Little Creatures

[JanetMarie]

No way! I'll eat vegetables or weeds from my garden.

A few years ago, on the local news there was a story about someone in Michigan who posted on their facebook page video of them sawing with a toothed saw the head off of a Snapping Turtle. Their excuse was that they eat Snapping Turtles, but the way they were killing it was the problem. There was a BIG outrage over it from the public. The people who posted the video even received death threats. Most Michiganders love turtles-alive.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

If I'm gonna eat it, it must die a quick and merciful death. That was shameful. Even fish: deserve a quick death. I hate it when people catch fish, then let them flop around until they suffocate.

 

[baymule]

A Snapping Turtle came up from the marsh to lay eggs just outside of the gate.



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What a cool thing! You are a turtle egg babysitter!

 

[JanetMarie]

What a cool thing! You are a turtle egg babysitter!

When we looked at this house and property 11 years ago, the current homeowner(s) wanted a new homeowner who would be a turtle egg sitter. They said a Snapping Turtle comes up from the marsh every year to lay eggs, and the homeowner wife would find the nest and put a fence around them.

I haven't found a turtle nest around here, and the one who was here the other day, it doesn't look like there are eggs under the sand where she was. I've seen two baby Snappers around, so there must be turtle nests somewhere and doing well hatching.

 

[flowerbug]

we don't feed any birds here that often at all. mostly what we do is have bird baths which do attract them and then they have to forage for bugs and seeds here. never issues with them going for plant seeds or tomatoes. now if we could get them to eat the squash borers, tomato worms and japanese beetles we'd be all set.

 

[flowerbug]

I re-made the suet cakes. Here are the three ingredients I used. No salt in peanuts. I'm able to get organic peanuts here. No added oils either. Raisins with no other ingredient added.
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Rendering down the suet. Cut into small pieces. It takes a few hours on the lowest heat possible.
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The rendered suet, strained.
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Peanuts were ground in a food processor to very small pieces.
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I found that twice the amount of peanut pieces to rendered suet seems to work well. Easy to remember. Then add whole raisins. I remelted the previously made cakes and added more peanut pieces. I let the mixture cool a little before putting into the mold.
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I have a silicone soap mold that was never used, so I thought that would work well. I put the extra mixture in a small glass baking dish lined with parchment paper.
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Unmolded and ready to store away! Yummy! To store I wrapped in parchment paper, (I suppose wax paper would be okay also) then into plastic gallon bags, and store in frig. Suet is supposedly shelf safe, but I just store in frig. anyway.
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In the feeder! The birds like these a lot. They have a good peanutty aroma.
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The solid crispies from rendering the suet are dog treats! And he loves them.
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No corn, milo, wheat in any feeders now, and no blackbirds or cowbirds! Much more peaceful.

What I will try next time is to increase the amount of peanuts, because I would rather have more ingredients in the suet to make it go further. Maybe 2.5:1 ratio.

looks like breakfast!

japanese beetles here have just started to be more visible the past few weeks. to me this seems fairly normal for us. once the bean plants get bigger then i start to find them.

 

[JanetMarie]

looks like breakfast!

japanese beetles here have just started to be more visible the past few weeks. to me this seems fairly normal for us. once the bean plants get bigger then it start to find them.

I know! They look like blondie bars or something similar.

Since it's rained here almost every day for a week, there were the normal amount of Japanese beetles on their favorite rose bush. So, back to capturing and feeding them to someone.

 

[Daisy]

I have a new holland honeyeater hanging around my garden gate and getting very agitated when I go out there , so I suspect a nest in the area! Hopefully it learns to see me as NOT a threat cos I go out there a lot.

There is also a tiny, tiny baby bobtail lizard living along the back fence. I had never seen one so small and it seems very slow to grow, but has almost doubled it size since I have been watching it. I was worried about it being so tiny so left eggs and strawberries in the general area. Today I went out to see if the little one was sunbaking, but instead found the BIG daddy out there seeking the strawberries! Havent seen him all winter. He was living here before me. His wife is around the yard somwehere too, they seem to have one or two babies a year but this tiny one is the first one that young I have seen. Usually I meet the babies when they are teens and on the move for their own patch of yard.

 

[Daisy]

Magpies are doing their swoop. Im a few hundred metres from where they nest, but they do a non threatening low glide over my head in the afternoon just to let me know they are there.

Also seen a baby blue wren eating bugs off my car.

 

[JanetMarie]

Last fall while walking in the marsh I found for the first time evidence of beavers! Apparently, they've been here for years, probably longer than the 11 years that we've lived here. As I've been walking around more I've found many small tree/bush cuttings that are much older.

Haven't found their home, and I don't want to disturb them. All of the waterways and the main creek are still flowing.