CAN THE GRAY FOX REALLY CLIMB TREES?

IN A WORD, YES.  BUT… it also depends on the tree. He can’t go up very far on a straight tree, but if he tries a tree that is angled or had relatively low branches, he is as agile as a cat. Well, going up, but coming down- not so much. Mostly it is a leap to the ground. I have never been lucky enough to see any of my foxes climb the trees around here, but I borrowed some shots from google’s image files.

   

“My” fox has been known to go up a neighbor’s tree and have a snack of baby robins. I heard the racket, the birds did not sit back quietly and allow it to happen, but by the time my neighbor got his camera, the fox was running back into the woods and part of the nest was on the ground and the robins were flying above the fox yelling some serious curses at him, I am sure.

Meanwhile, back at the compost pile “my” fox had just finished up some baked potato skins which the coon really loves, licked the cheese and sour cream off her nose and spotted my camera… and off she ran. Mrs Coonie-Bear decided to try her luck at any left over cat food. She could care less about me standing there with the camera.

 

in case you are interested, that big black thing behind the coonie-bear is a gro-bag with carrots in it. Part of my container “farming.” The pink flowers behind the fox are peonies.

Spook was enjoying his time on the patio having already eaten his dinner. Perhaps he was amused to know they would find nothing but an empty dish at his dinner place. He no longer runs from the other critters tho he used to climb up on the barn roof when the previous fox lived here.

 

Thanks for visiting my garden/zoo!

RUSTY IS THINKING…

ABOUT STARTING HIS OWN BLOG. But he still needs help with the typing part. Have I mentioned he is a Klutz? We told him being a Klutz is a very special Kitty thing. Well, it is!

Anyway, the point is, he often sits on my lap and reacts to things I find on the web… so I will share some of them with you… and maybe set up his own blog. Stay Tuned!

RUSTY, THE INNOCENT

How often have you heard people say animals don’t have distinct personalities? Frankly, I worry about those people. And I feel sorry for them. Obviously they have not made space in their hearts for one of our little creatures, our little 4 legged cousins. (For the sake of brevity, I will not get into fish, birds, or reptiles as pets – since mostly I feel sorry for them trapped forever in a prison of glass or bars.)

I have been owned by numerous cats. Many of them have been seen here on this blog. Some have lived in the house exclusively, some outside… and, as most of you know, in the last year or so, the cat population has greatly decreased here… cancer, old age, kidney failure… same complaints the humans have, it seems. Most of my kitties live a pretty long time, the longest being Fino that I had from 1971 until 1992, and she was full grown when she followed me home! All have been rescued, or just simply arrived at my door. Sometimes, however, I wonder who has rescued whom, as they have always been there for me in my times of great sorry and need.

A couple years ago (well, almost) a friend, Charlie, discovered someone had left a  present on his land, 2 young kittens, about 3 months old, left on a baby sized blanket at the edge of his woods, left with a little plate of food, left to wait for the human who never came back to get them. Instead, I got a phone call, grabbed a cage, and set off for Charlie’s. At the time, I had 4 cats of my own here, 2 inside, 2 outside, and knew introducing 2 new boys to my resident boys would result in a major cat fight! That would not be fair to anyone, so we agreed they would live in Charlie’s shop until there was a vacancy here. 

And as you know if you have read much on here, I’ve lost all but Spook, so, Rusty (who needed vet care) came home first.

Rusty is not a healthy little fellow… my first words to the vet when we took them in from Charlie’s woods were, “If it looks like he might not make it, just put him down now before I get attached to him.” Barrett asked how long I had had the little guy… I answered, “15 minutes.” So, you see, I already knew this would probably be a very special (and sickly) little boy! He had a couple months of antibiotics and eye drops, and survived, somehow. He is lame, runs with an obvious limp, sometimes it seems his feet aren’t sure where they are going. He can fall trying to jump up on the sofa. It is a shame to laugh at him when he tries to run across the linoleum on the kitchen floor and he looks like those poor critters slipping and sliding as their feet go out from under them as they try to run across ice.

But Oh what a love bug! Like Rascal, his first job in the morning is to climb up into my lap, interrupt whatever I am doing, and rub his nose all over my chin, cheek, neck, and wrap his little paws around my neck. If you come to visit, I promise you he will be in your lap whether you want it or not. If you don’t, you need to say so immediately so I can lock him in the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, he curls up in the sink and takes a nap, but with one ear open to listen for that door. In the living room, he has taken over the couch, tho sometimes a chair feels good. I think we had one week of no towels covering the furniture. It just did not look like my house at all! So, back to normal. Did I mention he likes wearing his scarf?

His other favorite thing is to sit on a stool and look out the door at the birds. He is kind of clumsy getting up into the windows, so I put the stool by the storm door for him.

It’s funny the toys different cats pick as their favorites. Rusty seems to enjoy this ancient mini-basketball my god-daughter used to play with when she was in first grade. She is now quite grown and finished with school!

If I had to describe Rusty in one word, that word would be innocent. Few people can say that about their cats, they often seem to have some hidden agenda. Rusty’s agenda is to be loved, hugged, cuddled even before eating. Which reminds me, I am teaching him Turkish, just for the fun of it. When I call “Yemek hazır*,” he comes running! Now that is different! His least favorite thing is getting his pills, but in time, I am sure he will get used to it, because I have a feeling it will be a life-time ordeal for him if he doesn’t.

In another week, we will try to bring his brother Dusty here (after the painter is done in the Big bathroom.) We tried that once and he ran from window to window. I was afraid he would hurt himself. But, we will try again. Dusty likes to be held, too, but is not the love bug Rusty is. I will keep you posted!

*Dinner is ready.

GARDEN DIARY END OF MAY 2013

This is mostly a private notation for future reference. This week the peas started to bloom. The first blueberry bush has green berries, the birds are thoroughly enjoying the strawberries, and the onions are well over a foot tall.  The yellow wax beans have their second set of leaves, and the Italian flats are just pushing some green thru the dirt. The Lima beans are thru the potting soil reminding me of my first biology class where we all had to plant one and learn such fun terms as cotyledon, and watch for the first sign of a real identifiable leaf. Remember?

I planted a circle of Blue Lake pole beans and put my big aluminum pole and hoops in the fenced in garden. A few beans have their leaves. I think I might have to replant in the empty places.

The potatoes are well over a foot tall and need more dirt in their bags. The last time I added dirt, the coons dug most of it out. That explains the ugly fencing. They also demolished my bag of carrots that had just been planted the day before. However, I do have a few carrots showing tiny green shoots this morning. I have had to put pieces of fencing over the growing bags anyway because Punk and Spook seemed to love to nap in these bags.

   This was my second planting – or replanting – of potatoes last year – the little ones that were too small to eat… I just stuck them back in the bags and got a couple more pounds of potatoes! Maybe the cats helped hatch them? This is Punk hatching the carrots last year. I sure do miss my little garden shadow!

Yesterday I managed to get the tomatoes and bush basil in… the zucchini and eggplant (Ikiban) are in the old tomato raised bed… I still have cucumbers to plant and some dill. We don’t use the dill anymore, but the black swallowtail butterflies caterpillars LOVE it. So I grow it for them.

The sage is in flower and the rosemary looks like bushes.

Thanks for all the interest so many of you have had in using these growing bags. Let me know if you try them and how it works out for you.

A ROUGH COUPLE OF WEEKS

Yep, it has been a rough couple of weeks, and it ain’t over yet.

 

We buried Punkin on Tuesday… my little orange shadow who followed me everywhere I went out in the yard, who would hid in the ferns and ambush me, who helped me in the garden, and spent hours and hours of his life rolling over to get his belly scratched.

       

   

Punkin arrived during Hurricane Isabel bringing a young kitten with him. They decided the food was good here, so they stayed.

 

      

He and Spook were inseparable much of the time, but Spook started to distance himself as Punkie got sicker. Punk died of renal failure. He was probably about 16, Spook is 9. Everybody loved Punkin.

Meanwhile inside the house, Rascal, the youngest of the cats, (9) has been diagnosed with a probable tumor, his chest cavity fills with fluid and has been tapped 3 times. He was my in-house shadow. Always curious, always watching. Rascal, otherwise known as the Rat, or Mr Bad Boy, is still with us, but we don’t know for how long. He no longer rolls over showing off his fine belly. Eating seems to be a problem and he sleeps all day instead of following me around or getting up into the window to see where I am if I go outside. We try not to ever be gone more than an hour or so. We keep checking on him as we did Punk. I am hoping the medicine he is on will help…

 

They are such wonderful little gifts when they come to us…… it is so hard to lose them.

Meanwhile Hadji, age 15 and diabetic, is holding his own and has not been on insulin for over 2 years. How is that for a miracle? He loves wearing a scarf. Go figure! He is very handsome.

 

Rascal was always a lap kitty as was Punk. Hadj like you to sit beside him on HIS sofa. Just don’t try to get him in your lap. Spook is and always has been, well, easily spooked. I have often wondered what horrible thing happened to him to make him so afraid of people. Generally, I can catch him once or twice a year to take him for his shots. I doubt anyone will ever have him on their lap.

It is rough trying to work out in the yard without my little buddy. And it seems strange typing on the computer without Rat pulling my hair or climbing on my lap.

A PILE OF POSSUMS

A PILE OF POSSUMS and other surprises Life throws at ya… That sums up the past 2 weeks.

I know, I have been out of touch for many of you. If I owe you an email, I am sorry, but life has gotten rather chaotic. I seem to be running a kitty hospice here with the oldest cat, Punkin, in renal failure, and the youngest, Rascal (alias the Rat) suffering from a build-up of fluid in his chest cavity… pathology reports were inconclusive, so, the best we can do is take him once a week to get it drained off, rehydrate him, and keep him happy. All this is going on, shuttling cats back and forth to the vet, researching kitty problems, buying and preparing special foods… and trying not to neglect my other geriatric cat, Hadji, who is diabetic – but has been off insulin for over 2 years thru very careful feeding – and lots of spoiling.

So in the midst of all this kitty care, preparing for our Train Station’s Plant Sale next week-end, and preparing my own garden (peas are up, onions are up, and potatoes are in their potato bags), cutting grass, pulling weeds, mulching, and trying to keep a handle on the house work (OYE!) I get a phone call from fellow blogger, Grenville, http://thefrogandpenguinn.blogspot.com/, down the street, “Help! I’ve got a possum emergency!” And, indeed he did. So, I dropped everything, I mean, who needs clean laundry anyway, right? Clean floors? HA! and jumped back in the van and headed down to his house where he handed me a little box of the cutest baby possums… My guess is they are about 2 months old (2nd birth) and I could see they were a bit hungry. I did not restock any possum formula after the last baby, so I had to get them to another rehabber pretty fast. I transferred them to a deeper box, one they could not climb out of, made a phone call, and headed south for another possum transfer. Isn’t life fascinating? Good thing I am usually a pretty flexible person.

  

Anyway, for those of you who have not heard from me, I have been (and am) very busy, mostly baby-sitting my own sick babies – do you know how hard it is to type with a kitty on your lap? Or I might be transporting possums down the road to someone who is probably as rushed as I am. Fortunately, the folks at her day job don’t seem to mind her having a couple cages of baby animals on a table near her while she is at work. Could you do that? So go visit the Frog and PenguInn and see what he has to say. And may you have a restful calm day!