Iowa's relative of the Prairie Dog -Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel

Isn't that  a cute little face?

Popping out of the burrow to check on Passersby

                                              

Adaptation for Camouflaging

This morning I caught this individual as it turned it's back on me. Color adaptations for remaining illusive seems to be working here. These little four footed creatures have taken over from one end of the crop ground/pastures to the far ends of the timber.
 
It is hard to believe that they can be so prolific with the predators and raptors that call this area home.

Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel Doe  

This picture was taken September 28th, 2011 along our drive as I went to pick-up the mail. She sat and stared - changing position occasionally. Tiring of my visit she returned to the safety of her burrow.

Statistically they say the little does have one litter of pups a year, in the spring.

My curiosity about how the family units and individuals are titled sent me on a web search.

I found out that the babies are called 'pups, kit or kittens'. The female of the group is called a doe, the males are bucks. Goodness! They sure do have a size difference from Whitetails we usually associate with does and bucks.

With the unseasonably warm temperatures I am wondering if they will start their families soon?

A few years ago I started hearing what I thought was a different bird around the house, only to find that it was their call, a high-pitched trill. I now know what to look for when I hear it...

This collection of ground squirrel mounds is only a small representative of the total picture. I have discovered they like the shorter grass of the lawn along the drive.

Their burrowing has created some slow going when driving in a strip of ground between some  fields. It is wise to drive at a snails pace in case the opening have been covered by taller grass growth...don't want to flatten the tires.

The ground is lacking in moisture and makes digging a very easy task...These are freshly disturbed openings to additional tunnels. New mounds in the spring are the first indications they are waking up for the season.

Our property is also host to the Ground Hog, which I had associated with some of the larger holes. However, my observations revealed a different story.

As strange as it might seem these little Ground Squirrels are related to the Prairie Dog,

I had the opportunity to catch this Prairie Dog sunning in a colony, while my Hubby and I drove through the Black Hills of South Dakota, back in September of 2007. They too had created some problems for farmers and animal grazers at the time of our last visit. It appears maybe now they have gained some acceptable populations.

I am always grateful for October to arrive in this case, because the Ground Squirrels, cute as they might be, disappear for a few months...

Shed Hunting Comes to an End

Yesterday was the last day of shed hunting here at Timber Life.

We found our last antler on Monday, along with the top side of  a canine skull. I may have seen it last year in my rounds, but left it. This year I brought it back to the house to do some research to define which predator species coyote, or fox had found it's rest among the trees.

Coyote Skull - 6 3/4" from back to jaw tip

Back to the final tally for the active shed hunt season: Sadie- 2 - CDGardens - 3, plus 3 in cooperation for a total of eight. I would see something, head in that direction to check it out, and Sadie would run ahead to confirm it with the sniff test.

I have four antlers in good shape and four antlers in various states of gnaw or rub damage. I stated it was the ratio of three good and five damaged on another website, but looking things over again, I need to readjust the number by one.

Now that I have recorded the take Sadie will get to add the damaged ones to her stash of chew sticks for as long as they last.

Plans for antler art = chandelier are coming together with each yearly addition...

Happy St. Patty's Day!

How many years ago was it now that Michael Flatley and Jean Butler were on tour with Riverdance? It never gets old...

I want to share a toe tapping start to St Patty's Daywith you!

Movin' On Down the Line

I am sure you probably have opportunity to watch trains glide through your area...You too might wish that they weren't cutting your path in half.

This was the second time in that week that I had to wait for a train to get through the same crossing. The time of day didn't make a difference. I don't know if they have a schedule that you can set your watch by or not. It was just interesting that the two times I came past that week I got to sit  for a few minutes, and wonder how far they would need to go to reach their closest destination...

Decorah Eagle Cam 2012

                            Decorah Eagle Cam Live Feed

Video streaming by Ustream

The Eagles are setting again...The first egg was laid on January 17th, 2012 and the tentative hatch date is March 25,2012.

Once again The Raptor Research Project is providing the 24/7 coverage for all of us to enjoy Eagle watching - the upbringing of another majestic bird...

Tailgate Art

Yesterday , Hubby and I took off to do some shopping for supplies.

The parking lot was busy with others of like mind, must be the sunshine, and warmth, spurring us all to get started on Spring time projects.

We had loaded our purchase out in the yard, but needed  a couple more things from inside before we left for home.


Passing a brilliantly decorated tailgate on one of the pickups, as we pulled into a parking spot in front of the store,piqued my curiosity. It had pheasants and hunting dogs on 3/4 of the tailgate, and the other 1/4 was painted with a picture of a house.

Rolling down the window on our pickup, I twisted around,pointed the camera in the direction of the tailgate, and took different zoom pictures so I could read the writing.

I LOVE it!

This picture is a beautiful artist's rendering of the Iowa fall landscape  - Pheasant hunting season.

I did some sleuthing ...

What I found for the lindenhouse  and  local attractions... A Lynnville, IA  Bed&Breakfast.

This is what I found for bigsprings at Searboro east of Lynnville on IA Highway 146.

The more I read the more connections I make - Brownells Inc., located at Montezuma, owns  the Big Springs Range to support all aspects of legal gun ownership.  Take a minute and checkout what they are doing  in association with their retail operation.

Ah, for the eye-catching  design on the  tailgate of a pickup  for advertising purposes. Definitely made me look!

Deer VS Car

We keep hearing about cars finding themselves on collision courses with Whitetail Deer on commutes in and around our capitol city, Des Moines.

The rut is over, but for some reason the deer haven't realized they don't need to be in a rush to run across the road in front of the headlights, or for that matter just stand in the middle of the road.

The other night my Hubby arrived home with a new crinkle to his little Geo; his Whitetail collision occurred just roughly 1 1/8th miles from home.

This is his third encounter over a fifteen year period. The first encounter happened during the mid-day, clipped a side mirror off our Honda Accord, the second event took place July 16th, 2008, and left a calling card on the hood,scared the poor deer, most likely to death. It happened after dark in the fog...

The present situation occurred as the sun was setting low. So we weren't able to find the animal in the ditch on our return to the vicinity, darkness covered the scene. I did see some deer standing at a fence line and should have taken that as my cue to where we needed to look.

Morning revealed the location and the state of predation of the unfortunate occurring in less than 12 hours. It makes me wonder who found the deceased first...Coyote,Bobcat, Eagle, Hawk???

Hubby was lucky that the radiator and drive train of the car weren't damaged. He had another hood that fit, but will need to get a headlight shroud, and turn signal cover to get things back to normal.

We are grateful nothing more happened...

Time to Spring Forward!

At 2:00 A.M. Sunday morning, March 11th, we will be finding ourselves with one less hour of sleep. Time to move the clocks up to get us started on longer daylight hours to work and play.

I am certainly getting into the Spring part of it already...

From Morning 'Til Night

The morning started off with a fresh layer of snow on Monday the 5th, and the deer were foraging around the backyard looking for acorns.

Several individuals were caught on camera, but my imagination led me to envision this particular doe thinking,"Shhh, maybe if I hold still she won't see me", as if the wisps of ice laden weeds would add to her incognito mode. Definitely a smile maker as the sun came up for the day.

Deer weren't the only ones looking for food. Squirrels were in the front yard... Squirrels in the backyard,  kept Sadie on alert at the windows. Those little critters have been harvesting acorns off the ground consistently since the drop last Fall. You would think by now with all the acorn eaters in the neighborhood the supply should be exhausted; apparently not. Their tunneling skills has created a symbiotic relationship with some of the birds when it snows - the squirrels loosen the snow for the birds to reach the ground.

After lunch ,walking down the drive to get the mail led to dodging mud, and running water, as the sun heated up the ground.

The return from the mailbox took me to the trail camera ; then a visit to the fence line nearest the neighbor's pond. I was out to catch some migrating birds again.

Standing, watching the birds gave me the chance to watch flocks on the move. A few dropping onto the pond in front of me.

This group of Mallards took off, circled to get into formation, and headed for another pond in the next field.

I stayed around for awhile to watch a bunch of Mallards return over the pond,  they didn't take time to drop down to the surface. It became apparent to me why they were  agitated, and headed away in an extreme hurry towards the Marsh, an Eagle was in close pursuit. From my vantage point I didn't witness any close calls.

This day started around 4:30 A.M for me....heading outside for the first time I watched the moonset;  I tried my skill at catching it before it  totally disappeared below the horizon. No success at that time as it slid swiftly away.

In the evening Sadie wanted to get some time outside as the sun was setting, deer in the field grazing, geese in the air looking for a place to set down; all spurred me to get camera in hand once again.

My attempts to catch the moon led to different settings ,with the best exposure on automatic this time around.

The Canon PS3 IS camera I use has moments when it performs well outside of its capabilities. At those times I can only give God the credit; must be the picture he wanted me to get.

Moonrise at Timber Life 3-05-2012

 So went the day at Timber Life, March 5th, 2012 ....

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