mondhasen

Deer! The Huntress spooked them away from outside the back corner of her yard only to have them reappear an hour later over by the old truck.


tippity-hoof, tippity-hoof


Ooooh, for me?

There were two that munched the apples I'd thrown for the rabbit, and more pictures can be seen here on my google site: https://goo.gl/photos/Vpja7ZvGPnFaUYb48

The pics aren't great (lighting, focus), but I view these as the equivalent of Polaroids or Instamatic pics anyway. And the deer were constantly moving about: such inconsideration! The smallest one would zoom through the yard, jumping fallen trees and ducking low branches, all-out having fun, while the adults grouped together cautiously and watched all around constantly. In the end, the young'n was all out of breath and panting and just enjoying the thrill of living.

This entry was originally posted at http://moonhare.dreamwidth.org/41690.html.

The wayward fox has taken one of the rabbits. I saw this, the silhouetted form of the fox emerging from behind some trees with something rabbit-looking hanging from its mouth. Moments earlier we were watching the fox cross among the shrubs and shadows, and it stopped to rummage in some bushes... I went out to the area later on and there were definite signs of a struggle in the snow. So it goes.



( original sketch/blog here )

I do not want to appear callous, I just have to remind myself that this is the way of the world. There had been a rabbit in the fenced part of the yard earlier in the morning and the dog didn't see it right away. I watched it for a bit, standing stock still as The Huntress sniffed about, and then the chase was on. I wonder if this was the same little bunny :o(

*sigh* I even made some bad jokes later, that either the fox would appear dragging a deer next, or vice versa. And then came a trio of hawks, gliding above, and while thinking "Ride of the Valkyries" I imagined them hauling off one of the deer as well.

This entry was originally posted at http://moonhare.dreamwidth.org/41147.html.

It's here, at last! Now we'll see how long it takes me to break it.

Thanks and a tip of the bunny ears to ungulata for bringing this to my attention.

A pic: No one at work even noticed the little wolfie I put on the board today so I finally had to explain Lupercalia. Not that it mattered...



This entry was originally posted at http://moonhare.dreamwidth.org/38180.html.

This time there was a rabbit out front! I was all set to take a photo of her in an iconic profile pose when my eldest decided to go out the front door. I was able to get three pics at least, before she bolted, with one being less fuzzy than the other two



I added a link (click the pic) to the full size picture but it isn't too clear that way.

This bunny has been in a scrap of some sort, judging by the damage to the facing ear. The other pics are here on my google photos site along with some pictures taken in June.

or Scoots!

I have named the rabbit kitten Scooter because of how quickly it disappears when it senses danger. The adults are used to us and just watch carefully, but the baby goes *poof* when it hears noises.

I did get a couple of decent pics of it today, and I posted them to my google photos share, here. Included are two vegetation shots which are where the little fellow vanishes into and presumably lives (I've seen the kit appear from the brush several times).

My favorite photo today-



Click to enlarge and you will see the tell-tale 'white spot' on the forehead indicating that this is an Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus).

Otherwise... I saw our first firefly last night, blinking up in the tree canopy (***-***-***). I love this time of year!

The Huntress began her frenzied "rabbit rabbit rabbit!" barking and sure enough I saw one of my friends out front. It was the one with stripe-like markings, and with the bridge camera photos I see that some face fur may be missing as well. Regardless, the bunny was most cooperative and let me photograph it from the front steps while it nibbled in the meadow that is my front yard (I can't mow its food supply, now, can I?).



There are a few more pictures, here.

The deer have been crossing through here again, daily, for about a week now. I usually see them 'beyond the wire' (dog fence) late afternoon, near 4:30. They also congregate next to the house, about twenty or thirty feet off (also just outside the fence). There are usually five, and sometimes seven. Of course I have no pics of the deer, just their tracks ;o) Some afternoon I'll wait patiently with the bridge camera.


Back yard


Side yard

I also saw three of them Friday morning, crossing out front, at around 6:00 A.M. It's comforting to know they are about still.

I have a rabbit post to make as well... maybe tomorrow.

In spring and fall, rabbits use a grass or weed shelter called a "form." The form is a nestlike cavity on the surface of the ground, usually made in dense cover. It gives the rabbit some protection from weather, but is largely used for concealment.*

Veterans Day was rainy and dreary here. As I walked with The Huntress out back I wondered where the deer and bunnies were hunkering down in the wet chill. Musing, I surveyed the brush and I realized there could be animals looking back and I probably couldn't see them with their protective coloration and natural shrewdness... And there I saw a lone rabbit watching me!

This critter was near to the dog's fence, about ten feet from the dog! The Huntress sensed it (that actually gave me the clue to look carefully into the woods) but she didn't see what I did. I watched the bunny for a bit, its fur all damp as it hunched in its form, and decided I shouldn't bother it or I might frighten it off. This was the first time I've ever seen a rabbit in its form, other than the babies the dog dug out.

I've returned to the spot several times over the past couple of days and the rabbit is still 'at home.' Being crepuscular she probably leaves around dusk, but I see her back later in the morning.

I've wanted to get her picture and I finally got a shot of her today! I also included a shot of my auto-focus nightmare due to all the branches.








*The best 'form' description I could find in a hurry: from http://icwdm.org/handbook/mammals/CottontailRabbits.asp

Foxfire!

I have always been intrigued with 'glow in the dark' objects. As a child we had a plastic Reddy Kilowatt figure with light purple phosphorescent hands (similar to this one). I had one of those hands for years after Reddy was tossed out. And I had (still have) a Mattel ThingMaker for which they finally made glowing Plastigoop! I'll write about that some year... Oh, and my wrist watches with glowing hands. Well, that's some background.

I think the most fascinating of glowing objects, though, were the bioluminescent ones (I mentioned that in my fireflies post). A book given me by my grandmother, Voices in the Meadow, had a scene where the main characters sought out a rotting stump that glowed at night:



That passage primed my imagination, and from that point on I was determined to see this phenomenon for myself, thinking how cool it must be to find such an object in the woods at night...

And 51 years on I finally did! I wish I could say I saw a huge glowing stump, a dark mound surrounded by a greenish aura, but that didn't happen, nor matter to me. What I found I first attributed to glow worms (we have those wondrous things as well, in pulsating patches, here and there in the dark woods). No, I was walking through the dogs' yard, 9:30 at night, out among the hickories and near to the clumps of Indian Pipes, when I saw a faint green glow by a log. I reached down to feel if it was indeed worms in moist soil, but found instead glowing chips of wood! Nearby I found more tendrils of green glowing from a rotting log.

Honestly, I'll admit I cried, mushy as it sounds. This was a wonderful gift among all the delights I had seen all week, all Summer for that matter. I was able to share my discovery with my youngest son and my daughter. I can't share it here because my 'real' camera only exposes for two seconds max and the light was too faint to register. This is the log in daylight, though. I'll give it another look tonight after this posts* (the second night I looked for the foxfire it was gone, at least the chips I could find didn't or no longer glowed: the other log had pin-pricks of light).



I have seen the light!

*hooray! There was at least one chip visible :o)

I've mentioned that I used to update my website's "Coltish Rambing" page every quarter to reflect the change in seasons... I haven't updated the site in a very long time now!

Happy Summer! (The page shown is in two parts, one over the other, due to capture limitations with archive.org - you can click the link for their Wayback 'full' copy, or each part to expand it and make it more readable :o)
( Large capture, I think... )