Lion’s Gate 8-8-12 But Where’s the Lion??

Fat Houdini...

Buck Herd

  

Felix my extra cat

Turkey, flower garden

These wild animals!  Aren’t they fun?  Sometimes they drive me nuts.  I’m having a lionless Lion’s Gate but there has been plenty of other 4-footed activity to make up for it.

Seen en masse for the 2nd time

Check out the buck herd.  7 or more.   I saw them the first time a few mornings ago as I drove out, here on the hillside.  Aren’t they gorgeous?  This morning when I came out for sun prayers they were lounging under the front mimosa trees.  I guess I startled them, oh well.  

At least one was in the yard last night, making his way to my food garden.  Good grief, can’t have that!! I looked out my loft bed window and saw this huge animal right there at a bush.  “Oh no it’s the bucks.”  I certainly didn’t want 7 of them trampling the eggplant so I yelled at him to get out.  He thankfully didn’t try to bolt through ridiculous attempts at deer foil around the various areas where I’ve got food growing.

Still looks like a weed patch but actually
there is lots of chard and little greens coming

Brassica patch.  This is way cool.  I love to do it like this.  See those nice brassicas coming?  They are actually from last year.  They wimped along doing nothing because the soil has long had a low fertility problem.  Until this year -- I started getting a big bucket of one of my garden client’s finest goat poop compost every week.  I planted this area with greens and brassicas last fall.  Most of the greens like chard and arugula had gone to seed this spring, leaving the broccoli, kale and cabbage hiding in what looked like a big weed patch.  

I just left it to be dry for awhile.  Then slowly slowly I began to weed and water it until it looks like it does now.  And then the fun begins!  I go in there and throw seed heads and compost around.  The brassicas are now taking off and will produce this year.  Not only that, they will become perennial.  They do that under certain right conditions, I’ve got cabbage that’s several years old in my lower area.  And all the seeds are sprouting so I will have this nice big ol’ greens patch soon -- that is if the deer don’t munch it all down.  

Look at this ridiculous fencing job.  What can I say, my “real” fence is a wreck.  However they don’t like to come through permaculture and obstructions like wire and string so maybe it will work for awhile.  NOT against the onslaught of 7 hungry bucks though.

OH Dear!

And then there is Fat Houdini my skunk friend.  Oh, we’re buds.  Only because of the cat fud.  I fear we’ve created an addict.  He had forgotten about it for a long while.  Then I made the mistake of putting a big dish of it out that the cats rejected.  I was experimenting with a new way of giving them an herbal worm treatment and they would have NONE of it, so I put it out for Felix, my extra cat.  Gotta have at least one stray....  He lives in the barn with Fat Houdini.  

Fat Houdini, after he remembered
about the inside cat fud

So one evening last week I was sitting on the roof and there I see Fat Houdini eating the bowl of herbal cat fud I had put near the barn where Felix often sits.  “Hi lil guy, how are you?”  I know most people are either horrified or terrified by skunks, but I think they are very cute.  They kind of look like cats and I heard they do make excellent pets, usually after they’ve been de-scented.  Not going to happen in my world, but he’s as close to a wild pet as one can get I guess.

He came in and couldn't get 
back out this way again!

Well he now must have an uncontrollable hankering for cat fud, because some nights ago he managed to pry open my back screen door -- something the cats aren’t even able to do -- and come in for it.  I chased him out of course.  At least twice. This has gone on every night since -- except lately -- he doesn’t even wait until it gets dark and I’m in bed.   The last 2 nights he’s come in around 8 o’clock while I’m sitting right there reading on the computer.  He walked right in front of me through the living room last night.  Fat Houdini, what a brat.  

You never want to see
this end of a skunk!!! 

So I have to take the fud bowls away at night.  The cats aren’t happy about it.  Too bad.  I don’t dare bring a bowl in my bedroom as a reserve, it lures him right in.  I caught him rummaging around under my loft last night.  It DOES make me a little nervous when he gets near the prize costume closet, but otherwise he’s fine.  Doesn’t spray -- so far -- but he did wheeze a whole bunch and throw up the other evening.  Animals and their antics......

This is where I saw them the first time

And then the morning I saw the buck heard for the first time on the hill there was a little fox up there too running across the road.  Oh dear I thought.  Foxes don’t last long around here.  Maha apparently can’t tolerate another predator in his turf.

The fate of foxes
in Maha's world

Borg Dogs, Oh no!!

We wonders about this one....

So where has the Maha been we wonders mournfully.  No footie prints.  No scrapes.  Well, maybe a few suspicious scrapes, not sure.  One was right outside my bedroom window.  But no recent poops on the lane.  No Arrrrrrgggghhfs in the night.  He must be taking a Lion’s Gate Hiatus somewhere.  I am bereft.  Where was he when I most need him to be on guard?  I caught those bratty Borg pitbulls running right through my yard the night of the full moon, they ran right below the loft window -- chasing the cats!!!  This can’t be.

I forgot, there was one verrrry weird scrape sounding incident late one night recently.  I awoke to the sound of a large paw scraping in the dry grass nearby.  I know that sound, the cats make it, it’s part of their territorial hygiene process.  They go, they cover it up, scratch scratch scratch.  But they do it fast.  This was like one big scrape noise, then a couple seconds later another, and maybe a third.  I should have leaned out the loft and looked as it sounded like it was coming from the side window.  

The next morning I went out to investigate and there was a rather large mound outside near the window, along with some bluejay feathers.  That’s ... pretty close, if it’s Maha.  We’re not sure.  What makes it likely is that it is right in line with an idiot spot in the fence where I know he and the other animals do jump in.  There’s deer poo just a little ways down by the fence also in line with that spot.   But right outside my window???  I mean, within about 6 feet??!!  Really, Maha.

There was another mysterious one THIS morning in a spot where he doesn't usually go.  What got my attention about it is that it had lion energy all over it.  AND it's in a spot where the cats don't usually go, unlike the other spot.  So what do you think??

Not quite sure about this one either.  SERIOUSLY, Maha??

And the turkeys are just splendid!  My how they’ve grown, I saw them yesterday hanging around.  All the little ones have made it -- thus far -- so it’s now a rather large flock.  They’ve taken to hanging out in my flower garden area.  They actually weeded the pathway in the canterbury bells.  I guess they like it when I run the sprinkler.  

Nothing but white bones and a buncha feathers

 So a few days after I found that dead turkey some weeks ago, I went back over there to check on it and discovered the carcass had been finished off and the bones licked clean.  I.... guess he came back for seconds.

Felix has been acting up too.  This is one big ol’ tom cat, way bigger than my babies.  He’s usually pretty mellow but lately has been instigating all manner of ruckus with the other cats.  I heard furious running and clawing up trees in the backyard woods the other evening.  Naughty Felix.

Felix...  He's a fine boy, but rowdy

Well that’s the animal report from here.   You don’t want to hear about my car.  What a bother.  Still doing the same crap after many times to the mechanic -- who is a very good mechanic.  He’s fixed / cleaned / replaced many things.  Except the gas gauge which is still stuck on F.  I ran out of gas on the way down to Mtn. Ranch the other day.  Again.  Had to walk more than 2 miles in the heat to his shop.  Thankfully he will rescue me.

Food Garden out of control, those
are dry beans, popcorn and tomatoes

And because my car is still so stupid I haven’t been able to go out and play drums all summer, so am I cross about that or what.  My doumbek is gathering dust.  I don’t want to get too far out of reach of my mechanic.  Breaking down or running out of gas out on Sheep Ranch Road in the night would not be to my liking.  So it’s like being in quarantine with a bunch of unruly critters.  And of course the gardens are out of control.

Skunk Petunia?!

Black petunia, turning into a skunk variety.  Flowers do the most amazing things sometimes.


Be well people, as we roar through the lion’s gate!!!  Blessed Lamas too.  

What's yer story, Morning Glory?

I had to catch one the other day,
it came indoors at the Resource Ctr.

Dooryard Beauty

Good one, Amon Ra!!