Did you know that a family of bunnies is called a “fluffle”?
My garden is home to a fluffle of wild rabbits. Sometimes they frustrate me because they eat every single blade of grass, even pulling out the roots, and it’s literally impossible to reseed the bare spots they create.
This is where the ambivalence comes from; a love/hate kind of feeling. On one hand, they’re cute, especially the babies, but rabbits can be quite destructive, and there’s not much that deters them.
One of my neighbors who complained about a similar problem suggested shaving Ivory or Irish Spring soap around the area to discourage the buns and I might try that to see if it really works or if it’s an urban myth.
However, this little guy greets me every morning when I open the patio doors. He’s always perched on the deck bench and devours grape leaves.
What’s even freakier is that he sits at the screen door and watches me, even at night. I have to remember to securely latch the screen because I think he’s trying to come in the house.
Because of all the rain early in the year, the vines grew crazy big. I covered the grape clusters with little white mesh bags to save them from the buns and other critters, but I’m happy to share a few leaves, especially since they’re pesticide-free.
Stupidstupid tourists just won’t stay away. I don’t know why they feel they need to either taunt the sea lions or take an idiotic selfie with them.
The Children’s Pool in La Jolla is closed to the public during pupping season from December 15 through May 15. The recent opening of the area has lead to the usual STUPIDLY dangerous interactions between people and wildlife.
Recent videos have popped up on social media capturing some of the troubling interactions between people and wildlife at the Children’s Pool. Some involve crowds gathering too close to seals on the beach. Others have seals and sea lions barking at swimmers in the water, one even has a sea lion chasing imbecilic humans.
I think these are the same types of people who get too close to the bison at Yellowstone National Park and are injured by them. I believe that’s the classic definition of instant karma, don’t you agree?
I’ll be happy when tourist season is over, that’s for sure. A friend who lives nearby has made it her life’s mission to protect the sea lions from harm and she says the harassment this year is far worse than in the past. WTF is wrong with people???
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In other startling news, neighbors and I received a Ring video about a brazen daytime burglary that had just occurred on my street, a couple blocks away.
Two masked, gloved, and hooded men carrying plastic bags were seen entering a home through the backyard. How scary is that!
On my way to the post office to mail a package to the Angel Kids, I drove right by the house as it was being robbed, which is a freaky thought.
Police were swarming the area and when I went out to talk to them, I was informed that the criminals had NOT been caught and the police were gathering evidence and taking statements.
I didn’t see a whole lot of active detective work going on, no forensic van had pulled up, nothing like you see on TV, so I’m not exactly sure what they were doing, but I know we are all on high alert.
It’s not clear exactly how the burglars gained access or what was taken, but I have a feeling the home didn’t have security or it wasn’t armed, because the police weren’t notified until a couple hours after the robbery occurred.
I’ll post any future updates if and when the perps are apprehended, OR if there are more incidents.
I hope everyone enjoys a safe and happy Independence Day. Let’s also think about what this day means for our animals.
Every year when Legoland sets off fireworks around here, dozens of terrified dogs run away. You can hear people calling out for their missing pets and the next day, there’s a plethora of sad posts online and missing pet posters taped to telephone poles.
Some of these dogs never come back home; they get hit by cars or become easy targets for coyotes. If they’re lucky and get picked up by animal control, I hope everyone chips their pets so they can be reunited.
Fireworks traumatize pets AND wildlife. My own Border Collie, Victor, was so scared that he’d crawl under the desk and his whole body would tremble until they were over.
Fireworks may also trigger PTSD in veterans, did you know that? It’s important to have a plan to help veterans if they are around fireworks so that they feel more relaxed and aren’t feeling threatened.
In my opinion, all fireworks should be banned and replaced by laser light shows.
As if on cue, summer finally arrived during the solstice with intense heat and abundant sunshine. Around Casa de Enchanted Seashells, a couple new friends visit every day.
Here’s my Red Shouldered hawk, who looks directly at me as he scouts the garden for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He’s so, so gorgeous.
He’s always on the same branch in my ash tree.
This BIG skunk is probably the same one who sprayed my neighbor’s dog not once, but twice. The photo is a bit grainy because it was almost dark and I was way closer than I should have been. If I had startled him, I’d still be bathing in tomato juice right now!
I helped this monarch butterfly escape from being trapped in the fence and she flew away unharmed.
Photo credit Enchanted Seashells
And just when the darkness became too much to bear and the struggle too hard, the light broke through and the caterpillar emerged a butterfly delicate but unbroken, wild and gentle, finally free to spread its lovely wings and fly away on the wind. --L.R. Knost
In one of my favorite photos, my resident family of Scott’s Orioles rarely stay in one place long enough to take a pic that’s not blurry, but I got lucky this time. This guy impatiently waits for the grapes to ripen.
Because my human family understands the special love I feel for my crow family (I refer to them as my cousins), I was gifted Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness by Lyanda Lynn Haupt.
These are some of my garden “cousins” who greet me in the morning.
“Grandma, I know you love crows so much, but do you think they’re a little scary?”
Angel Boy asked that question because the crows in their neighborhood seem to know when they’re eating outside in the garden, and perch in the trees and on the garage to patiently wait for fallen morsels.
“I’m not afraid of them because I don’t believe they would ever cause me harm. The crows who visit me at home leave shiny little gifts. These guys simply want to share your dinner.”
I didn’t think it was the right time to tell him that if he tried – he could get them to eat out of his hand — but one day I might.
Crows are considered to be among the most intelligent animals in the world with brains that are similar in size to humans and make up almost two percent of their body mass. They’re known for their ability to solve complex problems, and some say they have the intelligence of a two to seven-year-old child.
Haupt is a Seattle-based author, naturalist, and speaker. “My work explores the beautiful, complicated connections between humans and the wild, natural world.” She has created and directed educational programs for Seattle Audubon, worked in raptor rehabilitation in Vermont, and as a seabird researcher for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the remote tropical Pacific. (Curated from https://www.lyandalynnhaupt.com/)
If you love crows like I do, you will LOVE Crow Planet.
I can’t post video any other way on WordPress so I hope you’ll be able to view this spectacular bobcat that came to my garden DURING THE DAY with a RAT in his mouth!
Here’s how the story unfolds: Yesterday morning around 6:30 a.m., I saw something on the lawn. I went out to look and it was a mangled rat. Hmmm, I said to myself, that’s gross, but I bet a hawk or owl dropped it. A little later, I walked up the stairs and took the SD card out of my wildlife camera that’s situated on the lower half of the hill and brought it inside to check, like I do on a weekly basis.
I was absolutely blown away by this video!
Bobcats (and coyotes) visit most nights, but this is the very first time I’ve captured video of a daytime stroll through here — with the added bonus of a meal.
It might look as if he walks away, but keep watching for his return along with an early dinner. As he makes his way down the steps, I realize the bobcat is the reason for the rodent remains I found on the lawn. This bobkitty is so jawdroppingly beautiful, I’ve watched the video at least a dozen times.
Bobcats are incredibly elusive animals and a bobcat sighting is a rare occurrence. Although bobcats are primarily nocturnal, they may be seen during the day while hunting/foraging for food, especially between April and July when they are most likely to have dependent young.
The only part of this momentous event that makes me a little sad is that I was HERE at that exact time and didn’t have a clue that I should have looked out the window that faces the garden as it would have been the greatest day in my life, right up there with seeing wolves in the Lamar Valley at Yellowstone, (although the temptation to want to run outside and say “here kitty, kitty” and pet him is strong.)
I am beyond grateful that these creatures feel that my garden (and me) are a safe haven to explore.
What might it mean? Seeing a bobcat carries a powerful spiritual message. It could be a sign that we need to tap into our inner strength and independence. The bobcat embodies resilience, encouraging us to stand our ground in the face of challenges.
Additionally, the presence of a bobcat might be a call to explore the mysteries of our life. It’s an invitation to delve deeper into our personal spirituality and uncover truths that may be hidden or suppressed. A bobcat can indeed be seen as a good luck spiritual symbol. https://lifeadventurously.com/spiritual-meaning-of-bob-cat/
This is a good time to remind us all about the horrors of using poison to control rodents:
Rat poisons don’t just kill rats; they kill wildlife too. Wildlife species are exposed to anticoagulant rat poisons when the poisons are used in urban and agricultural areas to target species such as rodents. But those who consume the poisons do not die immediately of the internal bleeding they are intended to cause. It can take more than a week for a poisoned rodent to die. In the meantime, the poisoned animal may be vulnerable to predators, and if a predator such as a bobcat preys on the poisoned rodent, the bobcat becomes poisoned too. Thus, poisons enter local food webs and become especially harmful to animals at the top of the food chain. Through a process called bioaccumulation, animals at the top of the food chain absorb toxins from eating lots of different prey animals, but their organs cannot filter out the toxins, causing the poisons to accumulate in their systems. As a result, some of the most iconic species in California – bobcats, coyotes, foxes, mountain lions, owls – are the most vulnerable to this indirect poisoning. https://panthera.org/blog-post/surprising-effects-rat-poison-bobcats
Let’s go To where the magic waits for us Where our hopes, our dreams Our wishes. Come true. Athey Thompson
Yesterday was a magical day full of miracles.
In the garden, I looked up in a tree and saw two hawks mating! (I didn’t take any photos to protect their privacy.) Last night one of the wild baby bunnies was on the deck and scratched at the screen door like it wanted to come in the house (I didn’t open the door, but I was tempted), and the third miracle is that my adorable little vireos are once again nesting in a brand new bird house!
Vireo
“And as to me, I know nothing else but miracles” — Walt Whitman
This isn’t the greatest photo; the sun kind of distorted the sharp lines and colors, but I was lucky enough to capture my lizard friend sunning himself on an orange tennis ball
This other guy visits every day; I can always tell who it is by his sort of mutilated tail. He seems to know when I’m in the garden and runs over to greet me.
Hello, handsome! They might be referred to as cold-blooded, but still have their own distinctive personalities.
Lizards like to snack on mealworms, but I never seem to remember to buy them at the pet store. I know they have enough to eat because they’re doing a great job cleaning the garden of unwanted grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 