Wildlife Babies and Birds

We've been having a fun time watching four groundhog babies grow up. I like watching them browse out back. When the sunlight hits them at the right angle, they look blond. What I can't decide is if it is two families combined or one Mother with four babies. Yes, they do dig holes around the property, and in the barn, and in the hay shed. Since we don't have horses right now the holes are less of a concern. If they start digging into the house, they're toast.

Last week my husband saw a doe browsing along the back edge of our side acre. She had a fawn with her and according to my husband, the fawn just attacked her for lunch. No "please" from the fawn and no "not now" from the Mom. I saw a doe nursing a fawn last month, along an interstate about five miles from our house. Apparently everything else stops until Junior gets fed.

We've had a little male House Wren doing a lot of singing near the back of the house. I started hearing strange sounds coming from the pellet stove exhaust so went outside and took a look. Sure enough, the pipe was plugged with twigs from the fir trees close by. Doing a little research, I found out that the male wren may build up to 8 rudimentary nests in his quarter acre homestead. The female will inspect the offered residences and once she chooses one, will start to fill it with softer material. I keep a net bag of dog hair, from the resident spoiled house pet, for the birds to use. Only the male sings and he is so cute, basic brown, sitting on the fence with his little tail flicking up and down. I've seen the female and I think she has taken up residence in the pellet stove exhaust but I'm not absolutely sure. I even bought some "freeze dried meal worms" to feed these little birds. Meal worms are suppose to be attractive to blue birds, indigo buntings, and other worm/suet eating birds.

The bird feeder has become a problem due to the persistence of a local raccoon. It's a medium size animal and I am loath to dispatch it at this point. It doesn't come into the dog's yard as far as I can tell. It can access the bird feeder by climbing the yard's fence on the outside and dumping the bird seed out. I quit putting out seed for quite a while but now that the wren may have a family to support, I've started putting out very small amounts of seed with a side of meal worms. Apparently I'm also feeding a family of Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks. We have Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, one of the white striped sparrows, and a few finches. All the Chickadees seem to have disappeared. I even had two eat from my hand during the winter. Of course, the feeder was empty, it was freezing out, the wind was blowing, and I was cement headed enough to stand there like a statue with seed in my hand pretending to be a bird feeder. The husband, standing inside, warm and content, found the scene charming if a bit goofy, since I wasn't wearing a coat.

Seed Catalogs are Arriving

Today started off with a little sun light and the smell of Spring in the air. Already I've received a glossy "Jung Quality Seeds" and a large "R. H. Shumway's Illustrated Garden Guide". It's hard to hold yourself in check when you can almost see the grass starting to grow. Here in Findley Lake, the proverbial January Thaw is just a teaser before the End of January Blizzard that seems to last until March finally leaves like a lamb. Perhaps a little Global Warming would be a good thing. I grew up where the rule of thumb was to have your peas planted by St. Patrick's Day. Here, we'd be digging through 2' of snow to do that most years. At the top of my list for purchases this year are Egyptian Walking Onions, also called Multiplier Onions. Friends in Hop Bottom PA had a huge section of the garden dedicated to these. In the spring, pull up the young ones for scallions. The Missus in Hop Bottom considered anything under 2" across as a scallion. During the summer the tops of the plants would form clusters of bulblets that look a little like tiny shallots. You can pickle or use these bulblets to make creamed onions. Sprinkle them on the ground and start new onion sets. My foray into growing them here has been unsuccessful, mostly because of poor site location. Whatever I do, I'm going to buy enough of these to get a decent bed started. Once established, you have a perpetual supply of scallions and onions. I see that Jung's has my favorite Zucchini, Aristocrat Hybrid. Stan's Garden Center also carries it. Try Johnny's Selected Seeds for varieties proven to grow well in our short seasons. Also this year, I'm tempted to try growing mushrooms outdoors. As usual, the biggest decision to make is "What Kind?" to grow. So many varieties with so many different characteristics. Gardening is a good way to learn life lessons. Good choices, hard work, a little luck, and your pantry and freezer are filled with home grown food to nourish body and soul during the gray days of winter.