Bogieblog

Companion Dogs

There are companion dogs, then there are companion dogs for other animals. In this case, cheetahs. It seems that alsthough they are the fastest animals on the planet, cheetahs are also very nervous. In steps the companion dog who becomes a trusted buddy and protector. Very interesting article and full of surprises. I won't ruin all the good stuff, but who would have thought that a 40 pound dog would be the boss in his relationship with a 100 pound animal that can speed up to 60 mph in 3 steps (3.4 seconds - faster than any other car in the world)?

Thanks to Scott for pointing out this article!

Weaseling Cats

Thursday, coming down the back hill from hanging laundry, I found one of the cats had left me a present at the bottom fo the steps to the deck.

I thought at first that it was a young fisher and was worried as that means there is a momma fisher around that could be a problem for the cats (I believe that is why Indy, Tory's sister, disappeared so many years ago - fishers were around and many cats and chickens disappeared from the neighborhood).

Upon further research, I believe it is a young weasel. I didn't find anything that suggested that fishers had a white belly, and plenty of pictures on the internet say that weasels do.

Maybe that is why the cats haven't been bringing me many mice - the weasels have been getting them all. Too bad, I wouldn't mind if the cats left the weasels left alone!

Shield Bug

I was out in the flower gardn below the fenced area looking at how wild everything had gotten. I was contemplating pulling up some of the milkweed, but the leaves look well chewed, and I've only seen a couple of Monarch Butterflies roaming around, so decided to wait to make sure that the caterpillars have finished eating and pupating.

Arching over the particular milkweed pods / leaves was a rogue blackberry bramble (they are getting out of control in the corner). I happened to look up and see this

There were several more bugs on the same leaf, 3-4 moved off to the side when I disturbed them taking pictures.

I have tentatively identified the bugs as a type of green shield bug, Troilus luridus. If anyone can place a different neam on them, I'd be happy to correct that. Whatever name they go by, the shield bugs are insect predators that will tackle caterpillars and beetle larva.

If I get lucky, I will get a whole slew to hunt up the Japanese Beetle larva. However, I think since they are that close to the milkweed, that they are hunting caterpillars instead.

Early Warning

Last weekend Prince was out in the yard, when he started barking. Now, Prince barking is nothing unusual, just the way he was barking. He would let out 4 bark, that sounded concerned (don't ask, I just know a concerned bark when I hear it from my dogs). Usually the barking sounds excited (cats/squirrels), or warning (people or dogs walking up the street), or even bored - but rarely concerned.

I went to the downstairs door, and saw him standing about 5-7 feet away, looking at the ground, and with a wrinkled brow. I called him in, and he seemed relieved that he was being saved.

So, what could this dog, who has been attacked by other dogs and not flinched (lost the fight yes, but not flinched), be concerned about?

Yep, a snake. Not a small snake, but not a huge one either.

The most important thing was it wasn't poisonous, so nobody was ever in any danger. Doesn't mean that Prince's reaction wasn't appreciated though.

 

Bear Run on Wall Street

Bears have been in the national news lately. Manchester, NH, not to be outdone, had a bear strolling alongside Wall Street today.

Deer Runs Through Car Wash

Viewer Video: Deer Runs Through Car Wash - New Hampshire News Story - WMUR New Hampshire.

A deer ran thru a New Hampshire car wash, which was caught on surveillance video. The door was closed at the other end. Somehow the deer made it thru the 24" gap between the door panel and the wall.

Double Take

I was out gardening yesterday and as I was walking by the cotoneaster by the gate, I saw a snake "sunning" (it was very cloudy) itself on the branches.

 
After the initial glance, I did a double take because soemthing caught my eye, this snake had 3 heads. Not really, there were three snakes however.

 
I moved off and did some more chores, then came back later and they hadn't moved much.

 
Nature is so cool to watch!

The Birds Know

I spent much of the morning outside getting things under shelter. It was very quiet - very few bird calls where normally the woods are atwitter with blue jay, chickadee, nuthatch and chipping sparrow calls. I got the funiture and cathouse off the deck, no birds were scared from the feeders. For the last 45 minutes, I have been in the kitchen cleaning birdie's cage and watering plants. I can see the bird feedrs and I've only seen 1 female hummingbird and 2 goldfinches. It also occurs to me that I've neither seen nor heard any chipmunks or squirrels.

Guess they are busy battening down the hatches too.

A Friend in Need . . .

Just for the awe factor

Link stolen from Scott and Ellen

My bike was in the shop last week to have the front lowering springs put in (drops the front about 1") I met WS at work (the shop is in Concord) and we started the shuffle of getting 3 vehicles home. He had picked up my bike out of the shop, as I wouldn't get to Concord until after the place closed. WS had ridden his bike in, so our first trip was riding both bikes home.

We were behind a line of traffic on 202, when everyone slowed and started edging toward the right. We did the same and noticed people in the oncoming lane, edging toward the middle of the road. We were probably doing about 40 at that time (in a 55), so there must have been some obstruction in the road (as opposed to an accident).

Sure enough, when we got closer, we saw a large turtle (probably a snapper) doing it's own version of the 50 yard dash across the road. I don't think I've seen a turtle working so hard to make some speed. I'm not sure if it was because of the traffic, or the heat (it was in the 90's so the road must have been pretty darn hot). It immediatly brought to mind the pictures I've seen on nature shows, showing the mad dash of freshly hatched turtles from sandy beaches to the ocean - just this was on a much larger scale, turtle-wise.

Yes, this has a happy ending - the turtle made it safely across the road.