Ugly lawn? I think not!

One persons dandelion infested lawn from hell.....

.....is someone else's heaven!!

I could never use weed killer on my dandelions! What ever would my little whistle pigs eat then?! LOL

My lawn is 100% wildlife friendly! It is totally untreated, as you can see. In fact, the only thing I do to it is mow it....and let the rest of the critters out there enjoy the fresh, organic grazing! It also comes in very handy when the rest of the gals need fresh greens for their bunny rehabs.

The trees are also groundhog approved! This is a new one on me...I was surprised to look out my window and see that! I enjoy my 2 groundhog neighbors here, but I don't specialize in them, Mary gets all the groundhog rehabs....so I had to call her once I realized one was climbing around in trees like a squirrel! It's not something you see every day (well.....it is now actually!) so I just wanted to see if maybe I had a prodigy here! Alas...though I think all the critters I share the area with are special, this ability makes my particular friend no more special than all the other groundhogs out there. This particular groundhog prefers to oversee "his" lawn from up high. One of the many holes to his underground lair is right below the tree.

I had to euthanize the poor coon Mary and I stopped to pick up on our way to JoAnn's the other day. He was not limping due to injury but rather due to neurologic problems. He declined rapidly while I had him and it was the kindest thing I could do for him. I suspect another case of rabies, however there being no exposure we are not sending it off to be tested.

Finally....the gang's all here!

The last of the regulars around here has finally checked in! I have to say I was getting a little nervous about little digger here.....but I looked up from my coffee the other day and there he was! Hole renovations and weed control are in progress at last.

The mom's are in daytime mode again too, out foraging early to beat the crowds. I ran into a couple of them the other day while taking care of the boys out in the woods. Though I'm not positive who this is, she looks a lot like Button. She was not friendly enough to want to come down and visit, but she wasn't so scared she didn't mind posing for the camera when I called to her! She was pretty relaxed with my presence. Mystery mom number 2 disappeared in a flash when she saw me, so I'm guessing not one of my girls.

This time of year is great for being able to photograph them out in the wild, thanks to their daylight travels.

The babies, now named Mason & Cinder, are doing great and growing like weeds. So far we have had a lot of calls about bunnies, most of which were just cases of re-nesting the babies. JoAnn has a few that needed to come in, but nothing crazy yet.......the explosion is imminent I'm sure!

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 excavator under my front steps.

One of my resident ground hogs is making himself at home. He's a regular on my front lawn and has now renovated a lovely den under my front steps.

He's quite fond of hanging out on the steps enjoying the view of the pond.......

....and I think he is beginning to entertain the idea of possibly becoming the next roommate! He's getting closer and closer to the front door....and appears to be contemplating a knock on the door possibly?

Sorry dude! You've grown nice and fat off the dandelions on my front lawn and will do just fine in your lovely new home....no need to come in here for the winter!

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!

Poopie update!

Remember Poopie the adorable little possie I had briefly? Well she's doing great at Mary's. She and her step brother are in with the older 6 possies now and she's just as big as them now.

Mary's also got a couple more cute little ground hogs in the mix too...as well as a few skunks that were too camera shy!

Meanwhile back on the home front one of the released squirrels takes a moment to tease the crap out of one of my cats! They are wise guys-they know the cats can't get them through the glass door so it's a great place to lounge!