Wonderful World of Kentucky Wildlife

Little things pop up when you least expect it......just all of a sudden, wham. Sometimes when it's a bit rainy, I don't put my doggies out in the dog runs, I have a 20 foot leash that I attach them to & hook it to the front porch of the house. Well, the other day, I had 2 of my doggies on leashs that way. I didn't pay much attention to my front flower garden as most of the plants had died back to nothing during the winter & only one plant had come back to life. It was a real pretty lacey leaf plant with little heart blooms on it that I had taken pictures of just the previous day. I had been messing around with my doggies & all of I sudden, I realized that this plant wasn't there anymore.....I mean, the whole thing was gone....not a trace....no stems were sticking up....NOTHING....I mean NOTHING. I brushed the dirt away where the plant had been & there was the root ball & I had the picture to prove it had been there but it was completely gone. I knew the dogs hadn't eaten it. I looked under the front porch, thinking I might see a few stray leaves left over...but NOTHING. I still don't know exactly where the plant went to or who ate it, but I did see a little white tailed rabbit in my back yard the next morning & figure he & his family have to be the culprits that ate my plant. I haven't seen any deer around for months, & they usually never came up to my front porch anyway.

I was standing in my kitchen watching the bunny & all I could say was BAD BUNNY, BAD BUNNY...you ate my plant.......well, as I was expressing my BAD BUNNY, my doggie came slinking up to me with his head lowered as if I was yelling at him.....it took me a few seconds to realize that my BAD BUNNY.......had the same sound as when I say BAD BOO to my doggie (whose name is Leo,,,,,,but I call him BOO because he disappeares like a ghost at times, so he has been named BOO). He thought for sure I was scolding him & was so dejected it took me a few minutes of hugging to let him know it wasn't him but the BUNNY I was upset with.

Well, yesterday morning, he took off out the front door when I had it open......he likes to go potty in his own private location where no one can see him....but he got sidetracked & started barking & jumping around.....just like when he found the mole last fall. Again, I was afraid it was one of our local skunks & he just won't come when he's called....when he has him brain on something more important than Mom's voice. This was something good....he was so excited......as I stood there yelling for him to come, I realized that was a futile attempt as all the yelling in the world wouldn't get back his attention.....so I put on my hiking boots & went over to see what was going on. There I found what he was so excited about......there were 2 small turtles....on top of each other....doing their turtle thing. That was so cool, but remembering my encounter on the highway with the snapping turtle. I didn't want to interrupt them in the first place so I took Leo by the collar & lead him back to the house where I picked up my camera & went back alone to check them out. After doing research on the internet, It turns out that they aren't snapping turtles, but the eastern Box turtle with beautiful yellow markings on their shell. That was so cool as I love to see wildlife in it's real environment & not just in a zoo.

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Of course, I had another encounter just today....but it wasn't exactly with the critter....it was with the little left overs he left after getting into my corn bread mix...lol. I have one of those corner cupboards that has the turning cabnet in it to make it all useable......well, I was looking for my chocolate chips to munch on & I thought I had put them in that cupboard. I turned it around & moved the bag of cornmeal muffin mix to see if they were behind it......& I looked & there were little mouse droppings & a little hole chewed into that bag of cornmeal. I have never seen a mouse in the house nor have the doggies gone barking after one, so this guy must have just snuck in that cabinet in the back where it would have been when the cupboard was turned around & closed. I have no idea how long ago this happened. It must have been in the winter when it was cold outside.....he sure has his sneeky hole to get into the house so I don't even know where to close up to keep them out....lol. Will have to keep an eye out to see if anything else gets eaten..but nothing except for the cornmeal bag was touched. Little sneekey mouse.

The other fun ghost I have in the house is very entertaining to my 3 upstairs doggies. I was sitting on my air mattress & the one of the doggies was barking & barking....wouldn't stop as if she were after something. I yelled to be quiet & she came running in to me. A few days later, my other doggie was in the bathroom growling & growling her silly little growley bark.......rrrrrruuuuufffffff, rrrrruuuuuufffffff. I was in my bedroom crashed on my air mattress on the floor, so I yelled to be quiet & she came running & jumped on me. It wasn't until a few days after that when I found out what they were really barking at. I was in the bathroom drying my hair when Leo was drinking out of the waterbottle I had purchased that is similar to ont of those water cooler type things. Leo was drinking out of it & all of a sudden, It went BLUB>>>>>>BLUB>>>>>BLUB. He stepped back & gave it a funny look & stepped back as if it would come out of the water container & attack him. It was then I realized that the other doggies were growling & barking at the same thing....the ghose of the water bottle. That's not exactly wildlife in my book, but my doggies think it is & worth a good barking at. You would think that after having it do the same thing for 3 months, they would be used to it.....I don't think they will ever stop barking at the ghost however.

So much for the continuing saga of Kentucky living,
Debbie

what fun.

Perhaps the bunny saw you take the picture of the plant and figured you were done with it How nice of you to have such a yummy dish for the bunny and family

Thanks Debbie for this hearthwarming post! I went to see your pictures and found your horse and little eski dogs so lovely! Made me smile and wish I could hug them all
Lily

((((Eskielover))))))))

I love reading your posts on Kentucky. The people youve met, the wildlife and the beauty of your new home.

I wish you so much more happiness there for it is Home Sweet Home.

chalmette

the picture that was supposed to show up is the one of the turtles doing their turtle thing....lol......nature at it's finest.



I have to add this photo as I was going through my photos today as these are all the crazy dogs that share my room with me. If all 7 doggies wouldn't fight, they all would be on top of me, barking at the ghost in the water bottle, but since they mostly fight between each other, I have 3 that hang out in their pens in the basement & Mommy eskie who hange out in her pen in the kitchen since she fights with Celia. This is the view I have everytime I go into the basement to do anything.....like taking care of the other doggies or doing my laundry. It's not wildlife, but it's my version of wildlife.....lol.



left to right: Leo, Tanana (Tawny), Celia

Finally got the right combinations together to get the photos in my post....lol...rather slow when it comes to technical at times (& to think I was a firmware/software aerospace engineer in my past life)

Thank you all for reading my posts about my life in Kentucky....I am always afraid they will be long & boring to others......glad you enjoy....I know this life always has me feeling on top of the world.....glad I can share a bit of that feeling with others & glad it comes through my posts.

Thank you,
Debbie

i

awwww u have such cute doggies and those turtles are funny nature is so amusing sometimes