Three's a charm

Three...three what...there is only one little turtle in this picture. Yeah but look closer...see something strange....YEAH...that's right, this little dude is missing his back right leg. Congenital, maybe but not likely. Probably got it bitten off from a bigger turtle, or perhaps a hawk. Good news, it's a back leg so he can just about function normally with just three. I had him for a few weeks, brought to me by someone who saw him crossing the road. Can you believe that someone in a car saw this cool little dude? Anyway, he was release right before the weather started to get cold so he could acclimate and hunker down for the winter. I observed him to check to make sure he was capable of taking care of himself. You should have seen how clever he was at "righting" himself if flipped on his back. That neck of his would turn that head upside down and he would flip himself back over. I sure hope that I see him again some day....nature is amazing in how they can adjust to a missing appendige. They do so much better than we humans. I can't even function if my finger hurts!

Hog in the garden

Everyone knows I LOVE ground hogs. I have had the opportunity to raise a few and have loved EVERY minute. Well, my mother always said...what what you ask for. A few months ago I saw one crossing the road about a mile from my house. I was delighted to know that some were living near me. Frequently on my drive to Blue Ridge I see them along the highway, having holes in the embankments among the kudzu - popping their heads out as if to wave to me as I pass by.

Well...last weekend, I started to clean out the dead squash and harvest my Indian corn on the lower of my two garden terraces. We built them on the frond of the house because the bank was too dangerous and steap for a mower. I planted it this year and the garden flourished with sunflowers, blooming bushes, squash, and lettace. While cleaning out the finished crop, I found three large holes under the support beams that hold up the first retaining wall. I am thinking to myself...wow...those are some big chipmunks. Maybe Gophers??? Can't be snakes...could be turtles. Then, this past weekend, I photographed this character.

OK...so I am slightly freaked after reading the fact that they can excavate close to 20 tons of dirt for their tunnels...which now happens to be under the front of my house and perhaps under the foundation. Sure he's getting ready to winter-over. I wonder if he plans on staying around for the spring?

Beware the black widow spider!

This past weekend, I happened upon this HUGE lady when putting some old wood in the burn barrel. Yes, she startled me, and she was not prepared for me either as she took a defensive posture showing me how scary this dime sized symbol of darkeness can be.

I ran in to get my camera and shot this picture. I pondered what to do with her; keep her in a jar till she died and use her for education (nah - too cruel), leave her alone (nah one of the dogs would step on her), move her to another location (YEA.....take her into the woods to live her life and multiple)! OK...so I felt good about not killing her, and then ran into the house to read about what she meant to me and my life now. SO interesting...from the book of Animal Wise:

Spider
Legends of the spider links them to the past and the future, birth and creation. When the spider crawls into our awareness it is asking us to rebuild the web of our life in accordance with the design the Creator gave us. The spider shows us that the past, the present and the future are all interwoven. It awakens our intuitive creative senses and encourages us to design the fabric of our lives from our souls original intention. If you see a spider in its web, or creating a new one, pay attention. It symbolizes where you are in the weaving of your own destiny. A study of the medicine wheel and the four directions is helpful. (BTW, I found her less than 5 feet from my medicine wheel on my property). Because spiders are actually very delicate they embody the energy of gentleness. Spiders are not usually aggressive unless they are defending their lives. Moving forward in all situations with a gentle strength is a skill that often needs to be learned for those with this totem. In man, the bite of a poisonous spider symbolizes a death, rebirth process. Poison enters the nervous system and the body either transmutes it or falls victim to its venom and dies. The spider signifies the tapestry of life. The web we weave is the reality we experience. Choosing the appropriate path is one of the lessons associated with this medicine.

Anyway...this lady has another mission to accomplish other than helping me awaken to my own reality now.

Possum Posse shirts available NOW

OK...this is the shirt that I designed and got screened for the Wildlife festival in Blue Ridge the weekend of Sept 19th-20th. Please come see us there: www.braea.org. Also, my good friend Lara will be there with her red tail hawk talking from 1-3 at our booth. The shirts will go do fund wildlife education and outreach in the Blue Ridge area.

Birds and the bees

This one is purly for pleasure. These are my sun flowers I grew at my house in the mountains. I could not believe how big they were this weekend. Time to harvest them for the birds for winter.

Deer Diary...

"Dear Diary, today I found a great spot to rest and relax and eat some yummy apples.....what a find. I will keep it to myself. I try really hard to come out when no one is looking but today it did not work. Some person came strolling by with two of those other funny looking four legged things and they stopped and stared. Don't they know how rude that is and how that hurts my feelings".

Yes, here is a deer that took a break one hot July afternoon to eat some apples from a neighbors tree right here in Berkeley Lake. She proceeded to go across the street and lay down in an abandoned house's green lot to take her afternoon nap. It's not unusual to see wildlife out during the day when the weather is hot. They are doing what they need to do to survive (get some form of food, hydration). Unfortunately she's also not so street smart and that is the demise for quite a few deer that dwell among us in suburbia. This one took of as soon as she had her fill. Funny thing was I walked by her with Dudley (my Great Pyr) and she did not even move...so she still knows how to "strike the pose"

Good citizen to the rescue

I got a cooter in my car. WHAT I say to the caller? She says again, a giant cooter that was hit, I picked her up, she's in my car, are you the turtle vet? Hold on I say....you have a injured turtle? Yes...someone told me to bring it to you. Can I come now? Yes I say. Not knowing what the hell I was getting, this is what showed up....a slider! Look at this magnificant baby (well this is most likely a mid to elder, based on his size). He had a few scuff on the bottom, and was way ready to be released back to the wild. Since he was picked up on a very busy highway, I released him back to the creek which adjoins the lake near where I live. Happy again to be away from the concrete jungle