Category: Wildlife

Plug

On By CarynIn Garden, Wildlife

It is a bit perplexing when you fill a watering can, feel the weight of the water, but when you tip it over to pour, nothing comes out.

Photo description: tree frog wedged in a watering can spigot

The tree frog was the right size to plug the watering can, and was quite panicked when its tiny front legs couldn’t find purchase to pull itself out. After I took its picture as proof, I offered assistance. It easily crawled on to my hand, and was not wedged forever in the plastic tube. I returned it to the garden and was able to water the plants without further incident.

Toes

On By CarynIn photography, Wildlife

I have to share another pic from the zoo, because it is both fascinating and disturbing. This is a tree frog on glass, and the bizarre looking polyps are its toes all tucked up underneath. All those toes! But they look vaguely like slime mold, but toes!

Photo description: tree frog on glass with yellow translucent toes tucked under its body but very visible through the glass

Orthographic satiation is when you look at a word too long and it stops making sense. I currently have that with the word “toes”. I mainly get the written word variety of satiation, probably because I reread what I write many times over, and spelling isn’t my friend. The same effect but auditory is called semantic satiation.

There will be a new rabbit hole tomorrow.

Ride of its life

On By CarynIn Wildlife

I did a day trip to a barbershop singing regional event that was four hours of driving and eight hours parked. I can’t be certain that the tree frog took the whole journey with me, but even if I picked him up on the last leg, it was a two hour car ride.

Photo description: green tree frog nestled in a hollow in the door frame of the back door of a mini van

I was certainly surprised to find the frog in the door jam when I opened the rear door. He has been gently removed and returned to a tree.

Peanut cage

On By CarynIn Wildlife

Squirrel challenges continue, this time I cleaned up a suet cage and put shelled raw peanuts inside.

Photo description: wire suet holder filled with shelled peanuts

This was a big hit. The squirrels went bonkers getting the peanuts out and running off with them. It was challenging, but not impossible. I even saw a small bird swoop in, pluck a peanut from the side, and fly off. Not a coconut, but still the peanut was larger than I thought a bird that small could carry! On day two I had to wrap the chain around the hook once because the squirrels figured out how to get it down and dragged it halfway across the yard.

Adding obstacles

On By CarynIn Wildlife

The squirrels really appreciate that I put out dried ears of corn, but they go through one ear in a day. I added an obstacle, so they have to work harder for the corn by tying knots in a 1/2” hemp rope and adding a screw eye. The corn is twisted onto the screw and hangs in the middle of the rope.

Photo description: Rope tied from the bird feeder stand to to railing with an ear of dried corn hanging from the middle

The squirrels have figured out how to get one kernel at a time off, but prefer the birdseed. We have a four squirrel family, so maybe one will figure this out while the others are gorging on seed.