Jul 2007

Mar. 1, 2007.... Cottontail camouflage...

On any day we see 4 - 6 cottontails in the grasses near the homestead. This particular one choose to stay still to not be noticed. Typically they are extremely wary and you will not be able to get close to a cottontail. A jackrabbit is much more leary of you. Jackrabbits will stand up tall to look over the grass as if looking at the horizon possibly for coyotes. They perk up their ears like the raising of a periscope on a submarine and carefully listening for signs of danger. Then they will often lower their ears horizontally and continue their herbal meal.

The fecund nature of cottontails insures their survival. Their enemies include dogs, coyotes, hawks, owls and wildcats as well as the barnyard cats. We have successfully kept for a short time young cottontails whose nests have been disrupted.

Cool Cat....and earrings to match...

This is a house cat, probably more of a "cool cat". It is not the type mentioned above who would be interested in "wild" meat and would generally prefer a more sophisticated diet of food in a can. You will find that cats who play music are generally of a more creative and sensitive nature but still are very independent. You could be a "cool cat" if you had some of the earrings I make...they are in my "Earring bag".

Chickens "Parade March"...

Found a dead chicken today...no marks or indication of reason for death...time for CSI....this cool cat is probably not the culprit....cool cats or less cool cats will however consider new baby chicks on their "parade march" legitimate chicken dinners....The "parade march" is the proud mother hen parading her just hatched chicks around the chicken yard for the first time and beaming...."this is where I've been for 3 weeks and this is what I've been doing...wasn't it worth it". The 10-12 chicks will be divided between the cats, possums, skunks and hawks until 2 or 3 survive to lead their own march months later. The alternative is to catch them during this grand Mardi Gras march and cage them until their stature enables them to defend themselves to a degree. Talk about "raining on the parade"...

Mar. 2, 2007....The flowering of spring....

The beautiful peach blossums are unfolding...a day ahead of the pear, plum and redbud. The springtime temperature of the 70's is short in central Texas. It is a good idea to appreciate the temporal nature of the peach blossums. By the time you are sixty you may be lucky to see this colorful display another handful of times....Haven't you heard about "stopping to smell the flowers". It's the truth. Out of this stick asymmetrically pointing to infinity come these delicate, fragrant and beautiful petals moving in the wind and attracting creatures of all kinds...pollinating, consuming or simply appreciating...and from this very spot grows a luscious, dilicious fruit, the seeds of which start the whole process over again....If you didn't have words to describe it you might think it was a miracle....

Mar. 6, 2007....The Hunter....The Hunted....

George carried his latest prey up to the house, very much intact and full of spunk and entertainment for George. As proud as we were of his hunting prowess we intervened on behalf of the cottontail....We released her to go hip hip hopping along until Easter.

Barn swallows return...

The scouts are here visiting and likely will return with their families to live in their stick and mud packed cliff dwellings on the vertical wall of the front porch just out of jumping range of George. He will inevitably catch the weak and possibly a young swallow who might initially land at the wrong place at the wrong time on it's initial flight.

Mar. 7, 2007....The Armadillo home...

When we first moved here 30 years ago as several of us stood silently watching one of our first sunsets in the field next to the abandoned 1914 built farmhouse an armadillo bumped into one of the 14 legs. They have since become more leary of humans. I once saw a family of armadillo fording the creek. First the mom dove in followed by 3 or 4 large coffee cup size offspring. They doggie paddled (not their term) single file across the 10 foot wide running creek.

Cohabitation...Rattlesnakes and Armadillos

I've heard that armadillos will often share a den with rattlesnakes...Rattlesnakes this time of year are emerging from their underground burrows and as the afternoons warm up can be found sunning themselves for warmth. The cold blooded creatures will have to wait some time before they are warm enough to maneuver to catch supper. They are not yet aware and able to avoid the foot travels of humans. This is the time of year when Rattlesnake Roundups occur for that reason.

The Cistern...Far more dangerous than a rattler...

This rock lined cistern was built in the 1800's in the corner of a 2 story L shaped house to collect precious rainwater from the roof. It was apparently the first main house on the farm. It is approximately 22' deep and shaped like an oval milk bottle 9-12 feet in diameter. The heave and ho of the clay soil over the years gradually gave way around the neck of the cistern with half falling into the rocky void. It is a very handsome structure and extremely dangerous. Imagine falling in followed by the remainder of the rocky lip of the structure. I have been filling it with Austin American Statesman newspapers for some time and creating an archeological record of the beginning of the new millenium to perhaps be discovered in 2525.

This cistern has also been the home of barn swallows and I've seen snakes lounging on the cool inner walls during the hot summer just out of reach. We have carefully removed the remainder of the cistern lip and have very carefully retrieving rocks from the upper layers of limestone.