Flora and Fauna

It has been quite the menagerie up here in WI. Pictured, you will see some butterflys and some of the flowers that are blooming everywhere. This one is orange hawkweed. There are many others in bloom as well. David Curry took the photo of the yellow swallowtail. I don't know what the black one is. We have tree, bird, and wildflower identification books. I guess we need one for butterflys too.

We have frequently seen deer crossing the roads, and a couple of days ago we saw a large black bear cross the road in front of us. No pictures of these creatures, unfortunately. Last evening, Kathie started out with Josey for a short walk. She had only reached the garage when she started shouting at Josey and calling to me. Turns out that Josey had walked up nose to nose with a porcupine who was extremely bristled about the meeting. Josey had the good sense to retreat before anything really bad happened, and the porcupine rambled on into the woods behind the garage. Again, no pictures, unfortunately.


Then there is the garter snake at left who reminds me of many things my mother said to me. Your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Never put more in your mouth than you can safely swallow. Don't take such big bites, or you might choke. Never eat anything bigger than your face. Last I checked, the swallowing was still underway. Snakes-1 Toads-0.


Finally, you will see here the new setup for feeding the birds. I had tried running feeders out on a rope with pulleys attached to a tree, but the rope was unsightly. This post and hanger system seems to blend into the woods better. However, my system for hanging the feeders on the hooks needs some improvement. I have a long pole with a notch that lets me lift each one up into place (about 12 feet up), but the pole is too flexible, so I need to find something else. I'm also going to need to put a flat plate of some kind on top of the post, or the squirrels are going to have a field day running up the post and then jumping to the feeders to suck out all the sunflower seeds. Chipmunks love to "clean up" under the feeders, and this keeps Josey quite entertained. We have seen goldfinches, purple finches, and a number of other birds.