OK! OK! We have critters!

[BLEUXDOG]

Sunday evening my spouse and I were walking the perimeter of our property and I told him how I was surprised we did not have any wild life on the place. He said we did I just did not see it.
On the 4th of July the dogs didn't want to come in so I went out and chased them in. I went back out and looked up the tree and there they were huddled on a branch, two baby racoons. My spouse sprayed them with the garden hose and they just moved higher in the tree. I looked around and no mama racoon so we left them there.

Later that evening, I was cleaning the horse's water trough. One of the horses was watching me when he snorted and backed away real fast. When I looked up to see what his problem was all I saw was somthing black slilthering my way fast. After a few choice words I can't post, I grabbed the rake I clean the stalls with and pinned the snake to the ground. After catching my breath, a few more choice words, and some wrangling, my spouse and I determined my unexpected guest was a very lucky speckled king snake.

We put him in a bucket and gave him a free ride to the wooded area of our property. I'm not afraid of snakes but I don't like to be startled.

Oh, the racoons climbed out of the tree and headed for the woods at dusk.

Later that evening, as my spouse and I walked the perimeter of our property I stated that I was convinced we had wildlife on the property. I am convinced we will see more if it doesn't rain soon. I want to put a kiddie pool out in the back so our visitors can drink there. My spouse agrees. We will be closing in the chicken pen this weekend. We don't want any visitors for chicken dinner. OK! OK! We have critters!

[crashdive123]

It's all around us. Sometimes we just need to slow down to observe it. Sounds like you have a lot of guests.

[Winnie]

Ha! now you have your lookie eye, you'll see wildlife everywhere that you never noticed before. Be warned, Nature is one of the biggest time wasters ever!(after chickens!)

[your_comforting_company]

Be sure to put a few stones on the outside of the pool and a few inside so smaller critters, like birds and frogs can get in and out without drowning.

King snakes are wonderful visitors. We have one in the yard that I've relocated several times this year. Now about 5 feet long, He startled the wife, and I made her come close to study it's patterns so she could be confident and unafraid next time she saw one. For a minute I thought you were going to say "I grabbed the hoe and cut his head off". Whew!
My grandmother is very VERY indiscriminate when it comes to snakes. I'm not sure whether she is unable to learn, or unable to break away from what she was taught.. "The only good snake is a dead snake", which is an outright lie. To be ignorant is one thing, to choose to remain ignorant all one's life is a whole 'nother.

[finallyME]

Ha! now you have your lookie eye, you'll see wildlife everywhere that you never noticed before. Be warned, Nature is one of the biggest time wasters ever!(after chickens!)

Watching chickens is funny. I put my buck rabbit in with them, and it is funny to watch the power plays between the rooster and the buck. What is even more funny is that the buck wants to sleep with them all night. Every night when I go get him to put him in his pen, he runs into the chicken pen. So, I just close it up since he is as safe in there as in his pen.

[hunter63]

Ha! now you have your lookie eye, you'll see wildlife everywhere that you never noticed before. Be warned, Nature is one of the biggest time wasters ever!(after chickens!)

LOL, so true.....But time spent watching and enjoying nature, isn't counted in your total number of days.

[BLEUXDOG]

YCC "For a minute I thought you were going to say "I grabbed the hoe and cut his head off".

I have found a manure rake works best for me with snakes because you can pin them without hurting them and enough space they can't get to you. I have also found the tines are perfectly spaced that if you want to catch the snake you can get to his head without him showing you all of his teeth.

I'm thinking about putting enough rocks on the inside and outside to provide an entrance into and exit out of the kiddie pool. They will have to swim at their own risk...No Life Guard On Duty!

[nell67]

Watching chickens is funny. I put my buck rabbit in with them, and it is funny to watch the power plays between the rooster and the buck. What is even more funny is that the buck wants to sleep with them all night. Every night when I go get him to put him in his pen, he runs into the chicken pen. So, I just close it up since he is as safe in there as in his pen.

Gawd,no way I would let my rabbits down on the ground,LOL and definately NOT in with chickens,as long as they have never been on the ground,you never have to worry about your rabbits having worms,plus I know too many people who have put rabbits in cages that have held chickens,only to return a few hours later to dead rabbits,supposedly something in the chicken crap that rabbits can't handle.