Deer in the garden

We had a nice deer moment this afternoon when the doe and her two fawns came and nibbled on the acorns from the oak at the pond's edge. She was wary as usual but she loosened up after a bit, and I managed to get some nice shots:

The doe on high alert

The two fawns bounced across the lawn after drinking from the pond.

One of the fawns tells mum 'It's okay, don't worry Mum - these acorns are yummy'.... Yeah, I may need to get out a bit more.

Family meal

The two fawns arguing as per usual.

The doe's final pose.

The cats were happy to watch the deer - although I'm not sure Smokey (the grey) was watching, he just likes to join in with everything.

Animal Antics

The change in seasons seems to have the animals in the area acting up, though none more so than our own cats, the more adventurous of which, Silka, escaped and spent 30 hours outside. Considering she's a house cat from Hong Kong, I'd guess it was an enlightening experience, although judging from where we found her, I'm not sure she had as good a time as she thought she might. My father in law Nik, Vanessa and I tracked her down to a 50 foot pine tree in the woods nearby, chainsawed it down- 

...she was at the very top-then chased her through the woods for another 30 minutes or so until she was completely exhausted. I managed to get close enough to throw a blanket over her and take her back to our warm house.

The 50 foot pine - Silka's home for the night.

She settled back in very quickly- after gobbling up food, she slept for most of the next day.

Smokey didn't seem that bothered by it all.

We've also had a couple of goose squadrons buzz our house in the morning

And last night we had a opossum come right up to the patio doors and try to get in. The cats were suprised to say the least. 

Smokey freaked out - his tail gets all bushy when he's stressed.

 The opossum returned later that night when we were in bed, it seemed determined to get one way or another.

Deer shots

Saw the doe and her two fawns that roam the area this evening, grazing at the back of our pond. She spotted me and didn't like it that I'd got some photos of her when she was looking, so she took her two young 'uns back into the woods.

One of the fawns

Spotted by the doe.

...back into the woods the three go.

More wildlife

Well,  the deer must have read my last blog post because they showed up this evening, hopefully because I built a little make-shift deer feeder and sprinkled some corn around it.

Typically, the deer spotted me just as took the first photo. The deer feeder is the bucket on the stand to the right.

The two had a bit of a conference.

Then decided to head off into the woods.

There were also a lot of large birds of prey out today.

I though this was quite an interesting shot.

The cats are enjoying the house, spending most of their time dealing with the dilemma of lying in the sun or sprawling on the wooden floor in the shade when they get too hot.

 

Yesterday was also the first time we experienced cold weather while in the house. It went down to 39F/4C outside but stayed around 68F/20C inside. The house really benefits from passive solar gain, with the living room especially warming up nicely with the sunrise and throughout the day. We still haven't had the heating system on which has saved us a bit of money electricity-wise.

Cold morning: Any excuse to wear my bathrobe.

Wildlife at home

 Here's a selection of images of life in the garden...

Our driveway leading out to the main road.

Interesting salamander that crawled onto our porch at night. Note the spider tight next to her.

Sally.

Bluejay mid-flight

So you're thinking, 'Oh thats a nice little spider'...but then you get  a closer look (below)

Yes, those are hundreds of baby spiders on its back'. Note the freaky green eyes.

This green anole (lizard) spends most of his time hanging out on my storage shed. 

The deer seem to like these little berries. 

This is a Great Blue Heron poaching my fish. 

 

The grass carp have grown big and now spend most of their time swimming in pods and hanging out under the shade trees.

The cats are enjoying watching the outside world too.

It was only a matter of time before Silka (the climber of the two) made it on to the trusses.

She hadn't had as much fun in ever and was pretty grouchy when we cut off her access (a well placed cardboard box did the trick).

We've also seen alot of deer in the garden but never seem to have the camera handy. Will keep on trying to get some snaps.

Table time

Now that we've moved into the house, we are really starting to enjoy it. Waking up when the sun rises (no choice there as we have no curtains/blinds yet:), watching wildlife from the sofa and eating from the kitchen are really simple pleasures. After using one of the unpacked shipping boxes as a table for 3 nights, I decided to try out my newly-honed handiwork on building a us something to eat on. Luckily google showed me the way to Design Confidential . I managed to return some leftover tile and tile adhesive and got the lumber from Home Depot with the cashback ($60). I put it together on Sunday and we ate our first meal on it this evening. It measures 96" L x 46" W x 29 1/2" H. Photos below:

Our super-kind and helpful neighbour, Larry, lent us some chairs so we could use it. It worked well as we had HK-style fried rice. Yum!