A surprise by the door

I opened the door to go outside. I don't know what made me look down. Oh Snake, you almost got stepped on! What are you doing right by the door?

Going batty

What is that in the corner above the back door? It's hanging upside down and hoping that we won't see it
It's a little brown bat.

Not asleep, just waiting for night to come so it can fly away.

It makes me want to sing the song from Alice in Wonderland:

"Twinkle, twinkle little bat

How I wonder what you're at

Up above the earth you fly

Like a tea-tray in the sky..."

The Funeral

Oh poor Mouse! It drowned in the pool. We found two of them in the pool skimmer basket.
We put them in a box.
We dug a hole.
We put the box in the hole.
And covered it up with dirt.

"This is only the second funeral I've been to in my life" said Sarah.

"The other one was for a hamster."

Butterflies

Butterfly season is starting. We have seen lots of little white wings fluttering around the plants. This lovely brown and orange butterfly was visiting the Zinnias.

Where's the butterfly book? Let's look it up!

In Black and White

Last night we went out for ice cream. We got out of the car and there, right on the parking lot, we saw this fantastic creature. Look at those spots!

Even its legs are black and white.

What was it?

We had never seen a bug like this.
The wings told us it was some sort of a moth.

Naturally we looked it up in our Golden Guide.

And there it is - the Great Leopard Moth. You thought those spots looked like leopard spots, didn't you?

Twins

Someone's over in the shade of the spruce tree.Hello.

Are you out by yourself?

No, I see your twin is here too.
Are you supposed to be out? Didn't your mother tell you to stay hidden?
"Come on", says one Faun.
"We'd better get back before Mother notices that we're missing."

In the tall, tall grass

The rain has made the grass grow really high. I saw the top of the grass moving and went to see what was there. It was a BIG turtle - almost as big as my foot! I think I scared it. Just watch it running to the shelter of the spruce tree.

Go, Turtle, Go!

Hide-and-seek, Part 3

I spy something up in the Sumac tree - is it a bird? A little brown bird? Usually I see birds in this tree. No! It's Chipmunk.
Chipmunks live in the ground. What is this one doing up a tree?

Playing hide-and-seek, I guess.
Time to go back down.I expect to see Squirrel and Raccoon and Possum up a tree. I didn't expect to see Groundhog or Chipmunk. I suppose you too will want to climb a tree when you visit me!

HIde-and-seek, Part 2

Peek-a-boo, little Bunny - I see you!

The grass is tall and the bunny is small, but you can't hide those big ears!

Hide-and-seek, Part 1

Time to play hide-and-seek!

I see someone hiding up the Mulberry tree. Does he think I can't see him?
Yes! He thinks he has found the perfect hiding place.
Who would think of looking for Groundhog up in a tree?

Not counted

You Deer don't understand that I'm just counting birds this weekend.

It doesn't matter if you come to the bird feeder. If you're not a bird I'm not counting you!

More? How many Deer can there be in this herd? One, two, three....seven Deer! Okay, I counted you.

I know who has been here...

There was a storm last night, thunder and lightning and lots of rain. It was still raining when I went out this morning.

Someone had been out in the night and the rain.

Someone had overturned the garbage can and ripped open the plastic bag inside.

Someone had dug out the cream cheese wrappers and licked every little last trace of cream cheese off them.

Someone left egg shells and soggy tissues scattered across the driveway.

What a mess!

It was still raining when I found these clues that someone had visited us.

Who would do a thing like this?

Trying to look innocent, Raccoon?

I know it was you!

Who's been here?

There's just enough fresh snow to see tracks. Here comes Crow, looking for stale bread crumbs. Looks like Deer liked the bread crumbs too.
Now who is this? Could it be Fox?
Uh-oh! This one's the neighbor's big black and white Cat!
There are tracks everywhere this morning - there went Rabbit, and over there was Squirrel (I didn't get a picture of all the tracks!) There were lots and lots of little bird feet. And of course, Dog was sniffing along - you can always tell her tracks by her dragging foot.

I didn't see any of these characters today (well, except for Dog), but now I know who was here and where they went. I love it when the snow tells me what's been going on.