I haven't seen very many owls in the wild so I'm feeling very fortunate that this summer I've crossed paths with two. Recently Stu and I were hiking the Rampart Ridge trail at Mt. Rainier and as we approached the top of the ridge we happened to look up and see this little fella. We think he's a Saw Whet Owl. A few weeks before that, as I took Muttley for a walk early one morning, I caught sight of something big and brown gliding from the roof of the house to a tree limb just inside the Big Woods. Much to my delight it was a gorgeous Barred Owl. She and I watched each other with great interest for about 10 minutes until she flew deeper into the woods (probably because she didn't want her picture taken). I saw her again briefly the next day but haven't sighted her since.
Here's a piece of woodsy wisdom that we tried out this summer -- with great success. Next time you're out in the woods and get stung by nettles, look around for a sword fern with pollen under the fronds. Rub the fern pollen where you've been stung. The sting will feel 20% better immediately, 90% better in 5 minutes and in 30 minutes the sting will be permanently gone. I don't know how or why this works but it does. Cool, huh?
The four eggplant sized raccoon babies are now the size of medium winter squashes. Their mama continues to be more easy-going about mothering than Crabby Mama and Not-So-Crabby Mama were with their babies last summer. As a result, these babies have a lot more freedom to explore -- which makes me nervous but so far so good -- they appear to be healthy, happy, and full of mischief.
Today's front yard critter count:
Deer: 2 (the little buck and his mom)
Raccoons: 5 (the eggplant babies and their mama).
