Saturday, December 28, 2013

Exotic wildlife, not... and a few other things!

So, my hubby got me a wonderful wildlife cam for Christmas! I set it right up near the fox den by our laneway.

The first shot was...


...a semi-trailer truck whizzing by in the early morning. 

Then...


...a lunatic wearing a parka over her pajamas, getting a lift up the laneway to retrieve said camera.

Then...


...Gordon coming home from work later that same day. So today I snowshoed to the woodlot and set up the camera near where I saw turkey, rabbit, snowshoe hare and other tracks. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, things are staying relatively toasty in the coops, if a tad white-trash:


We got these awesome Sweeter Heaters that draw a tiny amount of electricity, and aren't a fire hazard the way heat lamps are.


And my friend Pierre made me that great new chicken feeder out of PVC piping (or whatever it's called!) They spill way less feed. He is making us one for the duck coop, too. He even filed down all the edges of the holes so that the plastic wouldn't be rough on the birds. 


Here's the heater set-up in the duck coop. The heaters are supposed to be about 18" from the birds, and you can hang them or wall-mount them, so we have both!

Today the temps have warmed up to just above freezing. I put out water for the ducks to bathe in and they had a great old time! Then the dogs and I went snowshoeing back to the woodlot.


Tristan likes to take a breather every now and then.


My intrepid old dog! Slow and plodding, but he gets it done!



And here's Sophie and my snowshoe, with some ear weirdness going on.



She is anything but slow and plodding. Although she and Tristan are the same age (11), she doesn't suffer from arthritis the way he does, and is still a speedy muscular machine!


And she still likes to eat snow.


And is always alert! I think she heard the neighing of the horses next door.


We've had quite a lot of snow, as you can see!


Meanwhile, Louise stayed inside and kept my chair warm.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!



36 comments:

  1. "A tad white-trash"? You? Never.

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  2. Only in the coop! :D

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  3. YOUR chair..........

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  4. I should get me one of those web cams to see just what the heck I am feeding at the feral cat dining hall.I haven't seen a feline in months (although with ferals that is common) but the food still gets eaten. Tristan makes me think of Kane so much. Kanie and I both have arthritis so I know what Tristan feels like. Not fun.

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    1. They aren't obscenely expensive. I know TSC has them. Hunters like them! :0

      Tristan and Kane have a lot in common!

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  5. It takes a lot of work to keep all the critters warm and well fed. As long as there's water , birds will bath.

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    1. They do resist when it's -30C although I have seen the ducks get in their water bucket in the coop!!

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  6. ack! SNOW!! COLD!!!!

    You're a braver woman than I, Gunga Din!

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    1. Brave or just stupid. But I LOVE it. :)

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  7. The picture of the house and outbuildings is beautiful.

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    1. Thank you Alain! I always like that view up the hill when I come back from a walk in the fields.

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  8. I'm pleased to see that someone else attended the same 'electrical wiring course' as I did. Lovely shots of the snow around your house, although I'm quite relieved that it's in Canada and not France. No doubt our turn will come in the next month or two.

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    1. That would be Gordon the handyman! He needs to tack down those cords a bit more!! :)

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  9. I am jealous of your camera. Hope to see lots of wildlife pics.

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    1. You need to set one up in your apartment to watch the cats!

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  10. Really looking forward to the wildlife shots, you'll find the right place for it and then... whoo hoo!

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    1. I put it in a spot with lots of tracks in the snow nearby. We shall see!!

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  11. Louise is so thoughtful. If I were there right now, I'd be spending my time with the ducks and chickens... under the heat lamps.

    What? No more shots of the Parka-Pajama Lunatic? I've never seen one before! Are they indigenous?

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    1. A rare beast, usually not seen with glasses on!

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  12. I need the big heat lamp in the sky to heat up again. Even with a fox cam I could not love winter as much as you do.

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    1. Hopefully the winter will pass quickly for you, Joanne!

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  13. Whenever our Mum gets into bed, her toes look for the spot where Lucy had been sleeping.
    Always toasty warm!
    Good job, Louise!

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  14. On first glimpse of the heat lamp, I thought perhaps you'd set up a chicken-sized wide screen tv for them.
    Or perhaps a white board for their conferences.

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    1. It was worse when we had the red heat lamps over the perches... it looked like chickens on a spit!

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  15. Knotolee, are heat lamps really a fire hazard? We use them on the back porch for the feral cats...
    And we also have 2 wild-life cameras. I gave them to my husband a few years ago. We put them in the back by the creek and usually get feral cats, raccoons, and an occasional coyote. Once we set them up in the front and we got some guy running across our lawn in the dead of night??

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    1. Rian, if you use them carefully they are okay! Ours have a cage and are wired to the ceiling hook, as well as hanging from a chain. The problem is that we used to have them over a coop full of wood shavings, not such a great thing should the lamp ever fall to the ground. As long as they are secure and away from combustible things, you should be fine. Our new heaters only reach 185F so even if they fall to the ground, the barn won't burn down!

      I hope I don't catch any streakers on my wildlife cam, ha ha!

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  16. Nice try with the camera ... I'm sure you'll get some good ones before the snow melts. Happy New Year to you and those two handsome dogs!

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    1. I'm trying to be patient and leave the camera out in the woods for a few days. There's a lot of space on the digital card, so we shall see!

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  17. It'll be interesting to see what that camera will catch!

    Still loving your snow, and I'm glad the coops are warm and toasty :)

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  18. You coop doesn't look nearly as trashy as mine. I'd love to have it all nicely styled but it has to function and function ain't always pretty! Anyway, the girls like to do their own decorating. I quickly learned to just dump the shavings in there and now bother spreading it around because they'll rearrange it to suit themselves.

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  19. You really are blessed to live where you do, but I think you know that.

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  20. So funny about your fox camera……can not wait to see what it captures next!

    Beautiful shot of your home and barn….one thing about snow it is does lay out a blanket of beauty.

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  21. Anonymous9:33 am

    You will love the wildlife cam. Sometimes we get lots of nothing, but when the wildlife shots do appear, they are amazing. Lots of fun!

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  22. Sophie's ears are very hydro-dynamic! Looking forward to the wildlife cams.

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!