Merry Christmas!

From all the critters, enjoy this beautiful Christmas carol.

Christmas Critter

Ivan "Fat Cat," aka "the Terrible," aka "the Pest," hides out beneath the Christmas tree.  He also investigates all the presents and chews on any appetizing ribbons...

Squirrel Critters

Like just about every neighborhood in Raleigh, we are inundated with squirrels.  They take over the bird feeders, knocking the seed out all over the ground and are generally destructive little creatures.  For a while we trapped them and then released them several miles away, hoping to somehow reduce our yard's population, but we didn't make a dent.

Annabelle's biggest treat is to race outside everyday in the hopes she will catch one - they scatter once they realize she's out, and she bounds all over the yard, looking up every tree.  One morning after she went out, I realized she was messing with something on the hill.  When I called her, she came trotting up to the door with a squirrel in her mouth and dropped him neatly on the back step.  He looked like one of those cartoon animals with the cross over the eyes.  He went into the trash, but Annabelle was very proud.

A few weeks ago at night, we noticed the bird feeder was swinging.  There was no wind, so something was out there.  I crept out quietly and took a few pictures in the dark, before "it" scrambled up the tree.

This is not a very good picture, but we think it was a flying squirrel.  Here's another:

On some later nights when it was fairly warm and we had the windows open in the back, we could hear lots of squeaking noises outside, so we think the squirrels were active then.  Not really crazy about flying squirrels, but as long as they stay in the trees (and not in our attic), we'll probably be okay.

Snake on the walk and a lazy hawk

We had two critter visitors today.
First, this little garter snake was sunning on our front walk.

And later, a lazy chicken (oh!) hawk perched for a while in our river birch.

Can you see him? Here's a close-up.

After a rather warm November day, the wind is rising and the temperature is falling, so we are gearing up for a cool Thanksgiving eve.

Crabtree Plantation

This circa 1795 house belonged to the Jones family and is about half a mile on the other side of Crabtree Creek from us.

Its builder was Nathaniel "Crabtree" Jones, so named to differentiate him from another Nathaniel Jones who lived near Cary. After his death, his son Kimbrough lived in the house. During the Civil War, it was the site of Confederate Camp Crabtree. Here is Kimbrough's biography from a 1907 volume of The North Carolina Booklet.

In the early 1900s, descendant Bryan Kimbrough Jones attended N. C. State. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh.

 These drawings were completed in the 1960s..

You can see all the images at the North Carolina State University library website, The Built Heritage of North Carolina.

The description of the images states, "The delineator indicates that the estate's heirs wanted the site to be used for the construction of apartments. The home is presumed to have been demolished."
Thank goodness that is not the case.

Even More Dead Critters

Lame tigers killed by rabid wolves near Crabtree Creek earlier tonight.

Fall on the Greenway

This afternoon, we took a ride  along the greenway on our bikes. We stopped to take a picture of the old Raleigh and Gaston Railroad trestle crossing Crabtree Creek near Atlantic Avenue  and  Hodges Street.

Here's a short video, showing the water pouring over the little dam. I'm not sure why this dam is where it is under the trestle, but I'll see if I can find out.

It was a cool, clear, crisp autumn day, perfect for enjoying the fall colors.

Possum Patrol

Annabelle got a little anxious in the house earlier tonight. We turned her out and, as she was bounding up the hill towards the chicken coop, we saw  something heading up a tree. We went out with a flashlight and encountered this fellow clinging to the trunk.

We've seen him a few  times in the backyard hanging out under the bird feeders. I suspect he's been snacking on bird seed and the lettuce, apples, and tomatoes we give to the chickens. I don't think he's after the chickens. I don't think he has enough motivation or speed to try to take them on. So . . . as long as he leaves the chickens alone, he's welcome to hang out in the yard.

More dead critters...

Lots of goats killed near Crabtree Creek over the weekend. Rabid wolves suspected.

Cheater critters never  win!

Annabelle

Annabelle is our sweet dog critter.  We found her at the SPCA and, because she was lying calmly while her roommate was leaping three feet off the floor and barking wildly, we thought she might be a good, laid back companion.

One of the first things we noticed is that, although she likes to lick you, she does not bark.  Not at people, other dogs, cats, squirrels, chickens, or children.  When we take her to the dog park, she just floats around, sometimes joining in with a group of dogs, sometimes exploring the smells, often just being aloof and in her own world.

She's not always very lady-like:

Also, she gets stressed out when left alone and can be destructive.  We've lost shoes, gloves, chocolate, dog food, cat food, etc. We have a very complex ritual of distracting her with a treat ball before we leave, putting her in the bedroom with our foster dog - Eudy - turning off the lights, and leaving the noise maker running.

She is, however, a very, very sweet dog, and we have no concerns with her behavior around people, especially children, or other animals.  Ivan, our pest of a cat (who needs his own blog post), likes to rub all up around her and she tolerates it very sweetly.

Here's a pic where Ivan has just wandered off. Pardon the cat butt.

Eudy, our foster dog, LOVES Annabelle.  They play pretty well together, despite some misunderstandings over toys and food.  When she's lying on the floor, he comes up and snuggles in beside her, just like a little tugboat to the big ship.  Sometimes she tolerates it; other times you can almost see her groaning inside, and then she gets up and moves somewhere else.

That floor damage is actually NOT critter-related.

 

We are very lucky to have such a sweet, good-tempered little lady.

Critters and first fire of the season

One on the chair,  one on the bed.

Halloween Critter

BOO!

New Critters!

OK - OK - They're not ours. Just yesterday's 3PM pig race at the North Carolina State Fair.

TV Star Critter

Our domesticated foster critter had his television debut Saturday morning.

Here's a picture of him on the  TV monitor in front of the green screen at WRAL.

Here he is anxiously awaiting his debut.

And here he is on TV. Apologies to the cameraman and anchorwoman who got a little taste of his some times overly zealous protective nature.

He's already been contacted by Dancing with the Stars for next season!

Ruckus in the Hen House!! Part 2

STOP - READ RUCKUS IN THE HEN HOUSE FIRST!

This morning, we were again awakened by the chickens squawking. We jumped out of bed and let one of our dogs out, while we struggled to find the flashlight and put on our shoes. Our dog raced back to the coop, and soon we were right behind her. The motion light was on and the chickens were squawking LOUDLY, while huddling nervously in the corner of the coop. I ran inside with the flashlight and looked around but didn't see anything. I did notice that a log I had put in a small indentation between the ground and the bottom of our chicken coop kennel fencing had been moved aside. "Aha!" I thought, "There was something in here and  this is the way it came in." I told M to get me a couple of bricks to block up the hole until morning, when I could  do something more permanent.

Meanwhile, I looked in the the egg box to make sure all was safe and  noticed a big feather hanging down from  the top. I was wondering how it got up there and started to pull it down when, my eyes becoming more adjusted to the dim light, I noticed it was in fact the striped tail of a raccoon! I went to the front of the coop and peeked in and I could see the tail and back end of the coon sitting on top of the egg box.

We immediately shooed the chickens out of the coop and  I got my trusty Daisy pump pellet gun. I closed the door to the kennel so the coon was trapped and fired once from outside, hitting him on his back end. He immediately scampered down to the ground, headed for the hole where he came in, but found it blocked by a brick and the log I had originally placed there. Then he made his way to the roof of the coop and, when we looked up there, lo and  behold we found a second raccoon! Two varmints in our hen house!

I shan't go into the details of how I dispatched the critters, but we eventually shut the chickens back into the coop,  came inside, cleaned up a bit, and got back into bed.

ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz - SQUAWK SQUAWK SQUAWK!!! CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK!!!

We were up again with a repeat performance of our first awakening to find the chickens in a similar state. We looked all around again and there, on the roof, was a THIRD RACCOON. The only thing I can figure was that this rascal was laying low on the  roof or behind a wood panel on top of the egg box. But there he was, peering at me with those beady eyes in the middle of that sinister black mask!

Dispatch time and clean up time again and then a VERY thorough examination of the coop. While doing so, we heard a noise high above us. We aimed the flash light beam high above our heads and far up in a tree, probably 30 feet high, sat our fourth raccoon of the night. I placed bricks all around the original hole and then we came back in to try to sleep again. We were awakened once more, but the racket was a false alarm. Nonetheless, as it was by now 5:15, we let one of our dogs remain in the yard until we got up at 8.

Chicken keeping is a fun and enjoyable hobby. But one must be prepared to come face to face with unpleasant things from time to time, like dealing with sick chickens that are suffering (think axe and stump) or protecting them from predators. I have never hunted and never will. Yet last night I had to take three of nature's  lives to protect my four chickens. It was a sad ending for three Crabtree Creek Critters and a disturbing night for several more.

Sorry - no pictures this time, but this should lighten the mood.

Ruckus in the Hen House!

This morning we were awakened at 5:00 by loud squawking and squealing coming from our chicken coop. I jumped out of bed, turned the dog out, and ran out behind her. After looking all around, we couldn't find any evidence of any intruder and concluded that the chickens were just squabbling with each other because they are molting and grouchy.
Here's our Buff Orpington. Look how disheveled she is.


Squawking, squealing,  and squabbling! Brings to mind this old ditty.
There's always something going on with the Crabtree Creek Critters!

UPDATE!!!

It appears there may have been an intruder in the coop. Our Rhode Island Red has a very small wound on one of her wings!

UPDATE!!!

Now scroll up or CLICK HERE to read part 2.

Old but...

A few weeks ago we opened our doors to a surprise: an orb weaver had spun her web right in front of our door to catch the moths that fly around our back light. The next night, we opened the door and recorded her hard at work.

I hate spiders, but this was pretty cool.

Froggie!

Humidity has returned with all the rain; so have some more critters...this little guy was sitting on the back steps.  The dogs jumped over him several times going in and out and he didn't move.  Guess he was more interested in catching mosquitoes.

This shows the frog's size in relation to the step - he wasn't that big, but the next photo makes him look huge!

Look at the menacing shadow he casts...I think he was befuddled by that flash.

I just looked out there a little bit ago and he was gone, off to a froggie hidey-hole.

Slow to post...

...just like the little turtles that hatched outside our backdoor back in August.

Returning to Life

We get really tired of the hot weather of summer, so with the return of fall, we're now alot more active and interested in the outdoors, although last night we did notice house-size mosquitos trying to suck us dry.

We took some photos of the butterfly bush in its last fling of late summer - a monarch butterfly was eagerly searching out the last blossoms and competed with a busy bumblebee. 

Rain is forecast for the next few days, but this weekend we plan a full day of yardwork - moving plants, spreading mulch, trimming bushes.  We'll post pics when we're through.

Still HOT!

Friday.

Thursday

 

RAIN!

Tippi Turtle enjoys a shower.

HOT!

That's all.

Yard work/Fountain/Train

We've done some major yard work this  weekend, including re-building the fountain.

We also have a nice cleome that has come up on its own. I understand  these things re-seed like crazy, so we should have a nice new bed of them.

(Sorry  for the focus - cell phone pictures)

While we were outside enjoying the low humidity and cooler temps, we had a visitor:

A couple of entries back,  I posted a picture of a man standing on an old locomotive. Did you notice the little dog on the ground? Had we been living in the 1830s, we would have seen that locomotive on the very same railroad track shown in the video above. Here are more details from one of my favorite blogs:
Goodnight Raleigh

Grillin' out with the Critters.

Tame ones, that is.

Turtle Holes

"Tippi Turtle" dug two  nice holes and deserted both. Here are some pictures.

Tippi  is now hanging out under the euonymus bushes.

I re-installed our little fountain this afternoon. It has been stored while our renovations  were occurring. In the past, we've had toads, frogs, and garter snakes hanging out at the fountain. Here's a video of how it looks tonight.

And as you can see, Tippi has moved back into the yard. The fountain will undergo a lot  of changes over the next few weeks as we make it look a bit  more "natural." Stay tuned.

We'll leave you tonight with two pictures. The first is of our backyard  looking out from our living room.

  

And WHAT is the second???

Welcome

Hi and welcome to our new blog, Crabtree Creek Critters.

We live inside the beltline in Raleigh, North Carolina. The circa 1835 Raleigh and Gaston Railroad bed is adjacent to our property and crosses the creek about half a mile away. The creek and the railroad bed offer highways for critters  who like to stop in and visit. Right now, we have an  Eastern Box Turtle laying her eggs in our yard and that's what prompted this blog. I'm posting a video of tonight's activity. This is just a test posting and  we will be back soon.

 

Here are our chicken critters.