“Come look at all the bees!” my wife had called. “What kind of bees?” I asked, wanting to make sure this backyard visit was worth missing part of the football game I was watching. “Honey bees?” she exclaimed. And they were! Real live honeybees, by the dozens, flitting their way between blooms on what was for us at that time an unidentified flowering plant. Our son Jimmie had given us … [Read more...]
The Life of a Fiddler Crab
Next time you’re having a particularly rotten day and thinking that life has dealt you a bad hand, consider the fate of a fiddler crab. Last week while I was surf fishing at Nags Head, I looked down at my feet and saw little flicks of sand coming from a small hole. Intrigued, I continued to observe the spectacle underway. Finally, a tiny fiddler crab emerged from the hole and tossed … [Read more...]
Houston, We Have Frogs
It doesn’t take much to make me happy – a good cigar, an easy golf course, a new Sports Illustrated magazine on a Friday after work or frogs, preferably frogs in our lily pad pond. I find the little amphibians to be fascinating. We have had a series of frogs to come and go in our small, above-ground pond. Some came from tadpoles, which I captured with the help of my grandkids, and some just … [Read more...]
Humming Along
All is well in our backyard. The hummingbirds are at war. Talk about not sharing, if one hummingbird stakes out a feeder, he or she spends every waking hour making sure that one of its comrades does not sneak in for a quick sip of sugar water. So we put two feeders in the back yard and separated them. Play nice, little humming birds. There is a feeder for both. But no-o-o-oh! They still … [Read more...]
Weeds Be Gone
A couple years ago, some strange, weed-like grass popped up in our back yard. I’m pretty sure it’s an invasive plant called Dallis Grass. I see it on golf courses, sometimes, on tee boxes, fairways and occasionally greens. The stuff grows in coarse clumps. It’s nasty. I don’t know where it came from or how it got there, but I wanted it gone. Normally, I don’t mind a few weeds I my yard. In … [Read more...]
Green, Green: It’s Green They Say
Rabbits eat beans, raccoons eat tomatoes, and squash borers eat squash plants. What’s a backyard gardener to do? This one planted a mess of greens last week, three messes, actually – collards, turnip greens and spinach. Funny, but my critters don’t seem to eat greens. But I sure do. In fact, I just came back from North Carolina with three packs of Hobe’s Country Ham Skins, a perfect … [Read more...]
The Thievin’ Coons
I had about a dozen tomatoes starting to ripen in three garden boxes on my carport. Then they were gone. Every one. But I did have a cherry tomato vine in my garden, loaded with fruit. Then, they were gone. Every one. I have solved my deer problem, but the thievin’ coons are practically impossible to stop, once they find out you have tomatoes. While raccoons appear cute and … [Read more...]
The Eastern Towhee
As best I know, I have never had any Towhees in my yard. I see them in my travels to the western part of Virginia, but I’ve never had one come to any of my feeders. They are pretty birds and most interesting. They look a little like a miniature Red Breasted Grosbeak, but with black, white and orange plumage. Concerning Towhees and other birds, I recently got this email from Sherman … [Read more...]
Raising Frogs
All I know about frogs would fill a book about the size of Nancy Pelosi’s new book on “Avoiding Botox”. Yet, I am a frog-ladite. I love the little amphibians. We have a small lily pond with pads and flowers, and occasionally a frog will show up out of the blue. This spring, dozens and dozens of tiny tadpoles materialized in the pond and we have no idea who the father was or the … [Read more...]
Bunnies and Beans
A few weeks back, Nancy and I saw a mother rabbit building her nest against our backyard fence. Nancy checked the nest daily, and Voilà! One day they were there. Four, tiny baby bunnies. They stayed on or near the nest – with regular visits from Mom – for about a week, then left. Well, all but one left. One of the little fellows decided he liked our back yard just fine. No cats, no dogs and his … [Read more...]
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