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...]

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...]

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...]

  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...]

  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...]

  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...]

  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...]

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...]

  Well, my bluebirds changed their minds. Two weeks ago, it looked like the hen was on her nest for the third time this summer. Then, apparently, she said “To hell with this. Seven baby bluebirds is enough. Let’s go shopping”, or whatever bluebirds do in the summer when they are not raising chicks. So now I am the proud owner of about 9,000 mealworms. I ordered another 10,000 when I … [Read more...]