Activity in our BackYard

It has been raining a lot lately. Compared to our heated June, this is cool. It hasn't gotten to 90° in a week. Our backyard birds alert us to an impending rain. They flutter around eating. We know it is coming, because, right before a rain, we have more than 50 birds in the yard. All kinds, but mainly Cardinals and House Finches. We also have hummingbirds, but they don't eat birdseed, they have a sugar diet at their feeders.

Today, we went to Lowe's for more black oil birdseed. In two weeks, the birds have eaten 60 pounds of black oil birdseed. That's a lot! Well, maybe, it wasn't all birds. Two nights ago, we did see that a raccoon had climbed up a pole and was helping himself to the seed. That was not an easy task. We knew he was hungry to do that. We do feed 3-4 raccoons at night. They eat table scraps and cat food. They come every night. Also, we have seen opossums after the raccoons leave. Then, we also have a stray black cat that dines with us in the morning and the evening. He doesn't let us touch him yet, but he's pretty faithful at his dish.

We call him Hobo. He doesn't know his name. He only knows that he wants food and that we provide it. To him, we are his servants. This is a little unsettling to our pet, Wee. Wee is a black cat also. He is 15 and is MY "honey" cat. We love each other and I am usually in his view wherever he is.

The other day, I bought some Purina Cat Chow for Hobo and the raccoons. It was on sale. Wee did not care for the cheap food I had before. But, this food, he likes. He wants to eat while Hobo is eating. Wee is not a Boss Cat, but Hobo is, so Wee cowers nearby waiting for Hobo to finish his meal. Wee eats Science Diet because he has poor digestion and should not eat the rich Purina food. So, we are having a small problem.

So, besides birds, raccoons, cats, opossums in your backyard, we also have lizards, squirrels, frogs and moles. We want to get rid of the moles, but we don't know how. We like everything else. So, I guess we've got to take the good with the bad and the moles will be there whether we want them or not.