Who's bored? Not me!
Today I'm here at work killing time while Dreamweaver huffs and puffs and struggles to update a half-gig-sized website I'm working on... Any day now.
Life is full of mystery but at least one thing is for sure. This morning that skybound ocean of cottony fluff gifted Olympia with a bunch of rain. It wasn't wishful thinking after all (or if it was, then the wish was granted). The plants are happy and the air is going to be so much cleaner! My friend Wayne had to put the top back on his Jeep to keep it from turning into a pond on wheels, but so what! We needed that rain!
Here is something interesting, I think. Do you?
The Guide to Urban Wildlife, by Cody Hinchliff
Issue 1: Squirrel Behavior
Despite their prolific nut productionn, many of you may not recognize the hazelnut trees (Corylus cornuta, C. spp.) which grow all over the place here in the northwest, even in people's yards and gardens. However, you can be sure that the squirrels in your neighborhood are very aware of them. At this time of the year, the nuts are not quite ripe enough to begin falling off the tree, but have reached the point where they are tasty and nutritious to squirrels. So, the squirrels are harvesting them. At the very least, they are eating them and leaving a mess of broken shells and husks all over the ground beneath the trees. On several occasions now I have witnessed one of my neighborhood's squirrels exhibiting this behavior from inside the crown of a small hazelnut tree right next to my bus stop. The remarkable thing is that the squirrel has the audacity to put himself in such a dangerous position--the tree is quite short and the only way out is across the lawn. I scared him today and he had to wait until I was on the other side of the tree to escape to an apple tree a few yards away. Someday soon I will catch him on film and publish a photo here for you. Stay tuned.
Also, just a little FYI since I haven't announced it yet. This site is undergoing some changes. Right at this moment not much has changed, but comments have been activated! You can let the world know what you think about this post or any other, for that matter. Hate squirrels? Love hazelnuts? Just don't care about urban wildlife at all? Click the comments link below and tell us!
Life is full of mystery but at least one thing is for sure. This morning that skybound ocean of cottony fluff gifted Olympia with a bunch of rain. It wasn't wishful thinking after all (or if it was, then the wish was granted). The plants are happy and the air is going to be so much cleaner! My friend Wayne had to put the top back on his Jeep to keep it from turning into a pond on wheels, but so what! We needed that rain!
Here is something interesting, I think. Do you?
The Guide to Urban Wildlife, by Cody Hinchliff
Issue 1: Squirrel Behavior
Despite their prolific nut productionn, many of you may not recognize the hazelnut trees (Corylus cornuta, C. spp.) which grow all over the place here in the northwest, even in people's yards and gardens. However, you can be sure that the squirrels in your neighborhood are very aware of them. At this time of the year, the nuts are not quite ripe enough to begin falling off the tree, but have reached the point where they are tasty and nutritious to squirrels. So, the squirrels are harvesting them. At the very least, they are eating them and leaving a mess of broken shells and husks all over the ground beneath the trees. On several occasions now I have witnessed one of my neighborhood's squirrels exhibiting this behavior from inside the crown of a small hazelnut tree right next to my bus stop. The remarkable thing is that the squirrel has the audacity to put himself in such a dangerous position--the tree is quite short and the only way out is across the lawn. I scared him today and he had to wait until I was on the other side of the tree to escape to an apple tree a few yards away. Someday soon I will catch him on film and publish a photo here for you. Stay tuned.
Also, just a little FYI since I haven't announced it yet. This site is undergoing some changes. Right at this moment not much has changed, but comments have been activated! You can let the world know what you think about this post or any other, for that matter. Hate squirrels? Love hazelnuts? Just don't care about urban wildlife at all? Click the comments link below and tell us!
posted by cody @ 3:26 PM
1 Comments:
At August 4, 2004 at 8:34 PM,
Anonymous said…
Urban wildlife is such a joy! Squirrels are both so interesting to watch and so annoying at the same time. I have had TWO of my hemp/jute macrame plant hangers chewed up by the squirrels this summer...poor plants ended up on the ground. But I love to watch the squirrels run along the top edges of the picket fence. I found a peanut buried in a pot of flowers. Our dog loves to be on "squirrel patrol". She stalks them and stares them down...it's entertainment in the suburbs.
When I was a girl I lived in a place that hummed with insects and I still miss the sound at night. It drowned out everything so you could rest peacefully. Here in the Pacific NW it is just too darn quiet at night and the sound of cars is all too obvious as they parade around in the neighborhoods.
Turtles were great...never see them any more! and frogs! I used to catch tadpoles and keep them until they turned into frogs. We had a frog outside our bedroom window the first year we moved to the house we now live in (10 years ago) but it didn't return the following year. I used to make "rings" from the lights of lightning bugs when I was that young southern girl. I wish we had lightning bugs here! And cardinals too! But we have crows and they certainly provide entertainment on occasion.
I did see a dead opposum and a dead raccoon on the roads yesterday and the day before. Sad. Haven't seen a live one in quite a while though. Is that because of the aforementioned dog we have? Or is it because I don't go camping any more and I don't live out in the country?
About the rain...rain is great and especially after a dry spell but does the temperature have to drop 20 degrees and stay there for days on end? Auuuggh! I prefer a minimum temp of 75 in the summer months. Low to mid 60s as a high during the day just doesn't work for me. Oh well, could be worse.
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