandmother talking a couple of years ago about how she had to update her will. She said sassily "I don't know why I bother, I plan to outlive everyone." And, I really thought she might.

In the last year her mind has been slipping. She has the most detailed memory of the past but her short term memory is quite bad. When the Dr told her she was dying she took it as well as anyone could. She said she lived a full life, travelled, etc. She said she couldn't complain. Unfortunately, by the time my aunt got her home from the appointment she had forgotten the whole conversation took place. My aunt says when she takes her to the Dr. my grandmother doesn't seem to retain the idea that she's dying. Perhaps that's a blessing. I don't know.

I saw her Easter and although she repeated a sentence or two she really did too bad. It's happened so quickly. It's just very sad. I'm glad we had Easter.

Bug a Boo

Typical Sunday
I needed to water the plants and I couldn't get the stinkin' hose attached to the nozzle so I had to dig the watering can out of the garage.
I noticed feathery web on the inside of the can but ignored it. I then proceeded to fill the can with water blasting from the spigot. I watered the first round of plants and refilled. Again, the water flow into the can was violent.

As I began watering the second round of plants and heard a screech. "Mommy, there is a bug on the watering can," Holly said. Holly is a bit of a dramatic and I didn't react quickly.
When I finally looked at the watering can I saw the horror. It was a black widow!!!
It was inches from my hand.

I put the can down and got a stick. The spider reluctantly climbed onto the stick and was placed on the deck. The spider ran from the stick but I decided that my husband needed to see the spider so I encouraged the widow to climb back onto the stick and called for him. He never saw the spider thanks to a malfunctioning screen door and the discovery of a wasp nest. I suspect he still doesn't really believe that I saw what I saw.

The spider did all it could to avoid me. It was violently flushed from its home, exposed to the hysterics of a five year old and harassed with a stick. I actually felt pity for the creature. In the end, however, I had to kill it. I've got to little ones and can't take the chance of them coming across it as they are into everything and happen to have an affection for watering cans.

Except for recognizing them by site, I really don't know much about black widows. If their is one will their be more? Despite the clear evidence of it's existence (smashed flat body) my husband continues to leave his shoes in the garage next where the watering can is stored. Ah well...

Crime

Erm.. sorry for not bloggin' lately.

My mom called one sunny day this week (Thursday maybe) and said "Something destroyed our bird feeders."

Crime Scene:
A wooded yard in the Middle Of Nowhere Mountains, VA. One copper bird feeder cracked into multiple pieces and scattered about the grounds. One metal shepard's hook bent to the ground at it's base.
Suspects:
- Freakishly large and well fed squirrels with long rap sheet of bird feeder raids
- Raccoon - no confirmed sitings but bound to be living among them
- Possum - many visual sitings and great climbers but are they strong enough to bend the shepard's hook?
- Deer - often seen in the yard, enjoy birdseed, to cute to be guilty
- Bear - only one citing in 15 years but certainly the only thing strong enough to bend the shepard's hook

She called yesterday morning told me a horrific tale. She was getting ready for bed and heard a bang outside. In truth she heard multiple bangs and proceeded to tell me about the volume of each bang and what she thought might have been the object which fell and where it might have landed. She may have done this just to increase the suspense but it just ended up being more detail that I needed. Bang, bang, bang, she turned on the porch light. Eeeek! There was a bear on the front porch standing and LOOKING IN THE WINDOW! They locked eyes and he did not appear alarmed at being discovered.

Since my parents live in the wilderness they have always thought themselves immune to crime and never lock their doors. (I have been on them about this for years). Also, a large gust of wind could blow the door open.* Naturally when my mom said the bear was on the porch, I thought of the unlocked door and how the bear could simply lean on it and be inside. Thankfully, that did not happen. I can't imagine the damage and horror that would have followed. She ran upstairs to get my dad. By the time he got downstairs the bear had decided there was nothing inside the home to tempt him. I guess he didn't see the scrumptious fat black kitty laying on the couch.

By the time my dad got downstairs, the bear had wondered back into the yard. He shouted at the bear and the bear simply looked at him and casually meandered back into the woods.

They lock their doors now.

*edited (01-07-09) to add The wind did blow their locked doors open last month. sigh... They replaced the door knob.