Land /Water Wildlife

Green Heron, I would speculate that this frog has definitely croaked.

 

This time of year, the deer flies are relentless and must drive the white-tails insane.

 

Watchful fox in the garden last night, taken around 9pm just as the light was fading. I've had to stop putting food out because the neighbours' cats were coming in and eating it. No way I'm paying to feed those little blighters!

 

I spotted a young fox yesterday on the old allotment site, it had no fur on the rear part of its body, I'm guessing mange.
Not seen it again, we do have a fairly local fox sanctuary who I have contacted before who trap them and treat them but this one could be difficult as we have so many around at the moment.

 

Wasp spiders are growing fast.

 

Rosie appears to be free of mange, however, she still looks gaunt.

 

Good to see her @hydrogardener but as you say not looking so good. Perhaps age is catching up with her.

 

True, as it does to all of us. She has led a rough life @Sheal

 

She looks OK to me, fit and probably still agile.

 

She looks in a similar condition to "my" fox, including the white fur on her flanks!

 

I was walking a trail when I saw a rabbit on the side of the trail scratching frantically in the hard, dry earth. I know it saw me but, it paid little attention and continued to frantically scratch at the earth. So, I thought I'd hang around and see what it was up to. When it had made a small pile of very loose earth, it began rolling in the earth from side to side, taking a dust bath. It surely looked to be enjoying itself. I have to wonder if this is inherited behavior, or do they learn these things from other species, as I have seen birds do this. It appears to be a nursing mother.

 

Found a toad in the garage - almost squashed it underfoot as it was on the doormat some 20ft from the garage door, where it must have slipped under. I put it on the patio to start with and examined it. When I held it to relocate it, it gave out two cries. I could see its right eye was swollen and red, and one nostril was bigger than the other, although I could not see any maggots. Poor thing.

I put it in a safe place in the flowerbed, but I don't think it was well as it just stayed put for over half an hour.

 

We call our new fox Venus because, like the evening star, she shows up after sunset. She got into a dispute with a skunk last night over access to the water. The skunk got nipped and Venus got sprayed. Skunk spray can cause damage to a fox's eyes. While skunk spray is primarily known for its strong odor, it also contains chemicals that can irritate or even damage the eyes. In some cases, this can lead to temporary blindness. I hope the fox is alright, she is a beautiful animal. I will be watching her tonight, and, I spread coffee grinds around the water as I read that skunks hate the smell of them.

 

I read that coffee grinds would deter skunks, it does not work. Venus and the skunk had another encounter last night, the fox is fine, the skunk backed off, probably did not want to risk another bite. This morning, a whole new cast of characters showed up. You had better not mess with them, they can be very aggressive also.

 

We took a ride to Vermont on Wednesday and I took historic route 7 south from Manchester to Bennington. On the way, a large dark-colored cat with a tail half as long as its body passed in front of the car, from deep woods to deep woods.
Google says this:
While there have been numerous reported sightings, catamounts (mountain lions/cougars) have been officially declared extinct in Vermont since 2018. The last known catamount in Vermont was killed in 1881. Despite this, some people still report seeing them, but these sightings are often misidentified eastern bobcats or other animals.
I have seen any number of bob cats, what I saw was not a bob cat. It should be interesting to see if others report seeing them in Vermont. We can only hope they are back, there is some interest in reintroducing them, perhaps they have already reintroduced themselves.