The Wild Side

This is what I fell in love with this morning!  This is (was) the birdfeeder that sits about ten feet from my side door.  There's Mama Bear supervising the kids who are feasting on birdseed and a big fat suet cake.  I took the picture from inside the house, then opened the sliding door and stepped onto the porch.  Within seconds, the timid family took off for the trees.

That's Mama and one of the cubs.  The other cub was up another tree, further down the property.  I scolded them for eating the birdseed, and they trundled off behind the house, heads down and tails between their legs.  And this is what they left behind:

So I went outside, Philips head screwdriver in hand, and set about repairing the damage.  One of the suet cakes was gone, but also gone was the wire cage into which I put the suet cake!  I looked all over the ground for it with no success.  Did one of those cubs swallow the wire cage along with the suet cake?  Please say no!

I went back inside to upload my pictures.  Pflunk!  Perhaps confused by the ursine invaders, a little chickadee flew into the patio door.  There she sat next to the welcome mat, feeling anything but welcome.  Clearly, she was stunned, but she turned her head from side to side, so I knew she was conscious.

Isn't she sweet?  Another reason to fall in love!  She seemed stuck in her position, so I picked her up.  She let me hold her for a few minutes, and then she flapped her wings and took off.  She didn't go far.

There she is, on the top log of the porch, right below the ceiling.  She stayed there for several minutes, and then, I am happy to say, she flew away.

Two days ago, I watched two coyote pups wander through the woods on the other side of my property.  It was too icy out for me to get a picture, but trust me, they were pretty darn cute.

And this is where I live:  on the wild side.  Although I could do without the stinkbugs and the bats and the mice who want to share my home with me, I would not trade this wild life for anything.  I love it.