Turkey trist.

Slowly but surely, the usual gang of critters is returning! My female turkey friend showed up this weekend, and she wasn't alone.

Enter stage left.... young, handsome man!

Enter stage right.....my lovely lady friend.

They greeted each other and snuck off into the woods. I couldn't see much, but the effort he was putting into puffing up and strutting around suggests she was playing a little hard to get! LOL I finally lost sight of them as they wandered deeper into the woods to get away from the peeping tom with the camera! (pun intended!)

Later the next day my girl was back without her suitor, paying a little visit to Dracoon....noble guardian of my walkway! She'll probably hang around for a few weeks like she usually does, then move on to wherever her usual late spring hangout is!

I think my groundhogs are the only regulars that haven't made their annual appearance yet, however I have noticed some recent excavating activity around the entrance to his hole in the mound by the driveway.

The gang's all here.

A couple days sitting at my kitchen table feeding pinkies as I stare out the kitchen window has given me the opportunity to see that most of the usual gang is back this spring.

OK so the foxes were here all along, but they have now come to think of my squirrel feeders as a possible new feeding station for them! I'm not impressed, however, with their skills.

I think this is Mr. Fox.....on his fourth unsuccessful attempt. By the time I get up to run out there and prevent a breech of the peace, he's already heading off empty handed! The weed whacker is back to keeping the lawn nice and trimmed.... ...and my favorite turkey girl is back for her usual spring retreat. She's pretty good at helping protect the squirrels at the feeder also, when she's there. The fox steers away while she's out there. She is, after all, just as big as them...if not bigger! They know better than to mess with her.

So far so good with the little coonie babies, the pinkies have gone to Lisa and although I didn't have to trade anything, I did end up with 2 more squirrels that are older and only need to eat 5 times a day instead of every 2 hours! A couple girls..1 is 5 weeks and the other 6 weeks. I'll get pics eventually!

A gathering of critters.

With some of the warmer weather we have been having, spring fever is in the air! After seeing the little stinker out I put a little something from our wildlife food donations out for him to give him a little break.

I'm guessing by this picture he's not the one that got to enjoy it! Although I have to admit....they only pick at it a little. They don't inhale it like a dog would, so plenty was left behind for the next crew..... Fox and Coon were very polite dinner partners and shared well....and also left some behind for those that might follow them! Sorry about the quality here...the batteries were on their last legs!

I never would have guessed it would have been this crew though! I have my regular hen that comes back every year, but she certainly doesn't bring a rowdy gang of boys! They polished off what was left and did some sparring as well it appears.

I only decided to check the cameras because I walked out to the shed one afternoon a couple of days ago and suddenly noticed one of the stumps out there moved! I immediately stood still and looked a little closer. Turned out to be 4 toms just hanging out together. I left and they eventually wandered off into the woods past where I have the coon cam set up. So I decided to download the pics and turns out it was a busy day for toms! Not something I usually see on there and a pleasant surprise to boot!

Lets hope this signals the end of one long, cold, awful winter!

...and they're out again!

More record rains....more record flooding! No sooner do the boys get back into their den, get it all fixed up and cozy again....and the flooding begins again. I haven't actually been over there to check...the ground is to spongy and I don't want to cave any of it in...but there is no doubt. Luckily again it's the boys, and the weather is warm otherwise. They'll be fine till it dries out yet again!

Part of the Gobble Gang has returned! One of the girls is hanging around again. Hopefully the other girl and tom will be back soon also.

The pics aren't great...these are the one's from my cell phone, but this was our unfortunate leg hold trap raccoon. He was able to cradle himself on the fence when the trap got tangled in it so at least he wasn't hanging from his horrifically injured leg.
It's very difficult to look at....so I guess it's good that the quality of the picture isn't crystal clear...but you get the point. Yes that little white piece...the bone of one of his toes.
Just upsetting and enraging beyond words to me.

I'm heading out in this crappy weather to try to start taking one of the release pens apart from last fall so we can use it to enlarge another one. This crew is ready to go so time to get them set up!

Strutting their stuff & a red tail hawk rescued.

My sister in law called me today. Her mom had an injured hawk in her yard so I headed over there to check it out. Sure enough it was definitely in need of rescue....so I donned my leather gloves, grabbed a blanket and snagged me a hawk. The Animal Rescue League was kind enough to pick it up to transport it to Tufts since I had to get to work and couldn't drive it out there myself. I didn't like the look of one of the wings so my fingers are crossed for the poor thing.

I was out yesterday doing the usual rounds. I was standing at the ponds edge calling to Hissy for our usual visit. Soon enough he rounds a corner....and surprise, the Mrs. was with him too! I haven't seen her in a while. Then an even bigger surprise!!! Babies!! They were swimming so close up mom's butt I didn't even see them until she turned sideways. The proud parents came in for a treat and to relax and show off the new brood!

Only 2 this year...last year they had 4, then adopted 2 more later on.....

Hanging out, the kids are snuggled under mom on the right while Hissy keeps an eye out on the left.

I've got 2 female turkeys hanging out on a regular basis this year. Soon this guy showed up strutting his stuff! Although I don't know who he is trying to impress here as the girls were no where to be seen at this time! He was making quite a racket too....the cats were enthralled!!