wordsfromanneli

Thoughts, ideas, photos, and stories.

Category Archives: Animals


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Lunch with Crispin

Hi again! I’m Crispin. Remember me? I’m kind of small, but I’m not unimportant. I’d like you to watch a video clip of me eating a hazelnut. Please ignore Anneli’s unsteady hand with the camera. She’s getting old and a bit shaky sometimes. (But don’t tell her I said that).

So that’s how you do it.  It takes two hands to spin it around as you eat, but that keeps it round. Kind of like licking an ice cream cone around and around so it doesn’t flop over. But don’t forget to put most of the nuts away for the winter.

Would you like me to peel one for you? Then we could have lunch together.

Hazelnuts are oh, so yummy,

Feel so good inside my tummy,

But there’s one important trick,

Learning how to peel them quick.


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Not so Grisly Grizzlies

If you’re lucky enough to have a boat and can travel up Canada’s west coast, when you get close to the US (Alaska) border, you may find yourself near the Khutzeymateen Inlet, behind Somerville Island. You would then be in grizzly country. A few years ago,  a friend anchored in this inlet and saw some of these wonderful bears on the beach nearby. He took these photos and I am posting them with his permission. Farther up the inlet, south of the Kateen River, is an area that, in 1994, was declared the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary.

 

This might not be the best place to go ashore to stretch your legs.

In case you were in doubt about what kind of bear this is, check out the hump on his (or her) back that identifies him (or her) as a grizzly. And no, he/she’s not a camel.

 

Camel, you say? Come over here and say that! Bruno, did you hear what he said? Just because my back has a hump….

Yeah! I heard. You’re no camel. I’ll “back” you up on that, Honey. Get it? Get it? Ha ha … “back” you up? Although … that is quite a hump you have there.

Now that’s enough out of you. You shouldn’t forget who your friends are. I might have to swim over to that boat and climb aboard to teach that guy a lesson.

It’s okay, Honey. Calm down. He’s just another gawking human. I’ll keep an eye on him from here while I eat some salad.  Hmm … I wouldn’t mind a bit of hamburger with my grass.  But I don’t see him coming ashore any time soon.

 

 

My thanks to Ken Johnstone who kindly allowed  me to use his photos.


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Young Heron

Hi! I’m a great blue heron.

Well, I’ve landed here, high up in a fir tree. Mom said it’s pretty safe and I should wait for her here.

But uh-oh. Do I hear a raven? Or is it a crow? Either way, they can be a real pain when they harass us. No wonder they call them a murder of crows when they get into a gang.

Whew! They’ve passed over. Time for a quick preening while I have the chance.

Those darn bugs. The second I sit in a tree, they get on me. Oh well, I had to straighten out my feathers anyway after that rough landing in these branches. But Mom said it’s safer here than out in the open where the eagles can see me.

Oh no! Is that an eagle up there? Mom said if they come after me, all I have to do is fly way up high in circles and keep going higher and higher, and after a while the eagles can’t keep up. They’re heavier than we are and can’t go as high.

Looks like they passed over. I hope Mom hurries up. I’m getting nervous up here.

 

I’m a heron, please stop starin’,

Thought I’d rest up in this tree.

Much attention, I must mention,

Might draw predators to me.

 

Though an eagle may seem regal,

They send terror vibes my way,

I take care and stay aware, and

Live to see another day.

 


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Pronghorns, the Not-Antelope

Pronghorns are not really antelopes. They are related more closely to giraffes and okapis. I’m not big on trophy hunting, but I took this photo at the home of someone who is, and I find it useful to show what a pronghorn looks like up close. Apologies to the non-hunters. I have mixed feeling about the whole thing, but it’s not the purpose of this post to start a discussion of the topic of hunting. It is a natural thing for animals (including man) to hunt for food, but nowadays we let someone else do the killing for us. I like my steak once in a while, just as most people do, and yet I cry if I see an animal get hurt.  So where’s the logic in that? And to be fair, the person who shot this pronghorn most likely ate the meat the way we eat beef.

As you can see, they have horns with a prong on them, but they don’t bother anyone unless they are desperate or trapped, perhaps up against a fence that they don’t like to jump. They prefer to crawl under fences, but that slows them down in their attempt to escape predators such as coyotes.

If necessary, they can run at close to 90 miles per hour for a short distance, but around 60 mph for a prolonged run. Since they are, otherwise, rather defenseless, it’s a good thing they are considered North America’s fastest land animal.

These pronghorns  happened to be near a pullout on the highway in eastern Montana. I got a couple of quick photos but they didn’t want to hang around or come closer for a better picture.

The grasses taste like cereal,

What kind is immaterial,

But forbs, those leafy, juicy plants,

Are lovely,  when they’re found by chance.

 

While munching herby sagebrush here,

Our leader raised his head in fear,

Beware the tourist, here she comes,

With fumbling camera, she’s all thumbs.

 

Let’s smile and let her take her shot, 

But wander farther at a trot.

One never knows where danger lies,

When people one of us espies.

 

If need be, we can all take flight,

Across the fields with all our might.

The photo op will have to wait,

Just save your lives, it’s not too late.

 

And yet, she looks so harmless there,

Let’s pose for one and be more fair,

We have a good head start from her,

And we can leave her in a blur.


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Backyard Eateries

Oh, good grief, those squirrels are such messy eaters.

What do you think I should do? Such a  mess!

It even spilled over the edge of the table!

I’ll just take this one sunflower seed. I wouldn’t want anyone to see me here and think it was me who made this mess!

Uh-ohhhh! The Steller’s jay is at my dining room table.

I have to hide these nuts I just got off the hazelnut tree.

That’s good. I’ll push it down with my nose. I still have one nut for my lunch. Think I’ll eat it now before that jay finds it. They are such thieves!

First, to get the shell off. Good thing I have really sharp teeth. I tried them out on Anneli’s thumb one time. I felt bad later, but what does she think? I need to be fed?

Oh, yes, now this is looking better. The shell is off and I’ve worked up an appetite.

Can’t wait to bite into this hazelnut!

I found a new place to eat. As you can see, I’ve switched to walnuts. They’re not so messy. But I still have to keep an eye out for those jays. I think I’ll have a quick bite, and then take the rest to my secret stash deep in the wood shed.

Life is never easy. You always have to be on your toes and have an alternate plan in case something goes wrong.


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Harvest Time

The squirrels have been harvesting hazelnuts from the trees and hiding them to be retrieved in the winter.

Along comes Woodrow the Woodpecker, innocently looking for bugs.

Ronald Rabbit knows the squirrels wouldn’t like their stash to be unearthed, but, “What to do? What to do?”

“Mind your own business, Ronald,” says Woodrow. “That’s “What to do’!”

“I’m telling,” shouts Ronald. “The people will let their dog out and then you’ll be sorry.” Meanwhile, I have one leg raised and ready to make a run for it.

“Look out, you guys! Here I come. And don’t forget! I may be a teddy bear in the house, but I’m a wolverine in the field.”

“Are you serious?” Woodrow calls to Ronald. “Now that the dog is out, we’ll all have to make a run for it.”

“Aw, do what you want. I’m going up here to higher ground and — oh! What have we here? A hole in the tree. Anybody home?”

And so life goes on … unless you’re a bug in that tree.

 

 

 

 

 


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King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas

These king parrots seem to tolerate the two crimson rosellas at the left of the photo (sent by Leslie from Australia). I’m not sure what would happen if there were a shortage of seeds on those brick pavers, but as long as there is enough for everyone, there doesn’t seem to be a problem sharing.

Bright and beauteous, that we are,

Folks admire us from afar.

If they put down seeds for us,

And come closer, we won’t fuss.


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You and Me and Rain on the Roof

A young eagle on one of his first outings.

Hmm! Great view from up here.

Kind of windy though.

Yikes! That gust nearly unseated me.

I wonder if I should find a better place. A bit exposed here….

Help! Eeeeek! Eeeeek! Mom!

My feathers are getting all ruffled up.

Starting to rain too.

Here comes the rain. Tiny drops are gathering on my feathers. And then there’s that wind. I think I should find another place to hang out. Lots of trees out there with branches for a better grip.


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Mountain Ash and Holly

As I wrote the title to this post, I thought it might be misleading, with all the local wildfires making ashes of some of our “mountains,” but it is the tree that I am referring to in this post.

Each spring, the mountain ash gets clusters of little white flowers. Later in the summer, those flowers turn into red berries that will supply food for birds that are still here in the late autumn. It’s a time of year when the birds are trying to get the last of the summer’s bounty to build up their strength to meet the coming winter, or to make any lengthy flights they might have planned.

On one of those cool autumn days, the flocks (usually robins) will come and occupy the tree like so many shivering ornaments on a Christmas tree. They gobble down as many of these berries as they can. Sometimes it is already late in the fall and the berries are getting a bit overripe. The birds have been known to get a bit tipsy from eating the wine-like berries.  Beware the windows nearby, little birds, when you can’t fly straight.

 

They also visit the holly trees for their berries, but they eat more carefully. Holly leaves can be prickly.

 

Mountain ash and holly,

They make a late snack jolly,

But berries that ferment,

Can cause flights to be bent.