The Beautiful Place We Live and The Beautiful Things We See

Eastern Garter Snake

A Handful of Squirrels

Love me some baby squirrels!

Steve the Coon

I said we'd never have another raccoon in our home. It's like having a teddy bear come to life, except it's a wild teddy bear!

Steve was the sweetest little guy, although I suffered a painful eye injury from his playful aggression...

I had to post the video of his time with us to share some of our precious moments together. Sorry the photo quality is poor!

The Eggs Have Hatched!!!

So today I'm watching the nest outside our kitchen window and I notice that the mother cardinal has flown away.

I'm hoping that her eggs have hatched and she's out picking up dinner for her new family. I was able to peek inside her nest while she was away and snap two fast pictures:

There were two eggs and now you can see two things in this nest. The strange thing is that one baby is much larger than the other. But if you click here and take a look at the eggs, you will see that one is almost twice the size of the other. I did not see the larger baby move, but the smaller one was flapping it's wings and opening it's beak as if I were it's mother feeding it.

They are 1-2 days old (I checked the nest 2 days ago and the eggs hadn't hatched yet.)

I love this time of year and the beautiful animals we get to see! You will be seeing more photos as they develop!

"Honey, I'm Home! And I've Got a Surprise for You!"

Why wouldn't we want a rat snake in our home as a pet?

That's the question I get from my husband in our living room after he begins to untie the "snake case" (which was my pillow case before he removed it from our linens closet).

I chase Michael shaking my finger at him all the way out of the house. I'm not having him release snakes in our home to crawl around any more!

Michael loves reptiles, especially snakes. I don't mind snakes if they are non-venomous. I do, however, (just for the record) do mind it when my husband releases a live non-venomous snake into my bed while I'm sleeping. I will say that I don't think he will do that again.

Baby Opossums Peeping Outside Their Mother's Pouch

I've never seen a baby opossum before. Even with these photos, you may have to take my word for it that they are SO stinkin' cute!

Three (of at least 6, I would guess) babies popped their heads out. One actually came out to play for a while.

In the video below one of the babies is super tired and keeps yawning. So cute! Another tries to crawl out but the mother stops it by moving her leg.

Cardinal Nest and Eggs

Michael and I watched the mother cardinal put this nest together two weeks ago. She would fly across the yard and grab a stem and come back to stuff it into her nest. There was a male cardinal who looked like he was standing guard the entire time. When I came outside to watch her closer the male (guessing it was the father) would chirp. The mother did not return to her nest building until the father was quite and all was safe.

For a week we didn't see any activity at the nest. Yesterday I noticed the mother returned to the nest where she sat. Today I noticed she wasn't around so I peeped in to see if she had laid her eggs yet.

How beautiful! Perfect speckled blue eggs.

One egg had either fallen out, been pushed out or was kidnapped from the nest and was broken on the ground next to it.

I can't wait until the eggs hatch and the babies are here! I will share photos when they come!

Mother Raccoon With Her Four Babies

The mother stands over her babies to protect them. But they only have one thing on their mind: food. In the video below, one of the babies cry's for her mother. You will be hearing more of this sound this season if you stay posted, I guarantee it.

Young Raccoon Gets Mad When I Get Too Close

This young raccoon came home with Michael from work this week. Normally the animals Michael removes from people's homes or businesses are female. That's because the females look for a safe place to give birth to and raise their babies. A building is a wonderful place to nest.

This young male raccoon must be high maintenance as he found himself comfortable in the controlled environment of someone's home.

Opossum Children

My heart skips a few beats any day my phone buzz's or rings with the word's "Michael's cell" displayed on the screen.

Michael calls me now and then just to check on me and say hi. So sweet.

Other times he's calling to tell me a story about something that happened while he was at work. He works with animals, so usually his stories are crazier than I could imagine. And pictures speak a thousand words - so sometimes he'll skip the story and just send a picture.

Without it I would have been clueless: but with this picture he sent some text, "opossum children."

Life for the wild is rough. If you had a pet opossum it would live many years longer than it would out of captivity. Michael does his best to protect the safety of the animals he works with, but sometimes they just don't make it. Don't get upset, these little "opossum children" are going strong, thanks to some friends at Bay Animal Clinic. But the reason Bay Animal Clinic has the babies is because their mother didn't make it.

Many people don't know that opossums are marsupials. That means they have a pouch like a kangaroo, where they store and feed their young. Michael found the adult opossum dead and took a closer look when he noticed the stomach moving. He reached his hand into the pouch and out he pulled these three little rascals!

It's the time of year when all kinds of strange creatures are born. Who knows what we'll have in our home next. These words race through my mind as I tense up each time Michael reaches me from work. With that all I can say is: Stay tuned.

Cover article: Michael is featured by Lagniappe

picture by Daniel Anderson

Michael serviced a satisfied client with a raccoon problem several weeks ago. The client turned to Michael once the job was complete and said, "You've been great to work with. I'd like to feature you in my publication."

Soon afterwards he received a call from a high school friend, Tripp Taylor, who was the intern assigned to the article. Tripp shadowed Michael at work and spent hours talking with him.

It's a great article, praising Michael's devotion and passion for his work and was published online today and will be distributed in print tomorrow. To read it click here.

Welcome

Like most children, I spent my childhood playing outdoors. Most of us grow out of that when we discover the opposite sex. My husband never lost his passion for the woods and the wild and when we met I began spending tons of time with him outdoors.

In college, Michael wondered what kind of job would suit him. There's no way he could make it in an office every day of his life. When he learned about an open position for a wildlife removal specialist, he applied instantly. He got the job and removes wild animals from people's homes and businesses for a living. Tomorrow marks his one year completed with his company, Trutech, Inc. In that time I have heard many interesting stories and seen many interesting critters.

Many times, Michael will remove animal's babies which aren't old enough to be set free alone. In this case we will turn them over to a friend that is a Certified Rehabilitator or we will nurse them until they are old enough to set free.

This blog is where we will share the things Michael finds in the woods or in people homes. We will document photos of the animals we raise, too.