F******************

Hey there.  Just a warning that this isn't a nice happy blog.  Something crappy happened recently.  Well, actually two crappy things.

I was out running some errands one morning and driving along our main road just down a bit from us, I passed a feathery lump in the middle of the road.  I instantly knew that it was a small owl.  I pulled over and picked up the body, which was whole and complete...  I wouldn't pick up a bloody mess is what I am trying to say.  The owl was an eastern screech owl.  >insert sad face<

We haven't seen a lot of our screech owl this winter and I've "blamed" the mild winter for that.  I don't know if this owl that I found was our backyard visitor or not.  Either way, it sucks!  Poor thing.  It must have been hunting roadside and was going for something, flying low across the road and got clipped by a car.  It probably hit the windshield and then bounced off, falling to the middle of the road.

We've not seen our backyard owl since February 2nd.  I found this dead owl on February 10th.  As I write this blog, it is now February 22nd.  We're supposed to be getting some really awful winter weather starting this afternoon and maybe we will see "our owl" again during it.  We can hope.

It's weird that in the days after that sad find, I've felt grief.  Grief over a little bird that surely didn't think much about me.  Grief over a little bird that may still be alive out there somewhere in our neighbourhood.  It's just that having an owl on one's property, and spending quite a few days here since December 2021, you can't help but get attached somehow.  It's been fun wondering some days if he was here or not.  There were days we didn't think he was here and then he would surprise us at the end of the day, suddenly popping his head out of the box.  So many mornings while having my first coffee and sitting at the kitchen window, I spotted him flying into the box to roost the day away.  Both Angie and I certainly felt blessed to have him here.  He owned the yard for the most part when we knew he was home.  We gave him all the space and I was able to occasionally take pictures of him from the deck because of my 500 mm lens.

I took this photo of Little Al on January 29th.  He showed up at the box after we got some accumulative snow overnight.  I remember how I was willing to bet anyone about his return that morning.  No one took me on that bet.

I'm debating as to whether or not share the photo I took of the owl's body on here.  It understandably upset most but they got why I shared the picture.  A few people really lashed out at me for sharing it.  So perhaps it is best I don't post the photo here.  If you look for me on Instagram at robandtheanimals, you can see it there (if you really want to see it).

Then the other sad thing is how we went from 3 backyard opossums in the fall to 1 opossum through the start of the new year.  Sadly he too crossed the main road last Thursday and was hit by a car.  I am sure it was him as my trail camera has not picked up an opossum since the night before.  Why must they cross the road?  He's been taking the gala apples that I have been leaving out for him along with some random piles of cat kibble.  Sure he must compete with the skunks and raccoons in their waking moments but he was getting a feed, at least with the apples regularly.  UGH!  There was no trying to get his body off the road though as it was way too messy.  I swear our main road here is like death valley for the wild ones.  There's a park on one side and a golf course on the other and the creatures do go back and forth.  It is heart breaking for any wildlife enthusiast to see this.  Raccoons, skunks, opossums, a few deer over the years, coyotes, foxes, owls, geese and various birds.  Blech!

I had an encounter with this opossum a few weeks ago.  He was frozen on the back fence for quite a while one night.  I got home from work and noticed the big lump.  I passed him a few times while doing things out back and he never moved.  After 20 minutes or so, being done my little chores, I walked right up to him.  He was motionless.  I put my hand on his back and gave him a few light strokes.  He turned his head slightly to give me a look but did not move otherwise.  

After I went back up to the house, I saw him climb down the fence and go under the shed.  Why did I touch his back?  Because I could!  Opossums are generally slow moving animals and don't react like other creatures.  Would I try to pat a raccoon?  Hell no!  Even my little backyard pal Ripper I wouldn't do something like that with.  He's my little buddy and sits nicely on my hand; but I know how "squirrely" squirrels can be and he'd bite me in a heartbeat if I spooked him and not think twice about it.  Oh Ripper, we all love you so!

Sorry for this rather negative blog but it's a bit of therapy for me.  I know the wild ones have a world of their own and it's unfortunate how we live ours and provide far too many dangers for them.  I embrace the time they spend here with us as they make my days (and life) better.

Lastly. a reminder that blogger made some changes and they took away the email notification option for whatever reason.  So I guess it is up to anyone who wishes to follow my blog posts to stop in periodically and not expect a notice from blogger about me sharing a new blog.

Also, someone asked about how long it has taken me to get Ripper and these pigeons to come to my hand.  Ripper showed up here over 5 years ago acting like this.  Someone else in their neighbourhood conditioned him to come to people for food.  Is that person still in the area?  Only Ripper knows.  As for the pigeons, it all started years ago with Pierre who also just appeared in the yard one day, totally cool with humans and he basically forced himself upon us that first weekend.  As the years went by, other pigeons took notice of Pierre getting good grub from my hand and some braved up, also coming to my hand, and continued to do so.  This is a continuing "thing" to this day.

Thanks for stopping in.  See you all again in a few weeks.