A few days ago, I was headed out to the back pasture when I walked right up to a tiny Pocket Gopher with his little back end up in the air as he was digging in the ground.
Dirt was flying everywhere. He must have gotten out in the open because there was no tunnel to dive into.
I’m thinking… buddy you need to watch what you’re doing or one of my dogs will get you because you are not paying attention.
So I reached down and touched him on his little tail.
Lordy mercy…he jumped up and started running around my boot barking at me.
I was laughing so hard.
I had my camera in my pocket so I took a photo of him. He was really telling me what he thought.
Angry little pocket gopher!
And no, I never kill these little creatures, even though they eat things in my garden. They aerate the soil and add organic matter to the areas where they are. So they do some good for us.
Last week, Sue Ann got all excited when she spotted a Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus) in her little pond at her ranch. She also saw 14 bullfrogs and a Gulf Coast toad, and wrote a blog post about it. When she mentioned the leopard frog at our July Chapter Meeting, lots of members chimed in that they’d been seeing them in large numbers this year.
Toad in the water, frog well camouflaged on the shore.
This morning, Pamela went out into her garden and found a truly magnificent leopard frog specimen. We agreed that this had to be shared.
Hello! How do you like my eye stripe?
The stripes and the way they got through the toad’s eyes are so interesting, and the color is almost glowing! Pamela measured its belly print at over three inches. That’s a big one.
Look at those long legs! You can tell it’s a true frog.
Pamela mentioned that she has more than one toad house on her property, which some of the frogs apparently use, too. Here’s the really pretty one.
Any toad would appreciate such a fine home.
But the plain ones work just fine, too, as long as you leave the bottom open, so their bellies can rest on the dirt.
Perfectly adequate toad home.
Now you can see its pretty white belly.
Making a toad abode is easy and fun. Here’s a great page Pamela found, from the Houston Arboretum Nature Center on how to make toad abodes of many charming styles, along with a lot more information about them. Don’t forget, they will need a source of water!
What kinds of toads and frogs do you have where you live?
Imagine this…. eight women sharing two bathrooms in a cabin in the woods. Awakening early Saturday morning, I was in dire need of a toilet and both bathrooms were occupied. After climbing down from the top bunk, I really began to feel pressure.
Sassafras Cabin at Camp Allen Conference and Retreat Center
Thank goodness, the first Advanced Training Class I had attended on Friday afternoon at the 2012 Master Naturalist State Meeting at Camp Allen in Navasota proved invaluable to my comfort and sanity. “Techniques for Teaching Leave No Trace Principles to Urban and Suburban Audiences” was the official class title, although a more descriptive sub-title given by the instructor was, “How to Teach Soccer Moms to Pooh in the Woods”.
Many urban and suburban people have trouble relieving themselves in the outdoors when recognizable restroom facilities are not available. Showing them simple ways to be prepared to fully enjoy the experience of being in the “back country” can be part of our enablement and education process. Necessary supplies listed by the instructor were: a small Zip lock bag, a wet wipe, and on occasion, a hand trowel.
Saturday morning, I was a Master Naturalist needing relief! I knew there were no plastic bags in the cabin cabinets, so I pulled an empty Kraft Shredded Cheese bag from the trash can. A couple of squares of Kleenex from the box on a side table in the living area sufficed for wet wipes. A six- to eight-inch deep hole to bury solid waste was not necessary at the moment for what I needed to do, so the trowel was not required.
Quickly donning jacket and shoes, I ventured out into the chill and walked into the darkness. The encroachment of the woods and my internal pressure precluded taking the prescribed 100 steps away from the cabin. Thirty steps did just fine. Blessed relief! The evidence was deposited in the cabin trash can.
I was fortunate my first training class gave me the information and permission to be able to make myself comfortable. I also became aware of the difficulty many would-be nature enthusiasts may have enjoying the outdoors because of the apparent lack of restroom facilities.
In the afternoon of June 2, 2020, three young Great Horned Owls were gathered and placed in a large dog carrier.
1: Sara Prepares the Owls for Their Journey
Their destination was Cedar Hill Ranch, Gause, Texas, for release into the wild after being saved and rehabilitated by All Things Wild Rehabilitation.
Later that evening they and their human volunteers arrived at Cedar Hill Ranch.
2. Owls in Carrier3: Conners and Sara Ready for a Release
After a short drive to a meadow with ponds surrounded by mixed forest, the birds were released one by one. Conner grandchildren were visiting the ranch that day and were able to participate in the release.
5: Sara Releases Another Owl4: Sara Releases an Owl6: One of the Released Owls
One owl posed for photos high up in a nearby tree before heading farther out into his new home environment.
Little Foot, 6/2/2020
Another owl, four weeks younger than the other two, stopped in a nearby cedar tree, and posed for a long time. We later learned that his human caretaker had named him “Little Foot”.
After about an hour, the humans returned to the ranch house and left the owls to live out their days wild in the area.
Update
Six days later Little Foot appeared at the Cedar Hill ranch house begging for food by clicking his beak and screeching.
Watch Little Foot asking for food.
8: Little Foot Returns, 6/8/2020
We were advised by the All Things Wild staff to make noise with pots and pans so that he would not be comfortable near the house and would return to the woods. Although he flew away that evening, he reappeared the next morning. This time he flew directly up to us and pecked at our legs. This behavior indicated to everyone that he was not ready for release in the wild, as he was still relying on humans to provide food to him.
We were then told to lure Little Foot into an enclosure to hold him until Sara was able to get him that evening. Joyce tied a piece of raw chicken to a string and led him slowly several hundred feet into one of our chicken coop enclosures.
9: Luring Little Foot
At one point Little Foot grabbed the chicken and tried to get it away from Joyce. Although hungry, he was surprisingly strong.
10: Little Foot Grabs the Chicken Piece
11: Little Foot Waits in a Chicken Coop Enclosure
Sara and friends arrived that evening. They took Little Foot back to the All Things Wild Rehabilitation Center where he will live in their “flight” cage. They will feed him only live food for about a month to get him ready for a second release attempt.
12: Sara and Friends Recapture Little Foot, 6/9/2020
Can You Help?
All Things Wild Rehabilitation (ATW) is looking for places to release animals to the wild. Usually, they like a site to have a source of water and for landowners to be willing to put out food for the young animals for about 2 weeks until the animals learn how to forage on their own. However, we have been a release site five times and have never been asked to put out food.
If you find a wild animal that you think needs help, visit the ATW website at and review “Found An Animal?” information. If after reviewing that information, you decide you need to contact the center about the animal, call 512-897-0806.
If you are interested in becoming a release site, the following information is from their website.
How to Become a Release Site
The goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to return the bird or the animal to the wild. We release the rehabilitated animals on private property with permission from the owner. All Things Wild is always looking for good release sites. Here are our dream criteria for releasing most small mammals and raptors:
Acreage, preferably 10 acres or more, with woods,
No high fences,
Water year-round,
Away from busy highways, communities, houses, and lots of people,
Accessible by vehicle or hiking,
Willingness to do a soft release* if necessary, and
An appreciation of wild animals.
If you would like to offer your land as a release site for ATW, please email allthingswildrehab@gmail.com.Thank you!
*A soft release is when food is left out for released animals until they become accustomed to foraging in the wild.
More about Great Horned Owls
If you’d like to learn more about these amazing birds, please download this PDF fact sheet that Joyce made to help educate her grandchildren, based on information she found on the web.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 