# It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!



## Care4all (Apr 20, 2018)

Gosh, I just love this time of the year!!!

Every creature in the Woods that has fared off the Winter and has survived is waking up!  Oh I just love it

Yesterday, a herd of about 12 deer exited the woods near my house's mail box down on the main road....  A big doe in the front of the herd, and a big doe at the end of the herd and a big doe along with 9 other small doe of varying sizes from real tiny....almost fawn size to yearling size in the middle.

Also yesterday, near the exact same time, a Racoon, BIG ASS Racoon, came out of the woods to cross the main road to get to the woods on the other side of the road.....looked closer and there were 6 little tiny balls of fur holding on to her back and butt for dear life!  Oh my heavens, what a beautiful thing!  The mom racoon had them get on top of her, so they all could make it across the street safely!

Wow....it actually made me tear up....

how protective wild animals are with their litters!

And I have to tell you how relieved I am to see the racoon, and stupid stupid stupid at the same time.....! 

Last year my one neighbor that is across and down the dirt road was complaining about the racoons but mostly the skunks that had been around....

Confession, we had been feeding the skunks and the racoon.... it happened by accident....we meant to feed the racoon but the skunks came out of the woods with them and eat together!  Who knew they hung out together?  And the mama skunk had like 5 babies.....how could I stop feeding her?  The Racoon had like 4 babies too....  so we continued to befriend them and kept feeding them. 

Well they never stink up our house because they don't want to mess up the great situation with the great food we have been giving them.....  they actually run out of the woods to greet the hubby when he brings the left over food out there at night....

anyway, this was last fall, before the great winter....we named the runt skunk baby, "Put em Up" because he always jerked around and put up his limbs whenever his bigger brothers and sisters came around to steal his food....we saw him get bigger and bigger to the point where we knew this runt, would live....

Well my neighbor was letting us know he could take care of the skunk problem he presumed we had as well....in other words....he was going to kill them...the hubby kept mum when Josh told him that.....

About 3 weeks later, they were ALL GONE!   I kept telling and asking at the same time....did Josh kill them?  How could he do it?  There is no way in the world he could have SHOT THEM ALL?

Then we thought, maybe he put out poisoned food?  then I got mad, thinking how could he do that?  What if my kitty cat went down the road to his house and eaten this poisoned food he had put out.....?

I was steaming upset about it all for a month, but he snow plows our driveway for free and the dirt road that passes his house and mine, so we can get out to the main road in the winter, which is a BIGLY  nice thing around here with all the snow we get!  And I forgave him....he probably thought he was doing us a favor....?

Ok, here comes the STUPID STUPID STUPID part...

About two weeks ago, for the first time in 5 months, my little skunk, "Put em Up" came out of the woods and in to the yard and began feeding on sun flowers seeds underneath the bird feeders that had fallen...then another skunk or two....and then the racoon mama crossing the road....

JOSH DID NOT KILL THEM!!!

They went in to hibernation for the winter!  Us silly Floridians, have lived up here in Maine for 11 years, and did not realize that they all disappeared at once, because they were Hibernating!  

Anyway, I started this thread because right now at this moment there are 3 Turkeys under the bird feeder eating like there is no tomorrow....  a turkey that I have never ever seen before...every spring we get the wild brown ones coming here to feed, but never ever seen these Black and white ones that were here today....

I took pictures of them but for some reason I can't get them to download....???  When I figure out the problem I will download them....but they look like this or sort of like this?







but the ones that normally come here look like these brown ones


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## Care4all (Apr 23, 2018)

HOLY SMOKES!

They are not Turkeys

I have been searching and searching and searching...

at first I thought they were a female Narragansett heritage turkey, because they were black and white....  but they are not!

They are an African and South American and Australian bird called

Helmeted Guineafowl


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## Care4all (Apr 23, 2018)

what the heck are they doing in Maine?

we've been feeding them sunflower seeds and corn but they only like the sunflower seeds, and bugs...they've been picking at the dead winter grass which is just beginning to turn green....

I still can't figure out why I can't upload my pictures to my laptop....  grrrrrrrr

Anyway, I had a dentist appt at 7:30am this morning.......uggggggggh, hate early appts!

But low and behold, there to greet me in the driveway near the firewood pile,

was Mr or Mrs Rabbit!  Snowshoe Hare....all brown, no white on her....  in the winter they are solid white!   This guy or girl?  was HUGE....not fat, still skinny but a big size, maybe 15 to 20 inches....  it too, has woken, and come out of its rabbit hole!  And it ran towards me, and my cat was on the deck....

MY CAT LOVES RABBIT.....she's a KILLER!  Know that she was living in the wild before we rescued her....so she survived on killing, and rabbits were the best meal ever that lasted days...  she buries them, after she eats some....really weird....  we have tried and tried to keep her from killing them, yell, scream, chase....but she has no other focus but running after the rabbit and catching it....then she brings it home....like a fetch dog.....

Matt and I said,''Well, if the proverbial shit hits the fan....we will at least have rabbit stew for dinner!''  

Anyway, the rabbit was running right towards me....like it knew me and remembered me having the great food for him/her to eat last year before it went in to hibernation....seriously, it was like really happy to see me!  

I ran up the stairs to the deck and grabbed my cat and put her back in to the house.....

OH, and the yellow birds are back from their stay in the South for the winter....

American Gold Finch.....they feed here all summer!  Haven't seen the Red Finch, House Finch, or Purple Finch yet!


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## Care4all (Apr 23, 2018)

I love it here...but will be moving back home to Florida this year, to be with my elderly parents, they don't have many years left and we've been up in New England for 22 years and away from them....  time to be near them....and help them out....a complete roll reversal...mom still thinks I'm her baby...her youngest child....this is going to be a challenge for certain, but I am looking forward to being with them both....


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## Care4all (Apr 23, 2018)

here's another picture of those strange big birds, only we have 3, not 4....






someone has to be 'farming' them around here and they broke through the fencing?


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## Kat (Apr 28, 2018)

Helmeted Guinea Fowl


Helmeted guineafowl - Wikipedia

How cool. And strange looking.


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## AZGAL (Aug 11, 2018)

Have a good summer Care4all !


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