Between the heat and the wildfire smoke, I have been confronting fearsome creatures in the wilds of my yard.
First up? This predator:
The neighbor’s cat has taken to lounging around like it’s queen of the world. It also left me a tribute: a dead mouse. (No picture of that; you can thank me later.)
On the positive side, I think it (or its orange tabby friend) has taken care of whatever borrowing critter was disrupting my garden beds.
Then, there are these turkeys. No, really, they’re turkeys.
They are still wandering through the yard once or twice a day. Glad I can provide a smorgasbord for them.
On the other hand? These two troublemakers:
These two show up every day and try to stealthily eat the hosta plants in the front yard. I have to be careful about shooing them away since they tend to bolt into the road out front. Also, that one in the back may be a ten-point buck. Impressive.
Last, but not least, this fellow:
I think it’s some kind of woolly caterpillar. I believe it’s native (that seems to be the consensus from internet searches). In any case, it’s napping, not eating. Plus, that’s a marigold, which is one of nature’s pest controls.
The grass is, once again, up past my ankles. I need to go rinse off all the bug spray and check for the most fearsome creature of all: the deer tick.
My story A Knight at the Royal Arms is included in