Captain Enrique “Squirrel” Monastario has been waging war on the Patch, throwing discarded nut shells on me and my metal roof…I guess the pecans are finally edible. There have been many heated squirrel disputes of late over who has the chomping rights to these two nut-laden trees, sometimes forcing one of them out of the tree and very close to the sharp blades of …
Zorro’s feet, lying in wait at the base of my giant timber bamboo.
I have a rather ill-conceived and ridiculous theory that all the nuts that were buried by the squirrels last fall actually vaporized underground during this summers intense heat, making food for the squirrels very scarce. I have never seen such an intense pecan feeding frenzy:
I sweep this mess up every few days and if it continues,
IF IT CONTINUES…
“Relax amigo, I will will take care of this or my name is not Don Diego”
This is where Zorro takes refuge when his partner Kumo, plays a little too rough.
I have a suspicion that this magnificent Red-shouldered Hawk (thanks for the ID Mikael), who has been showing up recently on the top of some adjacent pecan trees also has his keen eyes on these squabbling squirrels, either that or my goldfish. Here is a rather interestingly disgusting fact…by the time they are five days old, nestling Red-shouldered Hawks can shoot their feces over the edge of their nest, no they really can. Bird poop on the ground is a sign of an active nest.
Hmm, I wonder…
“How very dare you”.
” Shhh, snicker, I mean cooo, coo”.
Moving disconcertingly along:
I found this moth on my deck and it looked exactly like an old leaf. You have to get up really close to it before you can see it is actually a
Amorpha Juglandis
Rather strange that the caterpillars of these amazing creatures make squeaking sounds when disturbed.
Caterpillar Photograph: Seana Saxon
Even though we are once again in triple digits we must be finally entering fall as the grasses are starting to put on their annual display.
Red / purple fountain grass is one of my favorites.
Pampas is also pushing out plumes this week,
and this blooming Texas sage (aka the barometer plant) must surely be confused…a change of weather or temperature in central Texas?
I think not.
Honey bees were going berserk on it.
Talking of bees this baby bee caused a wee bit of drama the other day when my youngest halfling stood on it and got stung.
It took us a while to find it, it was so tiny. Poor little guys.
This week in the Patch…
A replacement stock tank goes in,
and order and leaks are now restored and watertight once again.
This sunflower was pecked to death and stripped of all its seeds in a single day.
I was hoping to save at least a few for next year.
Stay Tuned for:
“The Haunted Garden”
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“Hey Dad, I can see all your dead plants from up here”.
what an annoying nut mess!
Pretty sure your goldfish are safe from the hawk. Worry about an egret or a heron. LOL
Purple fountain grass IS pretty but it takes SO long for it to get started! Every year I think its dead for about 6 months but then it starts to show signs of life. Looking good right now. I LOVE pennisetum though! My water hibiscus is finally developing buds! It needs to be moved to a sunnier locale.
Hope you get some cooling and fire-putting-outing rain soon.