Dear Beans,
Papa and I were eating dinner last night and we saw something move outside the sliding door. When I looked again I saw something under the grape arbor.
Do you see him?
Look closer.
It was a FOX. A Gray Fox. Isn't it beautiful?
Then it turned and looked back down toward the vegetable garden.
AND GUESS WHAT?
Another one came up the hill. There were TWO of them.
They started eating the bird seed that was on the ground below the bird feeder. What do you think that tasted like? Bird food.... Yuk!
Noni took pictures, hoping Carl wouldn't notice that there were two fox in the yard.
Carl is very smart and he came over to see what I was taking pictures of.
When he saw the fox he started barking. One of them lifted its head like he heard something, but they didn't run away.
They kept eating the bird seed and ignored us.
Do you think that they come here a lot? Maybe at night?... when it's dark and we don't see them.
Why do you think that they came to visit us?
Even Annibel walked across the gravel and sat on a stepping stone, watching them.
They stared at each other for a long time and them Annibel slowly walked away. I wonder what they thought about each other. Do you think Annibel has seen them here before?
We found this poop in three different places in the yard. I took a picture of it because I know how you like the word "poopy". It's a good word.
.... and it isn't Annibel's poop. Hers is smaller and brown.
This poop is black and has berries in it.
I THINK THE FOX HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE. Don't you?
Well, Papa and I just wanted to show you who came to visit us.
You can't play with these guys... but the next time you come up to visit you might get to see them... or the deer.
... or the wild turkey with their babies. Do you see the deer and the turkey in the picture above? Some of the feathers I sent you are wild turkey feathers. The rest are vulture feathers (the big black ones) and chicken feathers (the pretty brown, black and white ones).
Carl and Cutter are waiting to play with you.
They might even want to sleep with you.
I will see you in a couple of weeks. I get to come down to your house and stay with you for a couple of days.
See you then.
Have fun on your first day of school.
Love, Noni and Papa
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The Tarantulas are moving....
There are looking for a mate (a friend).
There are BIG spiders aren't they.
Creepy....
Crawlers. "Ewweee."
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Gray fox information here.Ten cool facts about Tarantulas here.
yikes! scared of the tarantulas....the foxes are way cool though...great shots...poopy, haha....
ReplyDeleteOh I am so jealous I could spit
ReplyDeleteBut I am so happy for you
such wonderful visitors...and I just read that the grey foxes are becoming scarce
Yours are so healthy looking...must be the berries....to be so close to wild things...a blessing
still spitting though....
:(---------------- :)
Connie, What a lovely letter to your grandsons. The pictures are great. I hope the creepy large tarantulas stay outdoors. The fox are really pretty as are the deer and turkey. Have a blessed evening. Madeline
ReplyDeleteok you had me until the TRANTULAS!!!!!!! GAH i dont like spiders... lol
ReplyDeletelove hugs and grits
Your grandsons are going to cherish this always! How fortunate you are to live in a place where nature is right outside the door. The fox are beautiful and yea, I think they've been there before, kitty didn't seem to mind. OK...then the spiders...gah, yuck, yikes, no thanks.
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated by foxes, especially since I don't see them very often. We live right in town, but we have a fairly big yard, and we couldn't believe it when we saw one in our yard! We saw him a few times, it seemed really bizarre - so unusual! He was not close enough for us to get a picture, even if we had thought about it. We made a point of not letting Dizzy be outside much for a while - just in case.
ReplyDeleteWe have seen a few red foxes in fields that we travel by, but they were a little scraggly. Your foxes are beautiful. (Really, even scraggly red foxes are beautiful.) I'll bet the grandchildren will be chomping at the bit to come up and look for critters!
ReplyDeletewhat about the chickens?
ReplyDeleteJust the sort of story children love, your grands are lucky to have you capture these things for them. We don't have foxes here but those look comfortable being so close to you, so my guess is they have been there before - and the cat has seen them before.
ReplyDeleteI've lived with huge tarantulas, and although there are none here, my skin just crawls whenever I see a photo of one.
Thanks for a great post.
I was very very happy with the foxes and turkeys and all until you revealed that spider - brrrrrr, creeps me out! But what a lovely letter to your grandchild! We called my daughter Bean - still do! I would love to see gray fox here - we sometimes see the red ones. I didn't know that they ate bird seed - must be slim pickings where you are right now! Maybe you could put some suet out for them.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great letter to your grandchildren. I have a red fox that comes by occasionally for a visit, but not the gray and to have a pair so close... Very nice. I love seeing the deer and turkeys. I never get tired of it, but the tarantulas, well, you are welcome to keep those. Fascinating they are, though, from photographs. I keep forgetting to tell you how much I like your photo of the goat boys. What sweeties.
ReplyDeleteLove the foxes. We see foxes here, sometimes. Those spiders give me the CREEPS!
ReplyDeletexo,
Cheryl
This is awesome!
ReplyDelete