-
Recent Posts
Archives
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- April 2022
- June 2021
- March 2021
- October 2020
- July 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- December 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- September 2017
- August 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- January 2017
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- August 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- August 2014
- June 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- February 2013
- December 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
-
Category Archives: Animal Stories
Early May on The Urban Porch ™
It’s kind of nice to roll out of bed and sit out on the porch in the early morning, cup of coffee in hand, watching the neighborhood come awake. You would think with all the rain, sun and early blooming … Continue reading →
On a Stretch of Rainy Days
Shortly before a recent stretch of rain drove the focus on projects and diversions inside the house, I managed to get out with a friend for a bit of meandering through the woods and fields. There was a portion of … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, baking, Birds, Cooking, Food, nature, Spring, The Urban Porch ™, treasures, treasures, Uncategorized, Weather, Wildlife
|
Tagged Buzzards, duck eggs, Foxes, Muscovy ducks, road crew tales, sniffing lilacs, Spring flora and fauna, vixen, Wildlife
|
2 Comments
What Tears Are These?
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,Tears from the depth of some divine despairRise in the heart, and gather to the eyes – Alfred Lord Tennyson When is the last time you cried? And why? Recently – with … Continue reading →
Posted in Aging, Animal Stories, Dogs, grief, Perspective
|
Tagged dog rescue sites, old dog adoption, senior dog, special needs dog, tears, transferred grief
|
2 Comments
Random Goings-on While the Leaves Were Turning
I vacillate between the excitement of the seasonal splendor and the worries or annoyances regarding larger and smaller events surrounding life these days. The blog postings here tend to go in erratic cycles. I might not post for months and … Continue reading →
Transitions
The coloring of Autumn is building to all its glory, and I walk around sighing with mouth agape. But I will share all of that at a later time. Right now the large and small creatures are in motion. The … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Autumn, Perspective, treasures, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged animals, Autumn, Changes, falling into autumn, insects, nature, small wonders, Wildlife
|
1 Comment
Ursa
With such a cool, breezy morning ahead, it seemed the perfect day to take a walk in the woods. I decided to hop in the car and drive to the mountain trail behind a friend’s house to herald in the … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Autumn, nature, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged autumn equinox, bear in the woods, bears, black bears, into the woods
|
2 Comments
Readying
Life cycles into the next phase, as we push into early Autumn. The heat has broken and gifted us with cooler nights. Afternoon light is becoming more honeyed and the billowing cumulus of August have given way to the shifting … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Autumn, nature, Perspective, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged autum, mantis, orb weaver, seasonal cycles, spider, Squirrels
|
Leave a comment
Things That Land In Your Hair
For most of my life my very curly, somewhat long hair has been a catch-all for things that land, fly or fall into it. Mosquitos. Dragonflies. A wasp. A cicada. Moths and butterflies. Pieces of leaves, seeds, wisps of dandelion. … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Are you kidding me?, summer, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged Bats, bats in the house, best neighbors, curly hair
|
2 Comments
Wildlife On and About the Urban Porch
This is a small, urban neighborhood of old houses. We get some significant vehicle and pedestrian traffic during the day. The city is bordered by areas of woods, streams and trails. Because of this, we occasionally will find a deer … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Spring, summer, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged house sparrows, neighborhood insects, porch life, small gifts, urban wildlife, views from my porch
|
4 Comments
Mantis
Last fall my three-year-old granddaughter became fascinated with a dead praying mantis she found in my driveway. That was the second one I had seen around the yard that week, after not seeing any. A few days later I discovered … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Gardening, Spring, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Wow!
|
Tagged Earth day, mantis, nature, praying mantis
|
2 Comments
Crow Tree
There are a couple of very old, unhealthy, towering maples and oaks on the corner that probably aren’t going to last much longer. While walking beneath them with the dog, I noticed some rotten limbs had recently fallen and crashed … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Autumn, Birds, summer, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged Birds, corvids, crows, flocks of crows
|
1 Comment
Passing of the Buck
I went out to investigate why a police car was parked in front of my driveway on this sunny Saturday afternoon, officers standing there pointing towards the backyard. Years ago there had been a foot chase culminating in a suspect … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Are you kidding me?, Coping, grief, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged Deer, EHD, Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, municipal responsibility, Red tape, sick deer, sick wildlife, who is responsible
|
4 Comments
Little Bird
Following a quick but torrential downpour and some gusty winds, the S.O. discovered a fledgling robin scooting around between the dying iris foliage in our front yard. The linden tree immediately nearby is the most likely place it came from, … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Birds, Coping, Daeja's Garden, grief, Regrets, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged death, fledglings, grief by proxy, saving a bird, the right decision?
|
2 Comments
Crayfish/Karma
When my grandson’s elementary school class sent home a notice saying they have eleven crayfish that are coming up for adoption at the completion of their science unit, my daughter immediately said “NO WAY” and expressed how she is still … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Are you kidding me?, kids, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged aquarium adventures, class crayfish, class science project, crustaceans as pets, Fish Tank, karma, pet crayfish, pets, school pets
|
2 Comments
Pushing the Feline Envelope
There will be some people who have serious disagreements with this post. But I’ve kind of reached a bit of saturation on the subject and feel the need say something. If you can come up with a better solution, I’m … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Are you kidding me?, Birds, Rant, Uncategorized
|
Tagged bird killers, cat ordinances, cat populations, irresponsible pet owners, neighborhood cats, outdoor cats, urban cats
|
9 Comments
The Power of Skunk
Skunk wafting on the wind is a scent I actually enjoy. There has been an especially strong aroma lingering around the back of the house for the last couple of weeks. Honestly, at first I thought either someone spilled a … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Coping, Uncategorized, Weather, Wildlife, Winter
|
Tagged house-buggy, long winter, more snow, skunks, snow storm, winter weary, winter-punchy
|
3 Comments
The Stuff of Nightmares
Being sort of a nerd when it comes to science, botany, animals and insects, it has been a regular practice to study, scrutinize and read up on many of the critters, diseases, and earthly creations that I stumble upon. The … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Are you kidding me?, Coping, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged creepy bugs, house centipede, nightmare bug, scary insect, scutigera
|
2 Comments
Rescue
Some people have issues with The Empty Nest after their children grow up and move away from home. For me this has not been much of a problem. The teenage years of my youngest were so dramatic disruptive emotional intense … Continue reading →
Posted in Aging, Animal Stories, Dogs, Uncategorized
|
Tagged Chion, dog adoption, empty nest, fearful dog, forever home, mill dog, new dog, Papi-Chi, Papillon-Chihuahua, puppy mill dog, rescue dogs, small dog
|
6 Comments
The Other Car
Once we had children, I became the driver of the newer and larger car, the “safer” car, as I was the one shuttling the precious cargo around. So by default, my Then Husband, who I will call “Howie” for the … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Are you kidding me?, Humor, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged adventure, getting pulled over, Mice, Old cars
|
4 Comments
Flamingos Spotted in the Northeast!
Posted in Animal Stories, Birds, Humor, Uncategorized
|
Tagged lawn flamingos, library book fair, plastic flamingos, Summer
|
2 Comments
Heads Up
The light fixture that hangs in the front porch over the door is old and has one of the glass panels missing. There are three sockets, one of which is empty and the other two which hold energy-saving bulbs. The … Continue reading →
Stealth
When it came to a choice of animal companions, my family always fell into the “dog people” category. But there hasn’t been a dog in my life for a very long time. There are a number of reasons for that, … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Dogs, Friends, Perspective, Uncategorized
|
Tagged attachments, dog-sitting, dogs, pet adoption, pet rescue, pets
|
Leave a comment
The Saluki in the Floor
The phone call from the Middle East at six in the morning came as sort of a surprise. “Your puppy was just born, come and get her” prefaced the details of an invitation to leave the United States and reunite … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Friends, Regrets, Uncategorized, Winter
|
Tagged companions, Dog story, dogs, gazelle hound, Golan Heights, loss of pet, Persian Greyhound, Saluki, Sight hound
|
29 Comments
Attraction
Not quite past January and it has been so weirdly warm, an encouragement to lean so far towards the specter of Spring that I am ready to fall over. While going through my files to locate a photo that might … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Photography, Spring, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged attraction, beauty, Butterfly, daughters beauty, Flowers, red hair, Summer
|
Leave a comment
My Best Snake Story
It appears I am building an unintended repertoire of Close Encounters With Wildlife stories. I have been asked by someone to share “the one about the snake”, and so I give it to you here. This particular vignette occurred in … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Are you kidding me?, Humor, Uncategorized, Wildlife, Winter
|
Tagged Autumn, Copperhead, country living, Eastern Milk Snake, household wildlife, Snakes, winter
|
7 Comments
The Suicide Squirrel
Driving down the shade-dappled road with the sun sparkling through the leaves on a brilliant morning, singing with the radio, and out of the corner of my eye I saw it coming. It ran in front of the car and suddenly froze in … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged indecision, road kill, rodents with tails, Squirrels
|
6 Comments
Little Brown Bat
A friend just emailed me about finding a bat in her house, which set me off on a discourse about my bat-in-the-house experiences, so I figured I would write it out here. I have lived in about two dozen places … Continue reading →
Posted in Animal Stories, Humor, Uncategorized, Wildlife
|
Tagged Bats, country living, little brown bat
|
3 Comments