Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Morning Coffee At Steve’s Country #27.
Good morning everyone! The coffee is ready and just the way you like it too! And yes, we have hot chocolate (😺my favorite), and tea as well. It’s another cloudy day here at Steve’s Country, but mild at least, with a temperature of 10F (-12C). We have had a lot of cloudy days this winter and when that happens we get a milder winter, so that’s always nice. But it does tend to keep the birds away from the feeders until the natural food supply starts to get low. It’s been a fairly busy morning at the feeders today which is nice to see. The chickadees were earlier than normal, it was almost completely dark when the first ones showed up. So I had to get their food out quickly. And on the other end, the blue jays were later than normal this morning with Big Blue being the first one, usually it’s Baxter and Betty. The woodpeckers and nuthatches arrived at their normal times. Theodore has missed a couple days now and hasn’t been here yet this morning.
Speaking of deer, the last apartment I lived at had a lot of deer coming around, more than here, and they were more friendly too. Anyway, I had a carport, which was just a roof over a cement pad, which I used for a patio. Whenever it rained, or snowed, the deer would come under the roof and just stand around or lay down on the cement. There would be anywhere from 8 to 12 deer under there at times. Now, my mailbox was also under there and the lady delivering the mail wouldn’t do so if any deer were there. Fortunately she was very punctual, arriving at the same time each day, so I would wait if the deer were around. One day I spotted her and it was snowing quite a bit so there was 12 deer under that roof, including 4 bucks of different sizes.
Anyway, I went out to get my mail from her and had to walk around all these deer, 6 were laying down, and none of them moved as I went out there. I got my mail from her and she looked at me wide eyed and said, “aren’t you scared?”. I said, “why, is there something wrong with my mail?” “I mean all those deer,” she said. “No, why would I be scared of them?”, I said to her. She just looked at me kind of odd like, then she added, “they could kill you!” “They could if they wanted to, but they don’t want to,” I said. She shook her head and kept on going. It is actually more dangerous when there is several deer like that, it just takes one to panic, or one that wants to start a fight with another one and that gets them all worked up. So it is necessary to watch closely for signs of panic and…never show fear because that will make them panic. I would also say, don’t try that, especially if you are not used to being around wild animals. Deer are beautiful animals, but they can also be very dangerous. I hope you all have a most beautiful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
Morning Coffee At Steve’s Country #26.
Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a most wonderful Christmas day! The coffee is ready, just help yourself and relax with us again this morning. It’s milder this morning with a temp of 12F (-11C), plus it’s cloudy with those lazy kind of snowflakes slowly falling and twirling through the air until they gently land. There’s not enough snow to be a problem, but it is that kind of snow that looks pretty and peaceful. The birds are busily eating and chirping out there this morning. There was just a few each of the pine and evening grosbeaks this morning and they have actually been here for about an hour now. There are nervous birds though, especially the evening grosbeaks and fly off for no reason at all it seems. If the pine grosbeaks are here by themselves, then they will just sit and eat.
There are about 15 chickadees today, same as yesterday afternoon, which is the highest number yet. I haven’t seen Jasper around this morning, or any other squirrel. Both the hairy and the downy woodpeckers have been here for their breakfast. I put out some fresh suet this morning as the suet cages were nearly empty. I haven’t seen the nuthatches yet today and that’s kind of odd, they usually show up quite early. Theodore hasn’t been here either, but then, he’s never too regular anyway. Mama, one of my deer friends, was here yesterday and came running up to me right away to say hi. She likes to be rubbed on her nose, well, not really her nose, I guess it’s more like her upper jaw. Okay, rub, rub.
Now, I tell her, I need to get past, she’s blocking my walkway. She looks at me. I try again, she just turns her head to the side a bit. Now, how does one move a 250 pound animal out of the way? Friendly as they can be, they are still a wild animal, and can be dangerous. Something that always needs to be remembered. But it’s also necessary to never show fear, because that makes them nervous, and even more dangerous. With one kick of her front leg she can knock a 180 pound man off his feet, and then trample him to death. It has happened. So I’m always careful with these critters. So I just start walking and she kindly moves out of the way so I can walk past. Thank you I tell her. I hope you all have a beautiful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
