Baby deer and Baby Groundhogs

Seeing the young of wild animals is intriguing to me.  Early one morning last week as I sat having my breakfast, I noticed a movement outside my south windows.  Since I have many plants indoors and outdoors in that area I  stood up to be sure of what was moving.  It turned out to be the twin fawns and their mother had come back and come closer this time.  While the babies nibbled on the Hawthorn plants, the mother stood still and watched.  She was not eating as she was on duty to be sure her babies were safe.  She must have heard something from the west as she shifted her position and turned her head in that direction.  One of the fawns reacted by moving also, but went right back to munching.  Eventually they all began to move slowly away.  I stood still during all of this and just enjoyed seeing them.  Had they all been adults I may have tried to discourage them from dining so close to my house.  The urge to observe them made me more lenient this day.

Since the groundhog family seems to still be in my vineyard I am using the trap from the wildlife people to try to trap and relocate them.  My neighbor has been a big help in this endeavor.  The very day I brought the trap home and set it up and baited it with cantaloupe, he called to tell me he had taken the trap to a park and released this adult gopher.  The next day I reset the trap and put in strawberries, but in several days they had rotted and no gophers had appeared.  So, I switched to cantaloupe and the next morning he called to say he found a baby gopher in the trap.  He took it off to release it but had trouble getting it out of the  trap.  He said it had long fingers wrapped around the wires at the end of the trap and would not let go when he shook it.  He had to resort to using a stick to poke at him before he would release and run off.

The trap has been baited again with cantaloupe so we shall see what the day brings.  I feel sure that there were more than one baby in the tunnel.  We have had so much rain here in the south, that they may be holed up in their hole !!  They must sleep a lot as I only see them at certain times of the day, like mid morning and later in the day.  Of course this is a fairly large place and I cannot see everything that goes on here.

In front of my house in a flower bed I saw three yellow, swallow tail butterflies working the Lantana.  I think they have only a short time to feed, lay their eggs and disappear.  It is nice to see them  fluttering about.  The Pomeranians who visit here like to try to catch them, but never do.  They do exercise their lungs and legs when they see them outside.

I do have a soft heart for the young ones of any species.  I recently found a tiny salamander in a sticky trap by my front door.  The trap was there to capture scorpions if they got through the door.  It was too late to help the salamander.  If he had not been caught in the sticky tape he would probably have died of thirst indoors.  I have at times found them in some secluded spot where they have died and just dried up.  I think there are many more outside around the rock walls to take their place,  as I see them when I am out weeding.  My daughter saw a family of scorpions on the rock wall around the flower beds.  As long as they stay out there I have no objections, but indoors it is a problem.  I like to go barefoot indoors, especially at night.  Stepping on a scorpion is not a pleasant event.  So, baby or not, I really do not want them indoors.  It is only intriguing to watch wild animals when they are outdoors and I am indoors.

Sharing Space with the Wild Animals

Recently I have come face to face with one of those great toothed tunneling critters called groundhogs.  This place is big enough to share the space with them, but I am not increasing in population and they are!  My neighbors are noticing them making tunnels under their homes, and in other places.  I had already engaged a Wildlife company to trap and remove them and they did trap five and take them away.  The first animal they trapped however, was a neighbors cat which was just too curious!  He was released to go to his own home and freedom.  The trapper eventually came and took the traps away and there was peace in my vineyard.

But sometimes a peace can be uneasy or short-lived.  In our case it was short-lived.  When I saw one of those  critters enjoying the healthy grass up near my new pecan tree, I knew that it was useless to ignore him.  That attitude only sets the scene for many more to come.  So, this time I called the Wildlife Management office in our county and asked for help.  Oh yes, they could help and told me to come over and they would loan a trap to me for two weeks.

I made the trip over to their office and when I entered the building I opened the door to be greeted to a baby black bear who had met with some kind of unfortunate situation, and was sent to the taxidermist.  He was firmly planted right inside of the door.  It is a bit startling at first as who expects to see a bear when you first open the door.  Bears are usually in cages not inside of buildings- even Wildlife building.  At least I knew I was in the right place! 

Walking on to the office I needed, I found two ladies hard at work talking on the phone to someone in north Georgia who had spied a black bear.  They wanted him taken away.  Settling that problem she turned to me and began to sign me up.  While I waited for her to go for the trap,  I saw a poster about snakes in Georgia.  I asked the second lady if they sold them.  She  explained that they were out of them right now.  I told her that I wanted them for my grandson who loves animals.  She said she had lots of other posters about wildlife and left the room to see what she did have on hand.

In the meantime the other lady came in with this huge trap and signed me up to take it out.  Then she proceeded to show me how to set the trap.  I had no confidence at all about being able to do it on my own.  I told her I had a mental block about such things but if I had trouble I could find someone to help me.

Then in came the poster lady loaded down with posters to thrill any animal loving young boy.  The snakes poster was not available but lots of other ones were.  Salamanders, Birds, Bats, and one on  Lake Ecosystem.  But there is more; the others were about mountain streams, endangered wild flowers, Georgia's Traveling Songbirds and Freshwater Biodiversity of the Upper Coosa River Basin.  In addition to the colorful labeled pictures, the backs of the posters were covered with information on understanding  them and ideas for learning more.  Wow, I had not expected to be the recipient of such interesting and informative posters.  My grandson will be delighted.  I am delighted as well.  These folks care about the wildlife and the ecosystem of our state and the world.

With a glow in my heart I headed home and promptly took the trap to where it could be found by the groundhogs living up  there.  I surprised myself by being able to set and bait the trap and cover it with branches to partly conceal  it.

I was even able to engage the help of a neighbor who will watch for any animals who appear in the traps and will release them into the wild, but far away from our houses.  A distance of five miles was recommended.

 I am never quite sure what turn my day will take.  Some days are just normally dull and routine and then  along comes one that is custom made for me, like this one today.  Never a dull moment sounds hollow and empty when I think of a day like today.