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| Serenity beckons... |
The Voles
In the field, all over the septic mound, in the raised beds, in the border gardens: holes, holes, holes. And trails. In the vegetable beds the low-hanging tomato that looks perfect from the front may have nothing more to it than a front, what with the backside completely chewed off. The holes and the trails between holes make for an even bumpier ride when I mow with the tractor on the hard clay. The culprit: voles! Voles are a bit larger than mice, and look more like hamsters. They may have several litters a season and reproduce exponentially. Why so many now, why this particular summer? You would think there are enough vole predators; owls, hawks, weasels, raccoons, snakes and coyotes all eat voles. They’re near the bottom of the food chain. Come on, predators, it’s a buffet! Normally voles that aren’t eaten die by drowning. Rain will pour down their uncovered holes and fill the burrows underneath. But this summer they’ve been undisturbed it seems, by flooding anyway, as the weather is staying dry with only occasional showers and short-lived rain storms. To date I doubt a single vole died by drowning.
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| Vole signs, with the tip of my foot for sizing |
The Frogs
In 2017 when the natural pool was new word got around very quickly in frog world. It wasn’t more than a day after the pool was filled that frogs moved in. This became awkward when it turned out three years ago that granddaughter Audrey was afraid of frogs. (True no longer.) Determined to get her to swim one day, her brother kindly captured every frog he could find and brought it down to the big muddy pond in front of the house. He must have caught at least ten. It wasn’t more than an hour later that they were all back. Don’t ask me why. This summer there is once again, an abundance of frogs. I had anticipated this back in early spring when I spotted floats of frog eggs and managed to dispose of some of them. They are there in abundance now, enough of them, including tadpoles, to keep many a heron, snake, goose, raven or hawk happy. There are a couple of snakes that hang out near the pool (I found one swimming one day), plenty of hawks and herons around, and for all I know, maybe they’ve all been busy doing their thing when I’ve not been looking. I don't really mind having frogs, to tell the truth.
I think it's interesting that on the afternoon of the same day I wrote the above, a heron was stalking the pond (not the natural pool). Meanwhile, in the pool, unlike every day this summer, no frogs were sitting along the edge. Not a one. In fact, when I explored, no large frogs were to be seen. I did find two very small ones among the reeds. Had the heron already visited the pool? Or were the frogs just in hiding? Time will reveal all. Maybe.
The Mice
I made a mistake one day after shopping at Agway. I bought birdseed and put it in the back of the car. It was raining when I got home, so I left it there overnight. That overnight turned into two overnights. When I went to get the bag out of the car I noticed mouse droppings. Uh oh, I thought, and I looked around to see what else they might have done. When I lifted the cover to the spare tire I saw a mouse nest. Made with what could only be the car’s insulation. Lovely. On my next trip to the hardware store I bought some peppermint oil sachets–mouse repellents. They seem to work. The other location mice seem to frequent is the basement. This isn’t surprising in winter; what mouse wouldn’t want a nice warm and protected home? My mouse traps (baited with peanut butter) are usually pretty effective, but I’ve found that when you place them with the bait opening facing the wall (mice like to move along walls), they odds on catching them improve. Meanwhile, in the car, now smelling of peppermint, the repellent seemed to work. That's what I thought. Then I looked again. They were back. Oh no! Time for real traps!
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| So much for peppermint oil sachet repellent! |
The Swallows
Barn swallows like to nest in the rafters of barns, but front porches are considered every bit as welcoming. Every summer they build at least two nests somewhere on my front porch. Last year there were three nests and an attempt, never followed through, for a fourth. Nest building is sloppy and dried mud and pieces of straw get stuck to the walls. Once a pair tried nesting right over the front door. I noticed it in the early stage of nest building because every time I went in or out there were new clumps of mud stuck to the door. That was one site too far for me. It’s interesting watching the parents swoop into the nest with insects for the babies. But when those babies start to grow, they add daily to the pile of bird poop on the floor beneath the nest. Unlike the case with the mice and the voles, however, I don’t mind living with swallows. It’s just that I resent them when I have to clean up their mess at the end of summer.
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| Nest building is a messy process, as the light fixture on the porch will attest. |
The Weeds
When you own a field as well as a garden and a wet area (pond and pool) to boot, you will have every weed imaginable. Every year it seems there’s one weed that’s particularly outstanding for its ability to annoy, nevermind the fact that every weed on earth is the progenitor of our beloved garden beauties. Weed-of-the-year honors change annually only because one year there may be more of it than another, or more of it in the wrong places. This year is the year of Plant X, the single weed I am unable to find in any of the guides of Vermont weeds. Pulling it up isn’t hard, but my hand is left feeling sticky. If you let it get too big before you pull it, you risk the small prickly thorns that have grown on the stem. It’s not exactly a pretty plant, and it doesn’t even pretend to blend in. It’s just sticks itself out there. Up yours, it says. Of course it’s not the only annoying weed. There’s another that is annoying on a yearly basis, and that is burdock. It has huge leaves which would be fine if it wasn’t for the giant burrs that open up in July. Getting one attached to hair, yours or the dog’s is pure murder. Burdock wants to grow everywhere, and would if it could. A runner up for worst weed is thistle. If thistle was confined to unmown fields, I could live with it, but this year it’s been growing amid the grass. This could give you second thoughts about running around barefoot.
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| The unnamed annoying weed |
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| Why oh why do weeds grow when grass has given up? |
The Unknown
I’ve been hearing a lot lately about visiting bears. People in all the neighboring towns have reported bear sightings, bears rummaging around in their compost heap, bears tearing apart bird feeders, bears merely lumbering through back yards. Often they attack bird feeders as they love the taste of sunflower seeds. My bird feeder that holds sunflower hearts has ended up on the ground twice in the past week or so. But bears make a bigger mess than what I found. The feeder was intact and plenty of the seed was left inside and right nearby. Bears smash up feeders. They scatter the seed. They don’t dip into compost piles daintily, like raccoons dip into mine. It was odd that the lid on the feeder had been unscrewed from the seed holder, as if it was done with deliberation, unscrewed by something with, well, hands. And good old watchdog Skyler, almost always on alert, said not a word.
