Category: nature encounters

She picked a tree right next to the previous year’s and built her nest closer to the trunk. We discovered her as she was alarming in exactly the same way as last year when we happened to be close to the tree. What a great way to let predators know they’re getting warmer!

Anyway, we’re glad she chose our garden again this year (assuming its the same Mama Robin).

The porcupine breaks many twigs from the pine tree at the center of this picture. The tree was in the same state last year and there is a clear path where the bark is more worn. I wonder what’s special about this tree that the porcupine took a liking to it.

This picture doesn’t do justice to spectacle of a red fox moving against the white snow

Very glad to finally see it 🙂 It looks like he sets out for his nightly routine around 1:00AM and comes back around 6:00AM, having partied all night I speculate.

Porcupine butt

Thanks to Mike for lending me his trailcam 🙂

I found where the porcupine lives, it uses the same path every day and eats from the same pine tree as last Winter.

Straight into the collapsed barn

I should check the rubble for pirate treasures

They go around our house every day around the same time. We get to observe them closely unbeknownst to them. It’s very cool to see the adults coral the little ones as they go about their daily routine.

Stealing fiber from my camo netting and letting me get quite close.

I don’t have a name yet, I’ll be looking. => Cedar Waxwing (thank you Rich)

I don’t see the third one but I didn’t want to intrude too much.

I’ll go take a look at the nest tomorrow, they’re most likely all out by now. Mama Robin is getting used to us and doesn’t fly away until we’re very close now.

They arrived a couple of week ago, found our feeder right away.

We also found tons of pine twigs on the ground. Maybe we’ll meet one day.

Sometimes it takes guts to take a leak.

This one is sound only

I dropped a skunk a few nights ago that had become a little too comfortable with the crawl space under the house. I’m still impressed at how fearless it was with me; it showed almost the same level of not giving a shit about anything I’ve seen in porcupines. Renowned defense mechanisms lead to carelessness apparently.

I don’t know what happened there.

Wikipedia

What kind of bird does this? I’m told a “wood chipper” but googling this name doesn’t yield anything relevant. Could it be a Vermont name for a wood pecker? Certainly that tree wasn’t just pecked at.

If I had to guess I’d say a pterodactyl with a chainsaw for a beak.