8-23-12 – Crooked Acres Thursday

Posted on by Robyn

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Sights from around Crooked Acres.

I was sitting at my desk the other day, and something flying through the yard caught my eye. I looked up and found that it wasn’t actually a bird. It was a bat. In the middle of the day. It landed on the pecan tree in the side yard and huddled there. I snapped a few pictures, but actually had to go outside to get a decent shot.


When he looked at me, I decided to stop snapping pictures and get my butt back inside. Then I called all the cats in and shut the door.


I did some looking around on Google and found that bats in daytime aren’t necessarily dangerous, but if they “look” ill or are foaming at the mouth, to… I don’t remember what it said. Call someone, maybe? Stay away from it? I don’t know if this one was ill (Google says only 2% of bats have rabies, FYI), but it swooped back and forth over my car for a few minutes, and then disappeared. I thought maybe it was a young bat who was lost, but who knows?

PS: I think bats are adorable, but I wouldn’t try to pet one or anything. Maybe a tiny kiss between the  ears, but that’s IT. Stop trying to charm me with your cute fuzzy looks, bats.


Toasty the rooster, keeping an eye on his wimminfolk.


“WHERE OUR COOKIES?”


Fred finally got tired of the ducks standing in, and gunking up, the water dishes that are meant for the chickens to drink out of, so he put chicken wire across the top of the dishes. The chicken water stays clean (they have no problems getting to it), the ducks can’t stand in the water, and they’re spending more time on the pond. I call that a success!


I think this is a dragonfly. It’s shaped right, anyway.


It’s certainly a pretty color.


Chicken butt.


The young chickens like to nest in the dead grass by the pig fence. I’m making this one nervous by looking at her.


I love her pretty markings.


Someone’s enjoying her rawhide bone an awful lot.


::thlurrp::


Happy pups.


The Muscadines are super-duper happy right now.


The jalapenos, too.


One of the pumpkins that was growing in the wild area of the garden – once Fred harvested the corn, we let this section of the garden get pretty wild. Several pumpkins and watermelon grew, and this past weekend Fred picked them and then tilled the garden. Not much growing in the garden right now except for tomatoes, okra, peppers, and…. I think that’s it, actually.


We’ve pretty much hit the part of summer where we’re tired of this whole garden thing. Happens every year – in February we cannot WAIT ’til it’s time to plant, in May we cannot WAIT until we can harvest veggies, and in mid-August we cannot WAIT to be done with this garden nonsense.


These are Hickory Tussock Caterpillars (or Lophocampa caryae, if you prefer their fancypants name). They aren’t poisonous, but if you touch them, they’ll cause a rash. Not that I know this from personal experience, you understand.


There were a lot of them.

I should have called this the creepy-crawly episode of Crooked Acres Thursday!

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It totally looks like that giant Croc slipper/ bed is a boat, Polly’s the captain, and Percy’s the deckhand. Cap’n Polly at the helm! Anchors aweigh, y’all!


Tony Rocky Horror Pickle thinks that this here is a pretty neat little basket. He approves of the fact that I spent $1 on it at Target.


“Hey! That MY basket! You give it back!”
“You stepped out. It’s MINE now.”
“I’m gonna tell on you!”


“YOU STEPPED AWAY FROM THE BASKET. What are you going to do, CRY about it?”


“POLLY, HE IN MY BASKET.”
“Give him his basket back, Percy. It’s his.”
“NO. He left the basket, by the rules of the universe it’s MINE.”
“You get out of that basket OR ELSE.”


“Am I going to have to smack you? You KNOW I’m the Princess Sheriff of this room! What I say goes, and if you think I won’t arrest you for being mouthy to the law and usurping Picklepants’s basket, YOU KNOW NOTHING.”
“He’s just a big baby. I don’t know why I can’t use the basket, too. ::pout::”
(Please note the way Tony Rocky Horror Pickle is paying close attention to this conversation with his front paws braced on the edge of the Croc boatshoe. Cracks me UP.)


“Is MY basket. So there.”


Tony Rocky Horror Pickle began training.


He trained diligently.


He trained and trained and trained some more.


Once he figured out exactly what it felt like to BE in a box, the real training was going to start. And Tony Rocky Horror Pickle was going to be the BEST mime the world had ever seen!

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The Weeds are doing well. Dandelion is a bit leery of me because I’m sure she feels like every time she sees me, I’m putting stuff in her eyes or her ears or trying to clean the food off her face. On the other hand, it’s even worse for Thistle, and she still runs right over to climb in my lap.


“This my slappin’ paw.”


“I likes to keep it clean.”


Dandelion’s favorite place to sleep. Usually when I walk in, she’s curled up with one of the other girls.


Fight! Fight!


They sure are fierce little things.


She has a box.


Ugh, those ears are a mess. (Picture taken before I cleaned them.)


Dandelion picking a fight with Purslane, who’s all “What the-?”


I love the white scattered among Thistle’s black fur.

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Crooked Acres Cover Girls week continues!


Sheriff Mama is such a pretty girl.


But she has NO use for those ridiculous boys.

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Previously
2011: “Wush up, guysh?”
2010: I guess that toy knows who the boss is now!
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.

Comments

41 thoughts on “8-23-12 – Crooked Acres Thursday”

  1. I do believe your dragonfly is really a damselfly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damselfly
    The skit with TRHP and the basket made me LOL.
    Those wee ones are so little and precious!
    Sherrif mama – now she has presence!!!

    I love bats too! Ok, here is my bat story. It was twilight and I was outside in my yard. A helicopter flew over and something fell to the ground in my neighbor’s yard. I went over to investigate (they were outside also) with a flashlight. It was a tiny bat – looked just like yours. We (stupid us) thought that perhaps the electronic on the helicopter messed with the little guy’s radar or such and it took him down. Another neighbor came over and said that he would get him in a box and rehab him. Just as he was going to put the bat in the box, the bat looked up at us, showed us his tiny teeth as he chattered and unfurled one wing. Wrapped up in his wing was a she bat. We realized that we were peeping toms and were certainly interupting!!! The little guy really just needed some privacy and a cigarette!!! Whoops!!!!!

  3. Tuition thinks that Tony rocky horror pickle should be his friend. He looks to be smaller than him and Tyron wants some one to pick on I mean mentor

  4. When I grew up our babysitter told us that dragonflies were called sewing needles..and they would sew up your lips if you talked too much. I still chuckle when I see them because I think I told younger kids the same thing..silly.

    I also am a bat lover, just fascinated by them. We have been to the Bronx Zoo many times and they had a very cool bat exhibition “the bat house”. Was very dark building and built with natural wooded enclosures, behind glass. Had a very dim lighting so you could just watch them living life in the dark. Was sad that they closed this exhibit.

    So glad to see Tony P thriving 🙂

  5. Bats are cool and cute and not creepy!

    Thistle looks like Logie!

    Keep up with your training, Tony Rockstar!

  6. Can’t stand bats. We’ve had two in our house. One flew around the dining room about 11 p.m., and we had to call a criter catcher to get it out. The second one was dozing on the living room curtains. Hubby was able to get that one out. Yuck. I love Purslane. So looking forward to watching her grow and prepare for her forever family!

  7. I love bats! I’m a teacher and was a chaperone for a community service trip to Costa Rica a few years back. We stayed with low-income families in an agricultural community and most of our sleeping areas were exposed in some way to the outdoors — mine had a curtain for a door that opened onto a patio with a view down into a lush valley. Gorgeous. Anyway, I noticed one day that a tiny bat (un murciélago — one of my fave Spanish words) was hanging from a rafter in the room. I pointed it out to my host and told him, as best I could in my very poor Spanish, that I was not scared and I liked him. He took me over to a poster on his wall showing the bats of the country (and there are a lot there, over 100 species. They make up half the number of mammal species in the country) and eventually was able to communicate to me that I was right not to be scared because this particular species eats fruit, not blood, and that the bat would leave in the evening when I wanted to sleep.

    The enormous cockroach I found in my room the next day was rather less welcome. My host got rid of that in a rather violent way.

    He was a total pushover with animals for the most part, though, even adopting a baby anteater (ADORABLE) whose mother had been hit by a car. He would hold her on his lap and feed her milk. He even built a little shelter for her with a tin roof and a pillow for a bed.

    Ok, enough reminiscing! I love TRHP’s little white claws in these photos. He looks so fierce!

    1. I was thinking the same thing about TrhP claws. It just shows how little those feets are!

  8. When I was but a wee tiny thing, we used to call those dragon flies darning needles. 🙂 Seeing as this was all the way in the remotest corners of NYS, I’m kinda pleased to see that you can apparently find them all the way down the east coast. I think they’re pretty.

    Oh, Purslane, you are such a lovely girl. <3!

  9. The bat reminds me of college – we would leave our windows cracked in the winter cause the heat was turned up WAY too high in the dorms. Girl across the hall came into her room and found a tiny brown bat (maybe 2 inches long) hanging upside down on the outside of her window screen. Of course there was mass hysteria by several girls and the dorm lady wanted to do something mean, but a couple of us stood our ground and I finally got fed up with everyone and touched his toes until he flew off. Closest I have ever been and I have to say, he was kind of adorable with his round ears and tiny face.

    Love those kittens in the croc!!

  10. As usual, the pictures you post are killing me from the cute.

    But the real reason I’m commenting is to relate my second ever Crooked Acres dream. In it, I was apparently doing a guest post for you, to be published on a certain day. I forgot and posted it on the wrong day without telling you. In fact, it was on a day when you had already put up your morning post. I was horrified that I made that mistake and didn’t want you to think I was trying to take your site over, so I tried to take the post down, but couldn’t. Somehow, in dream physics, I can hijack a site to post but can’t get back to to delete that post. I decided the only way to fix the problem was to break into your house and use your own computer which would already be logged on. This time, dream physics helped me. I was able to transport myself from NY to Alabama super duper fast through a pneumatic tube. I got into your house, which was a split level ranch it seemed, and found the computer. It was in a room that had a staircase to the next level, but you were sitting at a desk at the top of the stairway and could see into the room. I had to hide and only run to the computer when you got up for a few minutes. Then, I realized you were coming into the room. I hid behind a crib but you saw me anyway. I apologized and explained the whole situation, saying that it all happened because my brain is just not working right lately. I think we laughed and though you were still a little wary of me, you helped me take my post down.

    Catholic guilt and popcorn before bed make for a hell of a dream.

  12. Your post a few days back inspired me to go out an get Da Bird and I absolutely love it! Possibly more than my cats do…

    I don’t want to leave it out like their regular toys because I’m afraid they’ll just destroy it so I put it up in the linen closet after play sessions. It’s so funny because this is the first toy all three of my kitters absolutely love. They all just kind of sit at the foot of the closet door trying to devise elaborate methods to get it out. I know they are formulating highly complex schemes my own feeble human mind couldn’t begin to comprehend…

    1. I bought one to and my 4 girl cats LOVE it! Of course, I supervise and we play a little each evening, but it got all 4 of my cats up and moving. Thanks!!

  13. Let’s hope the little bat was just disoriented and not sick, because seeing them during the day isn’t good. There is a disease (white nose syndrome) that is wiping out a lot of the bat populations on the east coast right now. I like bats too, and they will eat the heck out of your mosquitoes!! You need Fred to put a bat house up on the back forty!

    I knew Princess Polly ruled with an iron paw in the foster room!

    The Weeds are so pretty, even through the goop!

  14. I was about to say what Amy did. Once upon a time, I lived in the country with a previous husband and we put up a bat box because we too heard they ate mosquitoes. AND they’re cute. And supposedly pretty docile. We always saw them at night, swooping in and out of the box, minding their own business. I think they just naturally “swoop.” They never bothered us and vice versa. Pretty cool!

  15. I love bats. I used to see swarms of them in the summertime by the lake near my house and one time by the elementary school. I am not sure if the elementary school knew there were bats in their chimney pipe. I suppose not or else they may have moved them.
    I just realized I have a thing for 4 lettered animals (yes lettered not legged). Bats, cats, pigs-love em all! Chickens not so much. Oh and I think Tony looks like Logie.

  16. I just have to tell you, I have fallen in love with Tony. He is so cute looks like he needs a special home and he is black which is the best. I have never had any meet ups with bats.
    Those kitties are too cute and the dogs look so happy.

  17. I was going to say Damselfly too, and as for Bats here in the UK we have no rabies but bats are very protected omly specially licsensed wildlife experts are permitted to handle them if they have the correct permit and if you have them in your house or building it is against the law to interfere with them. I think they are really amazing little things.
    Totally loving todays kitten picture story 🙂

      1. Stompers is great! He has been very busy growing so he sleeps tons. I joke that he is just like my sons. He wants to play nonstop, then wants sleepy snuggles, then falls into a truly unwakeable sleep. Just to start the whole thing over again. We took him in for a vet visit just to get him set up with our vet. He got a completely clean bill of health and charmed everyone there. He’s even slowly warming up his new sister, Wisp. Little man knows how to get in good with everyone around!

  19. I love bats too! Glad to see there are others. We have several that swoop toward our pool water at dusk almost every night. I would assume they’re getting bugs that hover above the water. Love to watch them.

    Dandelion’s white cottony foofyness is killing me dead! Love them all – Purslane’s tipped tail and Thistle looks like a teeny porcupine with those white furs. I hope the 3 of them are good playmates for Tony HR Pickelpants.

    2. In a few weeks, we’ll see how the Weeds and the Pickles get along – I’m hoping they’ll all be friends! For now, the Pickles are in the guest bedroom, the Weeds are in the foster room. 🙂

  20. Sultry siren Sheriff Momma seriously suns herself, so scram! (don’t mind me, funny mood! LOL)

    Picklepants! Picklepants! I’m dying! LOL! Boy does he know how to get his way!

    Oh my gosh, those fluffy little Weeds.. I wonder if Dandelion is going to wind up flame pointed.. I can almost see color on her nose and maybe on her ears.. unless that’s from being dirty?

    1. Picklepants cracks me up too! How can he not get his way? He is so tiny, the rest probably feels sorry for him… 🙂 Work it TRHP!!

  22. Dandelion really deserves her name. I want to blow on her fur and get mini-dandelions in a few weeks.

  23. Purslane looks like an itty bitty Brandywine! It’s too bad you didn’t have them at the same time so you could have a comparison.

  24. One of the last times we went to Carlsbad Caverns, we decided to stay for the evening bat flight. This meant we’d be getting home REALLY late, and a wearying several-hour car ride in the pitch black, but it was worth it. The guide started the talk at the proper time – a few minutes before sundown – and explained what we were about to see, and what to do/not do. Then, as if by magic… nothing happened.

    We waited for several more minutes, and more nothing continued to happen. The guide was just in the process of saying that at this particular time of the year, sometimes the bats come out a bit later, but there were definitely some bats still using the cavern as their home (I think he said they migrate later in the year??? Can that be right, or was I doing drugs again?) but since it was cooler, there were fewer bugs out and thus the bats might be a little lazy, when a few clusters flew out. It was quite unimpressive, and rather disappointing in fact.

    We had nothing better to do so we hung out for a few more minutes and after about 10-15 minutes, I heard some noises and smelled something indescribable, and looked back toward the cave entrance – and here they came. Like a typhoon rain, like a waterfall, like – I don’t know, like about a half-million bats all coming out of a relatively small cave opening at once. It was AMAZING.

    Of course, it wasn’t really “at once” – there had been a steady trickle of a few bats here, a few there for the past few minutes. But then all at once it was like an illustration in a kids’ movie – a little stream of bats, looking like nothing so much as a tendril of smoke, swelling and growing until it was a solid, seemingly never-ending wall of bats flying out. They poured out of the caverns in that almost-solid wall for about three or four minutes, then slowed down to a trickle, and then they were gone – except for what looked like a dark cloud off in the distance, moving more quickly than a cloud should move. As we drove home, we could still see the “cloud” of bats for quite some time – I was surprised that they stayed together that way as long as they did. The guide said that since it was so late in the season there weren’t as many as there usually were, but my brain cannot even encompass the numbers he was giving us (3-4 times as many as what we saw).

    I was sort of prepared for the noise, the wings and the clicks – but the SMELL… oh my. Nothing else in the world smells like a flock of bats, I’ll tell you that.

    Ah, I found these two pictures. These are not cobwebs: These are bats in flight, across a cave entrance that’s (IIRC) about 500-600 feet across:
    http://www.elaynocentricity.com/images/Carlsbad2004/IM000049.JPG
    http://www.elaynocentricity.com/images/Carlsbad2004/IM000050.JPG

    If any of you bat-lovers live near or ever drive through the eastern New Mexico region during the summer months, I STRONGLY encourage you to make whatever detours necessary to see the bat flights. (Apparently they no longer allow photography or video of any sort in the ampitheater, though. When we went, it was just no flash photography.) I haven’t seen the morning flight, where they return back to the cave after a night of eating, but I’m sure it’s just as astonishing as the evening flight. There are some awesome videos on YouTube etc, but they’re not a patch on the real, up-close-and-stinky experience.

    Also, one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, is a world-class bat trainer, you might not have known that. (c:

    Last but not least, I’m head over heels for all three of the Weeds. Oomph.

  25. The Tony RH Pickle’s photo where he’s waving his paw at the departing Percy looked to me like he was saying,”and don’t come back, y’hear?!” such a tough little guy! And without doubt he will be an excellent mime. He just “becomes” the box, doesn’t he? 🙂

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