The First Days of May

Our first full week of May passed much too quickly. Helping that along was the soaring mercury that told us we had the highest temps of the calendar year so far.  From the inside, the lovely Ms. Yellow enjoyed the warmth of the evening sun as she closely watched the Eastern Phoebe that has built its nest above the front window.

A quick peak inside the nest yesterday showed that there are 4 Phoebe eggs, and another egg which belongs to a cowbird. (A cowbird lays its eggs in nests of other birds.Unfortunately they hatch first, grow large very quickly which allows them to command the most food which usually results in the loss of the other hatchlings in the nest.) I couldn't decide if I should remove the egg or not, so I called our wildlife center and asked them. Cowbirds are native to the US and are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and it is unlawful to remove their eggs from a nest.  Finding that out didn't change my mind about the fate of the cowbird's egg. What would you do?    

The dogs are much too busy to concern themselves with trivial things like the Phoebe and its eggs. With the warm days and evenings, we've been outside more. One evening when we were out, the dogs were exploring the yard and I heard Josh bark in a high pitched tone, and CarrieAnne joined in.  They had wandered a little too far down the driveway and from where I was standing, I could see that Carrie's ears were forward as she pointed to the ground with cheerful excitement. Before I even got to where they were, I knew what they were looking at, and I was right, because this is what was there.

I will just confess, that I am very phobic about snakes. When I see them, I just scream and run, and that was what I did. I frantically called the dogs to come with me, which confused them a little because they couldn't figure out what was wrong. (Although you'd think by now they'd be used to my moments of near hysteria.) But once we were (safely) inside the house, I did the only thing I could do, I made CARL go take a look at it, and take pictures.  From what I briefly saw of the snake, I thought that the dogs may have somehow managed to kill or injure it.  Thankfully they hadn't, it was only 'playing dead' which is what the (non-poisonous) hog-nose snake does when they feel threatened. I am just glad it wasn't like the turtle last week, and didn't need to be rescued.

~The snake-finders, Josh and CarrieAnne~

Speaking of 'being rescued' I was more than a little surprised this week when after 10 months, the rescue I volunteer for asked me if we had room for a new senior dog. Her name is Cricket, and she's 16 years old.  Her owner recently passed away, and she has nowhere to go.  I am picking her up this afternoon, and will introduce you to her in my next post.  Enjoy your Saturday!!

~Shadow~