FishinBC's Blog
FishinBC's posts about: racoons
Jul 20, 2007 | 6:58 AM PST
Tags: veggie , Pond , Daylilies , Squash Vine Borers , Tomato , Cukes , Zukes , raised beds , Banana Peppers , dogs , racoons , birds
Still dry but we are supposed to get some rain this afternoon. I should have watered last night but was just too tired. Been fighting a summer cold and trying to convenience myself I am not going to catch it. I am sure it will sneak up and bite me sooner or later. I don’t have time to be sick!
Gave some more pond plants away. I potted up some off shoots of the lotus and four leaf clover, added some hyacinths, water lettuce and gave them to a co worker who just put in a pond. My pond is still full!! Loads of lilies still blooming, but nothing from the lotus yet.
We will get the new raised bed up this weekend and do the soil prep, to have it ready for a fall veggie planting. Want to do some peas and beans and more greens. My yellow tomatoes have been the best producers so far. They sure are yummy. The red varieties are producing, just not as big or as many. I think the vine borers have finally discovered my zukes, I have two plants withering that I will pull out tonight. L Cukes are still doing great and I have one with dinner every night. I think the heat is starting to get to the peppers. The banana peppers are curling. I have been checking to be sure that they have adequate even water. Any suggestions?
More of the new daylilies are getting ready to bloom. These should be the Crimson Shadows. I have to late season ones that I hope will bloom also. One is called Late Embers and the other Fall Pink Melon. The two blooming now are called Go Figure.
Have the inevitable weed pulling and deadheading to do as well. Been lazy about the weeds in the flowerbeds with heat we have been having. The black and white brigade has been promised a trip down to the lake in the morning, so we will be up before the heat and I will have no excuses after that. The boys will be good and tired after a swim and Briar will have a good long ball session. They deserve it after being put aside a bit while company’s been here.
Rob now has the timing of the raccoon family’s visits down. They show up on the deck at about 5am every morning now and he knows it. No barking this morning, he just sat at the sliding glass door to watch them eat their breakfast. The babies are growing fast. Got a couple of dark pix of them this morning and will try to get them posted tonight.
The bird feeders have been really busy in the evenings. I am seeing a lot more indigo buntings this year. Not sure if there are more than normal or I am just providing a better seed selection. Must make some more of Gene’s suet for the pileated woodies. They are now daily visitors too.
Jul 17, 2007 | 8:21 AM PST
Tags: Green Worms , Pond , racoons , Heat , Watering
I am really missing our daily rain showers we were having for a while here! Everything is dry. I watered all the containers yesterday morning and went home last night to spend almost 3 hours watering everything. Things were looking kinda sad after the heat blast we had yesterday. More to come today and hopefully a little cooler by the weekend.
Went by Lowes and picked up some more perennials they had marked down. Also got a hardy hibiscus, it has one huge flower on it. I got them all watered and will get them in the ground this weekend. Trying to completely fill in this one bed and get it established before winter. Little by little it is coming together and I have high hopes that it will all come back and do well next year.
Took a recent photo of the pond and the elephant ears. There are a few new photos in a couple of my albums also. One of the baby pileated woodpecker who has now learned from mom how to get to the suet feeder.
Had two of the baby coons on the deck this morning when I got up, no sign of mom or the other kid. They are so cute and were both sleeping off full tummies in the feeding trough. Rob spotted them and spoiled their nap with his barking so they got up and shimmied down the deck post.
Well, I was wondering when they would show up and killed my first two victims last night. One of those big green worms had eaten the top of my cherry tomato plant and another was starting on the lemon boys. Grrrrr… They both got whacked in half with my garden shears. They are soooo gross!! Checked the rest of the maters over and didn’t see anymore. I will be diligent and check them often now. Not sure what else I can do about them. Checked my gourd plant when I was watering last night and I have a couple of little birdhouse gourds growing.
So hot last night even the dogs didn’t want to go for a walk. They sat on the porch while I watered then we all went in to collapse on the bed under the fan.
Jun 29, 2007 | 6:41 AM PST
Tags: zucchini , Cukes , elephant ears , Critters , Squirrels , July 4th , racoons , veggies , tomato
Went out to check the veggie patch and pull a few green tomatoes to send to my mom. They are still off vagabonding in their RV and she loves fried green tomatoes. I have zukes and cukes all over the place. Wow. I put in a few extra plants just to be sure at least a few would take well, all of them took well! Also now that everything in there has matured, I am seeing my errors of where I planted and being able to maneuver around in that fenced space is getting more difficult. I can hardly wait for next year, now that I have learned these important lessons I have big plans!! Hubby is probably going to grumble about building more raised beds but if we get them up now I can work on the soil in them for next spring, right? And…still might be early enough to have a fall planting…more ideas!
My elephant ears are going crazy with all the rain and heat they are loving it! I think I will put in a few more next year; they really break up all that brick from the wall of the garage.
Will get up early tomorrow and get the lawn mowed and things spruced up outside, do the regular housekeeping when it is too hot outside. The house full is coming and I can hardly wait to see them all!! Two of the kids are leaving California this evening and should hit Arkansas Saturday night or Sunday morning. They are going to switch off and drive straight through. One more kid flies in on Sunday afternoon and my best buddy from Seattle gets in Monday night. I am so excited I haven’t been able to sleep. Like a kid on Christmas Eve.
The squirrels and I have worked out a great schedule with the feeding trough. They come for breakfast every morning and are gone the rest of the day. This allows me to fill it the night before and it’s all ready for them when they arrive. Thankfully it has kept them out of my herb pots and other flowers on the deck.
The coon has been coming nightly and I leave him a treat of peanuts and apple slices and he stays out of my bird feeders. He does continue to use the bird bath as his wash bowl, so that must be emptied and refilled every morning. Plan to camp out in the dark diningroom by the sliding glass door and watch for him Saturday night while I am waiting for the kids to arrive. Hopefully I can get some shots of him.
The chipmunk that I have been feeding at the back of my pond has planted his seed stashes all over my flower beds. I am still finding sunflower sprouts coming up all over the place. No more sunflowers in the front yard please! So sadly I have stopped feeding in that area of the yard.
The black and white brigade will get their baths and frontline tomorrow morning too. They need to be pretty and clean when their kids arrive. Rob to this day goes nuts when he hears a VW Beetle drive by. He is so sure that his girl is coming to see him. I feel so sad for him when he finally realizes it’s not his Shannon coming. Now we are all just counting the hours till they arrive!Jun 22, 2007 | 11:27 AM PST
Tags: racoons , squirrels , Bird Feeder , Strawberries
We have been battling the bushy tailed beasties over my birdfeeders and flower pots over the last year, recently to the point of building and installing a feeding trough on the deck just for them. Yes, they can be a frustration, but they are very entertaining and give the dogs and the cat some fun as well. It seemed that since the trough went up we had settled into a regular routine. I fill the trough in the morning and sit with my cup of tea and watch and as a wave of squirrels starts rolling toward my deck across the tree tops. Though some are terribly mean and refuse to share with their fellows (which warrants a visit from a border collie), most share nicely and they have been good about leaving my pots and birdfeeders alone. Until two days ago…
I went out to the deck to slop the trough and low and behold my full “last night” birdfeeders were emptied and my hanging strawberry had been stripped of ripe fruit. Grrrr. I figured I had a rogue and that Rob and I would need to teach this rake some manners. The regular crew came for breakfast and I didn’t think anymore about it.
The next morning I got up earlier than normal and walked through the kitchen looking out the door to the deck without turning on a light. There on the railing was a masked bandit helping himself to great paw-fulls of bird seed. He then proceeded to the birdbath to wash his breakfast before eating it. The rogue had been caught in the act. Rob sat watching in utter fascination at this new creature come to HIS deck. Setting Rob on squirrels is one thing, having him tangle with a 30lb raccoon just doesn’t seem like a good idea, so needless to say Rob was not given the chance to try herding coons. By the time I got my camera, the thief had shimmied down the post of the deck and went on his way.
Okay, things are getting crazy now that I am feeding the entire wild population of critters in our little neck of the woods. The squirrel trough is now emptied at dark and the birdfeeders are brought into the house for the night. Hopefully, this will cause the bandit to go elsewhere for his midnight snack raids. Oh gosh, I hope he doesn’t decide to go fishing in my pond!!!
