….taken from the kitchen sliding doors
I can’t keep these suet feeders up for more than a day before the squirrels get at them and knock them down to the ground. Any suggestions?
Squirrel – Monday Portrait – December 12, 2022
7
Category Archives: Animals
Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Pernickety Pets
…thanks to GC and Sue W for hosting Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge https://weeklyprompts.com/2022/09/28/weekly-prompts-wednesday-challenge-pernickety-pets/
A few years ago, before COVID, I looked after my neighbours cat while she was in the hospital. His name is Tober. My husband is allergic to cats so I went over to the house twice a day to feed him and I stayed for an hour to keep him company. I did this for six weeks. You’d think after all this time we’d have some kind of relationship but when he goes out he avoids me at all costs and heads straight for the neighbour across the street who used to leave him treats. How fickle.
Even though we owned a cat for 12 years before my husband’s allergies kicked in, we’re definitely more dog people. Below is our daughter’s dog, Olive, who we dog sit periodically and our dog, Frances, is the last photo. Frances was a great dog, who loved the water and lived to the ripe old age of 15. We lost Frances almost a year ago.
Feeding the Cows and Texture Tuesday
…on the way to the cottage on the weekend I stopped at my favourite Vegetable stand
This vegetable and fruit stand is located at the front of a farm where they not only grow vegetables but they also raise cattle. Today they put out food that the children and adults could feed to the cows. If you weren’t careful they often mistook your phones for food and would reach out with their long tongues. Those tongues were rough and the nostrils were slimy with a textured pattern.
The Simple Things in Life
….are often free or cost very little
My granddaughter and daughter are leaving today and flying back to New Brunswick. We’ve had a wonderful time going to the CNE, buying new clothes for school and Gaelan and I went to the theatre to see the show, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. All of these things were fun to do but when I asked Winnie what her favourite activity was, she said she loved swimming in the city pool and my neighbour’s pool. She also enjoyed our picnic lunch in High Park, walking through the High Park Zoo and climbing on the huge tree stump in the park. Twice she was treated to ice-cream from the ice-cream truck, once from me and then again from her aunt Andrea. You can see from the look on her face how special that was.
Miss you already, Winnie! Love Oma
CFFC – Reminds You of Nature’s Beauty
….thanks to Cee for this week’s Fun Foto Challenge https://ceenphotography.com/2022/08/02/cffc-reminds-you-of-natures-beauty/
Taking My Big Camera for a Walk Yesterday
….and capturing all these wonderful shots with my zoom lens
Yesterday was a wonderfully sunny day and I was hoping the the turtles would be out, sun bathing on the logs in the pond. I wasn’t disappointed.
After I left the turtles I came across a few more critters.
College Royal is Back
….not as big as in years past but open non the less
In the past College Royal has attracted up to 30 000 visitors but in the last two years it was mostly virtual and this year it was limited to staff, students and family members. It was much smaller in size but we enjoyed our two days of exploring the campus, speaking to the exhibitors, learning new things, watching the dog show and walking through the barns.
If you had any doubts as to the what the University of Guelph is all about, College Royal highlighted the agricultural, veterinary and animal and food sciences. As a graduate of U of G I can tell you that there is much more to this university, i.e., Family and Child Studies, The Arts, Biomedical studies, Business and Economics, Athletics, Human Kinetics, etc.. Hopefully in future years College Royal will be back to hosting more clubs, more of the arts, fashion shows and will have more hands on activities and bring back the milkshakes.
Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge – Pick Any Topic From Her Photo
…thanks to Cee for hosting CMMC https://ceenphotography.com/2022/03/16/cmmc-march-pick-a-topic-from-my-photo-2/
If you click on the link you will see the photo that Cee is referring to. It has horses, the colours green, brown and tan, summer, trees and two subjects. Here’s what I found in my archive of photos.
Horse
Friday Was Squirrel Appreciation Day
….sorry that I’m a day late
It’s no secret that my husband is not a fan of squirrels but he isn’t completely heartless. Back in October of last year he heard this strange noise coming from the outside of the house. It was heart wrenching to hear because it was clearly an animal in distress. He quickly ascertained that the noise was coming from the downspout. Somehow a squirrel had managed to get stuck.
Kevin quickly removed the bend in the spout and lo and behold a tail popped out. There was no doubt that it was a squirrel but even after removing the extra bit of downspout the little fellow was still stuck. I suggested that he get some gloves on and gently pull on the tail. Unfortunately in doing so the tip of the tail came off. We knew that we couldn’t leave him like that so Kevin grabbed the tail higher up and pulled again. This time he was able to free the squirrel. You never saw a squirrel move so fast.
Over the next few months we’ve kept our eyes out for Stubby (Kevin even named this squirrel) and we knew he was okay when we saw him around the bird feeder. I’m glad to report that the tip of the tail is growing back.
In honour of Squirrel Appreciation Day, Kevin has painted a picture of Stubby.
Feeding the Squirrels
…away from the bird feeder
When we had the big snow storm and over 50cm came down our back deck was impossible to walk on and I couldn’t make my way to the bird feeder so I put seed on a plate and placed it on top of the snow as far away from the door as my arms would reach. I was hoping that the birds would see it and fly onto the plate. In fact, it was the grey squirrel who found the plate first and with some difficulty made his way over the deep snow and had quite the feast.
Mama Cormier 