Where The Wild Things Are

The Flawler Wildlife Refuge has had many visitors during the last few months. Bruce's Backyard Beastro, situated near the front of the Refuge, is always busy for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Let's start with the birds. This little guy was getting a snack from the seed sieve attached to Mr. Squirrel's Peanut Mansion. As you can see, Mr. Squirrel is a bit of a hoarder. Peanuts are falling out of the basement window.

This Stellar's Jay took full advantage of Mr. Squirrel's hoarding and helped himself.

We also have a Flicker who really likes the suet block and the seeds that fall off of it onto the ground. Love that beak! Great for getting bugs out of bark.

And then there was the Kestral. Absolutely beautiful. The finches and junkos didn't like him so much, as they were his target for supper, but I was thrilled he decided to stop and pose for me.

Lastly (as far as birds are concerned), there were the turkeys. They only hung out for a few weeks here, but Bruce was happy happy happy when they appeared. He really misses the Campus Commons Turkeys.

On to the ungulates. We came home one day from shopping and I saw something very, very, very large in the backyard. It was lying under a tree, licking a mineral block. It was Grandpa Moose!

When he finally stood up, all you could see were legs. They looked like tree trunks.










Bruce and I spent about an hour just watching him and taking pictures. He was absolutely magnificent!

For comparison, here's a picture of Bruce in front of the same five gallon pail.

While Grandpa Moose was still hanging out, all of the deer came in for their supper. We hadn't seen Big Bucky for several weeks, and hunting season was still on. We were really worried about Big Bucky, but...out of the forest he came. And he posed right in front of Grandpa Moose!

And now we turn our attention to Shadow and Sera, who are still a little wild (but getting more and more curious about the humans and animals who live in the house).














They have taken care of the gopher population around here, which we appreciate, but they also terrorize the squirrels and birds. Stinkers.

Here they are squatting (literally) in one of the squirrel's nests, high up in a tree. Look closely. Shadow is actually IN the nest. We weren't sure if squirrel was under him or not. Turns out he wasn't. He is alive. For now.

They also like to climb into the bird feeder out front and wait for birds to fly right into their mouths. Hasn't worked yet, but they dream big.














The last wild thing to report is quite rare in most parts of the world, but common here in Northern Idaho.

The Giant Dragonfly-Riding Squirrel! Here he is, about to hop on for a ride. Fly on, brave squirrel, fly on!