Why Do You Stay? Why Don't You Move? After The Flood Of 2005, We hear This All The Time From Friends and Family. You May Find The Answer Here.
I hope you enjoy this Blog and all of the post below. Please disregard any errors in grammer, and give thanks to the greatest creation ever, Spell Check.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Ms Tilley

She does not show any interest in leaving and everyday makes herself more and more at home.
She follows me around waiting for me to throw out some grain and loves to hang out on our arbor in my front garden.

She mingles with all the other critters here and she is not fazed by Kopper our 100 lb Labrador or Norman the pig.

She is very welcome to call our homestead home and is welcome to stay as long as she wants, but she will need a name.

 So with that said, We are pleased to introduce our friend,
 "Ms Tilley" our WILD Eastern Turkey.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Excellent Encounter

 When you know you have to do it, and you really don't want to do it, but you do it anyway, it must be the right thing.

It has been a long time since I have come across a North American Wood Turtle so I was thrilled when I came across this spectacular creature.

The Wood turtle is one of my all time favorite turtles. They are both beautiful and in my opinion extremely intelligent, and I wanted so much to keep her.
 Taking a healthy breeding age turtle from the wild is both criminally and morally wrong.

The following is from the Connecticut D.E.E.P.

Possession of any wood turtle is prohibited (Conn. Code Sec. 26-55-3-C) in Connecticut without regard to its origin, and collection within Connecticut is prohibited (Conn. Code Sec. 26-66-14-A). The wood turtle is a "Special Concern" species in Connecticut. International commerce in wood turtles posed such a threat that in 1992 this species was placed under international trade regulatory protection administered by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna). The wood turtle is of conservation concern throughout most of its range. Most states and provinces where it occurs afford it special status and/or some form of statutory protection.


She needs to stay wild and help to carry on the species, and I will be grateful for the pictures I was able to capture and appreciate the encounter.




Sunday, June 9, 2013

Blame It On Your Parents

Something New we can blame our parents for. Ok maybe not our parents, but how about the parents of our parent's, parent's-parent's-parent's-parent's  times many more.

It is so sad to think we would kill something out of fear, or to find it pleasing that a animal that never personally did us harm was killed only because it lived near us or passed by us.

I would allow the kids to walk up to a snake in the wild, before I would let them walk up to a strange dog anywhere.

I would never have a issue if someone wanted to kill billions and billions and maybe even trillions of ticks and mosquitoes, I can also accept the killing of invasive-non indigenous snakes, but lets leave our native snakes alone. After-all, our ancestors issue with snakes was more than a few years ago.


 From Psychology Today;

Why You Hate Snakes Presents the scientific theory that we are predisposed to acquire fears of critters that once threatened our ancestors' lives. 
'Evolutionary memories'; Psychologist Susan Mineka and psychologist Michael Cook; Putting the theory to the test; The search for evidence. By PT Staff, published on March 01, 1992 - last reviewed on June 20, 2012

 They hiss and they slither, but they pose less of a threat to our lives than cars or ovens. So why do snakes set off more clinical fears and phobias than knives and guns?

 Here's one scientific theory: Humans and other primates are predisposed to acquire fears of critters that once threatened our ancestors' lives. Psychologist Susan Mineka. of Northwestern University contends that we have a predisposition to such memories" because our ancestors once had to face snakes, certainly more so than, say, ovens.

 Because they survived, those who rapidly acquired the fear were most favored in nature.

 Mineka, along with University of Wisconsin psychologist Michael Cook, put the theory to a test in six rhesus monkeys. Reared in the lab, the animals had no prior exposure to snakes.

 The psychologists showed a videotape of wild-reared monkeys reacting with horror to snakes. Within 24 minutes, the lab monkeys acquired a fear of snakes. The psychologists then edited fake flowers, a toy snake, a toy rabbit, and a toy crocodile into the video.

 Tests later showed that after 40 to 60 seconds of exposure to each object, the monkeys feared only the toy snakes and crocodiles. Of the four objects, only snakes and crocodiles preyed on our ancestors.

 Coincidence? Meanwhile, the search for evidence continues. The next time snakes inhabit your nightmares, ask whether it's that viper horror you watched, or are you just connecting with the fears of your forefathers.


I must be missing some of my ancestral  DNA because not only do I not fear snakes, I have a deep passion for them.
Or maybe Jeanne is right, I am just weird

Friday, June 7, 2013

Something New, Something Beautiful

I think if I turned my attention to insects, I could probably spend the rest of my life seeing creatures that I have never seen before. I could probably do this without leaving our beloved 6 acres.

While working on our Screen porch, a project I started 6 years ago and sort of promised Jeanne she would have her porch finished this Summer, I came across this fascinating little creature.

I have never seen one before and when I dropped what I was doing to look it up, I was thinking leopard spots. so I Googled Leopard Moth and sure enough that is exactly what it is called.

I think the Leopard Moth's beauty rivals that of many butterflies and as always I am very excited that I have a new creature to add to my life list.

I also think if I spend to much time checking out insects before Jeanne's much desired porch is finished, she will be running around the yard with Bug Spray.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

"Confucius Says..."

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."
It is said That Kong Qui was born in 551 B.C. in China.
He was a politician, philosopher, writer, editor, author,  educator, a thinker, he taught others to live with integrity.
He was Confusius.

I am absolutely intrigued by snakes and one of my beauties is this very young Albino Checkered Garter Snake. 
This snake is so pretty I keep her on a stand on my side of the bed. 

Jeanne does not remotely see the beauty of my snakes, 
but she understands, "I do."