HAPPY NEW WEEK! I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I’m taking a short break from work to say hello to you all and tell you about my new friend.
Every summer, I seem to have one animal who chooses to stay close to my house and keep me company. Last year, it was the little yearling white-tailed deer. This year, it’s an enormous groundhog! He’s made a burrow underneath the fallen apple tree next to my bedroom window, and he’s been spending his days puttering around my front porch, eating the weeds that I’ve allowed to grow.
He’s a formidable critter. A couple of decades ago, we had a huge groundhog on this land. My Mom named him “Bear,” because he was nearly as large as a bear cub. The current resident groundhog must be Bear’s descendent, because he’s a big fella! He has immense teeth (I think he’s fairly old) and long, thick claws. Despite his scary appearance, he’s been friendly to me. Groundhogs generally avoid people and can be hostile to humans if they feel crowded or cornered, but Bear II makes no effort to leave when I go outdoors. When I talk to him, he tilts his head like a dog and stares at me with interest. LOL He makes me laugh, waddling around the yard.
I didn’t try to photograph him, because I read that mobile phones and other devices emit electromagnetic fields that some animals, including groundhogs, can hear (or feel?). He looks like the one in this photo, though.
Groundhog, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia NPS photo labeled “Public domain” (copyright free)
Morning all:
Lindybird: I think I need to rent your OH. We have several projects here and my OH seems to have retired from the Fix-It department. Wow - and that $11,000 is just the royalty fee, which is included in the $45,000 cost (for a Western agency) and the $20-40,000 cost for a Nepalese agency. Just saw a headline that said the only thing harder than climbing Everest was raising the money to do it! I can think of lots of things I'd rather do with $45,000 than stand in a line in a very cold and dangerous place.
AQ: You're wearing a long skirt and heavy sweater because you were sitting at the computer too long? Because it's so cold in the computer room? (Sorry. It's early and my brain is working on all cylinders yet.) There are Eastern states in OZ?? :-))
OG: It was me who asked about George. Thanks for the feedback. Please say Hi to him. Enjoy the concert tonight.
Made the mistake of weighing myself for the first time in ages. Need I say more....
http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/
RSPB Giving Nature a Home
ANNETTE – Sorry I was too cryptic. My computer room is an ex-bedroom facing south (coldest down here); also our heating is the other end of house. It can get quite chilly and my “mouse hand” is quite freezy at times. It does encourage me not to sit too long! As for eastern states, NSW & VIC think they are Aussieland. Much rivalry between those two as well.
At long last some pics from my a-while-ago bus trip. We left city, up Northern Expressway, edged past Barossa, coffee stop at Truro. Onwards, out of hills down to Murray Flats.
This land is in rain shadow, hence poor vegetation, saltbush & mallee trees.
Short stop in Blanchetown to stretch legs. Across the Murray River were pelicans & cormorants sunning on a boat ramp.
2 pelicans & 2 cormorants on the river.
to be continued