Archive for the ‘Nature’ Category

Down By The River B and B is located on the San Pedro River in SE Arizona. Being so close to the river, we have a lot of wildlife that frequents the property. The San Pedro River is a water source that flows throughout the year and is above ground near the bnb usually until late June just before the start of the monsoons. The water source draws all types of animals and birds into the area. We generally don’t have problems with pesky critters, although the deer do give us fits with tree damage and rodents dig holes in the middle of trails and around the plants. With that being said we usually enjoy watching the activities that go on around us.

At the beginning of November while working on cleaning up the yard, I needed to get a rake out of the shed. As I walked toward the shed I noticed a movement in the brush behind the garage. It didn’t look like a rabbit but then I wasn’t really looking that close. We have a lot of cottontail rabbits and a few jack rabbits around so I just assumed that Peter Cottontail was out foraging. A couple of days later as I looked out the double doors I saw a squirrel meander across the stoop. I knew that I didn’t need a squirrel around and so I went out the main door and tried to scare the squirrel away. As I came around the corner, Rocket J. Squirrel made a b-line behind the shed.

He was safe from me but I decided to bang on the shed to see if I could get him to vacate the premises. We played cat and mouse as he moved from one side to the other as I banged on the shed. We played this game for about 5 minutes until he decided to beat a hasty retreat out past the garage into the fields to the south. I kept checking for the gray squirrel for the next couple of days and didn’t see him near the shed at all. I felt that I had given him good reason to decide relocation was a better option. Hoping that he had moved to a locale inhabited by Bullwinkle, far away in Minnesota, I forgot about Rocky.

Then one morning, our cat became real agitated. Looking out onto the patio, I spotted Rocky. The brazen little critter was sitting up on a chair looking over the territory. I went out the door and he saw me but then turned back to look at what was going on in the yard. Not until I advanced did he decide to run for it. Rocket J is a good name for the streak of gray that flew by me on the way to the other side of the house.

Another week passed as I decided to work on the mesquite trees at the bird room patio. As I got back there I noticed the furry little bugger. Yup, Rocky was back and now he had a burrow under the house at the bird room. Rocket was down the hole before I could get close. Just what I need is a fur bearing critter under the house. I figured that I could trap this rodent. I am smarter than he is. No big deal. Get a trap, bait it and the work is done. Not so fast fool! Rocky J is a little slyer than you thought. Rocky trips the trap, eats the bait and then goes back into the burrow to excavate more. All I do is give him free meal delivery to the front door. I can’t even catch him out away from the burrow and bury the entrance before he can get back. He isn’t named Rocket J for no good reason.

So as I realize that Rocky is not the pushover I thought he was. I decide to bite the bullet and bring in the big boys to take care of this. In step the pest control people with a live trap. As it is set up, I comment that this trap looks a little large. But I am assured that this trap will get Rocky. It is made for skunks and raccoons and will still trip with a squirrel’s weight. OK, so let the fun begin. The trap is set next to the hole, baited and now I am assured that this will work. Rocky will be caught in a quick fashion and transported to Frostbite Falls, MN, never to dig a hole under my house again.

Nothing happens for 2 days except that Rocky fills in the one entrance and digs another one at a different place away from the trap.  I even see him in the trap having a snack and think – “Aha got him!” ….but no he didn’t trip the trap door. Rocket beats a quick path to the burrow again, filled tummy and all. That night our cat gets all agitated again as Angie and I are having supper. Angie spots a black and white animal walk past the door at the breezeway. We have just seen Pepe Le Peeuuuh and that first introduction to Pepe is a nonevent. We had two rooms with guests and expecting a third couple to show up later that evening.

The next morning is Thanksgiving so naturally the fun begins. Remember Pepe?  Well he is not just wandering

Pepe asleep in the trap on Thanksgiving day.

around anymore looking for adventure. No he is holed up in of all things the live trap. He is sound asleep, just like our guests. Pest people, they don’t work on Thanksgiving; they are home with the family. But I have paying guests and Pepe the moocher, who is not one that I want to have around. I call anyway and plead my case and am assured that I will get a call. I just know that it will be Friday before anyone shows. But low and behold I do get a call and maybe someone will be there in the afternoon. I inform the guests of Pepe’s presence and we all keep our distance although I did get some pictures from about 10 feet. Chris, with 30 years experience, showed up and gave Pepe a relocation trip that afternoon but the trap was not returned that day. I thought one would be back on Friday but it was Monday. During the respite, Rocky had the run of the yard and was expanding the burrow to 4 maybe 5 rooms. The mounds of dirt grew and it looked like someone emptied a couple of wheelbarrows around the house.

Pepe like the food so much he came back to dine again.

Great, just what I need, more excavation under the b and b. But Monday is soon here and a new smaller trap is brought. This is going to work. I just know it. Shouldn’t catch anything but Rocket and then life will be good again. We can hardly wait. With dawn I get my coffee to go next door and get things ready for the morning breakfast. Ah but first I want to check the trap. Oh boy the door is down. Rocky you are mine. But hold on a minute….that doesn’t look like Rocky. It looks like Pepe. It is Pepe! I make a phone call to Chris and tell him that the trap is full. He says great he will come out to get Rocky and I tell him not so fast. It is our friend Pepe. He came back because the food was so good. Well Chris didn’t show up to do the removal this time, Shawn did. Shawn had never removed a skunk before so he got dressed up to keep himself protected.  I took a video to show what was the trapping process is. I don’t know what happens when it comes to getting Pepe out of the cage. That might be a little too close for comfort for me.

Now I get a third cage even smaller than before but there is a question that is posed. Since we got Pepe twice

Rocket J Squirrel finally got his little self caught and is ready to visit another locate far away.

at the burrow maybe the skunk ran Rocket J off. Have to see if anything is caught or seen. To tell the truth I hadn’t seen Rocket so maybe he was gone. So to test that theory I decide to fill in the holes and see if they reappear. Nothing happens all day but the next morning there is another new hole to the burrow. That make 6 entrances that I know of, five of which I have filled. So I set the trap next to the burrow and add some rocks to block paths. The next morning, SUCCESS IS MINE! Rocky is trapped.

It has been 3 days now and no return of Rocket J. Squirrel or Pepe Le Peeuuuh! Hopefully the rest of the year will be uneventful and we can enjoy the Christmas Season without the worry of having a basement bungalow under the b and b.

On November 14, 2012, I had the opportunity to witness a “Featherweight Fight” between two Anna’s Hummingbirds. One was an adult male and the other was a juvenile. They were at a feeder that was almost full. Angie and I were talking about  removing the feeders because it was starting to freeze at night. At the time we didn’t believe that any hummingbirds would still be in the area.

I happened to go out onto the patio and I had the opportunity to watched two birds jockeying for position and chasing each other away from the feeder. It just seemed to me to be the normal back and forth that you get from the hummers when they are hungry. However, after a short time these birds grappled in the air and had a controlled fall to the ground where the pecked at each other. They didn’t stay there long and were back up in the air. I had never seen this before so I quickly went inside to get my camera and came back out as fast as I could. The birds were still jabbing at each other as I got the camera focused on a bird at the feeder and started the video.

The birds ignored me and kept on with their battle. I didn’t expect to see much more than just chasing each other around but I was surprised by these small creatures. They flew by me a couple of times during the duel. Almost as I was ready to stop the video the hummers locked up again and went to the ground fighting. I was able to capture most of it as the continued the fight on the ground. After they went back into the air I taped another minute or so before I stopped. My battery was starting to flash at me. I knew that there wasn’t much time left on it.

I taped over 10 minutes of the exchange before I quit. The entire fight from the beginning until I shut off the camera was about 15 to 20 minutes. It did go on for a period of time afterwards. After editing, there is almost 3 minutes on the video for you to see. There is some brilliant green and red flashes in the pictures from the light hitting the feathers in just the right spots. The male Anna’s is still here at the BnB but we haven’t see the juvenile and we don’t know what finally happened.

I have the video on YouTube for you to enjoy.

Being on the San Pedro River, Down By The River B and B is visited by many bird species. Birding on the San Pedro is some of the best in the USA. There are also the resident birds that stay around all year. We are also an area that is a nursery for Black-Chinned Hummingbirds and we feed a lot of them with the feeders that are hung out at Down By The River B and B. We have other types of hummingbirds that visit us during the year, including Anna’s, Magnificent, Rufous, and Caliopie. Just this morning we had a subadult Caliopie here at the feeder while I was talking with a guest and I wish I had my camera since if flashed so much color in the sunlight. It seems to be a little late in the season for hummingbirds to still be around but maybe these birds decided to stay instead of flying south.We made a video on Hummingbird Breakfast at the B & B and it is fun to watch the jockeying for position by these little birds.

But every once in a while, along with the bats,  a sneaky Pete woodpecker has to put his beak into the nectar. We have Ladderback Woodpeckers and also Gila Woodpeckers in the area. Both of these birds are brazen and

Gila Woodpecker landing on feeder

will fly up to the hummingbird feeders and clamp their feet to the feeder. They are usually grab the edge of the feeder and hang below. With a little work they get into their position so that they can dip their beak into the nectar. Watching them do the gyration to get to the nectar is amusing.

The hummers will come to the feeder and see the woodpecker. They buzz around a little bit but soon decide that they don’t want to take on the bigger bird. The leave to find one of the other feeders we have on the patio. We shoo the woodpecker away and he gives a squawk at us as he leaves. He doesn’t go far. He will wait in a tree and after a bit he is back at the feeder.

Gila Woodpecker Getting Into Position To Have A Drink Of Nectar.

Gila Woodpecker Getting A Drink Of Nectar

One of our neighbors in St. David has a picture of bats at the feeder. It is on our facebook page if you would like to see it. If you go to our facebook page, LIKE us and comment if you wish. If you don’t have a facebook page you won’t be able to see this picture.

I have seen a swirling motion outside the dining room window when I went to lock up and turn the lights for the night. I was curious to see what was going on and went to the window. I saw a group of bats and as I watched  the bats swirled around the feeder, hit the bottle and flew down to catch the nectar as it came out the holes. It was a really eerie thing to watch.  We were wondering why our feeders would be drained in the morning. Now we know. If you have drained feeders in the morning you might want to check out the feeders at night to see if you have flying visitors.