Critter Corner

It's been another interesting summer with the critters in our area. We've had this weird surplus of chipmunks this summer who have created havoc in our new landscaping. No sooner do I stomp down all their holes, but within the hour, they have been at it again with a dozen more. Can we bottle that energy? It seems the deer just get braver every year. One actually had the nerve to poop on our front porch in the spring. I didn't want to photograph that, but this photo shows how much they enjoy the flavor of hosta. (Click photos for clearer view)

Remember our Christmas tree farm? Well, about a third of the trees have already died of natural causes. However, a few have succumbed to a mystery guest who was able to eat each needle off of the "trunk" without knocking over the fencing or digging any sort of noticeable hole.

Even more curious is this.....we had this deck built four years ago. Each summer, someone climbs the stairs of the deck and takes out a random bulb from one of the deck lights. Sometimes it is smashed and sometimes it is just left there (as in my reenactment photo to the left). At first, we thought it was possibly some pranksters in the neighborhood. But really, who would just take one bulb out once or twice a summer and come back to do this year after year? I googled "animal taking out light bulbs" and discovered that President Coolidge had a pet raccoon that unscrewed light bulbs as a hobby. The kids, of course, thought it would be a great idea to set up a surveillance camera. I don't care enough to go to that much trouble.

I accidentally ran over a chipmunk in the driveway last week. Oddly enough, they haven't been running around near the front porch since the untimely death of their cohort. Word must have gotten out about the crazy lady in the van.