Tuesday, July 26, 2005, 16:55
Hummin' Along
My word for hummingbirds. This morning I watched a dozen of them, coming to the little flower feeders and hovering around the few morning glory flowers and zooming over to the feeder hanging in front of the kitchen window. It started raining last night at 6 p.m. and rained until 9 p.m., with a torrential downpour in between. All together, 1.75 inches of rain fell, and now, at noon on Tuesday, the temperature is only at 70 degrees. I think the hummingbirds are enjoying the cooler weather today, too!
We are coming to the time of year when the hummingbirds are eating as much as they can to get ready for their long migration to South America in September. When the hummingbirds start eating as much as they can, they also start getting grumpy with one another, chattering and scolding and chasing each other, wanting to be the first one to the feeder, and not just the first one, it seems to me, but the *only* one.
It is at this time of year, too, that I take down the hummingbird feeder at night, when the hummingbirds are asleep, because it is safer that way. Not only are the hummingbirds grumpy with each other, but they also are grumpy with me -- or with anything or anyone else who stands between them and their food.
The other day when I came up from the barn, I noticed my orange tabby tom, Gilligan, all comfy-cozy beneath the overhanging morning glory vines.
"Hi Gilligan," I said. "Aren't you cute."
I went into the house to get a rawhide chew toy for Charlie and came back out just in time to see Gilligan very nearly catch a hummingbird. The flower feeders are right by the morning glories.
"Ah, ha," I said. "So *that's* why you're hiding in the morning glories."
I pulled the live trap around (which the raccoon is not going into, anyway, even though Randy sets it every night) to block Gilligan's easy line of access to the flower feeders. Gilligan could still watch the hummingbirds, but it was much more difficult for him to jump out at them with the live trap right there.
I can't hardly believe that in another six weeks or so, the hummingbirds will be gone and summer will be coming to a close. Where does the time go?
LeAnn R. Ralph
Tuesday, July 26, 2005, 06:02
And So It Goes
My brother and sister-in-law came home from their two-week vacation on Friday. Even though I enjoyed the bike rides to the farm in the morning with our Springer Spaniel, Charlie, I'm glad we don't have to do it now that it's been so hot and humid. Actually, it was hot and humid the whole time they were gone, but somehow, Charlie and I made it through just fine. Taking care of Baby Sophie adds an hour to my morning chores, so once it cools off and once Sophie starts eating on her own, then maybe Charlie and I can go for bike rides again first thing in the morning.
My brother and sister-in-law enjoyed their vacation. They drove to southern Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, the Dakotas and back home through Minnesota. Along the way they visited a tractor factory, a tractor museum, the Corn Palace, the Spam museum (!), a replica of a Norwegian stave church, and Mount Rushmore, just to name a few of their adventures.
Sophie seems to be getting along well. She had a big day on Saturday. Her eyes developed pupils! Before this, her little kitten-eyes were small, deep, dark pools. On Saturday, the pupils developed, and now she has cat-eyes. She can see pretty well, too, I think, because Sunday afternoon, Randy came over to tickle her belly while she was sitting on my lap, and when she saw this huge, giant thing looming over her, she ducked and tried to get away -- until she realized it was Randy and that everything was fine. Then, while he tickled her little belly, she patted his hand with her paws and tried to bite his finger, in just the way she would if she were playing with a kitten brother or sister.
I have moved Sophie out of the little box I had her in at first, with a heating pad under her, and have her put her into a Rubbermaid storage container large enough to hold a kitty litter jug filled with hot water. I have lined the bottom of the box with towels and socks and tee-shirts, and she has Mr. Effelant in there with her, too. I put a towel over the edge of the box so I can set the cover on top to keep it dark, but not so it goes down tight so she can't get fresh air. Sophie snuggles up to the "hot water bottle" and Mr. Effelant and goes sound asleep. I'm hoping it's not *too* warm in there for her, but she seems to be enjoying it. Perhaps this evening I will try putting the heating pad in the box, instead, just to see if she acts any differently (for better or for worse).
I must say, Sophie keeps me as busy as a cat with kittens.
Wait a minute. I *am* a "momma cat" with a kitten.
LeAnn R. Ralph