The Hummer Thread Vol.2!!!

[Sari ONeal]

Thijs - yes, they're very secretive, and you're lucky to ever get a glimpse of one. I've seen them twice in 15 years; first time a mama and her baby were crossing the road about two miles from here as we happened upon them. The 2nd time one was sitting under the tree in the yard one morning, watching my chickens. Bob the pup was maybe 7 months old or so, and the bobcat was really close to the same size as her. After that I bought my first trail camera, I just wanted to see more of them

The bobcats here are much smaller than Lynxes in Europe, but they're still pretty, and awesome!

The bobcats won't mess with the dogs; they could theoretically get cats, but ours are all in for the nights, so that happening, especially with the dogs being around, is very unlikely. Now for chickens - I love my chickens, but if a bobcat needs a meal, they can come get some chickens. The coyotes and snakes and everything else is snacking on them anyway, so why not bobcats, too. I'm infringing on their habitat, the least I can do is have a snack handy when in need!

 

 

Speaking of videos - here's the latest compilation - this time it's almost all coyotes...

 

 

And SNOW...... !!!!!!!!!!

 

 

[Sheila Fitzgerald]

Wendy, yes. I do have one on the front door too (my husband is totally against having a screen door) but most of them are on the upstairs bedroom doors so the cats can be in there but the dog can't bug them. Apparently there was an altercation between Jasmine and Sebastian last night where Jasmine charged the gate and actually knocked it off and attacked the dog. The dog is giving her just a tad more space the few hours afterwards but then decided to take it out on Ariel and chase her downstairs a few hours later. Always drama with the animals  

 

Sari, that definitely looks like a younger bobcat. Probably one of their kits that's almost adult now I'd say. Maybe that means you'll have a larger population over time and be more likely to see them. There are a family of bobcats that live near the marsh in So Cal where we used to live and they were seen fairly frequently during the day. Maybe because it's a higher density population area so they're more used to people? Always love your wildlife videos

[Sari ONeal]

Sheila I've been thinking the big one is a male, as once as he passed by the camera you could see his balls - but you never know, there could be a female around, too, and it's quite possible I can't tell them apart if they're similarly colored. I'm not a bobkitty expert no matter how much I'd like to be one

And yeah, the wildlife here is truly wild, none of the semi-tame stuff that a lot of animals living in higher populated areas are exhibiting.

[Sheila Fitzgerald]

That's possible too. The females do tend to be smaller than the males. Several of your coyotes seem to be injured. Seems to be mainly the females based on how the squat to pee. one with the front paw injured and one with the rear paw. Is someone trying to trap them that they get injured by the traps maybe?

[Sari ONeal]

Yeah, I had that female show up dragging a trap with chains on it in late January on one of the cameras. I didn't include it in the January compilation as I thought it was pretty brutal. Then a few days later (first days of February) she showed back up, but with part of her paw missing, I think she chewed it off. Most of the time when she shows up in one of the cameras, she has at least one coyote with her, so it appears the pack mates are protecting her. Sometimes they're not on the same clip (night time time limit for a clip is 20 secs), but consecutive ones a minute apart.

So yeah, I feel really sorry for her, but she seems to be doing OK so far.

I don't know who is doing the trapping, she seemed to come from north with the trap, but there's no way to know which way she traveled before that. Could be any of the neighbors, including the one that tosses the unwanted taxidermy parts out in the field.

It's a brutal way to catch animals, as you don't even know what is going to end up in the trap, anything could walk into one.

Not sure what happened to the one with a bad hind foot, could have been trapped as well, or hit by something - shot at, hit by a car, who knows, as you can't get a good view of the foot.

[Charles Lewis]

2 hours ago, Thijs de Graaf said:

Wow.. I read that they (Lynx rufus) are indeed very shy. A beautiful beast!1
The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) lives along the border of the Netherlands. But not with us. You never know ... the wolf is back in the Netherlands, but now the sheep farmers are grumbling. 🙂 

Aren't you afraid they'll hunt your pets?

I live in Northern Arizona with lots of wildlife. We have Cougars (Mountain Lions), Coyotes, Bobcat, Bear, Javelina and much more. 

The coyotes are the ones that will take your pets which is why you don't let them out on their own. A bobcat will kill domestic cats but not for food. They probably see them as competition. The cougars go after bigger game such as deer. 

A big dog can usually hold his own against a single coyote. But if there are several then it's in trouble.

 I took this through my dining room window

 

 

[Thijs de Graaf]

Magnificent. I once saw a fox in our yard. I already thought that was an experience.

[Wendy Townrow]

3 hours ago, Thijs de Graaf said:

Magnificent. I once saw a fox in our yard. I already thought that was an experience.

Seeing any wildlife in your local area is always an experience

Love the bobcats ... none here.

[Thijs de Graaf]

6 hours ago, Wendy Townrow said:

Seeing any wildlife in your local area is always an experience

Love the bobcats ... none here.

Yes you're right about that.
My best experience in Australia was a big  Goanna under our camper at the campsite. 🙂

 

[Wendy Townrow]

3 hours ago, Thijs de Graaf said:

Yes you're right about that.
My best experience in Australia was a big  Goanna under our camper at the campsite. 🙂

 

I nearly got jumped on by a small goanna here, it slid off the roof and landed just in front of me. I am glad it did not land on me, they have very sharp claws!

One of my locals

 

[Thijs de Graaf]

4 hours ago, Wendy Townrow said:

I nearly got jumped on by a small goanna here, it slid off the roof and landed just in front of me. I am glad it did not land on me, they have very sharp claws!

One of my locals

 

I can imagine that you are shocked. I've seen the claws. Mine was a long way from your home at Coffs Harbor.
In your neighborhood near the Crystal Cascades Holiday Park we saw a  Boyd Forest Dragon in the forest. Much smaller, but very nice.

[Wendy Townrow]

12 hours ago, Thijs de Graaf said:

I can imagine that you are shocked. I've seen the claws. Mine was a long way from your home at Coffs Harbor.
In your neighborhood near the Crystal Cascades Holiday Park we saw a  Boyd Forest Dragon in the forest. Much smaller, but very nice.

I have seen the Boyd Forest Dragon here, they are super cute. I have yet to spot one when I have my camera on me. One was posing right near me but when I moved it was off like a shot.

The goannas can be found around most of Australia.  Different ones but come under the same umbrella name.  Some of them can be huge. You can realise when you see one that is about 2 metres long (6 foot) why some tourists thought they had seen a crocodile.

[Sheila Fitzgerald]

Yeah, something that big, I'd think it was a croc too! LOL. Not sure I want to run into one that large. Of course, we get cougars round here so that's probably worse. Not on the island but in the hills in the surrounding areas.

[Wendy Townrow]

9 hours ago, Sheila Fitzgerald said:

Yeah, something that big, I'd think it was a croc too! LOL. Not sure I want to run into one that large. Of course, we get cougars round here so that's probably worse. Not on the island but in the hills in the surrounding areas.

lol Sheila, the goanna's are more likely to run up a tree to get away from you, than attack! I dont think a cougar is that timid, is it?

[Charles Lewis]

3 hours ago, Wendy Townrow said:

lol Sheila, the goanna's are more likely to run up a tree to get away from you, than attack! I dont think a cougar is that timid, is it?

A cougar is an ambush hunter so if one did attack, chances are you wouldn't see it coming. We know there are cougars around where I live but we never see them. I caught one on a critter cam some years ago and that is it. In fact, cougar attacks on humans are extremely rare. Arizona has only recorded six since 1988 none of which were fatal.

[Sheila Fitzgerald]

Yeah, as Charles says, they usually ambush hikers and people running on nature trails. There have been incidents where a cougar was aggressive but the hikers got away by staying tall and loud and moving away backwards. NEVER turn your back on a cougar and NEVER run. They tend to not be near people but we've encroached on most of their habitat and we've cut them off with our freeways, highways and other roads from the roaming nature they normally do. The people working on the roads, etc are supposed to be putting in underpasses for the wildlife to help with some of that. For both the apex hunters and the prey because if they can't find food, of course they're going to come in closer to homes.

[Sheila Fitzgerald]

Quiet round here lately. I hope everyone is doing well. Despite crappy sales. This month is much worse in that regard than last month was. I did make three video sales on P5 in the last week though. That was nice to see.

 

And I got my first vaccine shot today. So far, no big deal. No pain no soreness at the site. Traffic was crap though since they only have one Kaiser facility in the area doing vaccines. Hit a hail storm on the way there too. Not typical bay area weather I'd guess.

[Wendy Townrow]

sales are about the same as they have been ... hardly seems worth uploading these days .... well done on the vid sales

Good to hear that you have had no after effects from the vax. It seems to be a case of everyone have different reactions to it.

[Sari ONeal]

Yeah the sales are crappy. Highest one here this month so far was under $4.

We've been having high winds for a couple of days and nights, and next thing in line is thunderstorms - chances between 30 and 70% between now and Sunday night, every day, every night, including chance of severe storms  - that's March for sure around here.

Otherwise I'm just looking for any signs of spring. Sure it's warm enough - it was 75F today - but the deep freeze we had has clearly delayed everything. Normally I'm taking pics of peach blooms in the early days of March, but now even my apricot that always blooms before anything else, is not showing any signs of blooming. My passion vines and roses were alive and well before the freeze started, but they literally froze - if you touch the passion vine leaves now they just fall apart. Chances are they didn't survive, and it could be my roses didn't, either. Time will tell, and nothing is promising right now. Of course, after we get the storms and rain with them, it will change things, but how much - we'll see.

I just saw in the news today that beekeepers are having to rebuild their hives and bee populations after the deep freeze killed majority of the bees. It's just sad I'm sure the ones out in their natural hives didn't fare any better.

The covid threat may be gradually lifting, but it seems like everything else is getting worse. Or much worse.  😐

[Thijs de Graaf]

5 hours ago, Sari ONeal said:

Yeah the sales are crappy. Highest one here this month so far was under $4.

We've been having high winds for a couple of days and nights, and next thing in line is thunderstorms - chances between 30 and 70% between now and Sunday night, every day, every night, including chance of severe storms  - that's March for sure around here.

Otherwise I'm just looking for any signs of spring. Sure it's warm enough - it was 75F today - but the deep freeze we had has clearly delayed everything. Normally I'm taking pics of peach blooms in the early days of March, but now even my apricot that always blooms before anything else, is not showing any signs of blooming. My passion vines and roses were alive and well before the freeze started, but they literally froze - if you touch the passion vine leaves now they just fall apart. Chances are they didn't survive, and it could be my roses didn't, either. Time will tell, and nothing is promising right now. Of course, after we get the storms and rain with them, it will change things, but how much - we'll see.

I just saw in the news today that beekeepers are having to rebuild their hives and bee populations after the deep freeze killed majority of the bees. It's just sad I'm sure the ones out in their natural hives didn't fare any better.

The covid threat may be gradually lifting, but it seems like everything else is getting worse. Or much worse.  😐

There is also a storm on the Dutch coast. Wind force 7, later wind force 8.
But I see the sun for the first time this week. It will disappear when I read the weather report. 

We should be vaccinated next month. But I dare not say for sure.

Addition: Except storm also rain. Indeed, the sun has completely disappeared after half an hour.

[Studio 2]

Winds have been 50mph here overnight. Sunny though with heavy rain expected this afternoon.  Typical English weather.

I saw something really funny this morning.  A squirrel was carrying toilet paper up the oak tree to put in its dray.  I got a photo of the loo roll with some hanging from the tree but sadly not of the naughty squirrel.

[Thijs de Graaf]

15 minutes ago, Studio 2 said:

Winds have been 50mph here overnight. Sunny though with heavy rain expected this afternoon.  Typical English weather.

I saw something really funny this morning.  A squirrel was carrying toilet paper up the oak tree to put in its dray.  I got a photo of the loo roll with some hanging from the tree but sadly not of the naughty squirrel.

Yes we always get all that bad weather from England. The North Sea will make it a bit worse. 😁
Nice animals, those squirrels. I once had one in the garden. I never actually see them. I see them more often on campsites. Then they are less shy. In England I have also seen that grey squirrel. I have read that they seem to crowd the brown squirrels.

[Studio 2]

7 minutes ago, Thijs de Graaf said:

Yes we always get all that bad weather from England. The North Sea will make it a bit worse. 😁
Nice animals, those squirrels. I once had one in the garden. I never actually see them. I see them more often on campsites. Then they are less shy. In England I have also seen that grey squirrel. I have read that they seem to crowd the brown squirrels.

Actually I think you are sending the bad weather to us 🙂

I love the grey squirrels but my husband wants to eat them as they eat up all the bird seed.  I've got an image in my portfolio of one of the ones in our garden eating the bird food.  We did buy a couple of squirrel proof feeders which work well.  They have sunflower seed hearts in and only the gold finches visit them.

The red squirrel photos in my port are from a lovely native wildlife centre in Surrey which I went to with my husband on an open day photography trip.  We went in all the areas/cages close up to the animals.  Even got to stroke a fox.

No photos of our local urban foxes on Sstock but earlier in this thread there is one sunning himself on our neighbour's roof.

The grey squirrel is making the red squirrel almost extinct here (as far as I remember, locally, they are just on the Isle of Wight).

The reds do well in Scotland in forests that are more suited to their lifestyle than the greys.

[Jeffrey B. Banke]

Our temps going up nearing 7C and will be higher soon. Sales suck

Got my second Moderna shot yesterday, I have aches and pains every morning so not sure if this mornings are the usual ones or new from the shot? The arm does hurt a little, and that are is elevated in temperature, so I guess my white blood cells are working overtime there 🙂

That red/grey squirrel problem has been around in the UK for donkey's years, I remember when I was a kid living there before the Roman's left we had the problem 🙂

Well at least back in the 1050's

[Studio 2]

32 minutes ago, Jeffrey B. Banke said:

Our temps going up nearing 7C and will be higher soon. Sales suck

Got my second Moderna shot yesterday, I have aches and pains every morning so not sure if this mornings are the usual ones or new from the shot? The arm does hurt a little, and that are is elevated in temperature, so I guess my white blood cells are working overtime there 🙂

That red/grey squirrel problem has been around in the UK for donkey's years, I remember when I was a kid living there before the Roman's left we had the problem 🙂

Well at least back in the 1050's

I had my first Astra Zeneca jab yesterday.  Not feeling brilliant - aching, especially the head, nausea and tiredness.  Still, it's a good alternative to dying.

Where did you live Jeffrey? Are you British?

At least you just missed the invasion of the Normans 🙂