Sunday, October 12, 2008

We Got Armadillos

In case you don't recognize it the title is a misquote from the movie Twister. "We got cows."
Any way the other night the dogs went off. They were barking so hysterically that Larry decided to go see what they were fussing about.

We had a cute little armadillo trundling about the yard completely unfazed by the dogs. This is the first time I've seen one on this place. We also now have a healthy squirrel population. I'm not sure what that's all about. They like to throw pecans at the dogs. We have always had opossums, rabbits and skunks; not to mention house snakes.

When we looked at the house the first time Larry opened the door to the cubbyhole the water lived in and said "No leaks. Mouse on top." and closed the door. The real estate rep had hysterics. She was not fond of mice.

Since then we learned our place is home to pack of coyotes, and are on the path of migrating cougars that, in dry years, come up to the barn to drink out of the troughs. Great Horned owls spend the winter in the loft of our barn. Red tailed hawks and Red shouldered hawks are regulars in the spring. They have the place neatly divided and return to their nesting spots each year.
Great blue herons and cattle egrets also use the place to nest. When the shooting starts in the fall we quickly are the place of choice for the doves.

Sometimes I feel as if we are running a private wild life preserve around here. It's pretty cool.

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