Wild Creatures

In addition to our domestic critters, I have also seen quite an abundance of creatures that visit our yard.  From reptiles to birds to the various mammals and amphibians, I enjoy it all- as long as they don't attack the livestock or steal the harvest (only a select few, which may or may not include pesky squirrels).

Snakes are my absolute favorite with birds coming in a close second.  So far, I have identified three species on our property.  This is an adult Eastern Yellow Bellied Racer that one of the cats caught.  Thankfully, he was okay and was returned to a wild part of the yard.  The babies look quite different and are feisty little critters.  I haven't seen a racer in a good year which makes me sad; I hope they haven't been gobbled up by all the predators or killed by folks thinking they were venomous.This is a racer I spotted in what would soon become our garden area. I have seen two or three times the Texas Blind snake.  It looks a little like a worm at first glance but one can quickly tell that it is not at all like a worm.

The snake species that got me into raising corn snakes is the Rough Earth snake.  They are so gentle and a fun snake to find and take care of for a few days.  I used to find them all the time at our previous home; here, I'm afraid our poultry have eaten them all up.  Like how cute is this little guy?I love seeing the Mediterranean geckoes flock all over the kitchen window at night.  Sometimes I see two white eggs in a female's belly. And the tiny ones are so cute.Occasionally, I'll see a skink (I don't know yet which variety it is).  I even caught this feisty fellow one day. The most common lizard I've seen is the Eastern Fence Lizard (one of a variety of names this species has).   One of the cats caught this one; I thought it was bloated but the next day she laid seventeen eggs! Having incubated snake eggs before, I took care of them the same way I did for my snakes. 

Two and a half-ish months later, all of them hatched and I released sixteen of them into the garden (unfortunately, a cat I was sitting caught an escapee and killed it).  

The Gulf Coast toad is the most prevalent amphibian I see in our yard -  mostly after the sun has set.  From little babies to big adults, I have to be careful not to step on them! This is one I found at our previous home; I haven't taken a photo of one here yet. 

I'm  pretty sure last year's constant rains brought this box turtle (and his common snapping turtle buddy which didn't make it across the road) up from the neighbor's creek and on to the road. 

One of my favorite insects is the tarantula.

 

There are a variety of birds I see especially now that I set up the Bird Cafe outside my window.  Blue Jays, Cardinals, Red-bellied woodpeckers, Carolina Wrens, and Tufted Titmice make up just a handful of what visits the yard.  My mom took this pretty picture of a Red-bellied woodpecker.

Just this winter, I had a whole flock of goldfinches right outside my window!  I especially enjoyed the Chipping Sparrows that hung around most of the winter and early spring.

I love seeing birds of prey although, I admit, having the Red-tail Hawks around in the winter and spring does concern me at times, especially because they are big enough to take a chicken or a newborn baby goat.

Cooper's Hawks typically build a nest and raise young each year. I like that they come because they are no danger to the chickens (any chicks are kept in a secure area till they are old enough to keep themselves safe) and they help cut down on the squirrel population.

During summer nights, I often hear an Eastern Screech Owl hooting. I haven't heard one yet this year.  Once, my dad woke us all up to see one he had spotted.  What a neat experience!

Guinea Fowl

I think we added guinea fowl to the mix around 2011.  We have had quite a few -ahem- hens pass through, in a quest to acquire the quietest ones.  The cocks we've had, on the other hand, have amounted to only a small handful.  The first three, Biscuit, Bisquick, and Seabiscuit, were the best; two died from a predator attack and one from unknown causes. The two hens we currently have were perfect when we had a cock for them.  Unfortunately, the last two cocks, Mr. Handsome and Polar, we had were attacking and sometimes killing the young chickens so they went on a date to freezer camp.  In addition, Mr. Handsome was attacking us humans too.   Mr. Handsome was such a fine-looking guinea; it really was too bad he turned out to be an aggressive fellow. Polka Dot and Polo also started up with the same bad behavior so now they are out free-ranging with the bantam coop birds and they all get along fine.  Polka Dot, named after another guinea hen, Polka, which I lost to a bobcat.  Polka Dot and Polo were quite noisy  this spring due to being without a cock during breeding season but have since quieted down.  Breeding season for them will be over around September.  Unless we move, Polka Dot and Polo will probably be our last guineas to have around.  This is Polo when she was first introduced to Mr. Handsome.  She just pretended to ignore him whenever he came near. 

I have loved having the guineas around.   They are a high-strung bird and very difficult to tame but I enjoy watching them strut around the yard in their pretty plumage. They really are a wonderful bird to have if you educate and prepare yourself in regards to their behavior, feeding, and other needs.   Pictured below is Seabiscuit on his first day home. 

Runny Babbits

Shortly after we acquired the chickens, our neighbors found a bunny wandering around the neighborhood.  Because they couldn't keep him, they gave him to us.  After having Oreo for about a year and moving to a new property, I soon added more rabbits to the mix, mostly so we could use their young for meat but also to sell them as pets or breederss.  

After three or four years of being in the rabbit business, I sold them off.  Shortly thereafter, my mom commented one day that she'd like to have a few rabbits to raise again so, for Mother's Day, my siblings and I bought her a pair of purebred Californians which she named Nellie and Olson.  For now, she just raises them for pleasure. 

After two years of buying and selling adults, she is pleased with the adults she has now.  Some rabbits just have bad temperaments, the main reason I'd gotten out of the business. This is one of Pearl's kits.  

Big Mama,  who has yet to be a mama with us, is pictured below.  The name suits her perfectly though. 

Pumpkin, a bunny some other neighbors gave us because their friends were moving and couldn't take her with, is a sweet little Lionhead. 

Here is Nellie with the only kit she kindled a few weeks ago.

And next are Maisie's three little cuties.

I don't have a good photo of Mom's newest rabbit buck; he hasn't got a name just yet either.  So, I will post, instead, a photo of Olson. 

Chickens

Before having goats and a garden,  we started out with a small flock of White Plymouth Rocks for eggs in 2008.   The original flock has since passed on (the last hen as of this month) but we have two main flocks now.  I call them the Banty Coop and the Big Coop Flocks.  The banty coop consists of older birds, game birds, bantam chickens,  guinea fowl, and a rooster, Sir Liverwort, to protect them.

Willow, a Black-tailed White Japanese Bantam, currently has six nearly grown chicks so she is locked up in a separate hutch during the night but runs around like the rest of the Banty flock during the day.  This photo shows one of her chicks, Mirror.  Yes, she looks almost exactly like her mom.

Ebony and Merrigold are 'my' two game birds.  I have come to love the game birds because of their independent personality.  Yet, when I take the time to give them little treats or such, they become quite friendly.   As a side note, the layers are quite docile, able to live at peace with each other other than the typical pecking order they establish amongst each other.  Many game birds do not get along with each other unless they grow up together.  I'm very blessed that Merrigold and Ebony tolerate each other plus I think their older age has helped calm them down too.  

Honeysuckle is an adorable, independent, sassy little hen.  She's five years old.

The Big Coop consists of all the consistent layers, a few older birds that are still laying, and their rooster.  My mom and I limit our chick buying to once every two years. Last year, we added about twenty some new birds to our flock.  They are all laying now.

A few young White Rock chicks which my mom and I named Daffodil, Daisy, and Tulip are from last year's addition.

In addition, we added two Barred Rocks, Iris and Izzie.  I have always enjoyed the White Rocks but was a little hesitant about the barred rocks because of negative reports about their personality.  To my relief, they have been just as sweet, friendly, and laid back as the White rocks.  The rocks also like talking to you as well.

There are six White Leghorns, four younger and two older birds.  Dove and Ms. Cluck are the older girls.  Pensacola 'Penny', Croatia, Italy, and Asia are the new girls.   Leghorns are excellent layers of large white eggs; however, they are high- strung birds.

Sunny and Shadow are the Light Brahmas. They were such curious girls when they were growing pullets, constantly pecking at my shoes.   A photo of their younger selves in the act. 

Nani and Lokelani are the Buff Orpingtons. Currently, they are both broody but I'm not giving them eggs to hatch because I haven't the room to give them for taking care of chicks.  This is Lani as a pullet. 

Lavender and Spot are Easter Eggers (really Ameraucana -mutt chickens that folks purchase because the hens lay green, blue, or brown eggs depending on the hen).  Spot lays pretty green eggs and Lavender is the rooster in charge.   From my experience, the EE's are seasonal layers or lay-whenever-I-feel-like-it birds.  Yup, the egg colors are nice but if you're looking for consistency, they're not your bird. Spot is a Leghorn and EE cross. She laid consistently like a Leghorn for a few years but has since taken on her EE side in regards to laying.

I took care of my neighbor's chicks when he was out of town last year and he let me have my choice of six birds.  Unfortunately, all but one was a rooster.  I named my White Jersey Giant Eema.

Suri is my sweet little mottled Japanese Bantam hen.  I kept her with the Big Coop birds for two reasons.  One, because she grew up with last year's new flock and, two, because for the past year and a half, my guineas have been having serious problems with attacking the chicks and layers, something I hadn't ever had to deal with before.  I didn't want them bullying Suri and I didn't think she'd be mature enough to stand up to them.  She does just fine with the big girls so I'm okay with leaving her with them for now.  To the left of Suri is our handicapped rooster, Rhett.  He has his own run in the Big Coop.  As you can see, Suri goes in and out as she pleases. 

And here are a few shots taken over the past year. 

The Garden

My family has been gardening since 2011.  The past two years have been the best in regards to production.  I know that the Lord has blessed us mightily with such wonderful harvests of fruit and vegetables.

We have several varieties of beans this year.  Under the green bean category,  we have french cut, jade, tender green, heavyweight, and bush blue.  Under the wax bean, we have the Gold rush and, well, the wax bean varieties.  The other bean type we have is Burgandy beans which are purple at harvest but turn dark green when cooked.  So far, with nearly nine full rows of beans, I have harvested nearly 44lbs of beans.

Also planted in the large ground bed is turnips, tomatillos, onions, and tomatoes.  Tomato plants include Sweet 100, Yellow Pear, Arkansas Traveler, and Roma among others.  They are now ripening. Across from the larger ground bed are small raised beds of peas and blackberry bushes.

In the ground bed to the left of the aforementioned ground bed is corn, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, and watermelon.

Do you spot the other cucumbers? 

One of the large raised beds is filled with different lettuces from which we have had many delicious salads.   The season for lettuce is pretty much over. 

The other large bed contains salad, hot, and bell peppers; beets and carrots from last year's planting; and radishes that bolted.  Root vegetables, it turns out, do not grow fast in raised beds.

This is the first year for our peach and plum trees to have produced.  The plums were oh-so-scrumptious, not even to be compared with the ones you purchase from a store.   Unfortunately, we have an abundance of squirrels.    The wasteful creatures stole every last one of our peaches (we didn't get a single one) and all the rest of the plums after our first harvest.

Gardening is something  I have really come to enjoy doing.  I have been able to help my folks much more now that I'm understanding how it all works along with the benefits that come with all the hard work; family time, quiet time, multiple harvests, healthy food, and, my favorite thing, enjoying the fruit of my labor.